Could the Wii Fail? An Analysis |
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Gamers are living in interesting times. The latest generation of gaming platforms are either here or on their way, and much has been speculated about who will come out on top. We at QJ are not entirely sure who will eventually rule the consoles, but if there's one thing companies have to watch out for, it's failure.
That concern seems to be on the minds of the folks at Nintendo these days, especially with its current president, Satoru Iwata. The Wii is their big gamble in this next generation of consoles, and there are many things hinging on whether the Wii succeeds or fails.
Could the Wii fail? Perhaps, but it depends on how this new Nintendo plays the game.
Sean Colleli over at Gaming Nexus decided to take a keen eye to Nintendo, addressing potential problem spots that the gamemaker has to work on in preparation for the launch of the Wii. His insights are especially noteworthy because of how it analyzes Nintendo's history in reference to their current preoccupation.
His first assertion is the need to have bigger ideas, instead of bigger budgets. Reactions were mixed at E3 when Nintendo showcased Wii Sports with a somewhat low-tech presentation. It didn't wow gamers, but it got the attention of the non-gamers, who are the new target market for Nintendo.
He says that, for a console to do well, it has to have a good spread of games, from "the low-budget quirk games, the pick-up-and-play titles, and most importantly, the epics." At the same time, this diversity has to be balanced. Casual gamers will be turned off by high prices for fun, casual games, regardless of how much they like it. If priced the same as masterpiece-type titles, serious gamers would simply walk past something like Wii Sports to get the epic adventure they've waited for. Finding an appropriate pricing model will help to create a broad user base for the Wii, and keep both gamers and non-gamers coming back for more.
Colleli's second point is about making the Wii's Virtual Console an important draw for everyone. One of the good things about Nintendo is its amazingly large library of first-party games. Proper use of their existing first party games from every previous platform, ensuring that third party software isn't neglected, and making sure that it remains a viable draw with (again) a proper pricing scheme for these older games: these are the things they have to consider with regard to getting people to love Nintendo's new console. There are some other obstacles Nintendo have to get past to make the Virtual Console draw in crowds. One of the hurdles facing this issue are the dearth of third-party developers for previous games. This is even more pronounced with the developers who've taken their franchises with them and, thus, can't be used for the Virtual Console. Nintendo also has to find a controller set-up that will adapt well to all the previous console versions, and will also need a storage option if people intend to download all of their childhood favorites.
Speaking of third-party support, Nintendo has to learn from their past. According to Colleli, "During Hiroshi YamauchiÂ’s long rule over Nintendo, the company took on a very isolationist strategy. Developing for Nintendo was considered a privilege, and if a developer didnÂ’t like the strangling restrictions Nintendo put on them, well, they could hit the road." This strategy drove away a lot of third-party developers, and this is what the new president of Nintendo has to change in the coming months. Developers have to want to work for Nintendo, or the Wii will miss out on a ton of content.
More than any of the above points, however, the greatest potential sources of failure lie in the Wii's WiFi capabilities and their marketing strategy.
Nintendo's WiFi play will potentially be hampered most by the stifling of creativity. With sensational articles about the DS being a pedophile's playground, kid-friendly Nintendo can't help but be cautious. The result of their caution is their Friend Code system, and it's a system that forces you to remember the codes of people you want to play against, with a different friend code per game per player.
The Wii has has to change all that. As Colleli writes,
"Nintendo has to streamline this concept, and in a good way, or theyÂ’ll be hurting big time. First of all, friend codes for each individual game should be replaced with a single code, similar to Xbox LiveÂ’s gamertags. That way only one swap is needed, and then you can compete with a person on anything from Red Steel to Excite Truck."
The Wii also has to address the issue of servers and how to run multiplayer games without killing people from the waiting, or no one will want to go online.
Of course, perhaps the most prolific problem that has plagued Nintendo since its early days has been marketing and horrible ads. Nintendo's ads might grab attention, but the only way you're going to sell the idea of the Wii to people is if you get their respect instead of their smirks and yawns. They have to combine the artistry with subtle confidence, and not make ads that make them seem desperate.
In the end, Nintendo's got to change. "They need to show a wide array of people enjoying the Wii, but in a casual way," writes Colleli, adding, "the different game tastes should be presented with their appropriate audiences, so the crucial message is sent loud and clear: Wii has something for everyone, NOT just for gamers." Sage advice for Nintendo; We only hope they pay attention this time because how this game plays out will ultimately be up to them.
