Larry C.

Yeah that's what I thought. Is there talk about a new Mario Party for the Wii U?

Larry C.

So what is there to look forward to besides Mario Kart 8 and Bayonetta 2?

Larry C.

That's right Smash Bros! X looks good too.

Thanks for all the info bro.

Michael Corvin

Have you ever played a Mario Kart before? Outside of Mario Party its the most stale franchise Nintendo keeps trotting out with each new console & handheld. With how little the series evolves, there's not much guesswork in regards to what to expect.

Give me Smash Bros Kart with all Nintendo's IPs. That would be something fresh. Unfortunately all Nintendo has to do is spit shine the last version and 10 million eat it up. They have no incentive to evolve the series.

I've owned them all dating back to he SNES(3DS excluded) and they're... fine. I'd just like to see them push the envelope a bit.

Larry C.

Yeah I have owned them all and from what I have seen from 8 is a bit different with the tracks making it look like you don't even know which way is up. I plan on using the Wii U for exclusive titles. I have a 360 and will eventually get an Xbox One. I know that Sonic game is great I almost bought it came out.

My Other Self

This missteps Nintendo has taken with the Wii U is nothing short of baffling. Realistically, they have the opportunity to be the most innovative video game company in the world but their reliance on fan loyalty seems to have them coasting on the Wii U turning any sort of corner.

I don't think it's possible to find a bigger Nintendo supporter than me, but to have a complete year up on the competition and STILL walk away with terrible sales numbers screams they turned a corner they may not be able to come back from.

Say what you want, but Sega was Nintendo's main nemesis in the 90s. Sega had absolutely no idea how to market the Saturn, and it failing was their own fault. So, to "forget" the Saturn ever happens, they release the Dreamcast. Did it really "undo" the failure of the Saturn? No, unfortunately. And the Dreamcast is easily one of my favorite systems. It was too much too late.

I would absolutely hate for Nintendo to turn to a software only operation but how can they make a Wii U a success at this point?
I'll admit that Mario Kart 64 is the last one I played, but that game holds up incredibly well (if you still have an N64 connected). I didn't realize it's turned in to a stagnant franchise, though.

Larry C.

Well I'm hoping Nintendo will wow us with some great stuff this year. If they put out at least 5 must have exclusive titles I'll be happy.

M Polo

Fired up the new Wii U over the weekend. My Nintendo Network ID is MDPolo if anyone wants a new best friend!

Adam Tyner

It'll take multiple, consecutive failures to get Nintendo to abandon hardware, and I think it's more likely that they'd go portable-only rather than immediately multiplatform. I very strongly suspect the next big Nintendo hardware release will be some kind of portable/console hybrid.

The kind of scary thing with the Wii U is that the tiny userbase it has is comprised of Nintendo's most ardent fans, and they're still not coming out in meaningful numbers even for something like Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo has so thoroughly poisoned the well that even many of its biggest fans are apathetic. A 9 month software drought makes people put their Wii Us in the closet, sell 'em to buy a PS4 or Xbox One, or generally just forget they exist.

Here are a few things I think Nintendo needs to do:

* Completely overhaul their marketing teams. Essentially nothing they're doing is working, at least for the Wii U. Nintendo doesn't seem to want people to know that the Wii U or any of its games even exist. The Wii U as a console doesn't have an "identity", it has the same name as a console Nintendo abandoned in 2010 and just about everyone joked as being covered in dust, the gamepad is neat in practice but so much more difficult to convey the appeal of in marketing bites... Aargh. I think the overemphasis of family family family in what little marketing they do is working against Nintendo too.

* Better differentiate the software on the 3DS and Wii U. If you're a Nintendo fanatic, you can get your fix on the 3DS. Same franchises, very similar gameplay, and even similar release dates. I think the 3DS is cannibalizing the potential market for the Wii U, and hammering the same franchises over and over and over and over, between the two platforms, makes installments less of an event.

* Similar to above, Nintendo needs to leverage more of their franchises. Metroid, F-Zero, Star Fox, etc. It's not that one of those games will save the Wii U, but I think the cumulative effect and perception of greater diversity on the system could make a difference.

* No more software droughts, ever. I think the worst of it is over, but I still think Nintendo will wind up with 3 or 4 marquee releases a year on the Wii U. Nintendo really ought to acquire more Western developers or at least strike up some more exclusivity deals. Wii U-exclusive Mega Man? Some arcade-style sports games? Letting talented developers generally cut loose?

* Price drop to $250 with a pack-in game.

I think Nintendo will continue to make a lot of terrific games for the Wii U, and 2014 will be a heck of a year for those of us who own it. In terms of sales, I don't think Nintendo will be able to pull out of this tailspin.

pinata242

You're right. The next N console really needs to be a series of handhelds that link wireless with each other for local MP and then can connect to a station attached to the TV for that.

