Wii U Speculation Thread of Brains Beware: Wii U Re-Unveiling At E3 2012
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The Wii wasn't a stopgap. I'm pretty certain that Nintendo intended the Wiimote to be a stopgap for the GameCube until an improved motion controller plus a brand new console would launch in 2006/2007. The success of the DS and the GameCube's failure made them change their mind. So they threw out the powerful hardware they had and did the Wii. That was always intended as a console for the whole lifecycle.
Smiles and Cries
Member
Wii not having HD was a huge mistake and they did not go into the war chest to fix that.
Nintendo had a sink or swim approach to home consoles for decades now.
Wii could have been WiiU the question now is can Wii U stay on the top spot as best selling hardware for this coming generation? Can it compete now that everyone else can offer the same thing or better?
That only works for handhelds. They have to hold on to that market.
In consoles Nintendo knows how to be in 3rd place and be fine with it, like the few generations before Wii.
If they really wanted to go to war they should have done it with CPU/GPU/RAM nothing can save the hardware after that.
Nintendo had a sink or swim approach to home consoles for decades now.
Wii could have been WiiU the question now is can Wii U stay on the top spot as best selling hardware for this coming generation? Can it compete now that everyone else can offer the same thing or better?
That only works for handhelds. They have to hold on to that market.
In consoles Nintendo knows how to be in 3rd place and be fine with it, like the few generations before Wii.
If they really wanted to go to war they should have done it with CPU/GPU/RAM nothing can save the hardware after that.
I'm not talking time-wise, I'm talking technology, capability and approach.
Jump from XBOX to 360 = massive.
Jump from PS2 to PS3 = massive.
Jump from Gamecube to Wii = erm, not so good.
Jump from Wii to WiiU?
From what we've seen, quite a progression - but compare it to the likelihood of Microsoft and Sony releasing far superior consoles shortly after launch, and you have a stop-gap console.
Smiles and Cries
Member
its the gap between the console you are playing and the console you really want to be playing
I can't agree there. The console business isn't as vital to Nintendo as the handheld business, and Wii U will launch after 3DS goes into beast mode. Besides that, who can they moneyhat? Western third-parties are going to expect much more than what Capcom wants.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Yes but keep in mind I responded to the 'what if wii-u was an absolute failure' hypothetical. Not a 'what if the wii-u doesn't do as good as the others' hypothetical. There is a giant difference. PS3 wasn't doing as well as the other 2, they stayed the course as they should, pumped out games and lowered price when they could and now they are fine. I'd expect nintendo to do the same.
But if the wii-u was an ABSOLUTE failure, I expect big moves. Momentum means a lot more today than it meant a bunch of years ago.
FreeMufasa
Junior Member
I think thats the old Nintendo. If New Nintendo were to go in panic mode they'd probably cancel games like F-Zero, Pikmin etc. (if they were in development) and think Mario, Mario Kart!
its the gap between the console you are playing and the console you really want to be playing
Wouldn't it make more sense if you called it a gap fill, placeholder, or anything? You don't stop gaps, you fill them.
Aaaanyway. I don't think WiiU will be a "stop gap", hell I don't even think Wii is. What is very obvious is that Nintendo isn't planning to support the consoles as long as the competition is. If that is what you guys call "stop gaps" then both Wii and WiiU seem to be just that.
I don't think so, afterall they pimped Mario much more in the previous generations than this one.
I think they would do both, launch games that are already in development, cancel any future small projects, and just hit with system sellers.
I hope to god that won't be the case though.
Smiles and Cries
Member
Nintendo would just move on to the next hardware. Sony lost billions on PS3
Wii U is not a monster hardware that costs huge part of Nintendo's cash on hand they can afford to let it die. The only choice for them is to move to the next hardware and try some gimmick (Gamecube to Wii)
Panic mode Nintendo is Handheld only. I think Nintendo is willing to bleed for its Pokemon cash machine
Yes, home consoles are vital for Nintendo in western market, until handhelds not become predominant in America (over console) home consoles are the best platform to sell Nintendo games.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
releasing another console after one failed just before it isn't easy. Also the R&D and all that make the logistics of simply releasing another system easier said than done. I think they'd have little choice but to salvage what they've done while preparing for the future, both of which requiring dipping into the war-chest of funds big time.
Smiles and Cries
Member
shoot I did not coin the term... only helping explain where these guys are coming from.
NES was just fine. But NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH POWER with the SNES
these guys are saying stop gap as in the tech is dated and only a delay between what you are playing and what marketing is preparing for you to jump to.
I don't like the term - it sounds like an excuse for lazy hardware R&D
Smiles and Cries
Member
so they have to sit on their butts for a few years and take the loses and lack of support until the next hardware can be ready.
