GameStop CEO: "Wii U Was Disappointing Everyone, Including Nintendo"

[VirOath]

For those pointing out that 3rd party development jumped ship because of the Wii-U's lower power, that's not it. 3rd parties really don't care all that much about the power behind a system, there are a lot of tricks for downgrading a game to run on weaker hardware and that would have been done by the optimization process. Remember that cross platform releases still hit the 360 and PS3 for a long time after the launch of the XBone and PS4.

So why did they leave the Wii-U to die? Simple- Nintendo was pushing the touch screen on the gamepad for the first year of launch titles really hard, Nintendo wanted all of it's games to have unique functionality for the Wii-U gamepad. This can be seen in the reflection of those first year titles, games like W101 and Zombie-U forced the usage of the gamepad by having vital displays and gameplay depend on the gamepad screen and with the Batman port actively using the Wii-U gamepad gyro (iirc.)

3rd parties jumped ship because this requirement from Nintendo would mean that they couldn't just swap over cross platform releases to the Wii-U, games would have to be developed for the Wii-U in mind and those games couldn't be easily ported to other platforms either. We see a lot of cross platform launches on the PS4 and XBone because it's a way for publishers to tap a larger market without making a serious investment into the games to get them on both platforms, games produced for one can easily be ported to the other. The Wii-U forced itself apart from that by forcing the gamepad onto 3rd party development and 3rd party development rejected the idea as it would require significant development into games to have them on the Wii-U when the market was much smaller than the combined market of PS4/XBone Crossovers.

It's not the developers that make the decisions to not develop for a console- it's the publisher. Publishers don't care about the lower power of a console, they care about economics and profitability. Developing a port for the Wii-U would have higher development costs than PS4/XBone crossovers, reach a significantly smaller market, be a much higher risk, and have a lower return on said investment of porting. Those factors are even worse for games developed and launched on the Wii-U for 3rd parties. Remember that they are businesses and are aiming to make money- not engage in console wars on social media about which system is more powerful.

We thought Nintendo had learned their lesson from that as they dropped the forced gamepad requirements from games a while a go, but we still get games that come out that remind us of just how bad that design philosophy is: See Starfox Zero.

The NX is the chance to distance themselves from that design. From the sounds of it, it will have a screen in the controller as the Wii-U did- and it would be a hard sell for the console adoption rate if it doesn't have backwards compatibility with atleast Mario Maker. And the vague statements made about the NX, coupled with some unreliable rumors are painting a picture of a combined portable/console system which would replace both the Wii-U and 3DS in terms of development. If such a thing were true then it would be an effort from Nintendo to prevent another weak console launch and cycle by populating it with it's portable developers and reduce the compromises the portable developers make in game development to have it fit on portable platforms.

Edit: This would get more games onto the console as development cycles and releases for the 3DS are insane due to the crazy strength of the 3DS market in Japan and the stability of it outside of Japan and provide it's portable platform with more robust options due to carrying console comparable power.

And for the record- I don't regret my Wii-U purchase. Been running a PC as my primary platform with a Wii-U as secondary and been mostly happy this console cycle, most disappointments come from the games that do get released having really bad aspects and not about games not getting released.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

It probably doesn't help that third parties abandoned the console despite sales being comparable to the PS3 in its early years.

True point, but that's been going on since the SNES days. A good chunk of beat em ups and fighting games went Sega Genesis exclusive because Nintendo demanded changes to tone down the violence (removing blood). Smaller 3rd party companies didn't have the resources or time to make those changes and the Sega Genesis wasn't that far behind in sales behind the SNES.

Sega shot themselves in the foot multiple times in the 90s and now Nintendo is acting in a scarily similar manner.

 

[RJ Dalton]

It probably doesn't help that third parties abandoned the console despite sales being comparable to the PS3 in its early years.

True point, but that's been going on since the SNES days. A good chunk of beat em ups and fighting games went Sega Genesis exclusive because Nintendo demanded changes to tone down the violence (removing blood). Smaller 3rd party companies didn't have the resources or time to make those changes and the Sega Genesis wasn't that far behind in sales behind the SNES.

Sega shot themselves in the foot multiple times in the 90s and now Nintendo is acting in a scarily similar manner.

