Ubisoft Says Gamers Just Don't Understand The Wii U

[MikeWehner]

Ubisoft Says Gamers Just Don't Understand The Wii U

What is to blame for the Wii U's slow start?

Nintendo's new console isn't off to the type of start that the company and its supporters would probably have liked. There are plenty of theories as to why this is the case, but Managing Director of Ubisoft's Annecy, Montpellier, and Paris studios, Xavier Poix, has his own thoughts on the matter: Gamers just don't get it.

"The depth of what you can do with that console is really hard to get across unless you play with it," Poix explained during the annual D.I.C.E conference this week in Las Vegas. "It's different from the Wii, where seeing was believing. With the Wii U, people really need to experience it. The whole idea of the asymmetrical gameplay and using two screens to do two very different things is not simple to explain to people."

So what do you think? Is the Wii U's slow start simply due to the fact that gamers who haven't tried it don't entirely understand its appeal? Or are there other factors at work?

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/news/wii-u-message-hard-to-convey-says-ubisoft-studio-head-6403484]

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[The White Hunter]

I think there are other issues going on.

The hardware itself could be off-putting and it would be a good idea to have them to test in stores, because it's actually a joy to use and everything is very comfortable and easy to adapt to. There's a lot of potential for innovation with the tech too and for intresting new things to be done.

However the fact is that it's early days, the library is small, many people are a touch burned by the Wii's lack of support from third parties and are concerned about that recurring this time. Throw in the fact that a number of key games have been delayed, or just plain aren't out until next christmas. Not to mention many people already own a PS3 or 360, and if the game is coming out on those formats too, but a few weeks or even months in advance, there's no incentive for the Wii U version.

There's also the fact that nobody has any money, the economy is slow, other machines are on the way, people are considering carefully where to spend their cash. Maybe people expect a price cut to hit like it hit the 3DS.

It's also worth noting that while it's falling shy of the sales targets Nintendo initially set, it's far from selling badly.

I own mine, I like it a hell of a lot. But I'll be using it a hell of a lot more when the content starts rolling in, and likely more when I actually have a job to fund the purchasing of games.

Nintendo has some potential to really grab back the core audience with this one, and they'd be wise not to squander it.

Damn it Tizzy when did you become a ninja!

 

[Jikuu]

I've played a bit of Mario and Nintendo Land, and they're OK. Honestly, it's worked best for me as an internet-capable tablet that I lug around downstairs.

 

[Richard Allen]

Because it's an overpriced wii with very little to actually offer, especially most importantly, good games. Something Nintendo hasn't done (for me at least) in years. When you just do remake after remake and put out the same shit that ea/activision does there is very little that is attractive about the platform. WOOT zelda 8x and SSB 25!

 

[Soxafloppin]

I'l probably get flak for this but I think it may be to do with people being so disappointed with the Wii.

A lot of people bought the wii, there was a good bit of buzz going around but plenty of people got bored fast and may be thinking "I'm not falling for that again" . I'm not hating or anything I'm cool with the Wii/U.

 

[Erttheking]

*head desk* Publishers I don't want to hate you. STOP GIVING ME REASONS TO! Quit acting like you know better than us!

 

[Tanis]

Or maybe it's the whole 'one update eats up your whole memory card' and 'who the HELL is stupid enough to release a home console without a BUILT IN, or easy to snap on the side HDD"?

 

[Callate]

Maybe to some extent? The appeal of playing a baseball game by swinging a "bat", or a bowling game by "rolling" a "ball" was pretty easy to comprehend; this is... well, I don't know. Like using a tablet while playing a game on your tv? It hasn't sold many of the more "casual" gamers on being the "Super Wii" like the SNES was to the NES, and the more "hardcore" gamers aren't sold on whether using the new controller in games available elsewhere is a contribution or an imposition. And people like me are still taking a "wait-and-see" approach, watching to see if third-party developers get the love they need and if more games can use the controller in ways that aren't gimmicky or intrusive.

I was moderately impressed with the demo I saw of the new Rayman game, I'll admit.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

o.o I think the title could maybe be phrased better, it makes it sound like Ubisoft think we don't get the concept "A Wii with... TABLET!? Dont understand! I don't understand! DESTROOOOOYYYY"

Though I think he may have something of a point, I didn't really get why it was going to actually be pretty good until I had a crack at one. Lack of games is probably a bigger reason than anything, only the hardest of hardcore nintendo believers would wait for the WiiU to play Ass Creed 3 (assuming they didn't hear the ending)

 

[Smolderin]

Or...here's an idea! It's possible that the Wii U is to expensive for me to even consider, orrrr it's possible that there just isn't that many good titles out on the Wii U. But what do I know right? I am just a silly consumer, you obviously know better than I do. I should totally buy the Wii U even though there isn't games that I want to play on it to justify the cost.

What? What was that? Sarcasm? pffffft, I don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Scribblesense]

I think the dedicated gamers who see it understand it perfectly. They're just waiting for the right game to come out, or for their wallets to be a little heavier.

Who Nintendo hasn't convinced this time around are the non-gamers they attracted with the Wii. Not only has marketing for the Wii U been rather light, but it hasn't been picked up by the general press who covered the Wii a ridiculous amount. The fact that non-gamers were playing a video game such as Wii Sports was newsworthy, but nowadays the general public is so saturated with video games (with tablets, smart phones, and the like) that a new console just isn't worth reporting on.

If the Wii U's launch had been covered and debated and discussed like one of the many iPad or iPhone launches, it would be selling to the general public much better.

I would also guess that Nintendo's launch predictions were based on the Basic Set selling much more than the Deluxe Set. If they would have prepared for that, we might have seen the Basic Set selling at $250 instead of $300.

All that said, that the Wii U sold nearly to expectations and nearly as well as the Wii is a miracle. With all the competition out there, launching a console at this time should have been a flop. No doubt it will start selling better once the library gets larger, especially with Monster Hunter, Rayman Legends, and Pikmin 3 just around the corner.

 

[OuendanCyrus]

I got the Wii U just to post and view drawings of Willem Dafoe on Miiverse.

 

[Scribblesense]

I got the Wii U just to post and view drawings of Willem Dafoe on Miiverse.

I'll second this. Miiverse is much, much more engaging than I originally imagined.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Could be. For me it's the fact that it has no games. I like that the controller is back to buttons and analog sticks, but the tablet touch screen seems entirely pointless. So yeah, maybe it is a need to experience kinda thing.

At this point in time, i'm more inclined to purchase a ps3 and play shall those exclusives I missed this gen and just ignore the next gen.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

I like to think it's because Nintendo burned through every scrap of good will with the wii.

 

[devilmore]

I think it has a slow start because it's a retarded idea.
I also think it's a companies job to make something people buy and making something nobody wants and then pointing at them and saying "you just don't get why you want this" is pathetic.
It's THEIR job to MAKE something people want, not the peoples job to like what they make. If they don't understand that they need to go bankrupt. Fast.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Owwww, one thing you don't tell us geeks about anything is that we "don't get it". Because then what we do get is annoyed and possibly mad.

Anyway, if compared to the Wii the WiiU is obviously going to have disappointing sales. The Wii simply had crazy buzz and family fun appeal to it. Still, I'm more interested in the WiiU than I ever was for the Wii, but that might just be because of Wind Waker HD.