Nintendo President Says Competitors Must Respond to Wii U

[Marshall Honorof]

Nintendo President Says Competitors Must Respond to Wii U

Sony and Microsoft have to match the Wii U's appeal, according to Nintendo.

After moving 400,000 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120789-Nintendo-Shifts-400-000-Wii-Us-in-a-Week] units in one week, Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, is pretty optimistic about the Wii U's long-term prospects. Fils-Aime is so confident, in fact, that he's issued a challenge to competitors Sony and Microsoft: this time, you'll respond to us. While the original Wii was the last one released in the console wars of the last generation, the Wii U has spearheaded console gaming's next generation, and Fils-Aime stands behind its early launch.

Fils-Aime has some harsh words for Sony and Microsoft regarding their next consoles, which will likely be more traditional than Nintendo's Wii U. "In the end, our competitors need to react to what we're doing in the marketplace and need to figure out what their innovation will be," says Fils-Aime. "It's likely that faster processors and pretty pictures won't be enough to motivate consumers." The Nintendo president believes that one of the Wii U's primary selling points is its unique control scheme, and that Sony and Microsoft will have to offer something of similar distinctiveness to deliver a worthy next-gen experience.

While the Wii U has launched far ahead of the purported Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, Fils-Aime does not believe that the difference in release windows will hamper Nintendo's system. "For us, launching new systems is about bringing new consumer experiences to the marketplace and we're doing that," he explains, and believes that all the technology is already in place for a new system launch. "[Now] is the right time to launch new hardware."

The Wii U more or less has a monopoly on next-gen consoles for the time being, but Microsoft and Sony are sure to respond in kind, and perhaps with more ambitious plans than just increased specs for their consoles. Now is as good a time as any for Nintendo to play offense, but with the forthcoming introduction of two new consoles, the landscape could change very rapidly.

Source: CNET [http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57554148-235/nintendos-fils-aime-microsoft-sony-need-to-react-to-us/]

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[AzrealMaximillion]

So with all of those sold out pre-order the new Wii U sold 200,000 less than the Wii in week one?

Yeah, this basically confirms that Nintendo is limiting the supply to create demand once again. There's no other reason for the sales to be one third less than its predecessor when they were touting sold out pre-orders so hard.

 

[Darmy647]

...Uhh.....Can i have a Dreamcast 2? Please?? No? Ok...

 

[The Lunatic]

They already have, with the current generation.

Welcome to the seventh generation Nintendo.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I don't see why Sony and/or MS have to respond at all, at least not in the way that he's implying. Nintendo's shown their hand. Of course Sony and MS will put out their own systems, but nothing that the WiiU is doing is really all that different from what the Wii did in it's early life. Sony and MS could come out with even more traditional gaming systems and they wouldn't likely be hurt at all. In fact, many gamers complaints about the Wii/PS3/360 generation is that Sony and MS actually hurt themselves by spending time/money trying to capture the audience Nintendo had already captured.

 

[Kroxile]

I don't get it when he says "they will respond to us this time" I mean, didn't they respond to the Wii by stealing its gimmick? Kinect is a glorified full body wii mote with only half the functionality. And the PS move IS a wii mote.

Something tells me that PS4 and NextBox will release some kind of BS peripheral that costs an arm and a leg that no one in their right mind would pay for in order to give their customers the "Wii U experience" Microsoft/Sony edition.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I don't get it when he says "they will respond to us this time" I mean, didn't they respond to the Wii by stealing its gimmick? Kinect is a glorified full body wii mote with only half the functionality. And the PS move IS a wii mote.

Something tells me that PS4 and NextBox will release some kind of BS peripheral that costs an arm and a leg that no one in their right mind would pay for in order to give their customers the "Wii U experience" Microsoft/Sony edition.

At least the MS/Sony peripherals were optional. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[TilMorrow]

Nintendo: "Come at us, bros!"
Sony and Microsoft: *Keep supplying the Xbox 360 and PS3 with games for the next 3-4 years then laugh as they release consoles better than the WiiU which get snapped up in higher quantities.*

Yea his statement sounds kinda childish and over enthusiastic. I bet he thinks Nintendo owns the console market now.

 

[Myndnix]

Yes, Nintendo's competitors must respond to their new and buggy console with no good games, tons of gimmicks, and severely outdated hardware.
It's like shooting yourself in the foot then saying "What're you going to do about it?" I'd take you to a hospital, Nintendo.

 

[Redhawkmillenium]

The Wii U is barely even a next-gen console. Eurogamer analyzed the performance of games like BLOPS2, Mass Effect 3, and Arkham City and found that more often than not the Wii U performed WORSE than the 360. Once Sony and Microsoft bring out their next-gen consoles, the Wii U will occupy the same space the Wii did -- an underpowered console with a gimmicky control system that's fun for casual gamers but useless to hardcore gamers, except for maybe some Nintendo first-party games.

I won't be surprised if third party developers refrain from putting true next-gen games on the Wii U. If not, I expect the Wii U to hold back third party game development. POS can barely play current gen games as is.

 

[Coffeejack]

Somehow, I knew it would be the American division. Oh, those wacky guys.

 

[Danzavare]

I'm really hoping they -don't- respond to it. Whether you like or don't like the new gimmick, you can at least appreciate that it's not for everyone. Like I've said before, the biggest reason I've touched my Wii is because of gamecube games and Wii games that don't use Wii-motion. Outside of a rare few exceptions (Like maybe Pandora's Tower) my personal gaming experience wasn't enhanced by Wii-motion and, in many cases, I felt hindered by it (Basic attack on Okami, how you frustrate me!).

The Wii U may be an interesting alternate avenue for gaming but I don't want it to be a substitute for more traditional modes of gaming.

 

[Darmy647]

Extreme gaming PC. Now im buying a Wii U. Why? So i have everything. "what about the xbox and playstation console?" Who needs them? Superior PC.

 

[Darmy647]

Wow, you guys really spun his comments so hard that it's sort of sad.

Let's read the actual statement: "In the end, our competitors need to react to what we're doing in the marketplace and need to figure out what their innovation will be."

Pardon me for being crazy, but isn't that how every company should approach their business strategy? Namely, by saying "okay, here's our product, let's see what our opponents can do now"? And being part of a large popular company, wouldn't you want your figureheads making positive statements and oozing confidence about your new product?

Imagine if he'd come out and said this instead: "Hey guys! We released a buggy console with very few games and a gimmick that causes a lot of processor bottlenecking. We're pretty sure Sony and Microsoft are going to kick our asses this time!"

You're literally making a news story out of ordinary PR, spinning it to sound like some sort of boast when it's not. I'm not sure what to think.

Dude. Its the escapist. Nintendo is shit talked in every way possible. They are RIGHT up there with EA in shit talk. Poor guys.

 

[EHKOS]

Yeah, no. I buy Sony's products because I like the exclusives, and because I feel loyal to them since I've had many great memories of PS1 games from my childhood. I sincerely hope that Sony goes the way of better specs as their gimmick again, because I'm sick of motion controls. I just want to play fun GAMES, with a controller.