The Wii U has struggled to capture the imagination of players like the Wii. Many people, including friends close to myself, never fully cared or understood what value the Wii U Gamepad offered.Even now, almost three years later, that value is still missing.
According to a Fortune interview with Mr. Miayamoto, the misunderstanding of the GamePad was a reason for the Wii U’s struggles.
“I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do. I think the assumption is we were trying to create a game machine and a tablet and really what we were trying to do was create a game system that gave you tablet-like functionality for controlling that system and give you two screens that would allow different people in the living room to play in different ways. …. Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it. I still feel it was a very novel approach—and a very interesting idea” – Miyamoto
Mr. Takahashi, who helps overseas Nintendo’s Software Planning & Development Division with Miyamoto, had this to say about Nintendo’s approach to their next system.
“For us, the next step is to think about what is going to be that element that is really going to catch the attention of a large number of players again and get them excited. We’re constantly thinking about this idea from the perspective of the players and the needs of the players in terms of what can we can do with our ability and our technology to capture that excitement and passion.” – Takahashi
How do you feel about this explanation from Miyamoto? Is that a reason the Wii U has struggled to garner attention?
The Author
June 28, 2015
I think there is a critical issue that is being overlooked here, and ultimately the only one that effects gamers. That issue is the quality of the experience offered by the Wii U. In Nintendo’s view, what makes the Wii U disappointing is that it never achieved the fiscal success that the Wii did because they could not move as many units of hardware and thus as many units of software (ie. Nintendo does not make tons of money). However I am not Nintendo, I am a gamer. When I look at my shelf of games I see 17 blue cases (Wii U) and 32 white (Wii). I will probably not be adding another 15 titles to my Wii U library before Wii U ceases production. That is bad FOR NINTENDO. When I look at the games that I own for each system that offer either a unique experience or a true refinement of a franchise, I come up with 10/17 for Wii U and 10/32 for Wii. Despite the fact that I actually bought more games for Wii, the overall experience of playing Wii U has actually been better (and I did not even include eShop indies)
As gamers, we just have to realize that as much as we love Nintendo, it is a corporation and whether or not they are selling systems and games is more or less irrelevant to us. So long as they are profitable enough to stay in business and keep making great games, all is well. In fact sometimes greatness comes from adversity. Take the original Star Wars film and all the issues and setbacks they had in production and then compare that to the Phantom Menace and what happened when George Lucas had nigh unlimited resources at his disposal.
(I may have stolen some ideas in this comment from an opinion piece I read here on PNM, now that I think about it.)
June 28, 2015
I have to say that I love both my experiences with both Wii and Wii U. I will say that at this point I have a more extensive game library for Wii than Wii U, but I love the time spent on both systems. I can say that I go back and play my Wii from time to time in fact my son and wife are playing Tetris party on the Wii now. I feel that the Wii U has a great indies which makes up for the lack of support from other companies. I don’t know exactly what my point is I keep losing my train of thought.
June 28, 2015
I felt a little scatterbrained when I wrote my opinion two, but I think I got a cohesive thought or two out there. :)
I hear what your saying about Wii (I’m playing Wii Xenogears Chronicles right now as a matter of fact), and I don’t think it was a bad system, just that because of it’s commercial success you have to wade through many more substandard games that got released because publishers could turn a profit on just about anything.
June 29, 2015
I think what I was trying to say is that in terms of sales the Wii did wonderful, so in the eyes the companies stocking the system as well as Nintendo and other 3rd party companies as success. Since the sales of the Wii were higher and thus lead to 3rd party companies publishing more titles for it. On the other hand you have the customers and people who have actually play and use the Wii U and see it as a great console.
There, I think that made sense.