CVG: Nintendo Must Reinvent Itself

Vapor

Vapor

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Sep 11, 2013
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http://www.computerandvideogames.com/446277/blog/nintendo-must-reinvent-itself/
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The article is pretty good. I know that I stopped buying Nintendo products as soon as the Gamecube came out, and it was because of the controller.

I remember back in 2001 I went to Bestbuy to check out the new Gamecube. I saw it on demo at a kiosk and the game at the time was Luigi's haunted mansion...flashlight action? Really? After coming off of hours and hours and months of playing time with my N64...the gamecube looked inferior. Not to forget the ridiculously childish-looking controller. I was sad, it was the first time I walked away from a Nintendo product. I had owned an NES, Gameboy, SNES and N64. I wasn't much into handhelds, the gameboy was for family trips, otherwise I'd always bring my Nintendo console with me and hook it up to a hotel TV.

When the Wii came out, I thought maybe they were going to bring back classic Nintendo games and gameplay, but again they failed, motion-tech was the priority. Just to simply play the new super mario bros required damn motion-tech.

WiiU gets unveiled and it's even more motion-tech and now the controller is a freaking tablet...why?

I'd buy a new Nintendo console in a heartbeat if they just went back to their roots and created a console that has a normal controller with A,B,X,Y buttons and throw some shoulder buttons and triggers on it and two analog sticks and a d-pad, I'm sold. Give me back my classic mario games and leave the motion-tech as an option, not a requirement.

That same day I played the Gamecube kiosk was the same day I bought an Xbox not knowing anything about Xbox...simply looking at the back of the Xbox retail box and seeing a brief description about the game Halo Combat Evolved. From that day forward, I never looked back at Nintendo.
 
I love how the Wii is omitted from that chart like it never existed. Nintendo won last gen folks, get over it. Also, they have a normal controller which you can use, both on the Wii U and the Wii. Plus, you missed out on New Super Mario Bros Wii. The Wiimote was used like an old NES controller. It was pretty effing magical. Even used it that way for the Smash Bros game on the Wii. Maybe you should try doing a little more research into what Nintendo offers. Considering what they have in the pipeline, Nintendo software sales are probably gonna pick up much more in 2014.
 
Agreed, where is the Wii on this list? Does't help prove the point so they omit it?
 
They won last gen but lightning won't strike twice for them. They could be about to do a SEGA and knock themselves out the hardware picture.

Maybe they should have borrowed another Sega prototype like they did with the Wii mote ;)

But what ever happens a console cycle with just MS and Sony would not be a great thing.
 
I don't think they'll be knocked out of the hardware ring at all. That's just attention grabbing madness in my opinion. Worst case scenario, the Wii U ends up being similar to the Gamecube. I mean, 2014 is looking to be a much better year for them in terms of a line-up alone. Bayonetta 2, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and the upcoming Monolith Software game. Odds are that they'll be releasing another game or two before the year is out. Let's not forget that Nintendo also have legs when it comes to sales and stuff like Mario 3D is probably gonna sell more in 2014.
 
It might be similar to the GC but worse though. Sales are sluggish. Still if the software is there, players don't need to worry too much about Nintendo's problems.
 
sharkboy1200 said:
I love how the Wii is omitted from that chart like it never existed. Nintendo won last gen folks, get over it. Also, they have a normal controller which you can use, both on the Wii U and the Wii. Plus, you missed out on New Super Mario Bros Wii. The Wiimote was used like an old NES controller. It was pretty effing magical. Even used it that way for the Smash Bros game on the Wii. Maybe you should try doing a little more research into what Nintendo offers. Considering what they have in the pipeline, Nintendo software sales are probably gonna pick up much more in 2014.
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The normal controller wasn't compatible with all Wii games, the classic one as it was called.

As for New Super Mario Bros, you still had to tilt the wiimote and move it around to do things in the game...that falls back to motion tech gaming, I hated it.
 
I think Nintendo should go 3rd party and maybe do handhelds for the sake of their business. However handhelds I think are going to go away as well with tablets taking over that market.

The only bad thing is we need more than just two competitors to keep the industry moving forward.
 
Vapor said:
The normal controller wasn't compatible with all Wii games, the classic one as it was called.

As for New Super Mario Bros, you still had to tilt the wiimote and move it around to do things in the game...that falls back to motion tech gaming, I hated it.
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You aren't doing anything straining at all, you'r tilting a horizontal controller left and right. It worked perfectly and added to the game. Anybody on the planet can handle a tilt and missing out on the game because of that is kind of lame in my opinion.
 
