Topic: Nintendo Regrets Wii Self-Marketing

[ShyGuy]

The only music I listen to is Lady Gaga and Rebecca Black. Screw any other band, they are all mediocre.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think the first sentence in Broodwars' post is the key, but he had to go and ruin it by getting all condescending.

Play what you want to play; that's going to be different things for different people. As long as you're happy with what you're doing, you're good.

[ShyGuy]

I reserve the right to recommend good games.

[Peachylala]

(plus, E3 2008 "happened")

That was three years ago, people seriously need to get over that.

I love you Nintendo, but come on... Step up your game this time around. I'm tired of Microsoft and Sony getting all the 3rd party action.

All that third party action doesn't always mean success. Capcom, hint hint.

[broodwars]

(plus, E3 2008 "happened")

That was three years ago, people seriously need to get over that.

I have, but it was my reason at the time for going multi-console, a decision I haven't regretted in the least since.

[Chozo Ghost]

(plus, E3 2008 "happened")

That was three years ago, people seriously need to get over that.

I have, but it was my reason at the time for going multi-console, a decision I haven't regretted in the least since.

Not even after factoring in recent events?

[broodwars]

(plus, E3 2008 "happened")

That was three years ago, people seriously need to get over that.

I have, but it was my reason at the time for going multi-console, a decision I haven't regretted in the least since.

Not even after factoring in recent events?

Nope.  There are just so many more experiences available to you when you have more than one console, and aside from the occasional issue my time with my other two consoles has been great as a whole.

[Stogi]

E3 2008 was awesome. If it wasn't for that show, this would have never been made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XR7LaJLLf8

[KDR_11k]

I dunno how much marketing alone could have helped the Wii's diminishing performance. The lack of games and people getting bored with the waggle gimmick are things that advertising alone really doesn't solve.

I have no idea why they don't realize that. No games = no sales.

[Ceric]

E3 2008 was awesome. If it wasn't for that show, this would have never been made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XR7LaJLLf8

I had just watched that and I forgot just how bad that conference was.

[Ian Sane]

E3 2008 was like a wake up call for Nintendo.  They seemed legitimately surprised and upset that their conference went over so poorly.  If Project Cafe is as core gamer friendly as it is rumoured to be I wouldn't be surprised if E3 2008 inspired that.  In retrospect that was the point where Nintendo became pigeonholed as the casual company.  Core gamers interpreted that E3 showing as Nintendo demonstrating that they only cared about casuals and non-gamers.

But it appears that Nintendo did not want the Wii to be the casual machine and its current image and reputation is largely an accident.  They wanted it to be for everyone but didn't realize that the concessions they made to attract non-gamers turned core gamers off.  The Wii is regarded as a casual console and Iwata didn't want it to be that way and so he looks at the way the system was marketed as a cause for that.  It is not the only cause by a long shot but it did play a part.

Nintendo really did seem bothered after E3 2008 that Wii Music went over like a fart in church.  There was a real "oh ****, this wasn't supposed to happen" vibe coming from them.

The one thing above all else that Nintendo never seems to get is that you can never truly make something for everyone.  On the N64 they wanted to make "everyone" games so they made their games family friendly and became known as the kiddy company.  On the Wii they wanted to make "everyone" games and also wanted to expand gaming to non-gamers so they made games that were accessible to everyone and became known as the casual company.  They fail to realize that not everyone is cool with the lowest common denominator.  Wii Music is certainly accessible to everyone but it is not in any way INTERESTING to everyone and that is their mistake.  They never could understand that teenagers and young adults that wanted to play Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid did not want to play colourful happy-go-lucky games and that failure continued with the Wii where they did not understand that gamers that wanted to play Gears of War or Halo did not want simplified mini-game compilations with novelty controls.

To truly appeal to everyone one must have have a variety of games that appeal to different demographics.  You cannot rely on "one-size-fits-all" games as that will only attract the lowest common denominator.  I think Nintendo clearly recognizes that they're doing SOMETHING wrong but I'm not sure if they understand that THIS is what they are doing wrong.

Of course there is nothing wrong with making Wii Music.  The mistake is slotting it in the Christmas "spot" and expecting all demographics to go nuts over it.

[Ceric]

You know I really like to hear something from someone who was at E3 2008 and talked with Nintendo after the press conference during.  What their vibe was and how the big personal was taking it.

[Chozo Ghost]

I dunno how much marketing alone could have helped the Wii's diminishing performance. The lack of games and people getting bored with the waggle gimmick are things that advertising alone really doesn't solve.

I have no idea why they don't realize that. No games = no sales.

It is possible that they know about the lack of games, but Iwata may not want to admit that because back when the Wii first launched he made very specific promises that there wasn't going to be a game drought this time and that Nintendo was making efforts to prevent that. Well, we have a games drought now despite those promises. So he may just be trying to divert the blame over to marketing because the real reason is too embarrassing.

[NWR_insanolord]

If you have the nearly nonexistent level of third party support that the Wii has, there are going to be droughts. No one company can sustain a system all by itself without gaps. I'm not letting Nintendo off the hook for the lack of third party support, but there really isn't anything they can do about it at this point.