
Nintendo signals end for Wii U - artsandsci
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38689991
======
niftich
With first-party games coming to an end, the Wii U's underwhelming run is
essentially over. The dynasty of related PowerPC processors starting from the
GameCube has come to a close; other consoles switched off of much more custom
and high-end PowerPC parts in Wii U's contemporaneous generation, with Xbox
One ditching the custom Xenon and PS4 abandoning the Cell for AMD APUs that
are closer to off-the-shelf than we've been in years.

With the Switch's Tegra and AMD's chips in the others, for the first time
we'll be at a point where all mainstream game consoles will have CPUs designed
by and sourced from companies whose primary business is GPUs, which I think is
really interesting.

~~~
macspoofing
>The dynasty of related PowerPC processors starting from the GameCube has come
to a close

More-so than that, the dynasty of Nintendo home consoles is at a close too
(though Nintendo PR managed to convince the public otherwise). Switch is a
successor to their mobile consoles .

~~~
niftich
This will be the big showdown between Nintendo's internal worldview (and
marketing), vs. the public perception.

Nintendo _insists_ and markets the Switch as a home console, but there is a
real danger that people will perceive it as a quasi-portable (as long as
you're not too far away from the charger). This is further muddied by the 3DS
line, a still-thriving mobile product which, despite having aging innards, has
gone through a few facelifts and is still selling copies because its best-in-
class library of coveted games.

It remains to be seen whether Nintendo will keep misunderstanding its market,
or actually produce a hit this time.

~~~
macspoofing
Their exit was inevitable. Graphical performance is a huge aspect of home
console and Nintendo is not capable of competing in that area - and their
stellar first party lineup isn't enough to bridge that gap.

>It remains to be seen whether Nintendo will keep misunderstanding its market,
or actually produce a hit this time.

I think the Switch will be a success and after the Wii-U fiasco, their
marketing and branding is spot-on.

~~~
rockdoe
_Nintendo is not capable of competing in that area_

They can surely produce a capable console. After all, they partnered with
NVIDIA. The question is whether it makes sense to go into this arms race,
especially given that their traditional first party content is not well placed
to make use of it.

~~~
macspoofing
By 'capable' I mean, they are too poor. Competing in this market means
subsidizing the console and Nintendo cannot afford to do that in a way that
Sony and Microsoft can.

>especially given that their traditional first party content is not well
placed to make use of it.

That makes no sense. Why not? If they released their Wii-U games, unchanged,
on the Xbox One or PS4 they would be mega-hits.

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jerf
I can confirm with in-the-wild reports that as of last week, there are still
people who had no idea that the WiiU was actually a completely separate
console from the Wii.

I suspect the WiiU was never terribly destined for success anyhow, with its
bizarre hybrid of tablet and TV (compare with what may be a sensible hybrid of
tablet and TV in the Switch, stay tuned to find out), but I would love to peer
into the alternate universe where the "Wii 2" was released instead just to
compare notes.

~~~
cookiecaper
Nintendo is a really interesting company. They go from wild, raging successes
like the Wii to big commercial failures like the Wii U, though their flagships
are always consistently high-quality.

One of the things that has always differentiated Nintendo is that they really
don't seem to care about what the American market thinks. Sony and Microsoft
got first-class online services two generations ago, whereas Nintendo still
has people exchange friend codes (finally changing now with the Switch).
Nintendo makes decisions that anyone with a passing familiarity in the
American market could tell you were doomed from the get-go, like making the
GameCube purple by default, and then they persist in those decisions for many
years.

The Wii U is a great console. My whole family loves it, and there are a lot of
excellent games on it. It's sad to see it go, but definitely not unexpected. I
hope the Switch lives up to that high standard of quality.

~~~
anonbanker
Case in point, Nintendo of America's comments at the Switch reveal were _last_
, after Japan and Europe talked.

When Iwata and Fils-Aime were succeeding with the Wii, Nintendo of America was
front-and-center in every reveal. Now that the Wii U flopped, and Iwata died,
Nintendo is hip-deep in Japanese patriotism, just shy of outright xenophobia.

The overarching impression I got from the reveal was one of "The Americans are
no longer ruining our Japanese company. We're back at the helm now".

