The Wii U is DONE: How the Nintendo NX could re-write the rules

Amid the madness that was E3 2015, one detail that was spoken of so briefly that the term ‘glossed over’ doesn’t quite feel accurate–the Nintendo NX console–made a quiet blip on the radar before taking a backseat to the new additions to their longstanding franchise Super Smash Bros. (which really showed me the direction the company is determined to go in), plushies and arguably way too much time spent on their presentation (who am I kidding; the muppet-esque delivery brought me back to a time I was a lot less concerned with value in favor of pure fun aesthetics).

What spawned me to blog this is an article I came across in Fortune that detailed famed designer Shigeru Miyamoto’s thoughts on why the Wii U didn’t take as well as the company hoped (a misunderstanding of the game/tablet gameplay functionality mostly).

At best, the Nintendo NX platform is a year away.

That gives them ample time to fine tune every aspect of the console and really make it special and innovative and a host of other verbs that could be used to keep us, the gamers, satiated until the damn thing actually drops. I’m going to keep it all the way real here: success for the NX isn’t difficult to attain because gamers today want the same thing they did back in 1983 or 1991 or 1996 or 2006; quality games and a system that allows developers the opportunity to use the hardware in different ways.

It’s not rocket science. Nor is it outside the realm of possibility that Nintendo could ever be back on top. It just requires them to do things they may not want to do.

Let me delve a little deeper.

I appreciated the Wii U’s attempt at incorporating our daily lives into our gaming experience for what it was but ultimately what it became is a novelty that I rarely used when I had the opportunity and felt some kind of way when I was forced to. It simply didn’t add enough value to the fun factor which ultimately led to me questioning whether or not the upgrade from the Wii to the Wii U was really all that necessary.

Every new generation is an obvious technological jump but more than that (and in cases of gamers like myself) an opportunity for seamless forward movement in our favorite titles. Some improvements work while others don’t. Capitalizing on the community is how mediocre games get better and good games become staples of gaming.

Why then, after SO long, has Nintendo not done the same? I applaud them looking to build that rocketship to the stars but if they don’t do a better job of encouraging support it’ll be damn difficult finding astronauts to man it.

How (in my humble opinion) can Nintendo get back the trust of the people? Glad you asked. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Push the ‘community’ aspect into real-time. When I had an opportunity to get my hands on the demo for Super Mario Maker I saw just how active the Nintendo community was and even more so when I learned of the social layer integrated into the basis for the game.

While I still don’t know about whether or not created levels can be shared independently of the Nintendo cloud, I see the attention of Nintendo shifting towards the building and maintaining of social media adept communities around their games. Nintendo needs to capitalize on this with the NX in a major way–every game, every single game, needs to be able to be played and shared communally in some way or another.

More than leaderboards or friends list invitations too please and thank you; imagine being able to press the menu button in-game and have access to a Nintendo branded Youtube or Twitter client and update in real-time. Imagine holding community mod contests where winners get theirs officially added to the game based on number of shares within the overall and micro-communities; social is everything and while I’m impressed at the level of inclusion they have currently for Nintendo to push themselves back into ‘The Conversation’ they’ve got to do–and be–more.

Less gimmicks, more fundamentals. Rather than spending so much time on innovation, Nintendo should come back to their roots: first and third party games that are uniquely Nintendo. Back in the days of the SNES I was absolutely enamored by games like Shadowrun, Aladdin and Mortal Kombat not only due to the games themselves but how different they were on Super Nintendo than any other system.

Whether that was due to the hardware or a bit of creative license on the part of developers that made the experience for me and ultimately why I ended choosing Super Nintendo over Sega Genesis. If there must be a new gimmick to the NX, make it change not only the interaction gamers have with the game but the gaming experience itself. Even if the game is multi-platform, make the developers change the game enough for Nintendo users to have exclusivity and make the learning curve worth the brand loyalty.

Modernize the untapped games we love(d). Nintendo has the bank, and some of that could go to bringing back intellectual properties that could be a big hit with a bit of paint. This would open up the playing field considerably and paint Nintendo as the company who cares about its (often extremely vocal) community.

At this point they could pick up licenses from defunct developers for pennies on the dollar, have a special division whose task is taking these games and making them work on the NX. The sheer number of games that could be incorporated here is beyond mentioning but I, for one, would love to see a Lagoon or Uniracers reboot.

Give developers more of an active role in the Nintendo spotlight. When you think of Nintendo, you think of mainstays like Mario, Fox McCloud, Link and Samus. With a Nintendo NX dev kit, there’s an opportunity to open up the platform’s fan base to other developers and integrate them into the idea of what the new Nintendo is all about–a program that mimics the open access of OUYA to indie developers who create games and applications that can be used through the NX and even include peripherals and wearables.

Conclusion. The Nintendo NX has a ton of potential and given so few details about it anything could be coming down the pipeline. With more focus on community and social interaction, a renewed interest in putting games over gimmicks, giving a new leash on life to old games and including more direct promotion of indie devs, Nintendo is in a great space to make the system a must own.

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