Games Thirst – Amazing Life
Wii U has been a slump lately, and Nintendo’s been trying to save the day by giving away free dev kits. But even with its latest efforts, Games Thirst’s Tim Ceaser reckons that it’s too late for the console, and although it won’t flop like the Virtual Boy, Wii U won’t be the blockbuster hit is predecessor was.
The Wii U has been out for a few months now and so far the gaming world seems to have already shrugged it off with an indifferent “Meh.”
I know that personally I have no great compulsion to go out and buy one. There simply aren’t the games for it. I mean the Nintendo games will be and are great of course, but what else? A lot of old ports that are already on systems that I currently own.
I mean when the Gamecube came out at least it had Rogue Leader, so far the Wii U has nothing that is attracting me to it.
The Wii had a gimmick and that gimmick paid off big time, no it didn’t excite the average gamer, but it did get a lot of other people into games, people like your mom and your grandma and your baby sister. This made owning a Wii a lot more socially acceptable, playing on a Wii was a more social activity that you could do with your friends and family, and sure it started off with Wii Sports, but eventually it branched out into Mario Kart and the very fun multiplayer of New Mario Bros Wii. Soon everyone had or still has a Wii. Until the company left and the Wii sat there, barely getting used.
Now Nintendo has released the Wii U and I’m sure that many people are not even sure what it is. Is it an upgrade to the Wii? Is it a new console? Is it just the ridiculous touch screen controller?
I think that many of the people who bought a Wii to be more “active” are not interested in the Wii U, it has nothing that they want, they don’t care about improved graphics or a huge touch screen controller, they’re happy with Wii Sports and Mario Party.
And the hardcore gamers who might have picked up a Wii for games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime (buy Metroid Prime trilogy if you can! Fantastic!) likely already have a 360 or PS3. With no big exclusive games (aside from Bayonetta 2) in the pipeline the Wii U doesn’t really attract them either. Why buy a new console to play Call of Duty on Wii U when my PS3 works just fine?
So basically, who is the Wii U’s audience? It does not have the sheer raw power to take 360 and PS3 fans, nor does it have a new gimmick that attracts the casual crowd. (Yes I know that the Wii U has more power than the 360 and PS3[?] but so far the games have not shown a huge improvement so extra power seems to be a moot point).
I think that Nintendo has painted themselves into a corner with the Wii U, I doubt that it will bankrupt the company, it definitely won’t flop like the Virtual Boy, but it will not reach the lofty heights where the Wii once stood.
