I just got back from an errand at the grocery store, and on my way back I decided to stop at my local GameStop and put down my $53 (including tax) pre-order on The Last Story (there's been so much coming out lately that I've been putting the pre-order off).
The following is a real conversation I
just had with one of my local GameStop employees (a perky 20-something lady, if you want to know). I swear I didn't make any of it up.
Clerk: "Hi! Welcome to GameStop! How can I help you?"
Me: "I'd like to put a pre-order down on "The Last Story" for the Wii."
Clerk: "Did you want the Wii or Wii U version?"
Me: "It's
only a Wii game."
Clerk: "Ah yes, I see."
Me: *I make an offhand derogatory comment about the Wii U.*
Clerk: "Actually, we were just talking a moment ago and maybe you can answer something for us: is the Wii U a peripheral for the Wii or its own console?"
Me: *sigh* "Well, that just about sums up Nintendo's awful E3 press conference, doesn't it? It's its own console. It's Nintendo's next system."
Clerk: "Really? Why would they do that? I love my Wii. Just Dance is my favorite game."
*Clerk rings up my pre-order, and I leave...mentally shaking my head.*
Congratulations, Nintendo. Even GameStop employees, it seems, don't yet understand what the Wii U
is (and considering that CNN article everyone was talking about after the Press Conference, they're hardly the only ones). Bravo.
Its not enough that Nintendo makes a game you want when there is nothing like it anywhere else, they need to make you feel good too by pretending it is hugely important compared to getting big third parties with graphics and their planned biggest title.
It's Nintendo's usual B.S.: release one of these games with no sign that Nintendo actually cares about the title, and then when it doesn't sell especially well they use it as an excuse to not release more niche titles people actually care about. I can just imagine Project P-100 selling less-than-stellar numbers (I'm not going to buy it, even if I do buy a Wii U. It looks like a Brawler, and those don't generally interest me) then turning to us and saying: "Sorry, but you guys didn't buy Project P-100, so we don't think you'll buy *insert AAA Nintendo niche game here* either." Why not? That's pretty much what happened with the Operation Rainfall titles after Metroid Other M and Sin & Punishment 2 sold below expectations.