You know, the way iOS devices can use AppleTV with AirPlay mirroring/pairing. YDKJ is great for that.

Nintendo wants to be in my pocket and they really need to merge everything to a single user device, which they've been trying from the beginning with their lack of an online ID. Great that that's changing, but it's too little, too late now.

If the home console hardware is going to be behind the curve anyway, then they should just focus on portable with an option for group parties around a big screen occasionally. Instead the Wii U is doing the opposite.

I still don't understand why they bothered with a Wii U gamepad when the 3DS already exists. Embrace the ecosystem and stop making it sort-of-the-same-but-not-in-any-way-compatible.

RichC2

$250 imo is still too expensive for the Wii U, once it hits $199 for the Deluxe with a Mario pack-in, it will start to sell decently. Once a few addictive multiplayer (single console) games come out, it'll do even better.

A big issue is it's still a confusing game system. If one person has the tablet controller, what do the other people use? Is it a single player only console? etc; Nintendo themselves seem kind of lost at what to do with the Tablet controller which has a great novelty value and single player off-screen use, but adding additional players seems tedious (even though it is not). Can you use multiple tablet controllers? are the tablet controllers on sale individually? if so for how much? (Realistically, $50 would more than cover cost and some profit).

The Wii U (Bsaic) Skylanders combo is $249 at Toys R Us or $219 from TRU through Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...16K1046&cm_sp=

Larry C.

I agree marketing for the Wii and Wii U have been awful. They really need to stop making commercials with "moms" playing the system and promote the exciting more mature games coming out. What teens really want to be playing videogames with their mom? Sure mom might buy the system but what happens is that it's never supported with future software purchases.

Jory

Having Super Mario 3D World as a launch game wouldn't have hurt. When was the last time a Nintendo console launched with a must-have Mario game? Or a must-have game, for that matter? Not that Sony and Microsoft are innocent on that accord either. I feel old just remembering what it was like when consoles actually had launch titles that were worth a shit.

Adam Tyner

Super Mario 64. (No Mario at launch for the GameCube, and I wouldn't call New Super Mario Bros. U a must-have, exactly. Very good but not great and certainly not unique or innovative.)

Wii Sports was a must-have. The GameCube had a pretty incredible launch, but I don't know how many of those were must-haves to anyone but me. It's a toss-up for me between the GameCube and the original Xbox for my favorite slate of launch titles over the past 15 years.

Brent L

I loved the GameCube launch. I can think of 3-5 games from then that I considered must have off the top of my head, and I can't do that with any other console that I can remember.

-Luigi's Mansion
-Rogue Squadron II
-Wave Race

And at the time, Batman: Vengeance as well. I bet I'm forgetting one too.

RichC2

You can choose to believe it or not, but Wii Sports was a must-have game and the reason the system was as successful as it was.

Brent L

If it wasn't for Wii Sports, and that game alone, the Wii would have been another Game Cube and now Wii U.

Here is a great deal on Mega Man X btw...

Music

I searched for MAD Polo this past weekend/Friday?, and forget what came up, but the Mii was a dead ringer for you!

Adam Tyner

Super Monkey Ball!

StephenX

Thanks Brent! Can't wait to see what the next two days feature.

Michael Corvin

Hell yes on the Gamecube launch. I was in for all four: Luigi's Mansion, Rogue Squadron, WaveRace and Monkey Ball.

All my friends got xboxes that week and had Halo and... uh... Fusion Frenzy? Cell Damage? I love me some Halo but that lineup was as pathetic as this Gen and last Gen. I hopped on board a few months later after I was routinely getting my ass handed to be at Halo get togethers since that replaced Goldeneye in our group.

Drexl

Eh, I thought it was pretty decent. Despite its flaws, I liked Munch's Oddysee. Then there was Project Gotham Racing, Dead or Alive 3, and Tony Hawk 2X (which seemed kind of lame as the other consoles got TH3, but it was arguably the best version of that game).

Adam Tyner

I'd probably give the GameCube the edge overall, but I thought the combination of Halo (easily the most must-have game that's not a pack-in over the past few generations), Dead or Alive 3, and Project Gotham Racing was pretty killer. Completely different in tone than the GameCube launch titles but still really compelling, at least to a lapsed gamer in his early twenties like I was in those days.

The telling thing for me is that I bought the GameCube basically as a Double Dash box, so I grabbed it after it was on the shelves for a while. I had a bunch of stuff to choose from, and yet almost every game I have for the GC is a launch title.

pinata242

Don't forget that shortly after GC launched, we had Pikmin, SSB, and Eternal Darkness!

Brent L

That's true. Heck, the first to years of the GameCube were amazing actually.