The chart ignores Wii which scored about 100M sales. Odd.

Never the less, Nintendo's biggest obstacle is it's image and games. They can come out with the best specs, best online functionality, best controller everything. But if they are going to promote the system and themselves as.... "Hey everyone, here's another Mario game and a Yoshi Kart Racing game too", they will fail. All that does is reinforce the system as another family fun kiddie sytstem and most gamers and third party devs will avoid it or perhaps (just like Wii and Wii U), toss them a port and hope it gets some sales. They know perfectly well it won't sell as well as an MS, Sony or PC version but for sake of getting 100,000 quick port sales, it may be worth doing.

Gamers have changed over time. People didn't buy up Wii because Super Mario. They bought it because the motion gaming fad spread and everyone from 10 year olds to 80 year olds watching Oprah wanted to try it. It's not like the old says where Nintendo systems had big third party support and cartoony platformers were the genre to get with Mario at launch being the draw.

What do people buy up and play the most now? Shooters. EA Sports still do well. Grand Theft Auto. Games that sell well and have lasting appeal. And the general trend is more realism and grittiness, which is the complete opposite of generations past where it was big head baseball and arcade racers and vertical shooters. And also the complete opposite of everything Nintendo makes.

I'm not saying Nintendo should give up on big sellers like Mario and Zelda. Keep on doing them. But some reason they don't want to branch out like MS or Sony.
 
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sharkboy1200 said:
I love how the Wii is omitted from that chart like it never existed. Nintendo won last gen folks, get over it. Also, they have a normal controller which you can use, both on the Wii U and the Wii. Plus, you missed out on New Super Mario Bros Wii. The Wiimote was used like an old NES controller. It was pretty effing magical. Even used it that way for the Smash Bros game on the Wii. Maybe you should try doing a little more research into what Nintendo offers. Considering what they have in the pipeline, Nintendo software sales are probably gonna pick up much more in 2014.
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Yup, that was my first thought when i saw the chart. Nintendo won last gen and positioned themselves for the future. It doesn't matter what the Wii U ends up doing. Microsoft won last gen in terms of gaining market share but any real gamer can tip their cap to Nintendo and admit that the Wii dominated last gen.

People are so shortsighted. Nintendo doesn't take a risk on the hardware. They're making their money through the software. They're not going anywhere. Plain and simple. Omg, the Wii U isn't going to sell like the Xbox One/PS4. Abandon ship! :laugh:
 
sharkboy1200 said:
I love how the Wii is omitted from that chart like it never existed. Nintendo won last gen folks, get over it. Also, they have a normal controller which you can use, both on the Wii U and the Wii. Plus, you missed out on New Super Mario Bros Wii. The Wiimote was used like an old NES controller. It was pretty effing magical. Even used it that way for the Smash Bros game on the Wii. Maybe you should try doing a little more research into what Nintendo offers. Considering what they have in the pipeline, Nintendo software sales are probably gonna pick up much more in 2014.
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An obvious omission, but for good reason.

The Wii was by no means success because gamers loved it. It was a success because of a particular Wii-mote gimmick that became an international phenomenon with the casual audience, not because it was a good gaming console. Had it released the exact same games, but had been a controller based console like all the others, I have no doubt we would see numbers closer to the GameCube or Wii U.

That said, I think the chart is still relevant in terms of how gamers view Nintendo home consoles.
 
Lol. They left out the Wii on purpose. And they are comparing the life-to-date sold units of legacy consoles to that of the one-year-old Wii U. Despite how right the article is, that chart is a sin and must be cleansed from the Earth.
 
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Soldier Gryphon said:
An obvious omission, but for good reason.

The Wii was by no means success because gamers loved it. It was a success because of a particular Wii-mote gimmick that became an international phenomenon with the casual audience, not because it was a good gaming console. Had it released the exact same games, but had been a controller based console like all the others, I have no doubt we would see numbers closer to the GameCube or Wii U.

That said, I think the chart is still relevant in terms of how gamers view Nintendo home consoles.
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That's a what-if though. If you look at the Wii U right now, odds are that they'll be around the Gamecube sales data at worst. In fact, if they manage five million a year within a five year life, the Wii U will actually have more sales than the GC. Gimmick or not, the Wii was proof that Nintendo can turn it around and be a market leader. Looking at the chart, leading sales changes gen to gen. Both N64 and Gamecube weren't sales leaders, but the software sales more than made up for the losses. Saying Nintendo needs to be a third party and start porting games to the competition just seems short sighted. With that logic, they should've given up at the gamecube. Motion gimmick was big deal for the Nintendo Wii and it paid off. Didn't last forever, but that doesn't mean Nintendo is suddenly doomed.
 
