Topic: The Wii U and next Gen: What can Nintendo do?

[Ian Sane]

The NES was effectively the Big Bang for Japanese videogame development.  Prior to that the Japanese videogame market was pretty much just arcades.  There was no Atari 2600 or Intellivision or Colecovision in Japan.  So all the best Japanese devs were young, hungry and creative back then.  I can see why one would want another crash to clear out the old dinosaurs.  But here's the problem: Nintendo is one of the dinosaurs.  They're trying to sell the Wii U on a cookie-cutter 2D Mario game and mini-game compilation.  While they're making better stuff than contemporaries like Sega and Square Enix, they're not really cutting it.  The Japanese gaming industry has just gone so far down the shitter that Nintendo is the best by merely being okay.  If there is a crash Nintendo is going down too.

Nintendo's creative output is so generic these days that they're either old men afraid to do anything but the safe bet or they're creatively bankrupt and are relying on shallow controller gimmicks to provide the illusion of a new experience.  Nintendo is not young, hungry and creative like the indies.  They are old corporate giants and if they survived a crash it would be entirely because of their good financial planning but they wouldn't be leading some new gaming revolution.  Don't confuse what Nintendo was (and realistically what Sega, Square, Capcom, Konami, etc. were) for what they currently are.  They are not the flagbearers of creativity and innovation in game design.  They're a conservative company that makes safe product for the mass market.

And what makes Microsoft and Sony any different

I didn't say they weren't.  Hell, they were never a young, hungry, creative videogame company.  They were already big corporations that joined the scene after others set the groundwork.

[Soren]

Maybe if they get their act together Nintendo and Wii U can make next Gen more user and consumer friendly. Because Microsoft sure isn't trying to do it with Xbox One.

[Bizzy_Fatso]

And what makes Microsoft and Sony any different

That's just it - they don't need to be different, because they have a bunch of 3rd party western developers that ARE different and that are hungry to develop games for their platforms.  If Microsoft puts out a great Halo game, then that's awesome - but if they only put out crap, XBox One owners can still count on Bethesda and Bioware and other creative powerhouses to deliver their best work on the system.  With the Wii U, it's looking more and more like owners will be completely dependent on Nintendo (or Sega *shudder*) to satiate their gaming desires, which is impossible given the varied tastes of gamers.

Think about trying to appeal to the next generation of young gamers (which every new console generation obviously needs to do) - how many 7-14 year olds are going to forego all sports and more mature games in order to play Mario, Sonic and Zelda, and how many of them have parents who would be willing to buy a Wii U in addition to one of the other expensive next-gen consoles?  Those characters don't have the nostalgic appeal for younger gamers that they have for us old farts - and all the 'cool kids' are going to want to play the latest Madden or Call of Duty.  Nintendo is in big trouble - big trouble indeed.

[NWR_insanolord]

Those are concerns, but at the same time a lot of that could be said about every Nintendo console since the N64. Nintendo has never had the best version of sports games, and has only once had the best FPS games. Their absence hurts, but it's not as huge of a deal as it might seem.

[pokepal148]

And what makes Microsoft and Sony any different

That's just it - they don't need to be different, because they have a bunch of 3rd party western developers that ARE different and that are hungry to develop games for their platforms.  If Microsoft puts out a great Halo game, then that's awesome - but if they only put out crap, XBox One owners can still count on Bethesda and Bioware and other creative powerhouses to deliver their best work on the system.  With the Wii U, it's looking more and more like owners will be completely dependent on Nintendo (or Sega *shudder*) to satiate their gaming desires, which is impossible given the varied tastes of gamers.

Think about trying to appeal to the next generation of young gamers (which every new console generation obviously needs to do) - how many 7-14 year olds are going to forego all sports and more mature games in order to play Mario, Sonic and Zelda, and how many of them have parents who would be willing to buy a Wii U in addition to one of the other expensive next-gen consoles?  Those characters don't have the nostalgic appeal for younger gamers that they have for us old farts - and all the 'cool kids' are going to want to play the latest Madden or Call of Duty.  Nintendo is in big trouble - big trouble indeed.

You say that as if this past gen wasn't completely flooded by western shooters on the PS3/360...

[Ceric]

We talking 7-14 year olds right?  From my experience they could care less for Sports and as a parent you bet I'm not letting my Son play anything rated M that I haven't vetted.

[pokepal148]

We talking 7-14 year olds right?  From my experience they could care less for Sports and as a parent you bet I'm not letting my Son play anything rated M that I haven't vetted.

i am close enough to that age group to no that neither of those things happened,

[nickmitch]

I think it's different when your parents are gamers. They're more likely to pay attention to the stuff and not just put every videogame in the same category.

[pokepal148]

but kids will find ways regardless...

[TJ Spyke]

but kids will find ways regardless...

Not at that age, and especially not if the parent isn't lazy and incompetent (unless they sneak off to someone else's house, but you can't control everything).

[pokepal148]

 as you get past ten yes at that age.  I remember in 7th grade people were making a big deal over having gotten GTA4. the closer you get to that age-group the more you find that the ESRB is a joke

[TJ Spyke]

GTA IV in 7th grade? Geez, that makes me feel old. I was in 7th grade in 1998/99, 3 years before GTA even became popular.

