Nintendo Wants Wii U The "Preferred" Console for Hardcore Gamers

[Tastum]

I wouldn't discount the possibility right away.

Nintendo's other console, the DS, actually is a haven for certain types of hardcore games despite being extremely casual friendly. I'm a fan of old-school JRPGs (no apologies) and I have had more fun on my DS than I have on any console in the past while. There have been a lot of middling quality titles that held my attention for a while, but there's also been some stellar ones like TWEWY. Except for the Mario and Luigi games, Nintendo really hasn't had much to do with this particular niche. Smaller companies like Atlus sold that DS for me and kept me using the system for years. I have a 3DS now and I'm still having a great time.

If they want to bring some core gamers into their fold, they're going to need to bring those third party developers in to cover the niches they don't understand or have the right first party titles to cover. Basically, they're going to need to make it really cheap to develop for the Wii U. Lower hardware specs than the next gen Playstation and Xbox consoles might actually help here. If they do that, all sorts of dungeon crawlers, throwback JRPGs, RTS games and generally stuff other than shooters will come out of the woodwork and folks like me will happily buy a Wii U. I think that's a better gameplan than trying to get the MW/CoD folks to buy one.

Another thing that would help is to not force developers by contract to use their gimmick features. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't developers forced to use 3D if they want to release for the 3DS? If they do that for the tablet controller on the Wii U I can't see third parties lining up to make games for it.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I would totally buy it if they have Phantasy Star Online 2 or just Episodes 1 and 2 on the Wii U (and we're able to use our GC files of Phantasy Star Online) if they did that. Day 1 purchase. Also online servers restarted for those games. I'm sad I never got to fully enjoy all the great and wonderful things Phantasy Star Online had on the GC (like the cross platform game interactions they had) Now I just wander through the PSO world alone pretending that the NPCs are real people. God I'm so pathetic

 

[Rednog]

The mini-map... the most useful thing on your screen....is cluttering the Call of Duty screen.
I'm sorry, am I not looking at the same interface that everyone else is?

So the solution to the "clutter" is to remove the most useful information on your screen and make you look down into your lap to view it, taking your eyes off the screen...in a twitch shooter.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"the Wii U would declutter the TV monitor by dragging useful-but-annoying items like maps down off the main viewer."

Sigh. How is a minimap or hud annoying?
I need to look at it regularily/constantly, so I *don't* want to have to look at my crotch region all the time. It makes me less concentrated on the screen where the actual action is.

The military is spending billions on integrating HUDs overlay with the environment.
And then there's Nintendo ripping the two appart.

 

[shrekfan246]

first party titles

banjo kazooie

*cough*
Banjo-Kazooie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo-Kazooie] was made by Rare [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Ltd.], who were absorbed by Microsoft in 2002, and have since been relegated to the position of "Kinect Shovelware Developer".

There's a rumor floating around of a Banjo-Kazooie game being developed for the 3DS, but that's only a rumor with very, very little in the way of anything supporting it.

Anyway, good on you, Nintendo, but I can't say that I'd agree with your assessment because I doubt I'll ever enjoy how most games play on consoles more than a PC (with the exception of truly terrible ports). Don't get me wrong, I love consoles, but PC games usually control, run, and look miles better than their console counterparts.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Sure it'll have an edge, util the real consoles come out.

Yea, unless the WiiU can compete with whatever MSony comes out with next generation they're not going to pull to many people away. But if the WiiU is a real next gen console that can handle the "hardcore" games coming out 5 years from now, they could very well dominate the next generation. That's how MS got so much more of a market share this generation: it came out early and got a jump on the competition. By the time the PS3 came out, a lot of the serious gamers were already busy with the 360.
However, I get the sad feeling that the WiiU is no more powerful than a ps3 or 360. Too bad, it would be cool to see them turn it around like that.

 

[sethisjimmy]

They want to have their cake and eat it too, and I just don't see how they're gonna pull it off. They've created this massive reputation as a casual/family friendly company, not to mention that they essentially abandoned their "hardcore" following after the gamecube, and now they want to keep their mass casual sales and bring in mass hardcore gamers?
I just don't see it happening, I love Nintendo, but I think the reputation they've spent the last few years building is going to get in the way of bringing back "hardcore" gamers.