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Comments [refresh]
the wii will prevail:)
wiiiiiiiii will suvive!
Nintendo has been proving themselves time and time again. Sure they've made a few mistakes, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna accept that their fate will be the same as poor SEGA's.
Like jessman said, nintendo has made a few mistakes (IE the gamecube :)) but im almost positive the Wii will be a big success
cause I just bought some of their stock!
it wii out sell the ps3 look at the 5 hour lines at e3 to play the wii
I have a 360 but my kids want the wii i will end up geting the wii as well 360/wii best of both worlds
RIP ps3 sony beep up
and no i,m not a 360 fan boy i own a ps2 ps1 but sony just lie there ass off at 2 e3
but she's still your wife and that's that.
and we're talking about a major hottie here(sony)!
because wii is so dam *****ing cheap + hardware wise its not very advanced nintendo wont lose a cent!
and it dont matter with the ps3 or 360 cos its so darn cheap everyone will ether get a ps3 or a 360 AND a wii...
wii will wii will rock you!
Get laid
they will not fail becuase they have been keeping the two most i,portant things secret. ny doing this they have been making many epole want it more and more. well that what i think. i have been waitng long time i want mine as soon as i comes out.
All Ninty had to do was fix their third party support. That's all. If they would have learned from N64 days, GC probably would have matched toe to toe with PS2. Even with the "supposed" failure of Gamecube, the big N is still standing.
With the Wii they went even further with bigger ideas and lower budget. Made the third parties happy with Ubi and EA jumping full on.
Sony douchebags can't decipher this stuff and fails to give credit.
there are many third party companies supporting the Wii.
this is just a few:
Activision
AQ Interactive
AGFRAG
Artdink
Atari
Atlus
BANPRESTO
Barking Lizards
Blitz Games
Buena Vista Games
Capcom
Cellien Studios
Crossbeam Studios
D3Publisher
Eidos
Electronic Arts
EPOCH
From Yellow to Orange
From Software
Gearbox Software
Genki
Grand Prix Games
Grasshopper
High Voltage
Hudson
Ignition Entertainment
Interactive Brains
JALECO
Koei
Konami, Kojima Studios
Krome Studios
Lucasarts
Majesco
Marvelous Interactive / Natsume
Mastiff
Midway Games
Milestone
MTO
Namco Bandai
Nippon Ichi
Neko Entertainment
NIBRIS
oeFun, Inc
Red Tribe
Route24
SEGA
Sensory Sweep
SNK
Spike
Square Enix
Success
Taito
Take-Two
Tecmo
The Game Factor
THQ
TOMY
Tuna Technologies
Ubisoft
Vivendi Universal Games, Sierra Online
Warner Bros. Interactive
and dont forget nintendo themselves.
that is a load of crap^ dont believe that
Other than some unknowns that I won't be bothered to look up that list seems accurate as far as my memory goes. Care to support your statement of it being crap, with.. you know.. facts?
nintendo will come on top, the pole position.
and the second will be ps3 folowwed by xbox 360 ( only 40 000 units sold after a year in the world outside US and europe, so japan share 40 000 units with china and the rest of the world.. )
nintendo is 1st because the system is low priced so it's easy to ask or a chritmas gift or simply buy it. and the games cost less also, with a revolutionnary concept the ds is fund of ( selling too much ds ).
sony in 2nd because the 1st 3 years it will be "okay" but after maximum 3 years it wil surpass the xbox 360 is sales, then it will cost less to reach more consumers( after a year it will cost what the x360 is costing right now, this is great ) and with tiles like MGS4, final fantasy 13, versus 13, assassin's creed, and a lot others from japanese devs AND us devs, like god of war 3 and GT5...
M$ in the last place because japan is a tough market and the did not pierce it at all for now, even with more japanese titles and RPGs like enchanted arms and blue dragon they won't succeed there, final fantasy and dragon quest are for ps3 and wii respectively, not on x360... also, M$ graphics are great for now, but they won't be able to keep up with the ps3 in the second gen of games. And the wii is special so everybody should know it will work.
I prefer the PS3, but if you count all the casual gamers who will buy the wii PLUS the nintendo fanboys PLUS gamers who understand 250$ is not that much ( and will surely buy also another console x360/ps3 ) the wii will be 1st. Ps3 I think is more for hardcore gamers and high tech fans ( like me ).
u gotta believe it baby, its true.
