Nintendo restructured and united its home console and handheld divisions because it was in preparation for the next generation unified architectural strategy. Nintendo wanted to get this done sooner rather than later, so it would not cause a delay in its next-gen hardware R&D and software launch schedules. They were not able to do this in the past because of technological obstacles with previous console architecture, but now they knew going in that they wanted to do this for the next gene...
part 2
- Nintendo's price point has to be within mass market range, but they made this mistake with the Wii U. However, they can't officially do a price cut because they want to reach profitable margins ASAP instead of trying to cut the price, sell it at a further loss in attempt to increase the console's install base growth.
Another factor that crippled Wii U wasn't just the price point $300-350, but also its ineffective, initially confusing ...
It's like you guys haven't been reading or listening to anything Nintendo has been talking about in the past 2-3 years. Nintendo stopped being a direct competitor to Sony and Microsoft and they won't be trying to beat them at their own territory again. Go read some of Nintendo's statements from their financial investor meetings, interviews and general comments made by Iwata and Miyamoto.
- Nintendo already mentioned its plans to use a unified architectural str...
People expecting Nintendo to go back to being a direct competitor are likely going to be setting themselves up for disappointment... again. So far, Nintendo has shown absolutely no indication of back to being a direct competitor against Sony and Microsoft. This is despite Miyamoto expressing frustration over not being able to satisfy the non-gamer audience and Nintendo having since 2013, refocused its efforts on its dedicated fanbase. Nintendo has remained adamant about its approach to hard...
I'm not sure if Miyamoto clearly said it. I think what Miyamoto was implying is that Mario won't be starring in a new kind of role compared to what was done in 3D World. However, in the past, Miyamoto said he was interested in doing a third Mario Galaxy game but the EAD Tokyo team already decided to do 3D World instead. Mario Galaxy is an old concept from the last generation, so it's not actually a new role, it would just be more of the same.
3D World's co-dir...
What's amusing about Wii U hate is that most people who bash it haven't even played it. Granted, Wii U has flaws, but I feel it's been the only console that really proved its value this year. PS4 and Xbox One aren't quite there yet, but I'm sure that will change in 2015. Of course, Wii U is also looking like it will have its best year yet in terms of software for 2015 as well and likely with the least amount of software droughts too.
It's understandabl...
Price cuts? Did you not take a look at the deals retailers had for Wii U and its software during Black Friday and Cyber Monday last month? There were some great deal for games like Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors for $30 and Wind Waker HD for $15. Wonderful 101's been available for below for $30-20 or less for a long time. Walmart was offering Mario KArt 8 for $35.Best Buy had Wii U for $360 that came with Nintendo Land, DKC: Tropical Freeze, Mario 3D World and Smash Bros 4.
Xenoblade X is a big localization effort for Nintendo's Treehouse (the developer said it will have more storytelling than the first Xenoblade game), so I would think it will come out around September/October for overseas. On the bright side, it seems like Nintendo will finally have good software momentum throughout 2015 with around 10 games confirmed for release so far. This doesn't count Fire Emblem X SMT or Fatal Frame ,the latter of which probably won't get localized.
As far as Xenoblade X' combat goes, we still don't know much about it beyond the bare bones battle system that share's obvious similarities to the original Xenoblade 1. We know some things have returned such as auto attacks,special moves requiring a cool down time and the "B" button prompts during combat. In addition, there's a newly implemented enemy limb decapitation system, allowing you to seemingly select and cut of certain body parts , which may add a new ...
Some of the media have acknowledged that Wii U has become worthy of owning now due to its increase of worthwhile exclusives. Personally, I think it is the best console to own this year because what it lacks in quantity of software, it has made up for it in terms of quality. While nearly all of Nintendo's titles this year have been sequels, they have all been consistently better than their predecessors from Donkey Kong Country: TF and Mario Kart 8 (save for its poor battle mode) to Super...
The lack of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a crime.
Wii U 1st party games generally run at 720p at 60 fps. The only exceptions are Wind Waker HD which is 1080p at 30 fps (though its not locked at it) and Smash Bros which is 1080p at 60 fps. Mario Kart 8 runs at 720p at 60 fps, but the game's split-screen mode drops to 30 fps.
Kirby's Raibow Curse, Yoshi's Wooly World, Spatoon, Mario Maker, Mario Party 10, Star Fox, Devil's Third, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Zelda and Animal Crossing.
That would mean there's 11 confirmed Wii U titles from Nintendo so far for 2015. This doesn't yet include Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei or Mario vs. Donkey Kong. I'm not counting Fatal Frame either since it probably won't get localized.
It sounds like Nintendo will just be showing new footage of a previously announced game. I don't recall Nintendo making new game announcements at the VGAs. Last year, Nintendo only showed off new footage of Donkey Kong with the predictable reveal of Cranky Kong as a playable character yet it saved Hyrule Warriors game announcements for a Nintendo Direct in the same month.
Xenoblade comes out in Spring 2015 for Japan, so given how Nintendo is only targeting 2015 for an overseas release means their likely aiming to get the game localized by the holiday season (Monolith Soft did confirm that the localization effort is going to be huge, and an even bigger undertaking than Xenoblade 1, so its going to take longer to localize than most of Nintendo's non-story driven titles), maybe as early as October. Zelda will likely be out by November.By the way, Nintendo con...
I suspect it will be less than that. The home console market is in bad shape in Japan despite Wii U's general lack of significant competition. Last year, Wii U sales with the release of Super Mario 3D World were low. However, the reality is, none of the 3D Mario Game have ever been strong system sellers for home consoles in Japan during their first week of release.
While you bring up good points, quite frankly, it doesn't really matter often if a third party game comes out on time with all the DLC and is a good quality port. The Nintendo audience generally does not buy the same kind of games that Sony and Microsoft fans do.
It's why Bayonetta 2 sell well despite being a different kind of game that Nintendo It had good marketing which included a TV ad, downloadable demo, critical acclaim and was presented at numerous industry e...
Unfortunately, for Nintendo, the world isn't big enough for its home console business so long as it only caters to its dedicated, but shrunken fan base. As much as I love my Wii U (more so than my PS4, at least for the foreseeable future), Nintendo has its biggest commercial failure home console on its hands, and that's saying something given how poorly GameCube did.
The good news is that despite the mess Nintendo has caused with its platform, the company remains full...
Quite frankly, Wii U owners aren't generally buying much of anything. Most Wii U players didn't buy Bayonetta 2 despite how good it is. Games like Demons and Dark Souls are also niche, yet they managed to be surprisingly successful, so there's no excuse why Bayonetta 2 bombed when it was fairly well marketed and one of the finest games of the year. Wii U owners just preferred not to play anything new on Wii U in October.
Heck, most of Nintendo's software on ...
Every company cares about making money, but as a platform holder, Nintendo places value in being able to take risks in designing hardware with features and capabilities that they want it to have. Acquiring home console market share is still important to Nintendo just as it is to make a console the way they want it to be made to their company's interests over what third parties want which Nintendo has taken big risks with since the last generation.
Yes, I know software an...