The thing is Nintendo does not R&D hardware targeting failure.
The only failure Nintendo knows is in the eyes of rabid fans who are willing to coin Nintendo systems that lack the specs they envy from other companies as "Kiddy" or "Stop Gap"
But Nintendo still makes money and profit from these products.
WiiU will not please everyone but it will not fail as far as business goes.
ClovingWestbrook
Banned
Huh? The average time between consoles use to be 5 years. This gen is different due to the economy for the most part.
ClovingWestbrook
Banned
Um ok? Why would it get stolen?
maybe you should get a gun so people don't steal it in the first place
My first Wii was stolen a few months after I got it, back when it was still impossible to find.
By my fucking landlord.
I wasn't home at the time, also see above.
Wolfgang Jr
Banned
Purple is hipster, so they were ahead of the game on that one.
And HANDLES do NOT = baby toy! They Badass!
Purple is hipster, so they were ahead of the game on that one.
And HANDLES do NOT = baby toy! They Badass!
That sight of that thing still brings me to orgasm. MMMMFFF!!!!
Lord Ghirahim
Member
Mine's mirror front got chipped years ago.
I live alone now.
I live alone now.
The Wii U isn't a "stop-gap" console any more than any other console has ever been a stop-gap. Console makers don't just throw something together and say "this'll do us for 3 years while we think up something good". They put together the machine that they think is going to be the most commercially viable and put it to market. They keep plans for a successor on the backburner until one of two things happen:
1. The profitability of the console starts to drop significantly
2. A competitor announces the release of a new console
If neither of those things happen, any manufacturer, Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft, would be happy to keep letting the money roll in for 100 years if they could. If either or both of the two happen (in this case it's no 1 for Nintendo) the successor is developed and brought to market. Once again they'll keep the new console out until it either becomes unprofitable, or an impending market shift threatens to make it unprofitable.
When we're talking about the "power" of the Wii U, we first have to understand that power is almost completely unrelated to profitability. The success of the Wii should be enough to prove that. Secondly, people are considerably overestimating the power of the next MS and Sony consoles, because the profitability of developing games, both first and third-party, has to be taken into account, too. The costs of developing a videogame have gone up exponentially with each new generation of 3D consoles. This has been reasonable for a growing and profitable industry up to this point, and with the current gen we've reached the sorts of budgets that are common in the film industry. A "full" generational leap at this stage, though, would push game budgets into completely insane territory, perhaps verging on half a billion dollars to make a AAA game, and similar increases on each of the lower tiers of game development. This would massively affect the profitability of developers and publishers and at the same time increase risk considerably for all but the largest two or three publishers. Publishers want to make a profit next gen, and so do manufacturers from their first-party titles, so there'll be a general push going on at the moment to keep spec increases modest for the coming consoles. We'll see a noticeable increase, to convince consumers that it's worth upgrading, but we won't see anything like the ~10x increase in power we've seen in previous generations. As much as I dislike throwing these sorts of numbers around, I'd expect that Wii U will be about a 3-4x increase in power from PS360, and MS and Sony's next consoles will be about 4-5x. Nintendo's will be a bit less powerful both for being released earlier and the cost of packing in the Wii U pad.
1. The profitability of the console starts to drop significantly
2. A competitor announces the release of a new console
If neither of those things happen, any manufacturer, Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft, would be happy to keep letting the money roll in for 100 years if they could. If either or both of the two happen (in this case it's no 1 for Nintendo) the successor is developed and brought to market. Once again they'll keep the new console out until it either becomes unprofitable, or an impending market shift threatens to make it unprofitable.
When we're talking about the "power" of the Wii U, we first have to understand that power is almost completely unrelated to profitability. The success of the Wii should be enough to prove that. Secondly, people are considerably overestimating the power of the next MS and Sony consoles, because the profitability of developing games, both first and third-party, has to be taken into account, too. The costs of developing a videogame have gone up exponentially with each new generation of 3D consoles. This has been reasonable for a growing and profitable industry up to this point, and with the current gen we've reached the sorts of budgets that are common in the film industry. A "full" generational leap at this stage, though, would push game budgets into completely insane territory, perhaps verging on half a billion dollars to make a AAA game, and similar increases on each of the lower tiers of game development. This would massively affect the profitability of developers and publishers and at the same time increase risk considerably for all but the largest two or three publishers. Publishers want to make a profit next gen, and so do manufacturers from their first-party titles, so there'll be a general push going on at the moment to keep spec increases modest for the coming consoles. We'll see a noticeable increase, to convince consumers that it's worth upgrading, but we won't see anything like the ~10x increase in power we've seen in previous generations. As much as I dislike throwing these sorts of numbers around, I'd expect that Wii U will be about a 3-4x increase in power from PS360, and MS and Sony's next consoles will be about 4-5x. Nintendo's will be a bit less powerful both for being released earlier and the cost of packing in the Wii U pad.
