Wii U too late to capture the Hardcore crowd?

[Korten12]

With the Wii U it is supposed to get back the Hardcore gamers that Nintendo lost during the Wii, but honestly I think its too late.

Sure games like Darksiders 2, Batman Arkham City, Dirt, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Tekken, and Ninja Gaiden 3, but while this sounds great. Most likely anyone who has a PS3, PC, or 360 won't go out and buy the Wii U for games they can get on their platforms they already own.

Also with how much ppl are invested into their current platforms, I somewhat doubt many will be making the leap.

What do you guys think?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I kind of have to agree, the hardcore audience is already on the xbox 360 and the PS3, and I don't see them likely to switch just because Nintendo suddenly decided that they aren't lepers anymore.

This might have changed if Nintendo had made a new console at the beginning of the next new console generation, but this seems like the midpoint of this generation, so I don't see people suddenly jumping on board with the new Nintendo console just because it's only just now caught up technology wise to the current gen.

 

[Balobo]

There are already hardcore gamers with Nintendo. Nobody in their right minds would want to miss out on those first party titles.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Yeah, nintendo has hardcore people as well - just look as Smash Bros tourneys haha. It's never optimized for shooters, so you won't see those players getting a nintendo console any time soon.

 

[littlewisp]

Maybe the majority of this generation yes, but you forget that many children start their gaming experiences with Nintendo. Now maybe Nintendo can keep them. . .forever.

 

[Teddy Roosevelt]

There are already hardcore gamers with Nintendo. Nobody in their right minds would want to miss out on those first party titles.

I second that.

The Nintendo originals are real, quality games. I don't care if I can't play a state-of-the-art Call of Duty game on my Wii. Anytime I want to play a game of popular mediocrity, I can go to a friend's house, but for the best of the best games I bend my knee to Nintendo.

Certainly, Nintendo has a different breed of hardcore gamer, but we are out there.

 

[DustyDrB]

As soon as it has a dozen games I want for it, I buy it. Simple as that. I don't know what standard everyone else applies to their console purchases. I buy nothing at launch, though.

 

[Atmos Duality]

If you're looking for something other than casual schlock, or the Fisher Price line of games the Wii had...tough luck. It's a different primary market that Nintendo targets.
For every No More Heros or Madworld, we have 50 Wii Musics, Raving Rabbids, and High School Musicals.

Since this strategy has made Nintendo roughly a FUCKLOAD of profit, don't expect it to change anytime soon (though hopefully with less embarrassing shit like Other M).

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Why the name? It just sounds dumber than the original, and I keep wanting to put another U at the beginning so I can make ghost noises (or possibly imitate Mentok the Mind-taker.) But I've not had any interest in it otherwise.

 

[Rednog]

Meh, I'm not going to invest in the Wii-U. Especially since the price tag is probably going to be pretty steep just to play a few first party titles. Yes they are getting 3rd party titles, but why invest that much money when I already own a PC/360 and will probably pick up a PS3 if they price drop to $200?
Even then I really don't need to play a new Mario/Zelda/Metroid. I played those games on the N64 and loved them, then on the gamecube and was lukewarm. I really don't feel like playing the same general platformer, themed world/dungeon stuff.

 

[Pingieking]

Sure games like Darksiders 2, Batman Arkham City, Dirt, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Tekken, and Ninja Gaiden 3, but while this sounds great. Most likely anyone who has a PS3, PC, or 360 won't go out and buy the Wii U for games they can get on their platforms they already own.

You forgot Battlefield 3.

Also, notice that most of those games are releasing either late 2011 or early 2012, while the Wii U likely won't show until Fall 2012 (as in October or November, when consoles usually release). So the Wii U version of those games are going to be out 6~12 months later than the PS3/X360 versions.

The Nintendo originals are real, quality games. I don't care if I can't play a state-of-the-art Call of Duty game on my Wii. Anytime I want to play a game of popular mediocrity, I can go to a friend's house, but for the best of the best games I bend my knee to Nintendo.