Also as others have said, the map suggestion just does not make any sense, the map is on the screen so you can check it quickly without having to look away from the actual game. The same goes for your ammo, health, timer, etc.

It's called a heads-up display for a reason!

 

[Hungry Donner]

As I see it Nintendo needs three things in order to get "hardcore" games back on its system.

1. Graphical Power. Graphics shouldn't be the end-all-be-all of a system, but if PCs, XBoxes, and PSs are substantially more powerful than the WiiU they'll have a hard time getting developers to port titles. Releasing before their competitors is likely a disadvantage in this area since MS and Sony will have better or cheaper components by releasing later.

2. RAM. Large games on the XBox360 and in particular the PS3 smash into the RAM limits pretty easily. Even if the WiiU's graphical capabilities are a bit under their competitors having more RAM may even things out for them. Then again, MS and Sony may compensate for this with their next systems as well.

3. Ease of publishing. Nintendo is hardly a one person show, but their dominance over their system seems daunting. However it looks like Nintendo realizes this and is taking steps to woo more publishers and developers.


I'll add one more, which I don't think is a requirement but could be extremely helpful: modding support. There are some great games out there with incredible modding scenes . . . and console gamers often get none of this. If Nintendo taps into this they may attract some high profile games out there and replicate the success of motion capture as "the next big thing" for consoles.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

first party titles

banjo kazooie

*cough*
Banjo-Kazooie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo-Kazooie] was made by Rare [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Ltd.], who were absorbed by Microsoft in 2002, and have since been relegated to the position of "Kinect Shovelware Developer".

There's a rumor floating around of a Banjo-Kazooie game being developed for the 3DS, but that's only a rumor with very, very little in the way of anything supporting it.

Anyway, good on you, Nintendo, but I can't say that I'd agree with your assessment because I doubt I'll ever enjoy how most games play on consoles more than a PC (with the exception of truly terrible ports). Don't get me wrong, I love consoles, but PC games usually control, run, and look miles better than their console counterparts.

woops, nevermind then, haven't paid attention to the series in years so guess that went in a different direction.

still, the other ideas, they need to implement them. the amount of wii shit shovelware that hardly passes as 5 dollars vs their flagship titles is "too damn high" !

(and as you mentioned, i also don't see much reason besides truly shitty ports or exclusives to go away from my pc)

 

[medv4380]

Last time they went down this road it was for "Mature" gamers, and we got "Conker's Bad Fur Day". Lets hope they learned from that mistake.

Really, all they have to do is get 3rd parties back and they'll be fine. The loss of every 3rd party to Sony during the N64/PS days was bad and they never really recovered the 3rd party support since then.

 

[shrekfan246]

woops, nevermind then, haven't paid attention to the series in years so guess that went in a different direction.

still, the other ideas, they need to implement them. the amount of wii shit shovelware that hardly passes as 5 dollars vs their flagship titles is "too damn high" !

(and as you mentioned, i also don't see much reason besides truly shitty ports or exclusives to go away from my pc)

Oh, I'm not surprised or anything. Rare pretty much disappeared once they were acquired by Microsoft. And I actually do believe that a new Banjo-Kazooie game exclusive to the Wii-U would probably be amazingly tempting to me, because I loved those games back on the N64.
I was just feeling like doing a

moment.

I agree with your other points, though. If they keep up with the same ratio of shovelware/crap games:good games on the Wii-U, it's going to crash and burn pretty horribly, I imagine.

 

[newdarkcloud]

I'll begin by first saying that being the preferred console for the hardcore isn't in the Wii U's future.

Secondly, they're sending mixed messages in the article. Do they want to be the preferred console or the ideal secondary console? There is a pretty big difference between the two.

 

[likalaruku]

Unless the Wii-U has a 24 inch screen, I'm going to have to laugh in their face.

 

[drosalion]

If thats true they're sure as hell going about it the wrong way.