Even if, at the very least, devs had to still get permission or official status from Nintendo to continue development it would help if everyone could at least prototype stuff and play around.
If there was some way for a Wii U to be a development platform at the same time as being usable release hardware (A la iOS) that would be uber awesome.
In 8 years, imagine where iOS and the iPad/iPhone/iTV/AppleTV/iWin etc will be.
Is that the Panasonic Q? I always wanted one of those. Hawt.Purple is hipster, so they were ahead of the game on that one.
And HANDLES do NOT = baby toy! They Badass!
old, but I haven't been on the boards all day:
Please read:
so no, that is NOT what I was suggesting (and by shortly before I meant 2-3 months prior to launch).
Basically the point is if they have a stellar E3 in 2012, they'll be fine. You seem to think they need to build up to that, but I see very little reason to do so. The only reasons I can fathom is in order to drum up hype with developers, not consumers. But as long as they're keeping high profile developers in the loop (admittedly not a guarantee), it wont matter one iota if they keep everything mum until E3.
If they have a good E3, the Wii U will have good media and public perception at launch. If they have a bad E3, the Wii U will have poor media and public perception that'll be hard to shake.
Please read:
so no, that is NOT what I was suggesting (and by shortly before I meant 2-3 months prior to launch).
Basically the point is if they have a stellar E3 in 2012, they'll be fine. You seem to think they need to build up to that, but I see very little reason to do so. The only reasons I can fathom is in order to drum up hype with developers, not consumers. But as long as they're keeping high profile developers in the loop (admittedly not a guarantee), it wont matter one iota if they keep everything mum until E3.
If they have a good E3, the Wii U will have good media and public perception at launch. If they have a bad E3, the Wii U will have poor media and public perception that'll be hard to shake.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
they haven't asked
Well, unless you meant something different by "comes to market" that kinda is what you're suggesting.
My point is branding and market perception matter from the moment you introduce a product. The second that Reggie got on that E3 stage and said the name "Wii U" the cat was out of the bag. It was the time for first impressions, and they didn't set a good one.
Look, I understand where you're coming from. I've been posting up and down GAF lately that I think Japanese devs need to take a page from the Apple's book, and learn how to keep their damn mouths shut about their projects until development is drawing near a close and there are concrete things to show (or, in Square Enix's case, at least a single fucking line of game code written). So, under normal circumstances, I would agree that it's a good thing Nintendo's staying so mum. Can you imagine how fucking great it would have been if last E3 didn't didn't happen, and Nintendo dropped the Wii U bomb for the first time this E3 and announced it was launching this holiday season? Hype would have been insane.
But last E3 did happen. And whether or not Nintendo wants to admit it they left a bad taste in the mouth of the very demographic they claim the Wii U is designed to attract. I personally think that they should've been spending this time counteracting that bad E3 presentation, instead of basically hoping that people forget. Because people aren't going to forget. People are not going to tune into E3 2012 with their minds open to the infinite possibilities of Project Cafe like they did last year. For a lot of people, their minds are already made up, and they're going to be waiting for Nintendo to either prove them right, or completely blow the roof off the entire expo to prove them wrong.
Of course, my opinion is no more sound than yours. Only time will tell...
Not if Reggie's comments about the Wii U being for gamers who enjoy hardcore, visual
read: dudebro
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
Yeah right. If that were the case, the name "Wii" would have been dropped. The Wii U will be fit to have the dudebro experiences the Wii did not, but it will also still be the hot holiday gift for moms and grandpops.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
People need to stop referencing Reggie, dude talks shit.
Hey - don't shoot the messenger: Nintendo's the one saying they're actively pursuing this market with Wii U.
I do agree with this. Personally, I've think Reggie
and maybe even Iwata
God, we hated her at the time, but Reggie really makes me miss the days of Perrin Kaplan...*pours one out*
Yeah, its not a secret that they dont want to lose the hardcore market like they did with the Wii post SSBB. But its still gona have You and Mii Tea Time
I'm not even so sure about this.
Assuming 720 and PS4 are noticeably more powerful than the Wii U, if Wii U gets stuck with the "shit version of cod", it's already dead in the eyes of the dudebros.
Lets not get started on Nintendo's online infrastructure...