~~~
jazoom
You're right, the US should be first in everything and focusing on your home
country (Japan) first is wrong.

~~~
anonbanker
Let's analyze the strawman you've brought up.

We have a history of Satoru Iwata teaming up with Nintendo of America, to the
point of letting them influence design decisions on the hardware they release
(look at Prototype Nintendo DS systems at E3 vs. Release). The name "Wii" was
a play on the _english_ word "We". Reggie Fils-Aime had his fingerprint on
every product marketed between the DS and the 3DS, evident especially in the
embrace of "Blue Ocean" strategies from hardware, to software, to marketing
(which is why they hired him from Viacom).

The US _was_ first in everything, A time that had the highest sales since the
original Famicom/NES. It is merely sticking one's head in the sand to not
notice and acknowledge the change in direction this new console is leading.

~~~
jazoom
I don't deny changes. I do think Nintendo is well within their right to focus
on their home country first and I believe they had their reasons for doing it.

------
ProfessorLayton
I'm pretty bummed about the Wii U's outcome as a whole. It has fantastic games
that really didn't have a chance at reaching a broader audience. My hope is
that many of the Wii U's games will be ported over to the Switch for another
go, and expanded upon by the Switch's unique abilities.

Hyrule Warriors: 8 players _with their own screen_ would be amazing on the
Switch. Especially without the multiplayer hiccups caused by the Wii U's
anemic CPU/GPU. I would buy it again in a heartbeat just for that.

Perhaps Nintendo needs to start treating their hardware more like a single
platform, rather than 2 independent ones that exist just fine without the
other. For example, Zelda on the Switch could have a few mini-games/side
quests available for the more portable and cheaper 3DS via a companion app -
Yes I know they toyed around with this idea before, but never in a substantial
way that created value between the two systems.

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rwmj
Ouch, 102 million Wiis sold, vs 13 million Wii-U.

~~~
overcast
The Wii was nothing more than a collective delusion. People were buying into
that, for no reason other than everyone else was. Majority of those machines
sat collecting dust, after the arm flailing novelty wore off. After that
episode, the next Wii launches, and people knew better than to just jump on
the hype train. The Switch will perform at least as poorly.

~~~
jonlucc
I disagree. I was in college during the Wii's run, and it was the only console
my friends and I played together (though several of us had other consoles).
Games like Smash Bros, Super Mario Strikers, and even Wii Tennis were at least
weekly events.

Edit to add: I was at a party a month ago, and the hosts had their Wii
available. People were playing then, too. I think maybe WiiU didn't offer what
people wanted. At least among my experiences, multiplayer was vital.

~~~
Guest98123
Same here, I was just finishing university at that time, and it seemed like
every student house had a Wii for party games, and for casual gaming while
drinking and getting ready for a night out. Aside from that, I remember guitar
hero being popular.

As for the Wii U, I think most people my age just moved on to a different step
in our lives, we get together less often, and there just isn't the same
interest or opportunities available for casual gaming with friends. I don't
know what's happening with the younger generations, and what they're doing in
university now.

~~~
shuntress
Same here, but I actually have a WiiU. I think the big reason it's not as
popular is because the main draw (casual gaming with friends at/before
parties) is something the Wii does almost as well and everyone already has a
Wii. So why bother with a WiiU?

Smash 4 and Nintendo Land are basically perfect party games. But the similar
offerings on the Wii are so close to perfect you really don't need to switch
up.

------
Tiktaalik
I imagine the Wii U was originally internally pitched as a sort of cheap and
durable iPad-like that offered a tablet experience in addition to the
traditional Nintendo experience. I can understand that Nintendo would think
there would be some merit to an idea of adding onto the existing Nintendo
experience a sort of cheap iPad alternative for children and a broader
mainstream audience that couldn't afford an iPad.

What immediately ruined this idea however was that incredibly cheap Android
tablets quickly appeared and undermined the whole concept. The Wii U is
actually expensive in relation to many of these devices.

~~~
wodenokoto
I think the Wii U was simply a "DS for the living room"

~~~
anonbanker
Showing that Nintendo was thinking of killing/cannibalizing their console
market much earlier than people realized.

------
minimaxir
Canonical source with more accurate headline:
[http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/19/14313914/legend-of-zelda-
br...](http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/19/14313914/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-
the-wild-last-nintendo-game-for-wii-u)

The announcement should surprise no one.