Besides what you guys may think, Nintendo still has poor third party support. I mean the fact that people are getting overly exited about companies making claims that they are developing for the Wii is already a huge sign. Fact is most of these companies did make games for Gamecube just not a wide range of them. I am actually seeing Wii support decline because their system is much too different than the other two. GameCube/Xbox and PS2 got a lot of the same titles simply because a developer could build them on all three. This is not the case anymore. Developers will have to work hard at porting Wii games. For example just about every new title announced in the US is a PS/360 title. Is almost like PS3/360 vs. the Wii.
Of course I do believe Nintendo is a strong enough developer that it will not need much 3rd party support and will probably gain much more original games this way. It can definitely be a cause of failure however.
As far as their network plans, I don't believe Nintendo cares much for it. I remember a while back Iwata or someone else mentioned how gamers don't want to go online. Similar to what they are saying about HD now. It's a stale way of thinking. Iwata said "You cannot listen to gamers, because if you do then you will not innovate". Although I agree with him in some way, I believe gamers or users are the key to innovation. The problem is not with listening to customers, the problem is with generalizing their needs. We must look at what specific gamers are doing to get fun out of games. Mods and game scripting are a great source of ideas. Instead Nintendo's approach is to innovate for the sake of innovating and that can be lethal.
However, Nintendo is not taking as big a risk as some may have you believe. They are bringing all their franchises to the Wii with hardly any new IPs. They are making the system as cheap as possible and not making any investments in any other technologies besides motion sensing. Even their Network strategy has very little risk. Is WiiConnect24 a great or risky idea? Not really, no one cares and doesn't bring anything new to the table.
But Nintendo's biggest weakness is it's marketing. Sure Nintendo fans are great at making a case for Nintendo games and machines on the internet, but to the common gamer Nintendo has the connotation of being Nerdy, Kiddy, old school. Like Sean mentioned, they really need to step it up if they want to compete with the likes of marketing behemoths like Sony and MS.
Will Nintendo survive this generation? You bet your Wii they will. Even if the Wii is a total disaster (it does have somewhat potential to be) the DS has shown that Nintendo still rules the handheld world (in Japan at least). And when it comes to developing games, they are one of the best in the industry.
In conclusion, what can save the Wii? Casual gamers (Brain Age folk). What might take the Wii of the console war altogether? Their image, Pokemon can only sell so many systems.
The Internet: Live in your world, be a fanboys in ours.
Really ? They said it will fail ? Stupid. I will kick their asses when I see them. They are just an opinions. Damn them to hell! Wii will survive and it will win! :)
nocomment
40 000 units sold after a year in the world outside US
what a load of ***** dude the xbox360 has sold 67.000 in oz
in few mths its been here stop making up numbers egg
I happened to read the article.
And I have to say, Nintendo DOES indeed have leaps and hurdles to overcome.
But the way Sean puts it, even though he ends on a good note, he really associates a lot of negative things with the big N. Just count the negative word usage in each paragraph and you'll get what I mean.
I understand the need to be more particular about the Wii strategy, ESPECIALLY now that they're doing something so vastly different.
But right now, Nintendo has promised a lot of things, more promises than they have ever made before, and believe it or not, they really followed through on their promises. And Sean doesn't seem willing to give Nintendo credit where it's due. He writes an article with VERY high expectations of Nintendo, without really acknowledging the promises that they've kept.
I know that Nintendo needs to have a wary eye on their new product. But holding your breath for them to "fail" doesn't magically make the Wii a more successful machine. A lot of times, it seems like Nintendo can never really catch a break.
He nailed it.
The same can be said for "TheProfessor" too. Don't have to write essays to get words across.
I've been saying give credit where its due. But no, but i can see that he's trying. In the end, same $hit. More Nintendo negativity.
Also, stop dismissing some of the details.
Declining 3rd party support? You kidding me? Look at that list OGTiago provided. That's more than they ever got with Gamecube or N64. Iwata is trying not to do what Yamauchi did before. Iwata and Co learned from the mistakes of N64 and GC.
Nintendo lowered the price tremendously towards the dev kits for a reason. They are also working closely with developers than ever before.
This is Nintendo 2006 not 1996. Alot of things changed.
LMAO