Certainly, Nintendo has a different breed of hardcore gamer, but we are out there.

That's certainly true. However, my concern is that the Wii U will be a replay of the Wii; great first party titles, so-so third party titles because they're still trying to figure the platform out, but absolute crap attachment rates which leads to third party devs focusing on MS and Sony platforms. The final result is a crappy library where the only good games are the few from Nintendo.

I also question Nintendo's timing. Is the Wii U going to compete with the X360/PS3, or the X720/PS4? Can it compete with any of them? By 2012 the X360/PS3 has had 6+ years to build their base and the developers have figured out how to get the most out of those machines. The Wii U will be staring from scratch and staring at competition with 60+ million user base and well established franchises. The X720/PS4 will likely come out between 2013 and 2015, and both of those will be more powerful than the Wii U. The Wii U should hold its own for at least the first two years (depending on how much tech progresses), but will it be outclassed by the new machines by 2016 or so?

I think the Wii U will do fine. I think it can easily sell 30+ million units by the end of 2015 (which are not insane numbers, but respectable). However, I'm not convinced that it will have a library that can challenge those of the PS3/X360 or their replacements. I'm also not convinced that Nintendo has brought third party devs back full time with this platform.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

There are already hardcore gamers with Nintendo. Nobody in their right minds would want to miss out on those first party titles.

I second that.

The Nintendo originals are real, quality games. I don't care if I can't play a state-of-the-art Call of Duty game on my Wii. Anytime I want to play a game of popular mediocrity, I can go to a friend's house, but for the best of the best games I bend my knee to Nintendo.

Certainly, Nintendo has a different breed of hardcore gamer, but we are out there.

While that is true, and the first party titles on the Wii are great, there's just not enough of them. The Wii had one come out maybe once every 6 months or so, and for many hardcore gamers that's just not enough. I tend to get a new game every month or 2, and if I only had a Wii I really couldn't do that because their library is mostly shovelware with a few first party gems.

I mean really, the only games I would want on the Wii are Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Mario Galaxy 1&2, Metroid other M, Metroid Prime, and Brawl. The console's been out over 5 years and that's ALL it can offer me, which is just plain annoying. A Wii could never be my first priority console because it just does not have enough to offer.

 

[Netrigan]

I imagine that anyone particularly interested in Nintendo's first party games are already on board with Nintendo. And there's probably enough of them to make the console a fairly decent hit. And Nintendo fans will be happy that they finally get to play all the AAA multi-platform games that have tended to skip over the Wii.

But Mario and Zelda won't be enough to lure people like me, who have nothing particularly against Nintendo, but have already invested in two current gen consoles. They'll need some exclusive title outside the usual Nintendo franchises to bring in those players.

But the controller does look pretty cool. Don't know how good of a gaming controller it is, but it's certainly a novel concept.

 

[BirdBornAsBee]

They can earn more money from casual gamers anyway.

Also, Nintendo always have their own loyal fans and hardcore gamers. If you enjoy Zelda and Mario, chances are, you will buy Nintendo's next console. People like me who hates everything about Zelda will at most wait til it comes out and will only buy it if I have a lot of spare money.

 

[Megatheist]

I was under the impression that Nintendo didn't care. They just made what was fun and then anyone could play them without aiming towards any audience specifically.

 

[UmJammerSully]

I'd say if that if they could reel us in with some superb first-party games then the Wii-U might stand a chance of competing even this late in the game.

Sadly, I'm very skeptical that the Wii-U will have the key features required to get a lot of the hardcore-types interested, such as a real online system, DLC and acheivments. Only time will tell though.

EDIT: Imagine a Mario or Zelda game with acheivments. Crazy, huh?

 

[I forgot]

It's never too late unless you're the kind of gamer that holds petty grudges against companies (which I suggest you remove yourself from the gene pool).