Ever since Nintendo officially announced their next generation console at E3 2011 people have been sceptical. Stocks immediately dropped, rumors spread that it's underpowered, and people saw a new Dreamcast coming. But this is why I think that while there is clearly something wrong with the Wii U it will be okay.
It's underpowered. There's nothing else to even say about it. We don't need to be told it's just kind of a given. Even if Nintendo makes a system more powerful than the PS3 or Xbox 360 the next iterations of those systems will be even more powerful. And while Nintendo may think it doesn't matter, it does. Nintendo has pretty much shown that they need the Hardcore back. The majority of what they've shown for Wii U and 3DS is going after gamers. But the problem is, if the Wii U isn't more powerful than their PS3 then they aren't buying it. To fix this it needs to be at least a little more powerful to act as a bridge system for that specific audience waiting for the PS4 or Xbox 720. The casual market either is on board with Apple or won't buy a Wii U until two years after launch. So once the competitors' systems come out and that audience leaves they still have customers. And then on top of that the Nintendo loyal will stay with them throughout the system's entire life. But this is still a bit of a stretch. The bottom line is it needs power and lots of it.
But with power you need more. Gaming isn't just graphics it's the expirience. But Nintendo seeks to differentiate themselves once more. Touch screen, microphone, NFC, and connectivity between two screens. But they need to convince us more. First off let us know exactly how many controllers we can use with a screen and it better not be one. And if they can't all use a screen they need to make a new remote that replaces the Wii remote with Wii U branding and a fresh look. Relying on old consoles controllers looks dumb and makes you feel like you're playing a Wii HD. It needs to be a little more than that. In fact any Wii accessory that is going to be used in a Wii U game needs to be redesigned for the Wii U like the zapper. The classic controller, balance board, and whatever else they use. But come E3 this needs to happen.
On top of that what people are after today is online connectivity. The PlayStation Network and Xbox Live have been providing this since '06 while Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection has not. Nintendo wishes to fix this with the Nintendo Network but people are sceptical that it will be able to compete. With years to perfect PSN and XBL the Nintendo Network won't be up to speed. But that's not true. Nintendo has already been working on it with the 3DS. Nintendo Video, Swapnote, and the eShop are great examples of better attempts at an online service. And once the 3DS becomes fully compatible with the Nintendo Network, Nintendo would have had the time to experiment and perfect it's service too. That fixes that whole problem.
While I agree with the majority that Nintendo might lose ground with the Wii U they won't fall out of the race but get a wakeup call that not all systems print money unless you know exactly what you need to do.
The United States' National Videogame Museum has acquired one of the earliest prototypes of the Nintendo PlayStation system that never came out.
Push Square: "Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online will see the long-standing franchise return to PS5 this summer, and based on what we saw at a recent Bandai Namco press event, it's set to be a fairly fresh take on the property."
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Game Studio have announced action RPG Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam). It will launch on July 9 in Japan and July 10 worldwide. Pre-orders are available now.
The trailer is a bit underwhelming, but the graphics are great! I will wait for more gameplay videos.
Can you tell us all the source of your statement "It's underpowered"? And I mean real sources, with names. Not " a developer" "a developer" and "another developer". Look, like these, wich you can google easily:
THQ: “WiiU is just a lot more powerful than current HD consoles it does 1080p very easy.”
Epic: “It will do things current HD consoles simply can't do, it's going to be a powerful box.”
Crytek: “WiiU devkits are very powerful,the specs are very good”
Vigil Games: “We had the game at the same level as high end pc version in a matter of days and a few lines of code got the game up and running on tablet in 5 mins.”
EA: “Wii U is not a transitional platform, it is a true next generation system.”
Who should we believe? Anons? Oh, and btw: You're sending to hell all indie developers that makes great games with little power.
Now, if you want some story lessons: The 32bit PS1 sold more than the 64 bit N64. The underpowered PS2 sold more than the Gamecube. The Wii sold more than the 360 and PS3. "underpowered" doesnt mean "low sales", you know.
I still need to upgrade from my 2004 PC before I jump into "Next-Gen" on top of that I've still yet to purchase a Wii and grab all the sweet games for it. Along with my backlog of games that need to be finished for my PS3 and 360. I've got games to last me for quite a few years. Once the new consoles are around $300 and come with a good deal (games) I might pick one up. That won't be until 4 years after release so around 2017. I'm not early adopting this time around. I'll save some money and finally finish my backlog. Hopefully we can get Left 4 Dead 3 this gen or I might have to reconsider!