Hey guys, I guess it's appropriate to start off by saying I just got my account activated! I am really excited to be able to have an intelligent (maybe not on my end haha) discussion with other Nintendo fans. There are a couple of things I would like to start off with.
Regarding third party support for Nintendo, I didn't realize this at the time, but third parties saw great sales numbers the first ten weeks of the Wii's launch, when compared with the ps360. I believe Rayman, Call of Duty, Red Steel, Super Monkey Ball, and Madden all saw close to or over 200K copies sold on the Wii. In my opinion, that should have created a foundational incentive for third parties to stick with the Wii....but they didn't. I honestly see the Wii U having a great launch and third parties selling a lot of copies, but I am curious if Nintendo can keep their support. Considering how the Wii U, in my opinion, will not be far behind the ps4/720 graphically, I think Nintendo has a great shot at improving their third party relationships if they play their cards right. By playing their cards right, I mean offering marketing and developing assistance to third parties, having a very reliable online multiplayer network (I think this is absolutely huge and necessary), and catering to the core (I hate that term) gamer while keeping the casual gamer happy. Just by looking at the launch line up I think Nintendo is doing a pretty good job at catering to the core/casual gamer but hopefully they don't give up on third parties a few years into the life cycle of the Wii U like they did with the Wii.
I know that kind of came out of left field so now I will touch on some recent discussion topics. Regarding the price/contents of the Wii U I think there will be one SKU to start off with. I think the price will be $350 and the box will include the system, cables, one GamePad, one Wiimote, and NintendoLand. Iwata has stated the GamePad will be included with the system so that is a given. I know there are a ton of Wiimotes out there but Nintendo's focus with the Wii U is connectivity. Even the the codename Project Café implies how interacting and connectivity between players is important. With Nintendo's huge push towards asymmetric gameplay, I think it's unlikely they would only include the GamePad and no Wiimote. I absolutely agree that NintendoLand could be sold as a separate title but I think Nintnedo's whole focus with developing NintendoLand is to show the populous what the Wii U actually is and can accomplish. For lack of better wording, I think NintendoLand is the premiere system demo for the Wii U and Nintendo will include it with the console. The GamePad is such a different, new, innovative way to play games, people won't truly understad what it is capable of unless they are spoon fed. I also don't think $350 is overpriced because of what the system offers. If my prediction is true I believe people will look at the Wii U and see a system that comes with two controllers and a game. They can walk in the store buy one thing and walk out. You couldn't do that with the ps360 and doubt you will be able to with the ps4/720 (which quite possibly could be priced at $399+).
Ok considering how this is already an obnoxiously long post I will go ahead and end there.