The 'hardcore' generally want:
- High-end specs (which nintendo continuously dodge questions about and rumours are that its only moderately better than current gen)
- A good online experience (which nintendo have completely failed to deliver in the past and that doesnt seem to be changing)
- Gimmick-free gaming with a simple controller, no motion controls, screens, etc (yeh nuff said about the wii u)
- Good games, and ideally good exclusives too (yet to be seen, but as of yet thats a big 'no' too).

So yeh i cant possibly see how they even think they're going to attract the hardcore with their current plans..

 

[OldNewNewOld]

If thats true they're sure as hell going about it the wrong way.

The 'hardcore' generally want:
- High-end specs (which nintendo continuously dodge questions about and rumours are that its only moderately better than current gen)
- A good online experience (which nintendo have completely failed to deliver in the past and that doesnt seem to be changing)
- Gimmick-free gaming with a simple controller, no motion controls, screens, etc (yeh nuff said about the wii u)
- Good games, and ideally good exclusives too (yet to be seen, but as of yet thats a big 'no' too).

So yeh i cant possibly see how they even think they're going to attract the hardcore with their current plans..

Funny post is funny.

1. Short answer, no. Long answer.... well, still no. If the "hardcore" gamer wanted high end specs, they wouldn't be playing on the PS3 or 360, but on a high end PC. Ya know, that's high end specs, not 7 year old technology that wasn't high end even on release.

2. Every developer that talked about the WiiU online aspect was only praising it. Nintendo's E3 presentation focused only on the social aspect of the online feature, but there is a lot to see.

3. You don't have to use the tablet controller. Unless the game was specifically designed to be played on the tablet controller, you can use the Pro controller without problems. And I doubt that the "core" developer will try to do something innovative when porting th next Battlefield of Duty. Seriously... EA, Activison? Innovative? The Pro controller was specifically designed to be used in games like CoD and BF.

Also, a gimmick is something that is completely unnecessary. That is jet to be seen for the controller. As with every technology, the tablet controller could be used for better immersion (ZombiU) or for bullshit. And since Nintendo will let the developer choose which controller to pick and use, there will be a lot less gimmicky feeling. The Motion Controls were bad because they were forced into games that had no place for them. Red Steel 2 would be shit without the motion controls. Monster Hunter 3 would be shit if it had forced motion controls.

Whether a technology is a gimmick, depends on the usage of it (or in some cases it just is because there simply is no use). The extra screen has a lot of potential and the outcome depends on the developer.

4. HAHAHAHAHA.... no good exclusives... damn you made me laugh really hard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_U_games

 

[JokerboyJordan]

Xbox are one of the most profitable sectors of Microsoft, they stopped making losses on their consoles a significant while ago.

that's rubbish.

Q2 2012 Revenue by Division

Windows & Windows Live: $4.74 billion, down 6 percent from $5.06 billion a year earlier.
Server & Tools: $4.77 billion, up 11 percent from $4.29 billion a year earlier.
Business: $6.28 billion, up 3 percent from $6.11 billion a year earlier.
Online Services Business: $784 million, up 10 percent from $713 million a year earlier.
Entertainment & Devices: $4.24 billion, up 15 percent from $3.7 billion a year earlier.

Q2 2012 Income by Division

Windows & Windows Live: $2.85 billion, down 11 percent from $3.21 billion a year earlier.
Server & Tools: $1.97 billion, up 17 percent from $1.7 billion a year earlier.
Business: $4.15 billion, up 2 percent from $4.09 billion a year earlier.
Online Services Business: Loss of $458 million, up 18 percent from $559 million loss a year earlier.
Entertainment & Devices: $528 million, down 21 percent from $666 million a year earlier.

the xbox project is currently buried in the "Entertainment & Devices" Division (which also includes all the companies other endeavours in this area) and in the case of Q2 2012 the vast majority of revenue (note not income) in this section related to the xbox (some $712 million) was driven by sales of the freshly launched kinetic ("freshly" launched as in terms of filtering through the companys accounts) and even then they still managed to make an 18% loss and only turn just over half a billion on the entire Entertainment & Devices Division.