I wish Nintendo would have waited a year to release the system, even if it did put them up against next gen hardware. If they were able to get Super Mario 3D world, Donkey Kong Country, Pikmin, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers as launch titles (or even just pick three from that list) it would have given them some strong momentum going into their next console generation, instead of releasing a piece of hardware with little to no software accompanying it.
 
sharkboy1200 said:
That's a what-if though. If you look at the Wii U right now, odds are that they'll be around the Gamecube sales data at worst. In fact, if they manage five million a year within a five year life, the Wii U will actually have more sales than the GC. Gimmick or not, the Wii was proof that Nintendo can turn it around and be a market leader. Looking at the chart, leading sales changes gen to gen. Both N64 and Gamecube weren't sales leaders, but the software sales more than made up for the losses. Saying Nintendo needs to be a third party and start porting games to the competition just seems short sighted. With that logic, they should've given up at the gamecube. Motion gimmick was big deal for the Nintendo Wii and it paid off. Didn't last forever, but that doesn't mean Nintendo is suddenly doomed.
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I didn't make a suggestion about what they should do either way. I just don't think they can succeed on their current trajectory.

Simply releasing a more powerful console isn't going to help them. They need to either change their company philosophy to one more friendly to the western market, or they need focus on creating something casuals will adopt, like the Wii-mote.
 
Soldier Gryphon said:
I didn't make a suggestion about what they should do either way. I just don't think they can succeed on their current trajectory.

Simply releasing a more powerful console isn't going to help them. They need to either change their company philosophy to one more friendly to the western market, or they need focus on creating something casuals will adopt, like the Wii-mote.
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I can agree to trying to appeal to more of the western market, but in my opinion, that involves catering to the third parties much more. Although the Wii U is still getting a good chunk of third party releases like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Arkham, etc. but they're obviously missing a whole lot more. That's been their biggest weakness in my opinion. The previous Wii managed to net multiple third party exclusives through out the years and it'll be much harder for Nintendo to grab some. I could see them trying to net some more exclusives under their own umbrella like Bayonetta 2 or the upcoming Monolith Software RPG. They're obviously trying something different with the Hyrule Warrios game developed by the Dynasty Warriors dev, although I think a Platinum made Zelda game would be a better spin-off in my opinion. One thing I'd like to see is a western style RPG exclusive to the Wii. Perhaps they can get something going from the Two Worlds dev or Obsidian once they're done with South Park.
 
Mario Kart Wii
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy 1&2
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Epic Mickey
Super Paper Mario
Monster Hunter Tri
Kirby's Epic Yarn & Return to Dreamland
Sonic Colors
Conduit
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Metroid: Other M
De Blob
Xenoblade Chronicles
Rhythm Heaven
The Last Story
Pandora's Tower
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
No More Heroes

A list of 20+ games on the Wii that are exclusive to the Wii. Could be bigger with more exclusives, ports, and multiplats. All I can say is that there's a solid list of games to play on the Wii overall that can also be played on the Wii U. All of these games received mainly positve feedback from gamers and reviewers at the time of release. A good handful of these were considered game of the year contenders at the time, some even winning it. Honestly, if you haven't tried any of these games but have a Wii U, I'd recommend them.
 
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Just to point out, one thing Nintendo needs to less of is being stingy when it comes to porting over RPGs from Japan. It took Ninty a ton of convincing to get that done. From what I heard, they were supposedly about neck and neck with the sales in Japan for the most part.
 
sharkboy1200 said:
Mario Kart Wii
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy 1&2
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Epic Mickey
Super Paper Mario
Monster Hunter Tri
Kirby's Epic Yarn & Return to Dreamland
Sonic Colors
Conduit
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Metroid: Other M
De Blob
Xenoblade Chronicles
Rhythm Heaven
The Last Story
Pandora's Tower
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
No More Heroes

A list of 20+ games on the Wii that are exclusive to the Wii. Could be bigger with more exclusives, ports, and multiplats. All I can say is that there's a solid list of games to play on the Wii overall that can also be played on the Wii U. All of these games received mainly positve feedback from gamers and reviewers at the time of release. A good handful of these were considered game of the year contenders at the time, some even winning it. Honestly, if you haven't tried any of these games but have a Wii U, I'd recommend them.
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Exactly, Nintendo fans like myself loved the Wii.
 
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