The Problem with Nintendo's Wii U

Nintendo is in a tough position with it’s latest console, released in the holidays of 2012 this console had a great idea for games and applications. If someone else was using the TV you could simply play the game on your very own Nintendo tablet in full high definition, complete with motion and camera abilities as well as a touch screen and controller buttons the concept could very well bring some great interactive games in to your very own hands.
The only problem is games, there are hardly any good games at all for it and developers are just not willing to take the time and adjust their blockbuster games to work with a second screen when they can just release them on PC, Xbox One and PS4 which all use similar architecture and with much larger power plus capabilities, Don’t get me wrong there is quite a number of titles for the Wii U, It launched with an average of 20 games in most countries and to this day has a library of over 200 titles for you to play but all their famous exclusive series haven’t published their next generation game that we have all been looking forward to like: Zelda, Yoshi, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Metroid and Super Smash Brothers. [image src=’http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4053/4703352163_6bf1916dce_b.jpg’ width=’190′ height=’145′ title=” title=”The 3DS is very successful and has great games” align=’left’] Sure there are some small appearances by them like a Yoshi DLC for Sonic, An Animal Crossing space and a Pokemon mini game but the main games that made them so great, None of them are even announced. Some release dates are finally in site for the likes of Super Smash Brothers but it took far too long, For so long my Wii U has just been sitting there collecting dust waiting for the good stuff, I have played numerous little games and indies that last for a bit but once that is all done there is nothing left. After a whole year of having the console I only ended up having 3 games worth playing.
The Wii U has plenty of power for Nintendo’s quality of games, they don’t require insane power and don’t have life like graphics but they can still give you plenty of fun.

 
They are already planning their next console which is supposed to be a fusion between the Wii and 3DS. The Wii U hasn’t even begun to show it’s potential, which means we will be stuck with a console which when the few games are completed will be tossed aside for the next console. It’s quite sad because this is their first high definition home console and I was looking forward to all my favourite titles finally in smooth high definition graphics and a much larger introduction of features for each of them.
And that is not all the bad news, recently Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced that Wii U sales forecasts for fiscal year 2014 had been cut from 9 million units to 2.8 million which means the console is selling way below expectations and doing very poorly. An example is the recent Xbox One and PS4 combined have already surpassed the total sales of the Wii U in just a few weeks that the Wii U took years to get. [image src=’http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Wii_U_Console_and_Gamepad.png’ width=’190′ height=’145′ title=’Wii U needs to learn from the 3DS’ align=’right’]

Wii U sold 5.86 Million units
Xbox One sold 3.9 Million units
Playstation 4 sold 4.2 Million units

Another factor is the poor marketing, Nintendo assumed everyone knew it was a whole new console but the public believed it was just an add on device for their original Wii. So ever since they realised their mistake and the confusion among people to their new product they have been playing catch up ever since to make sure everyone knows it is a whole new console. It’s not all bad news tho, The Wii U is the only next generation console which allows free online play without a fee. The Gamepad is very fun, allows for great drawings and could be great for the main titles, I would love to play Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon on it. I hope the future is better for the struggling console and we see great games being released and announced.

Before the final nail in the coffin of Wii U is dealt I hope Nintendo learn some things from the 3DS which is hugely popular among gamers and then produces some great games in the near future.