Firstly, it's called Kinect not Kinetic, if you were to come out of your Nintendo fanboy imagination bubble you might learn a thing or two. There's nothing wrong with the introduction of a new peripheral to promote sales, as the Nintendo Wii was basically a slightly stronger gamecube with a gimmicky controller.
The source you quoted had no link, so that's one point against it's validity, not that that's really in doubt. I see no mention of the apparent 18% losses that you keep stating anywhere in that, unless you're talking about the 21% decrease in income.

they stopped making a loss on the per unit production cost only because the managed to shrink the form factor due to the age of the damn thing and because of global economic factors like cheap Asian labour and production costs and even then that doesn't factor in the price cutting needed to continue to make sales to the consumer.

But they're still making a profit...? I'm not sure where you're going with that one, of course older tech will be cheaper to make, an example would be the Wii with it's outdated hardware, which allowed Nintendo profit from the start.

however the xbox project has made a continual business loss over 2 entire console generations and is never going to recoup those losses even if MSs wildest sale projections driven by the kinetic and stretching this console generation from the traditional 5 to 10 years and charging everybody through the nose for its online services (creators and users alike) all come off in the way they hope.

Once again, it's Kinect. And you're probably right on that front, it probably won't be able to recoup it's costs, but then again I don't have all the figures in front of me, and I can't predict the future unlike you. But do you know who they're doing better than? Sony. And seeing as that's their main rival, I think you can't say they haven't succeeded on some fronts. Yes the first Xbox was a failure, and maybe this gen too, but it's all groundwork.
On the topic of online services, I'd honestly pay for Xbox live any day of the week, compared to Playstion and Nintendo's paltry offerings, whether it's right to pay for it or not, there's no denying it's the better service, so of course MS would charge for it.
I do happen to agree with you that this console generation has continued for far too long, and the needless dragging out should come to an end.

the xbox projects losses have been deliberately hidden by Microsoft by moving the department around in the companies internal accounting structure to the point that at one point the xbox division was nominally a subdivision of that responsible for Office and MS have been called out on it multiple times by the major shareholders.

*Sniff sniff* What's that? Conspiracy? Yeah sorry, I'm gonna have to deny that one, not because it sounds untrue, but because it sounds way too tinfoil hat wearing, and I don't read the financial times I'm afraid.

as for your opinion on tech generations the next generation consoles are confined by the tech they can use within a consumer friendlily form factor and they will all now be based on "off the shelf" PC tech from the previous PC generations on current mainstream silicon waver tech to limit the heat control necessary and place it at acceptable levels for a consumer electronics product which limits the capabilities of all the machines that will be offered to the public to broadly the same performance for any company that enters the fray.
sony will not be producing another custom processor for a next gen console like they did with the cell...not least because last time Microsoft literally stole it (via IBM).

We know this already, what is your point? And throwing in lots of tech words really doesn't impress, not that's it's particular hard to follow mind you, I'm not retarded. Of course MS and Sony will be using off the shelf hardware, but yet again, even though consoles may have the same capabilities, the WiiU will not, as it's only as powerful as this generation of hardware, therefore it will be outclassed yet again by it's competitors.

as for my "grammer" if you understood the message enough to be able to see where the supposed errors were then the language used ultimately served its intended purpose and the only thing you pointing out those supposed mistakes shows is you being a pedant purely for the sake of it.

i don't give 2 flying fs what you think of my "grammer" and even less so when its a blatant ad hominem because you don't like what i'm saying.

Indeed I was, but I'm allowed to, internet and all.

If you're going to put something in quotation marks, check it's spelt correctly (Grammar), although I can tell that beyond basic English things did not sink in that well.

By the way, you can swear on this site, yippedy fucking yay!

And phrases like "fallacy", and "ad hominem", don't earn you any bonus points here I'm afraid.

 

[NightHawk21]

I don't see it happening and on top of that:

1) CoD is by no means hardcore. CoD is a very pick up and play game. Sure its fun, but there really isn't much learning curve past learning the maps.

2) I would personally not want my map in my lap. The map provides a lot of useful information that should be accessible at a glance, and not after I decide to tear my eyes away from the screen to look away and at something else.

 

[Denamic]

Oh yeah, having to take your eyes off the screen to look at the minimap sounds like an awesome idea.