Is the Wii U going to be a flop?

[Violent By Design]

The Wii-U is a terrible name, when it was announced even a lot of gamers were confused on whether it was a new console or not.


I have friends who are my age (mid 20s) that have no idea what the Wii-U is.


With that being said, I think it'll be a successful system, but nowhere near the financial success of the Wii.

[Menegrothx]

I remain convinced that the Virtual Boy could have done at least a little better than it did if only they hadn't been so hasty in canning it. The fact that it's remembered a bit more fondly these days and has a very active homebrew community backs up this idea.

What? How many homebrew games have been released for the system? I had no idea. It would be so cool to play a game that uses the system to it's full extent.

[Retrodude]

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/news/

Fans of the system congregate here. The most recent release is Faceball, which was previously an incomplete prototype of an official game that was never released and has now been finished by homebrewers. Enjoy!

[Xeogred]

Eh, as arrogant as it sounds, I think you have to be pretty damn stupid to not realise the Wii U is an entirely new system. I laughed when people asked if you could play SNES games on a NES and I laugh now.

This applies to every other hobby. Games aren't on the same scale of importance as say whole grain vs white grain for example, and people mix those up all the time. People mistaking the Wii U for another Wii is a minor fallacy at worst. Yes, even ditching the Dreamcast in favour of the PS2 was another harmless fallacy, life goes on etc.

There are still people who are butthurt about SACD, Betamax and tons of other electronic formats that 99.999999% of organisms on the planet give zero shit about.

Yeah, plus I think the branding/marketing didn't separate it enough from the original Wii.

Didn't we have some ex-Gamestop employee's here who mentioned it was common for the average customer to confuse the 3DS with the regular DS? Can you really blame them when the DS had 2-3 revisions previously? I can see the Wii U being a similar case here. It sounds the same, it looks the same, it uses the same peripherals, etc. I'm sure this is hurting them somewhat.

Plus yeah, dumbest console name ever.

[Hazerd]

I didnt get a Wii till 2011 /shrug

[Balasubbie]

Didn't we have some ex-Gamestop employee's here who mentioned it was common for the average customer to confuse the 3DS with the regular DS? Can you really blame them when the DS had 2-3 revisions previously? I can see the Wii U being a similar case here. It sounds the same, it looks the same, it uses the same peripherals, etc. I'm sure this is hurting them somewhat.

I've experienced this first hand whilst hanging around a Gamestop, browsing. Someone was in on behalf of their kids, and just couldn't get their head around the idea. Badgered the clerk for a good chunk of time:

-'Will it still play 2D games?'

-'Yes, it's compatible with all DS games.'

-'Will the 2D games play in 3D?'

-'No, the DS games play as they would on a DS'

-'But you said it was compatible with all DS games, but they're not 3D.'

It carried on for a little while. It struck me how daunting it must be to go into one of these shops as a member of the last generation who didn't grow up with gaming, or those who've just no interest. The jargon must seem alien altogether. The clerk was very understanding and patient. I only mention this as it's a bit of a rarity in this particular outlet, which has since closed.

[dsheinem]

we've discussed this ad nauseum in the Wii U thoughts thread. Do we really need another?

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=39608

[RyaNtheSlayA]

we've discussed this ad nauseum in the Wii U thoughts thread. Do we really need another?

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=39608

No

[BurningDoom]

Flop is a funny word.

Wii. Flop.

[disorderlyvision]

we've discussed this ad nauseum in the Wii U thoughts thread. Do we really need another?

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=39608

Isn't it kind of the point of a discussion forum... to discuss things? Sorry I didn't comb through a 124 page thread to see if it was mentioned. I did a thread title search. There was not a thread discussing this particular topic... but thank you for your stellar contribution.


Back on topic, those comparing it to the PS3's initial slow sales Would you say Nintendo has a bigger obstacle to overcome, considering the branding issue? I didn't follow the PS3's release but I assume people knew it was an entirely new console from the PS2.