Why is the Wii U not succeeding?

[ThePuzzldPirate]

I didn't want a Wii U at all until I saw Chip Cheezum's skilled playthrough of the Wonderful 101 demo.


It looks fairly deep and fun, but I'll definitely wait for at least 2 or 3 other titles to come out that I really want.

That actually looks better than I thought it would be. Thanks for the vid.

I'm in the same boat as well, until there is at least a couple titles I want that are exclusive to the console before I sink in a purchase.

 

[dscross]

When the new Smash Bros gets released, sales for the system will probably skyrocket.

You'd think they'd bring something like that out on release rather than letting it fester like this.

 

[Lightknight]

I just checked out some of the games for the Wii U and honestly besides the Deus Ex: Director's Cut which is now going multiplatform there are no other games that look interesting to me.

What Nintendo needs to do is make a great Pokemon MMO for the Wii U.

That's how it has been for the past two or three Nintendo consoles for me. About 10 or so Nintendo games and then MAYBE three 3rd party exclusives that I want to try and most often the popular 3rd party titles get ported later (RE4, I'm looking at you).

If Nintendo could get stuff like GTA V and/or Saints Row IV ported to the Wii U I think they might do better. A Metroid or Pokemon MMO would help sell consoles and get people interested.

Yeah, if Nintendo could get the same kind of 3rd Party support the other systems get then it would likely be the top system again. Instead, they've been knocked around since the gamecube. Even the Wii sucked where 3rd party games were concerned but they had some other strong reasons for purchasing the Wii then that no longer exist in a peripherally proliferated market. Kudos to them on advancing gaming outside the box.

 

[Varun Garuda Maharaj]

They're too stuck in their comfort zone with their own IPs

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Next to nothing is known about the GPU. There is a 140 page thread on Neogaf dedicated to trying to work the bastard out, and even with the thing pulled apart and photographed at the micro-level, the thing is still a mystery to people. Number of shaders, GFLOPs, even the basic layout of the various blocks... next to nothing about the GPU is 'standard', and it has left anyone looking at it thoroughly puzzled.

Right now, the only measure people say will give any indicator of the GPU's strength is the games coming out for the console. And with Pikmin 3, X and Mario KArt 8, it's looking like the Wii U will be able to push some very pretty polys indeed. To the same level as PS4 or Xbone? No. But having 1/3 the power never stopped the PS2 from having stunning games of its own, like Okami.

That is the hilarious thing about seeing people try to dissect the Wii U's workings: it's fruitless. The architecture is so unique that no one has anything to compare it to, so arguments about power swiftly become irrelevant. Furthermore, hasn't it always been shown that power means nothing if the designers are worthless? Power just means POTENTIAL at the end of the day and most game designers never manage to properly utilize that potential.

 

[TallanKhan]

I think there are a host of reasons the WiiU sales have been poor.

First of all the WiiU was a very poor choice of name for the console, Nintendo have never really used any kind of numbering system and each new console has come with a new name. The WiiU is the first time they have moved away from that system and I don't think they did enough around launch to draw a clear line between the Wii and the WiiU, most casual observers assumed it was just a newer version of the Wii rather than a new console.

The launch itself was relativley low key compared to the fanfare that usually surrounds a console launch. I have to admit I actually missed that it had happened for a couple of weeks. Add to that a virtually non-existant launch lineup and I think this constitued a fairly major blow.

The WiiU still doesn't have the line up. Lack of 3rd party development has been hurting Nintendo for some time now. In the past Nintendo has sheltered behind a fairly strong catalogue of Nintendo exclusive IP but as alot of Wii titles showed some of these franchises (Mario, Zelda etc) really seem to be running out of steam. To be honest the only reason I brought a Wii was a certain level of nostalgic affection for Mario and Co and if given the choice again I probably wouldn't have bothered.

The controller. I am not aqgainst innovation and change but I don't think Nintendo's recent controler adaptions have been been positive developments. For me the WiiU controller is still better than the Wii remote but in all honesty all I want is a controller. A controller with joysticks and buttons, no pointless second screen to look at, that is comfortable to hold and where the controlls feel organic. The touchscreen and everything else just feels gimmicky.

And that ladies and gentlemen is what really grinds my gears...

 

[direkiller]

it has no real target audience, Nintendo tried to milk the same market it did with the Wii, but the casual market has moved on to new things. Much like Guitar hero, people lost interest and the sales quickly dropped off and the nostagial of playing Mario is not enough to drive the console anymore.

 

[direkiller]

How can you, in all honesty, tell me that is not competing with PCs? They're not just competing on multiplat titles, they're now overlapping on functionality and architecture.

Also, I think this GIF is rather nice for anyone who still argues the Wii U is outdated in terms of tech:

Spoiler

The PS4 and Xbone can do several times better ...

There is no working around the Wii U's anemic amount of RAM.

I'm sorry, are you not seeing what I'm seeing right there? It looks like a game and probably plays like one too. It seems developers have found a way too work around/with it.

as that's from the E3 trailer it's not hard to tell what they did
here is a hint:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqnAbRpyqfI
Im holding off judgment, but I have a strong feeling the final product will be missing more then 3d models for those bushes/trees, and a texture pop-in on a rock.

 

[Negatempest]

How can you, in all honesty, tell me that is not competing with PCs? They're not just competing on multiplat titles, they're now overlapping on functionality and architecture.

Also, I think this GIF is rather nice for anyone who still argues the Wii U is outdated in terms of tech:

The PS4 and Xbone can do several times better ...

There is no working around the Wii U's anemic amount of RAM.

I'm sorry, are you not seeing what I'm seeing right there? It looks like a game and probably plays like one too. It seems developers have found a way too work around/with it.

as that's from the E3 trailer it's not hard to tell what they did
here is a hint:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqnAbRpyqfI
Im holding off judgment, but I have a strong feeling the final product will be missing more then 3d models for those bushes/trees, and a texture pop-in on a rock.

