Topic: Why did Nintendo make the Wii[U] a carbon copy of the Wii?

[BranDonk Kong]

We had 5 YLoD PS3s come in today alone.

[ThePerm]

idk, i didnt like Fallon as a host at first, but he still has his SNL roots and has done some hilarious stuff. He isn't perfect as a host, but he'd getting better.

[TJ Spyke]

I wasn't a fan of him on SNL either. Sometimes he does stuff I find funny, usually not. It's like Seth Rogen, I don't understand why people like him since he is so unfunny.

[BranDonk Kong]

I don't watch Late night that often, but I think Jimmy Fall on actually does a pretty great job with the show.

[NWR_insanolord]

He sucked early on, but so did Conan back in the day. I'm not saying Fallon will be as good as Conan, but I'm sure it takes time to adjust to the demands of doing a show like that. I said when they hired him that he seemed well-suited to being a late night talk show host, and he seems to be settling in.

[BranDonk Kong]

The first couple weeks were pretty dreadful, and the whole Jay Leno fiasco hurt things as well, but what he does is very different from what Conan did (does), but it's still miles better than The Tonight Show.

[NWR_insanolord]

That's not really a high bar. It's like calling a new Zelda game amazing compared to the CD-i games.

[ThePerm]

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2012/01/goat-leg-greg-with-ewan-macgregor/

i know i laughed my ass off, mostly because of Ewen McGregor, but still that this skit ends up on the show is meaningful

[TJ Spyke]

LOL, no. Better than Leno? Leno is not bad. And I thought Fallon was a bad choice when they announced him. Meh, I guess some like him (though I find him to be the 2nd worse late night host, only ahead of Letterman).

[NWR_insanolord]

It's pretty dumb, but the show justified its existence for me when Jimmy did a Bob Dylan impression to sing the Charles in Charge theme song. I just found that hilarious for whatever reason. Neil Young's Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme was pretty good too.

Leno is not bad.

My god, you have such terrible taste.

[BranDonk Kong]

Jay Leno is the Jay Leno of late night television.

[Uncle_Optimus]

I can understand why they chose to ride with the name Wii U, they worked hard to establish the "Wii" brand and were very successful at it. The success of the product is the key...this is why we don't see "super" versions of Saturn or the Pinto, for example.
"Wii", though a couple years out of its hey-day, commands instant recognition and (Nintendo is banking) elicits positive feelings within target consumers. It is their play at the expanded audience that they hope to recapture, the customers they MUST convince as they already know their relatively small core audience will purchase regardless of the branding and they know the non-faithful core will not be their lifeline with two firmly entrenched competitors soaking up that market segment.

Additionally, the derivation is logical along the lines that the Super NES followed its 8-bit brother. The Wii U especially, while being a separate console, exists very much in the same vein as its predecessor, right down to compatibility with all of the original Wii's games and peripherals. This is another strong selling point and another good reason to tie the new console's branding closely.

As to why the console itself looks so damn alike...ugh, ya got me there. Oh man, Right down to the same colour and practically the same shape and size... maybe their market research concluded that small, white and boring is what Apple would do? I dunno. (I advocate black, myself, especially if they really want it to "blend into" the rest of the living room rig.)

[ShyGuy]

Fallon's musical spoofs are his redeeming factor. Best one is the Doors doing Reading Rainbow

[ThePerm]

LOL, thanks to google I just watched that. That was the other thing i was going to say his musical stuff is always good. He obviously has a good sense of music, who the else would pick the Roots as his house band. Also, as far as Leno is concerned if I ever get famous and I'm doing my media tour...he's the only late night host i wont go on. Which, is a reversal because he used to be my favorite. The last time he was funny was like 1998ish.

[Adrock]

I get wanting to keep the Wii name, even if Nintendo made it more difficult by branding several products Wii-something. Even with keeping the Wii name, I think it could have been clearer that the console is brand new and not for the Wii. Wii 2 is probably the best choice. WiiHD kind of downplays how important the GamePad is by focusing more on the HD aspect. NextWii maybe?

As to why the console itself looks so damn alike...ugh, ya got me there. Oh man, Right down to the same colour and practically the same shape and size... maybe their market research concluded that small, white and boring is what Apple would do? I dunno. (I advocate black, myself, especially if they really want it to "blend into" the rest of the living room rig.

This is the one I cannot figure out for the life of me. Why? Why do this to themselves? Even if the GamePad is the "face" of the console, just design the actual console in a way that's inconspicuous, that simply gets out of the way. Nintendo just needs a box that's not distracting (purple lunchbox though the box itself was excellent) and doesn't look like their previous console. That could be anything.

[SixthAngel]

You can only make a white box so many different ways.  Unless they change the color, which I don't think they will or should, the box will look similar unless unnecessary ridges and stuff are added to it.