The difference being that Nintendo has made enough money that it can have three or four more failures on this order of magnitude before their company is threatened financially. Honestly, I consider the WiiU a failure, it's at least a failure that somebody needed to make. This is what experimentation is for, finding out what works and what doesn't and I at least applaud Nintendo for trying something different. Now we know what not to do in the future.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

I thought the Wii U machine itself was alright, just wasn't happy with the gimmicky gameboy controller. Didn't care for any of the games either, even Smash Brothers which was the only one I was eager to see, but it is still nerfed crap compared to Melee.

Super Smash Bros WiiU, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Hyrule Warriors, Pikmin 3, Pokken Tournament, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Nintendo Land, Starfox Zero, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and the entire Wii backlog. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. Granted, I didn't by a single one of those from Gamestop because fuck Gamestop, but still.

Exactly. Plenty of good games that people were just unwilling to try.

Or people weren't given a good reason to give a shit. Well I guess I don't count since I tried some of them, but they don't look interesting anymore either.

Well. you tried them, I'd definitely say you count.

Proving that modern day gamers have no taste and are willing to buy garbage like The Order 1886 (Yes I will not stop beating that dead horse until people realize this is what's wrong w/ modern games) just because of superficial reasons.

I'm about ready to start a blog called "Modern day gamers are retarded" just to rant about how I hate today's gaming mentality.

And this is also why I'm not excited at all for the NX or their new mobile strategies. Because it's going to be Nintendo selling their identity to pander to the modern market in the worst way possible. Basically they're gonna turn into Capcom or Konami with this thing and never recover. All because no one wants to try anything that isn't Call of Duty.

I'm still hold out hope for the NX. I mean, sure it could go poorly, but what little we've seen from Nintendo in terms of mobile stuff isn't that bad. I'm not going to say they've made the no bad decisions *cough*papermario*cough* But they aren't all gone like some companies.

And honestly, out of everything, the worst "Modern Gamer" thing in my eyes is how little patience they have and how much they crave instant gratification. No buildup to something great, have to get to good stuff as quick as possible.

 

[Nazulu]

Super Smash Bros WiiU, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Hyrule Warriors, Pikmin 3, Pokken Tournament, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Nintendo Land, Starfox Zero, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and the entire Wii backlog. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. Granted, I didn't by a single one of those from Gamestop because fuck Gamestop, but still.

Exactly. Plenty of good games that people were just unwilling to try.

Or people weren't given a good reason to give a shit. Well I guess I don't count since I tried some of them, but they don't look interesting anymore either.

Well. you tried them, I'd definitely say you count.

I meant I didn't count as one those people who are unwilling to try.

I don't expect you to understand, but Nintendo aren't the same as they used to be. Just watching the Wii U games game play, they feel watered down. And when I actually played them, it felt awful compared to what they've done before (like DK Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, SSB Wii U and Starfox Zero). I haven't played them all of course, but I don't have any interest in the rest. And this is how it goes for so many other people. Saying "people are unwilling to try" is ignoring the room full of elephants.

 

[Sonder Saunters]

I would honestly put the Wii U up as one of my favourite consoles ever. It didn't have the same games as the PS4 or XB1, but that's fine. It offered a different selection and that selection is strong. As far as gen 8 consoles go, the Wii U is the only one that I feel doesn't disappoint. The backwards compatibility is a big help, and on top of that Nintendo made efforts to add additional compatibility for Smash Bros. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But as it is it's a great console, if a bit unconventional. The Wii U is a near-perfect Nintendo home console, and the perfect home console for legacy Nintendo fans. In that vacuum you can call the Wii U a success in many ways. Against the rest of the industry, it's a harder sell. I love my Earthbound machine that also plays nearly every other game I could want to play.

 

[Strazdas]

Well they got that right. Though im not sure how innovative Nintendo is, especially given that your example of innovation seems to be Pokemon, a franchise that seemingly never changes.

It probably doesn't help that third parties abandoned the console despite sales being comparable to the PS3 in its early years.

I'm still baffled by where that stemmed from.

It stemmed from WiiU being shit and Nintendo being as always notoriously hard to work with.

 

[Nazulu]

I'm not a newcomer to Nintendo good sir and while I will agree that past games did have their gems, to paint it all as "awful compared to what they've done before" is perhaps a bit hasty. I will agree that Freeze and Zero were lacking, but let's not let fond memories cloud our judgement.

And while there are certainly people like yourself, there are countless others that intended to buy the Wii U for a single game. Which is in itself an issue, but the point is that they were clearly uninterested in the other games.