And this is why more parents should be responsible, there is no way in hell I would let my 12 year old kid play something as violent as GTA; and I would not let willingly let them hang out with kids whose parents would let them.

[Kytim89]

Nintendo should come out and declare to the gaming industry that it is okay to play used games on their systems.

[alegoicoe]

Nintendo should come out and declare to the gaming industry that it is okay to play used games on their systems.

That, and brag about how easy it is for indie developers to self publish titles on the system.

[Kytim89]

Nintendo should come out and declare to the gaming industry that it is okay to play used games on their systems.

That, and brag about how easy it is for indie developers to self publish titles on the system.

Set up a big trust fund for potential indie developers to to finance their games as a gesture of good will towards them for supporting your consoles.

[NWR_insanolord]

They should definitely court indie developers, and have been doing so significantly recently, but Sony's been doing that a lot lately as well so I'm not sure how effective a strategy it'll be for Nintendo.

[ShyGuy]

Indies are growing in capabilty. By the end of next gen, an Indie game will be A level quality from this gen.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Arguably, the Wii U is in a worse state now than the 3DS was at this same point in it's lifecycle. Perhaps Nintendo could announce a price drop some time in September or October. There would then be an even starker contrast between the price point of Wii U and the likely cost of Sony and Microsoft's new consoles. I mean, retailers have been cutting the price of the Wii U pretty much since it launched and it appears that US retailers are now following suit. I'd feel far happier about not having any significant third party support if I could buy the Wii U at a cheaper price point and think of it as my Nintendo platform.
 
From my own perspective, Nintendo need to either release a game that I can't life without (think Metroid Prime 4, Super Mario Galaxy 3, or a new AAA IP from Miyamoto) or they need to drop the price.

[alegoicoe]

Arguably, the Wii U is in a worse state now than the 3DS was at this same point in it's lifecycle. Perhaps Nintendo could announce a price drop some time in September or October. There would then be an even starker contrast between the price point of Wii U and the likely cost of Sony and Microsoft's new consoles. I mean, retailers have been cutting the price of the Wii U pretty much since it launched and it appears that US retailers are now following suit. I'd feel far happier about not having any significant third party support if I could buy the Wii U at a cheaper price point and think of it as my Nintendo platform.
 
From my own perspective, Nintendo need to either release a game that I can't life without (think Metroid Prime 4, Super Mario Galaxy 3, or a new AAA IP from Miyamoto) or they need to drop the price.

How about a price drop and a bunch of triple AAA games both from Nintendo and third parties, am sure Nintendo has something up their sleeve to increse both sales and game production now that all of the next gen systems have been announced.

[Bizzy_Fatso]

GTA IV in 7th grade? Geez, that makes me feel old. I was in 7th grade in 1998/99, 3 years before GTA even became popular.

And this is why more parents should be responsible, there is no way in hell I would let my 12 year old kid play something as violent as GTA; and I would not let willingly let them hang out with kids whose parents would let them.

I think you're forgetting what it was like to be a kid, or you lived a far more sheltered childhood than most of us did.  I am older than you, but I can remember playing Mortal Kombat on the Genesis as a kid and knowing that it was the better version because the SNES didn't have blood.  My friends and I also played the heck out of the 90s NHL games on Genesis, so sports games definitely resonate with a lot of kids as well.  The point I was making is having a diverse library is important, because the user base you are targeting is diverse.  Also, having M rated games, even if the kid can't get them, will make the console seem 'cool'; and being 'cool' is of utmost importance around that age.

[Bizzy_Fatso]

Those are concerns, but at the same time a lot of that could be said about every Nintendo console since the N64. Nintendo has never had the best version of sports games, and has only once had the best FPS games. Their absence hurts, but it's not as huge of a deal as it might seem.

True - but this generation is different in that they have 2 extremely capable competitors and they don't have any gimmicks that resonate with consumers like the Wii had.  Check out the overall platform stats:  http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/

Nintendo had extremely low sales for the Gamecube, and if they have another generation like that with the steadily rising cost of game development it puts them in a very bad position indeed.  If I were a Nintendo investor, after watching 2 botched console launches and what looks to be a terrible miscalculation for the Wii U on technical specs, features and marketing, I would be calling for Iwata to step down immediately.

[Fatty The Hutt]

I thought VGChartz was notorious for having shady stats. Best not to cite them as a source.

[ThePerm]

Nintendo has better specs in some regards to the other platforms

Wii U could have 2-3 ZMS units

[Pixelated Pixies]

How about a price drop and a bunch of triple AAA games both from Nintendo and third parties...

If that were the case then I'd be exceedingly happy about buying a Wii U. As it is though, I just don't see the point; and if I, a huge Nintendo fan, am not seeing the point, then clearly something enticing needs to be offered. Ideally I would like to see all the things you mention, but realistically I'd take any one of them at this point.

[Caterkiller]

as you get past ten yes at that age.  I remember in 7th grade people were making a big deal over having gotten GTA4. the closer you get to that age-group the more you find that the ESRB is a joke

7th grade when GTA4 came out? That explains everything.