This is way blown out of proportion and I don't see it having much brand confusion at all when it comes out.  Jimmy Falon makes a stupid mistake and a cnn editor changes a correct article.  This is exactly like when someone buys a ps3 game and wonders why it won't work on ps2 (which did in fact happen).  I see more people saying others will confuse it than people actually confusing.  There isn't even an official release date for the thing yet.

[Caterkiller]

You can only make a white box so many different ways.  Unless they change the color, which I don't think they will or should, the box will look similar unless unnecessary ridges and stuff are added to it.

This is way blown out of proportion and I don't see it having much brand confusion at all when it comes out.  Jimmy Falon makes a stupid mistake and a cnn editor changes a correct article.  This is exactly like when someone buys a ps3 game and wonders why it won't work on ps2 (which did in fact happen).  I see more people saying others will confuse it than people actually confusing.  There isn't even an official release date for the thing yet.

You know I remember the same thing happening at the start of this generation with the 360. A friend of mine had an X-Box, saw a boxing game for the 360 and asked me if he could play it on his X-Box. Things like that happen all the time, but in the end it will ultimately mean zilch for Nintendo's console or anyone else's.

[Adrock]

After a few months, any confusion will probably be ironed out as the console establishes itself. Going into the holiday season, it could hurt Nintendo. I think concern is that these are hurdles Nintendo is putting in front of themselves to jump over. Who does that benefit? The expanded audience that Nintendo worked so hard to win over has never gone through a generation transition before. They're the wild card. These are the same people Nintendo didn't trust to press buttons or remember a product that was more than 1 syllable. Nintendo handled this in a way 6 years ago that many disagreed with, but in a way that ultimately worked. It's weird that Nintendo would now do the opposite of that.

[vinniebrock]

i think they wanted the Wii U to look boring on purpose, they're obviously going to push the GamePad in your face until our noses bleed. I think they should have made the console look more interesting, at least something that makes it stand out as its own thing, but I sort of understand the thinking.


Also, Jimmy Fallon's impressions are the only thing funny about him, and the only thing he doesn't ruin by breaking out in laughter... which is odd.

[Luigi Dude]

People have to remember there's a reason why Nintendo is launching the system with NSMB U, Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land.  These are all sequels or spiritual sequels to some of the Wii's most popular games that sold over 20 million each.  Most of the people who who bought the Wii is guaranteed to be interested in at least one of these games.  Well when they go to buy one of these this holiday they'll find out the Wii U is a new system.

Or they'll get home and wonder why their Wii isn't playing NSMB U and Wii Fit U, call the Nintendo hotline and hear Iwata laugh at them.

[Kairon]

People have to remember there's a reason why Nintendo is launching the system with NSMB U, Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land.  These are all sequels or spiritual sequels to some of the Wii's most popular games that sold over 20 million each.

Yikes, those are some big guns and potentially really evergreen sellers if Nintendo can hit their mark. What other titles of that sales-scale are left? Mario Kart?

[Mop it up]

What other titles of that sales-scale are left? Mario Kart?

Yeah, Mario Kart Wii and DS both sold over 20 million, as did Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play. If you count all versions of Nintendogs as one game, that also sold over 20 million. The first Brain Age game came close to 20 at 18 million.

[Kairon]

What other titles of that sales-scale are left? Mario Kart?

Yeah, Mario Kart Wii and DS both sold over 20 million, as did Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play. If you count all versions of Nintendogs as one game, that also sold over 20 million. The first Brain Age game came close to 20 at 18 million.

Yeah, it sounds like Nintendo's leading with their biggest evergreen titles, which makes sense if they want to sell them continually throughout the entire Wii U lifetime. I personally imagine Mario Kart in 2012, and MAYBE a sports collection?

[Evan_B]

People have to remember there's a reason why Nintendo is launching the system with NSMB U, Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land.  These are all sequels or spiritual sequels to some of the Wii's most popular games that sold over 20 million each.  Most of the people who who bought the Wii is guaranteed to be interested in at least one of these games.  Well when they go to buy one of these this holiday they'll find out the Wii U is a new system.

Or they'll get home and wonder why their Wii isn't playing NSMB U and Wii Fit U, call the Nintendo hotline and hear Iwata laugh at them.

Very astute. And they have Pikmin 3 to satiate the people who don't like these titles. Even though each of them is looking pretty nice, even from a "casual" standpoint. I really think Nintendo's trying to make every game have a little bit more "gamey". Wii Fit U, Nintendoland...

[Uncle_Optimus]

People have to remember there's a reason why Nintendo is launching the system with NSMB U, Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land.  These are all sequels or spiritual sequels to some of the Wii's most popular games that sold over 20 million each.

Nitpicking, but I suggest they release Wii Fit U a little later...say after the New Year when plenty of people will be seeking ways to meet their latest set of resolutions. Boom, trumpet the heck out of the new and svelte-ifying Wii Fit. Promise Hot bods => Hotter profits :p

Yikes, those are some big guns and potentially really evergreen sellers if Nintendo can hit their mark. What other titles of that sales-scale are left? Mario Kart?