Nothings hasty, it's my opinion, and the opinion of many others. Nintendo are making new mistakes that are detrimental to the experience, and it could be also why they aren't making the profit they hoped for.

And Yes! I do have fond memories of almost all the popular classics, but I still believe they're great for a reason. I mention them and point to them as positives for a reason. I still play them with friends for a bloody reason. And so do many other people, and for all different reasons too. You were saying I'm blinded by nostalgia, yes?

Also, I already mentioned whats in your second paragraph, so yeah.

 

[Zontar]

It stemmed from WiiU being shit and Nintendo being as always notoriously hard to work with.

But the PS3 was also shit with Sony also being hard to work with. In fact Sony's so hard to work with it's the whole reason they entered the console industry instead of working with Nintendo (people forget the 20 year old feud between them was started by Sony being the incredibly unreasonable one)

 

[Strazdas]

It stemmed from WiiU being shit and Nintendo being as always notoriously hard to work with.

But the PS3 was also shit with Sony also being hard to work with. In fact Sony's so hard to work with it's the whole reason they entered the console industry instead of working with Nintendo (people forget the 20 year old feud between them was started by Sony being the incredibly unreasonable one)

Yes, but PS3 was also the most powerful platform (unlike WiiU being the weakest one) and it was riding very heavily on PS2 fame (Wii market was far more casual and less likely to upgrade).

 

[Zontar]

It stemmed from WiiU being shit and Nintendo being as always notoriously hard to work with.

But the PS3 was also shit with Sony also being hard to work with. In fact Sony's so hard to work with it's the whole reason they entered the console industry instead of working with Nintendo (people forget the 20 year old feud between them was started by Sony being the incredibly unreasonable one)

Yes, but PS3 was also the most powerful platform (unlike WiiU being the weakest one) and it was riding very heavily on PS2 fame (Wii market was far more casual and less likely to upgrade).

But the PS3 sold incredibly poorly (with its first two years being comparable to the WiiU) and it was such a ***** to program for many companies made two builds of their games in it was a multi-platform. Sure it was the most powerful, but the current generation is the first time in video game history that the most powerful console is also the best selling one.

 

[Strazdas]

It stemmed from WiiU being shit and Nintendo being as always notoriously hard to work with.

But the PS3 was also shit with Sony also being hard to work with. In fact Sony's so hard to work with it's the whole reason they entered the console industry instead of working with Nintendo (people forget the 20 year old feud between them was started by Sony being the incredibly unreasonable one)

Yes, but PS3 was also the most powerful platform (unlike WiiU being the weakest one) and it was riding very heavily on PS2 fame (Wii market was far more casual and less likely to upgrade).

But the PS3 sold incredibly poorly (with its first two years being comparable to the WiiU) and it was such a ***** to program for many companies made two builds of their games in it was a multi-platform. Sure it was the most powerful, but the current generation is the first time in video game history that the most powerful console is also the best selling one.

PS3 still sold better than WiiU. So if it sold that poorly WiiU did even worse. And yes, it was a ***** to work with.

Actually the most powerful ones always sold great. Mega Drive was more powerful and sold better as a result, then N64 came and sold better as a result. PS2 was also the most powerful of its generation and PS3 sold most units by the end of its life as well. So yes, power sells.

 

[Zontar]

PS3 still sold better than WiiU. So if it sold that poorly WiiU did even worse. And yes, it was a ***** to work with.

For its first two years, the PS3 sold comparatively well to the WiiU. Wasn't until its 3rd year people actually started buying them.

Actually the most powerful ones always sold great. Mega Drive was more powerful and sold better as a result, then N64 came and sold better as a result. PS2 was also the most powerful of its generation and PS3 sold most units by the end of its life as well. So yes, power sells.

This is literally the first generation where the console that is most powerful is also the best selling. The PS2 was nothing on the Xbox in terms of power, the PS3 lost to the Xbox 360 until its final year where it marginally beat it out (but still lost to the Wii by a massive margin), and the N64 was outsold by the PS1 by 3 to 1.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I'd have to say that the console with the most variation in software to offer usually sells the best. Its why PS always seems to beat Xbox. The PS brand has most of the multiplatform titles plus a massive amount of exclusive niche franchises with a better chance of becoming sleeper hits. Xbox usually caters to the US market because its the biggest on and Nintendo caters to their core fans through exclusively. Or at least Nintendo used to. Lately we've seen their biggest franchises go through changes that have damaged the reputation of their franchises.