------
alphonsegaston
My main hope with the Switch is that they can get a real virtual console off
the ground that supports they're entire back catalog. Putting out the new
Zelda for Wii U and the Switch gives me hope. But Nintendo's history with
online services is pretty abysmal. They're were several Wii U games I wanted
to play, but the console had zero appeal for me.

~~~
emptybits
For the first time (starting in the fall), Nintendo will be charging
subscription fees for its online multiplayer service. So expectations and
pressure will be on more than ever. I want to believe.

~~~
Goronmon
I mean, if Nintendo was run by competent people, they would include access to
the entire NES/SNES Virtual Console catalog as long as you maintained a
subscription to their service.

But this is Nintendo we are talking about, so instead we get a month long
rental of one single game at a time.

~~~
akjainaj
The 3DS can do that. They made an emulator that runs on it and they sell
Gameboy games on the store. I know nothing about the pricing though.

------
the_rosentotter
I feel like I'm the only one who has a Wii U and likes it.

There is definitely a dearth of games, but the first party titles are some of
the best games available, for any platform: The various Marios, Mario Kart,
Smash Bros, Pokemon Tournament, couple of others.

The graphics are a big step up from the Wii and still look great. I don't give
a damn about the 'tablet', it's just another controller (and not a bad one at
that).

------
goatslacker
So long dear Wii U ! I'll always play and update you with neat hacks at my
place. Seriously though, I don't understand people. For me the Wii U had way
better games than the Wii and I would never trade my Wii U for any Playstation
or Xbox. Smash Bros is way better, Mario Kart is way way way better (the best
Mario Kart ever?)... Just lacked a really good 3D Mario Game.

------
newscracker
I was a bit disappointed with Nintendo with the games for the Wii. The initial
Wii Sports was not that great (though super cool for a motion controlled game
of that time), but it was superseded by the much better Wii Sports Resort
(which didn't have the same lineup and missed classics like Tennis). Nintendo
could've made an even better successor on that front. The Wii Fit was
succeeded by the improved Wii Fit Plus, but it too needed a better successor
and a much better user experience for a fitness game. There was so much more
that could've been done just in these games, but Nintendo just moved on to Wii
U. In the reviews I read on the Wii U games of the same kind, it didn't seem
like a vast improvement.

~~~
ebbv
The original Wii had a healthy lifespan. It had quite a few good titles. I
don't think it's fair to say Nintendo moves into the Wii U too quickly. The
Wii came out ahead of the previous generation of consoles and the Wii U
followed suit. If anything the Wii U was a bit delayed. The original Wii was
only capable of 480p and everyone was clamoring for an HD console.

The Wii U, on the other hand, was replaced quickly by the Switch because it
flopped. People like me who bough a Wii U got burned.

I bought my Wii U in 2015 when Nintendo announced Zelda for it and said it
would be out Christmas of 2015. Here we are in 2017 and it is coming out but
it is a Switch title and the Wii U version is an afterthought. I feel like the
money I spent on the Wii U was squandered. Lesson here being don't trust
release dates.

~~~
mercer
I think 'too quickly' really depends on the target audience. For 'serious'
gamers the Wii might be a letdown because it had too few games that they
liked. For the 'casual' gamers, however, the Wii might have been well worth
buying even for just one or two games (or possibly even just the bundled Wii
Sports), and they might not even feel the need now to upgrade to a newer
console.

The distinction is perhaps a bit like the difference between a laptop and a
tablet. I have a Mac and feel seriously bummed out and somewhat pissed at
Apple about the new MacBook Pros, both in price and specs. However, I also
have an iPad Mini 2 and felt absolutely no desire or need to update to newer
iPads largely because I use it more 'casually', and specs and new features
don't matter as much.

I'd say Nintendo's audience for the Wii in particular was the 'casual gamer'.
So they optimized for that. Apple has both a professional and casual audience,
and I think the whole kerfuffle about the new MacBook Pros is a primarily a
consequence of that.

------
_nato_
Never bought one, but if Nintendo's 20/20 hindsight claim that the ~Wii U
confused consumers~ was the reason for its relative miss, then that's an
incredible lesson learned.

~~~
brianwawok
I really don't think it was the name. Look at GameCube. Fine name, also very
crappy sales. Nintendo first party titles rocks, but overall Sony and
Microsoft have been eating them for lunch for years. The first Wii was a lucky
break before iPhones became commonplace.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I seem to recall the GameCube sales being solid outside America, where
Microsoft was buying its way into he market.

