OPINION: The next-generation consoles announced by Microsoft and Sony for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have astonishing graphics, powerful hardware, and even a way to capture gaming moments to share to your friends. All of which don’t exist on the other supposed ‘next-generation’ console, the Wii U.
I don’t even know why people are calling the Wii U a ‘next-generation’ console, mainly because the hardware is pretty much in line with the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3. It pales in comparison with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Nintendo took a big risk in announcing its supposed ‘next-generation’ console a year earlier than its rivals. And now it’s paying for that. Consumers aren’t buying the Wii U mainly because there are a lack of original titles – the Wii U’s titles have largely consisted of rehashed version of third-party titles that launched a year ago and Nintendo properties. That’s it.
It has scheduled a Nintendo Direct for June 12 – in the middle of E3. However, what’s the likelihood that it will have a strong list of third-party titles, as well as a strong list of first-party games?
Developers aren’t going to spend time now in creating a Wii U port. The reasoning is similar to why there were a lack of ports for the Wii – the graphics. The Wii U’s graphics is the equivalent to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3; not the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. Developers are not going to spend time in dumbing down their graphics to support the Wii U, when the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One offer them new things to play with. Not just a stupid tablet, but more graphics and processing power to tell a story that can be beautifully presented.
Nintendo Wii U was supposed to court developers to bring their ‘hardcore gamer’ titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto titles – in order to shake off the perception that the Wii name is a ‘casual gamer’ brand, not a ‘gaming brand’. The very brand perception that it created back in 2006 when it announced the Wii.
“What we’re unveiling is the next leap of gaming… where it’s no longer confined to just the few, it’s about everyone,” Regis Fils-Aime, then Nintendo’s USA marketing man (now Nintendo of America’s CEO), said back at its E3 2006 press conference.
However, Nintendo has failed to shake that perception off the Wii brand.
So, don’t expect Destiny, Battlefield 4 or even Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Wii U. Expect more of the same with the Wii U – games like Just Dance 15 and Scribblenauts 9000. Possibly even another We Dare game for the Wii U. Who knows? Ubisoft may have found a way to incorporate the tablet.
The Wii U is pretty much a dead man console walking.
It’s time to cut their losses, kill the Wii U, and start again.