My only argument against that is the same others will make, Nintendo has always focused on the gameplay quality. Nintendo is the one to bet on that when they show you an E3 demonstration, expect the game to be the same way. 3rd parties are always guilty of shining up demonstations.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

How can you, in all honesty, tell me that is not competing with PCs? They're not just competing on multiplat titles, they're now overlapping on functionality and architecture.

Also, I think this GIF is rather nice for anyone who still argues the Wii U is outdated in terms of tech:

The PS4 and Xbone can do several times better ...

There is no working around the Wii U's anemic amount of RAM.

I'm sorry, are you not seeing what I'm seeing right there? It looks like a game and probably plays like one too. It seems developers have found a way too work around/with it.

as that's from the E3 trailer it's not hard to tell what they did
here is a hint:

I think it is save to say your wrong as one, you don't have proof of it and two it goes against Nintendo's track record of them rarely(if at all) BullShotting. Sure, it pulls the hollywood cinema camera angles but the gameplay there is most likley real. The bushes are 2.5d with shadow effects, with the rather detailed texture(though by how much is to be seen as we don't really get a good solid shot of them.) The thing to notice however it the sphere around the PC in which the shadows fade out and it isn't that big. The bushes(or the enemies for that matter) have no shadows as far as the rock even from the PC closest frame. Most of the geometry is coming from the mech, what makes this game looks so great is the art direction. What is running here is more than capable of running on the Wii-U.

 

[Dragonbums]

How can you, in all honesty, tell me that is not competing with PCs? They're not just competing on multiplat titles, they're now overlapping on functionality and architecture.

Also, I think this GIF is rather nice for anyone who still argues the Wii U is outdated in terms of tech:

The PS4 and Xbone can do several times better ...

There is no working around the Wii U's anemic amount of RAM.

I'm sorry, are you not seeing what I'm seeing right there? It looks like a game and probably plays like one too. It seems developers have found a way too work around/with it.

as that's from the E3 trailer it's not hard to tell what they did
here is a hint:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqnAbRpyqfI
Im holding off judgment, but I have a strong feeling the final product will be missing more then 3d models for those bushes/trees, and a texture pop-in on a rock.

I highly doubt it.
Unlike the rest of the game industry that likes to wow people with too big for reality CGI graphics and gameplay specifically meant to wow you at E3, Nintendo has a strong track record of "what you see is what you get"
rarely do they make a huge bravado for a game and then cut it down to half.
I honestly believe that this is actually a gameplay animation of the robot turning into a tank.
Only a few of those clips from the trailer are actually CGI and we all know which ones those are without a doubt.

 

[Dragonbums]

as for the topic at hand, the reason why the Wii U is not succeeding is due to the fact that there is not enough games, and they had poor marketing.

The really need to fix the marketing aspect. Hopefully they are working on it and we will see an ad on tv here and there around the holiday season.

I however plan on getting one in the near future. 101 is shaping up to be an awesome game, and the extended trailer proved that.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Nintendo has a strong track record of "what you see is what you get".

...

They certainly do.

[small]I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. It is stronger than I am.[/small]

 

[Dragonbums]

Nintendo has a strong track record of "what you see is what you get".

...

They certainly do.

[small]I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. It is stronger than I am.[/small]

I'm glad I found this.
To be honest, this had to be the "best" worst E3 conference in history. Right next to Konami's. No E3 conference can EVER beat Konami's.

 

[Kittyhawk]

I guess there's still some out there that buy what Nintendo say, word for word. I remember when I used to be like that, because their games are cool and you want be on that Lakitu cloud high, right? The reality, if you look close enough is anything but as rosy as you might think.

The 'what you see is what you get' attitude from Nintendo is a false one and frankly complete nonsense that has been hurting their business for the last few console generations. Its a lazy attitude that saves them money (good for you, not for others), which is why they are okay with it and so long as you get your Mario games, you should be too, right?

For a good example of how Nintendo can be, go read the recent article on Argonaut and Starfox over at Eurogamer. Its a clear example of how Nintendo really are talented, but also very draconian and warped. Perhaps you can also go dig up articles on Rare, from when they used to be part of Nintendo. Its not the bed of roses you might think.

 

[Meg]

There's a lot of reasons. Nintendo came right out and said that they didn't do enough marketing. A lot of people don't realize the Wii U is a brand new system; they think it's an add-on to the Wii.

 

[Dragonbums]

There's a lot of reasons. Nintendo came right out and said that they didn't do enough marketing. A lot of people don't realize the Wii U is a brand new system; they think it's an add-on to the Wii.

Exactly.
Recently Nintendo on Facebook posted a picture of their Wii U tour and a bunch of people on there basically said they had no fucking clue that the Wii U is even a brand new system.

They have the fanbase of the Wii already on their palm.

Now they just need to actually advertise the fucking thing to get a grip on them.

This is coming from someone who has seen and played a Wii U before and still can't really tell you what the console itself looks like.

 

[Kl4pp5tuhl]

The design of the console itself to me isn't very appetizing, but that's IMHO. Credit where credit is due though, I love the look of the Pro Controller.

However, the target audience for the Wii U was the housewive demographic that bought the first yoga-waggle-remote-device, and now they will not buy another yoga-waggle-remote-device any time soon, because they still have the Wii collecting dust at home. Them buying a gaming console was lightning in a bottle, and it won't happen a second time in this case.

So yeah, unless a Wii U Slim with a neat design and incredible launch titles hits stores within the next +6 months, it will just simmer in low sales until christmas time, when all the confused aunts/grandparents buy a Wii U for the little ankle-biters called kids.