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elmagicochrisg wrote:Awfully quiet here...

Any news?...

The longer Nintendo can stay quiet about Wii U information, the longer it will take Sony to copy them.

BurningDoom wrote:It was bigger and badder than any other console on the market at the time, easily.

And it still is...

BurningDoom wrote:I was thinking: Will the Wii U suffer the same in-betweener fate that the Dreamcast did?

When Dreamcast first hit, it was freaking HUGE! Everyone wanted one, and they were selling out left and right. It was bigger and badder than any other console on the market at the time, easily. But as we all know, PS2 came along not too long afterwards, and Dreamcast sales plummeted.

Will the Wii U have this same problem, you think?

The Wii U is much more powerful than the Wii. It's actually an improvement, unlike going from the Gamecube to the Wii, which was basically the same hardware. Yeah, they will still be one generation behind compared to Sony and Microsoft, but at least it's a generation ahead of their previous console.

The PS2 beat the Dreamcast because it was a cheap DVD player. If it couldn't play DVD movies, the Dreamcast would have probably won, or at the very least, had a full and moderately successful life.

But what's the next "gimmick" to sell a system? The motion-control craze has died down. Effective 3D gaming hasn't really developed as far as it should yet...

Does Nintendo have something up their sleeve that we don't know about?

Opa Opa wrote:But what's the next "gimmick" to sell a system? The motion-control craze has died down. Effective 3D gaming hasn't really developed as far as it should yet...

Does Nintendo have something up their sleeve that we don't know about?

Yes, it's called being Nintendo, not Sega. It's called Mario and Zelda and Metroid.

MrPopo wrote:Yes, it's called being Nintendo, not Sega. It's called Mario and Zelda and Metroid.

That just reminds me of an old Yu Suzuki interview:

1UP: Final question. Many years ago there was a newspaper advertisement promoting a "Virtua Fighter vs. Tekken." Was that concept ever supposed to become a game? Do you think a Virtua Fighter vs. Tekken game would work and if not, what franchises would you pair up?
Yu S.: A long time ago we did a promotion with Virtua Fighter and Tekken characters. As a promotion and advertisement to get people's attention, I think it was a success and was good. But, it's not really my style and I don't like to mix games. I'm a purist. In my opinion, the only time you mix and match is when there are no new ideas and mixing is the last resort. So, it's not a very good thing. As long as there are new ideas, I'd rather prioritize working on new ideas.
1UP: Then how do you rationalize Fighter's Megamix?
YS: [Fighter's Megamix director, Hiroshi] Kataoka likes that stuff.

Man oh man, I so want to post here about my opinions, but I know that somebody will get mad. Oh well, it's the interwebz, right?


The Wii-U will fail. I'm a huge Nintendo fanboy, and I will buy one on day 1. But it will not see the same success as the Wii. I know that Nintendo has the bank roll to be able to withstand a failure like this (unlike Sega of the late 90's) and they'll be OK. It's just that a lot of people that bought Wii's are..... well... over it. The majority of people that I know who bought Wii's for the gimmicky-ness (which is honestly about 80% of all Wii sales) have started to upgrade. The Wii made them gamers, now they want the HD and the Call of Duty, and when Microsoft made the Kinect work, it drove a nail into the coffin of the current Wii. I know a bunch of people that bought 360’s with Kinect and sold their Wii’s.

Nintendo should have came out with the Wii-U, 2 years ago. The people that upgraded aren’t going to buy a new console now. And the people who haven’t upgraded probably won’t. The hardcore will buy it of course, but like I said before, the hardcore only makes up what? 20% of the Wii sales?

Now there is a chance, that the Wii-U will be the HD upgrade that people are needing. It will (supposedly) have 3rd party Call of Duty etc. support. I think that, given Nintendo’s past, they will be watered down alternate versions of what you get on the PS3 and 360. And if Microsoft announces the 720 (or whatever) at the same E3 that Nintendo gives us the details on the Wii-U (which I’m sure they are going to) people will wait.

I just think that Nintendo waited too long. They had the market cornered, and then they waited and dropped the ball. If the Wii-U had launched 2 years ago, Nintendo would be hammering hard on Sony and Microsoft. I honestly think that it is too late now. Sad but true. So many people have dusty old Wii’s sitting on the shelf that haven’t been played in years. I find myself playing games on the Dolphin Emulator, if ever.

I want so much for Nintendo to succeed. I need more Zelda, Mario, and Metroid. But can the company sustain their “empire” with just 1st party franchises? I don’t really think so. They could copy the Kinect I suppose, but most people are already buying it, and it might be too late. The 3DS has had such lack luster sales, that Nintendo had to drop the price significantly, and the Wii has started to suffer a similar fate. ($115 for a new Wii console) From the sounds of what I’ve read, they aren’t going to release it by E3, and I don’t think it would have helped much even if they did.

^^
What makes you think the Kinect is doing well? It had a good launch but thats about it. Most games that are released on the wii and for the kinect the wii outsells the 360.
Also what makes you think wii-u ports will be watered down PS3 and XB360 games? I can see them being watered down ports from the ps4 and 720, if released soon.

The Wii U will be one generation behind Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo doesn't make games for Sony or Microsoft. That alone, is reason enough to buy one. Maybe it won't be completely destroyed with DLC either, although it is certainly possible.

^^

good points made guys, but you aren't the demographic that Nintendo sells to. Like I said, we make up only about 20% of the Wii sales currently. All of the little old ladies make up the other 80%.

If I'm wrong on those numbers, then a whole lot more of you own Wii Fit than I was initially thinking........


I'm merely talking about the fact that the grandmas aren't going to buy it. The ones that wanted an upgrade, bought it already in a 360 or a PS3. The rest don't care. Nintendo hasn't shown anything nearly as innovative as the original Wii mote was, so again, no one is going to jump on the wagon that isn't already. Does that make sense where I'm coming from? Again, I'm not trying to talk down the Wii in any way. I love my Wii. I'm just talking numbers and trends. I'm generally really good at it, so I like to write out my opinion. The Wii-U is going to be little more than WiiHD, and it should have been out in 2008. It just isn't relavent anymore.

Now, having said that, Nintendo could pull a fast one, and release the Wii-U with hardware on par with something that Sony or Microsoft are planning. They may have the crazy peripheral that none of us know about yet, and it will blow us all away. However, Nintendo is known for playing it safe. They aren't going to want to lose money on the hardware (like the other guys do at first) meaning that they aren't going to innovate in the hardware dept. I think they are going to build WiiHD, and that is it. Most people aren't going to care, which I think is unfortunate.