-WindYoshi-
Banned
BUT, if Nintendo hardcore fans are actually sincerely and truly satisfied with the Wii U version of a Multiplatform game, and really, really, REALLY do have the faith that the game is just as good as every other version in terms of gameplay and graphics, then that confidence will be sung loud and clear all over the internet and will in turn actually be quite influential in overturning Wii U fear, indecision or uncertainty in the dudebro populace. This same buzz from confident Nintendo fans was a huge driving force in spreading the word of the Wii during the beginning of this generation, but as we all know, that buzz in the hardcore crowd died out as Nintendo fans everywhere realized that the Wii could not truly compete with the other systems on certain levels.
If Nintendo is able to deliver with the Wii U a system that hardcore Nintendo fans are truly happy with on almost all levels without having to lie to themselves, then I believe there will be a very, very strong momentum created for the Wii U that will burn throughout it's whole lifetime created by the pure enthusiasm generated by Nintendo's diehard fans.
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
Purple is hipster, so they were ahead of the game on that one.
And HANDLES do NOT = baby toy! They Badass!
The original Nintoaster.
Right. It would really help if NOA made a huge deal about performance too, because ultimately, it comes down to graphics. If they let the dudebros know that the Wii U version has the best graphics... that's a step in the right direction.
However, there is another problem they face.
I asked three dudebro friends what they thought of the Wii U controller, and each answered along the lines of "It looks stupid, does that thing even have analog sticks? Why do I need a screen?" It's going to be really tough converting that crowd, unless they push a standard controller (which they won't).
Three dudebro friends doesnt grasp the potential and look of a controller a year before the console release...nintendo is doomed.
First reactions are always overblown, i mean who would want to pay 600 dollar for a bigger iPod Touch ( at iPad unveiling)...as it turns out, there are sum people, same with the Wiimote.
Right. It would really help if NOA made a huge deal about performance too, because ultimately, it comes down to graphics. If they let the dudebros know that the Wii U version has the best graphics... that's a step in the right direction.
However, there is another problem they face.
I asked three dudebro friends what they thought of the Wii U controller, and each answered along the lines of "It looks stupid, does that thing even have analog sticks? Why do I need a screen?" It's going to be really tough converting that crowd, unless they push a standard controller (which they won't).
All they need to do is have a video show CoD being played like that Ghost Recon one. Show a map, perks, etc all on the screen, placement of a drone or whatever during an MP game and the CoD crowd will understand the appeal of it.
I don't think Nintendo will really try and convert that crowd with the controller. The only way to do it is with some insane exclusive like GTA or CoD which we know will NEVER happen. Even if the Wii U version of multi platform titles is obviously superior graphics wise and has some amazing uses of the controller I still don't think the dudebro gamers on other platforms will switch. They are far too myopic and far too invested in their gamer scores and shit like that.Right. It would really help if NOA made a huge deal about performance too, because ultimately, it comes down to graphics. If they let the dudebros know that the Wii U version has the best graphics... that's a step in the right direction.
However, there is another problem they face.
I asked three dudebro friends what they thought of the Wii U controller, and each answered along the lines of "It looks stupid, does that thing even have analog sticks? Why do I need a screen?" It's going to be really tough converting that crowd, unless they push a standard controller (which they won't).
What I think Nintendo is probably hoping for is to get back, and retain the Nintendo loving gamer who games more on other machines now (as well as young gamers growing up an wanting more than young titles). Nintendo make most of their money off of the software so they need people buying software for the Wii U, not the PS3, 360, PS4, Next. They need to have graphics at an acceptable level and also some unique gameplay with the controller. They need to have modern services like DLC, patching of games, a good online store. To be honest I wonder if the Wii had have just had modern shaders, and everything else was the same, if we'd have got multiplatform games and Wii owners would have been happier and Nintendo richer.
In essence I think they are going after me. I went and reluctantly bought a PS3 because the multiplatform "hardcore" games just weren't coming to Wii. I would really have preferred to have spent that money on Wii games if it had them and I'm sure Nintendo would have too.
Basically you feel like it'll be tough for people to forget wii U at E3 2011 whereas I feel it'll be oh so incredibly easy...as long as E3 2012 really nails it. A miniscule number of consumers pay attention to E3, and media outlets other than gaming journalists wont begin reporting on it until 2-3 months prior to release. Widespread hype really wont begin until then either. Thas how ah sees it.
Absolutely. 99% of the potential Wii U owners have no idea the thing exists at all at the moment. And for us who do, we ourselves won't give a damn about E3 '11 when Nintendo start doing their blowout. We'll just care about what they are showing at that time.
You are the 1%.
And as for convincing dudebros to play, they need to draw them in with the graphical capabilities - which is why the gap between the WiiU and NEXTBOX is so crucial: for a little while, nintendo will be the leaders in technology, and they need to play on that.
Dudebro -_- damm that word irritates me -_-
The ones i know will not touch a game that has an art-style with more than brown/grey or isn't a sports sim -_-
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