So, there are lots of things wrong with the Wii U. Marketing has been confusing, the games have come slowly, third party support is gone, the asking price is too high and the tech is too old. Nintendo doesn't have a problem that people need to insightfully boil things down to; they have a large, unlabeled umbrella full of issues collected like so many undesirable Pokemon.
That's the lens the rest of this article and the points I make needs to be viewed though. No one thing being fixed will do all the work.
So, now that that's out of the way, I wanna talk about "wow" factor and how Nintendo doesn't have any of it.
The way I see it there are 3 kinds of positive reactions to seeing a new game.
Reaction #1: High Excitement - or, the Halo effect.
Everyone who saw Mario 64 for the first time thought the same thing, "I want this. Now." We didn't weigh how much we REALLY wanted an N64, how expensive it might be, or how many other things we could buy instead. We needed Mario 64. Plain and simple.
Amazing exclusives can do that. They can make it so you don't care that you already have two other (expensive and current) game consoles. You need to play Halo and it will be worth it. So you save and do without and you get your new system, even if only to play this one perfect game.
This is the best excitement you can have in the whole hobby; the kind that promises you'll remember why you started playing in the first place.
Reaction #2: Medium Excitement - or, the games that end up on my best of list for the year.
If games like Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto III are the reasons you play in the first place than these games are the reasons you don't stop in between. These are great games and for some people they may even encourage the same level of excitement that the very best do.
Mostly though, you might agonize over it from time to time, you'll be a little envious of your friends who play them, but you won't buy a new system to do it yourself. Maybe one day, when the price goes down on the machine, then you'll get them. But until then you'll play something else.
Reaction #3: Low Excitement - or, I hear it's good but...ehhh.
This is the ugly one. These games are from a series you generally like or from a development studio that usually comes through. These games may even get good review scores but you can't help but feel tired just looking at them. You might even swear you played them already. You know that you'll probably pick them up. Someday, sure, but definitely not at full price and definitely not while you have so many responsibilities and other games you're excited to play.
And that brings me to Nintendo. All of the games they have made for the Wii U, fall into the second and third categories. Games that people will play if they have already picked up a Wii U or may play someday when it costs 100 bucks to get one.
This is what the general populace thinks when they are shown why they need to get a Wii U:
- New Super Mario Bros: U "Didn't I just play that?...and did I just spend 400 bucks to play a DS game on my big screen HD TV?
- Wind Waker HD: "Isn't it a game I played years ago?."
- Mario 3D World: "May be great but, at first glance, it's every Mario I've already played since Mario 64 . And the Cat suit? Nice try Nintendo but I'm pretty sure he had that already..."
- Donkey Kong: "It's an HD version of a game that could be done on the 3DS."
- Mario Kart 8: "My friend with the Wii U says it's awesome but I definitely played 7 like, a year ago."
- Pikmin 3: "What's that? It's a gardening strategy game? Oh ok. Yeah, I'm probably good actually."
Nintendo needs to ask themselves, not what great games can they make, that they will pretty much always do, but what angle (even gimmick) can they use to entice people to them. Pokemon X/Y were really good games but they had a great excitement generator in being 3D. It was a "wow" factor moment for the series and the system. So people bought it and if they needed a 3DS they bought that too.
Fixing one thing won't fix everything but showing off games that make people really excited for a system they don't have will do wonders.
AMD CEO Lisa Su talks about the Xbox AMD partnership, next-gen Ryzen + Radeon chips, and AI rendering tech coming to all Xbox devices.
AMD is really building hype around their unique partnership with Microsoft to help and build an advanced and seamless Xbox ecosystem across all Xbox consoles and devices.
I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimized chips" though? Seems ambitious.
Next year´s Xbox Showcase already looks promising and exciting. Here´s hoping they deliver.
Some odd, deliberate wording, no branding, not 'Xbox consoles, Xbox handhelds' specifically, feels and sounds like they're building towards hardware that anyone can be used or licensed to/by themselves and other manufacturers.
Multiplatform software and hardware 'Xbox/AMD APU'.
I guess you missed Sarah Bond´s next generation Xbox announcement this week, were she clearly states:
"I´m thrilled to share that we´ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including, *our* next generation *Xbox consoles*."
But hey, I don´t think you´re entirely wrong, maybe MS will build their own Xbox consoles while licencing other manufactures to build and sell their own Xbox branded consoles. Who knows
Shares vision....we provide chips for money, this deal will sell many chips, we will make lots of money...good vision
Dying Light: The Beast doesn’t just bring back the undead—it resurrects everything fans loved about the original, now with sharper claws and a deeper bite.
Supermassive’s Directive 8020 looks to elevate The Dark Pictures Anthology with tighter gameplay, deeper choices, and genuine sci-fi horror, out October 2, 2025.
Nintendo produces games of the highest quality. They have nostalgic factor. The system IS low priced now. The games are gorgeous and honestly myself and many others play it more than the next gen systems because right now there aren't many exclusive games that aren't cross gen. With bayonetta 2, SSB, and xenoblade coming and the games of E3 that have yet to be announced by Nintendo, it is without a doubt the system to have for exclusives. Gaming system opinions are subjective. Its all in how you see it and what it means to you. For me, Nintendo brings me back to the simpler fun times of gaming in the 90's and also guarantees superb quality and detail. Mario 3d world and MK8 have proven that. Plus, one of my favorite games Wind Waker was redone in 1080p/60fps. It was free and well worth playing again. While Pikmin 3 isn't the blockbuster that sells the system, its a good game and it was FREE thanks to the MK8 purchase. Wonderful 101 is amazing and was 18 dollars when i bought it. Zombi U is a hardcore survival game. It cost me 13 dollars. I took advantage of these prices while the Wii U struggles. I think the company will rebound this year. Not a significantly large rebound, but enough to ensure a long enough life for the Wii U and a solid user base. I'm not saying to not buy a Xbox one or PS4 but the Wii U is definitely a bargain right now and the games are cheap.
Nintendo is a corporation let them handle their own console or get moving like Sega.
"Pikmin 3: "What's that? It's a gardening strategy game? Oh ok. Yeah, I'm probably good actually."
You obviously never played Pikmin 3.....
A dead console
Can we stop using that picture for these type of articles? Find out how to get Kirby to do it.