So the Wii U has two Mario Games, Pikmen 3, Game & Wario, Wind Waker HD, Wii Fit U/Wii Party U and the newly released Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and still things look bleak for the fledgling console. The good news is Nintendo games generally have low first week sales, but push copies over a longer period than other first party titles. The bad news is long term sales are not going to help the struggling device anytime soon.
It seems all hope rests on the upcoming Super Smash Brothers or the future Zelda title, but with so little information about this latest entry in the series, it clearly is not going to be released for another year at least and Mario Kart 8 will certainly push more units and its predecessor helped the 3DS take off but can lightning strike twice.
Nintendo could try developing a new IP but an original game comes with risks which I’m not sure Nintendo will take and although strong third party support is instrumental for a successful console, it seems most developers are waiting for Nintendo to generate a larger install base. Until this happens, it seems the Wii U will remain in limbo.
To end this article on a more positive note, I truly believe the Wii U will see a resurgence, but what do you think it will take?
Zelda will bring excitement to the system, but Super Smash Brothers will bring the masses.
Not once the masses realize that they have to either play with the wii-motes or buy a new pro-controller for each person. That's over $200 for the game and controllers!
Lack of gamecube controller support was a really bad idea.
@Demos – That is the silliest reason I have ever heard for why Mario Kart 8 might not sell/might not help the Wii U. Between the sales of the original Wii, Wii Party, Wii Party U, and just Wiimotes in general, there is very little need for most people to need additional hardware for multiplayer Mario Kart.
@OP – I think that Mario Kart 8 & Smash Bros it will be a one-two punch to finally kickstart the sales of Wii U. There are already anecdotal stories about DCK:TF being the last game/the "one more reason" to tip people over the edge to buy a Wii U. Sure, none of those games INDIVIDUALLY brought the fire/sales, but now people are finally looking at the system and thinking there is plenty of content there to dive in, and still more coming!
It was a sadly slow start, and Nintendo has lost their year head start advantage, but I think sales will really start to change this year (maybe enough to keep pace with the XBOne or fall between the XBOne and PS4).
Correction: I misread Demos' statement, so say this instead: What's wrong with playing Mario Kart with the Wiimote? That, and people are complaining about all the different controllers as is; adding GC controller support would've been madness.
Metroid, plain and simple. Unfortunately, Nintendo only has a couple IPs that could appeal to the new "mainstream" gaming community, and one of those is Metroid. Probably another Metroid Prime.
Nothing will. It's too late for Wii U. Nintendo is done and needs to go third party .
I am not at all excited for E3 from Nintendo this year.
EarthBound 3 in 3D (N64 version), Star Tropics, Star Fox, President Evil, NHL, GTA, Minecraft and so on…
Id agree that it's already too late to turn the fortunes around for the Wii U. It doesn't make it an any less quality system with some great games, but it's too late to turn it around and be a successful machine with lots and lots of great games, 1st party and 3rd party.
Had Nintendo already launched all their first party efforts in the first year including MK8 and Smash Bros plus an F Zero game, it would be a huge success,
Sadly we won't be seeing SMash until much later,
And Still waiting on MK8.
Oh, i take it back, I'm almost positive a mainline Pokemon mmorpg could see the console soar higher than any other based on one sole game. But Nintendo don't want people's money for such things for some reason, even though just about everyone has been calling for a home console main pokemon game for over a decade.
I think it's clear at this point that Iwata and Reggie don't really care what fans want. People have been asking about Star Tropics for more than two decades now. F-Zero, Star Fox, Metroid…. why even bother dreaming if we're not going to get these games anyway.
"People have been asking for Star Tropics for more than two decades"
Lou, I honestly don't see or hear many people ask for that. Actually, I don't see or hear ANYONE asking for that at all, really. The only time was on this site, quite a while ago. Not saying that it's a bad idea, but seriously, what sites do you go to and see enough people asking for StarTropics to think that has anything to do with… anything? As for F-Zero, Star Fox, and Metroid, that point is completely valid and acceptable. I really don't understand why they haven't been doing anything with those franchises… Unless they ARE currently working on something for the U and keeping it under wraps… but it's doubtful. :/ If they WERE, they'd say something just to try to get some hype and some of the doubters jumping to the Wii U.
As for what I think? Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Zelda are all good enough to start something… but will it happen? I'm not even sure anymore.
TheAdza: I agree that a Pokémon MMORPG would be a very popular system seller!
I agree that a Pokemon MMORPG would be the golden Ticket for the Wii U, especially if they launched a Pokemon themed console, or even a pokemon themed Gamepad with the game.
I think that there are many classic games that could be brought back to life and re-imagined for the Wii U that would assist in increasing sales and awareness. However, what about a more obscure idea? What if Nintendo created a RPG from the classic Saturday Morning Cartoon, Captain N: The Game Master? Captain N could be the main protagonist, and his sidekicks could join him along the way, with cameos by many other games. It could be Nintendo's own version of the Kingdom Hearts concept. I would definitely pay to play it!
However, I would also like to see some new original IPs release from Nintendo to draw our attention back to their originality.
As long as there is no voice acting! A captain N RPG could be a good way to bring attention to their lesser used franchises.
🙂 I would like a Captain N RPG!
I never played Star Tropics, but scroll up a little bit. It's mentioned in this thread. Plus I've seen it on other sites.
Why? I have no idea. Maybe it was a great game. It was one of the great Nintendo Power covers, so it's probably more nostalgia than anything. Side note: I miss Nintendo Power.
But hey, they brought Kid Icarus back after sitting on the shelf for an eternity, so I suppose anything is possible. But it's insanely frustrating for me that there aren't true sequels to Star Fox 64. Why aren't there more flight games in general? To me that's way more fun that the average FPS.
Hold up…. is Essel back?
Hey Lou! Essel tends to hide in the shadows and make an appearance at the most random times 🙂
In all honesty, I have never left as a reader, and have a few ideas for upcoming articles. However, time is not on my side for daily articles any longer. But, if the fans insist, I will make every effort to at least bring back my weekend discussions. Let me know, and I shall do all that I can!
Lol. Ever see "The Man With Two Brains"? You're Merv Griffin!