Will The Wii U Suffer The Same Fate As The Dreamcast?
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themadlionsfan
Members Posts: 9,133 ✭✭✭✭✭
in IllGaming
Feb 13
Will the Wii U suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast?
It's not a very bright time for Nintendo's new console. People burned on the Wii have since turned their backs on Nintendo, and those who never got behind Nintendo are laughing even louder. The Wii U had a good enough launch as far as libraries went, with some big name third-party titles like Mass Effect 3 and Assassin's Creed 3, and for once in a very long time, it actually had a Mario title right alongside with it. Finally displaying in high-definition and incorporating standard analogue sticks and face buttons into their controller (not to mention releasing a traditional Pro Controller), things looked good for Nintendo. This had the makings for the best Nintendo system yet.
So what's going wrong? On November 18th, 2012, why were you able to walk into a store and pluck one off the racks? Why were you able to go to Amazon.com or any number of retail websites and not see the "Out of Stock" status for the Wii U? Why were they going for just about the same as the retail price on eBay? Why were the casuals, who Nintendo targeted so vehemently last generation, so clueless that the Wii U was even out? Why don't people want a Wii U?
It's obvious where they went wrong. Personally, I attribute the major problem to the Wii U's slow start by simply naming it the Wii U, and not the Wii 2. People see Wii U and they think, "Is it an add-on?" They look at the Wii U and see the console pretty much looks just like the Wii. Then they see the tablet controller and think, "Oh, yeah it is. 300 dollars for a tablet controller? No thanks." The entire concept of the machine was wrong from the very start, I even remember Reggie and Co. trying so hard to explain what it was all about last E3. Oh yeah, and the fact that Nintendo probably spend $23.50 on advertising didn't help them at all.
Everyone should know by now that the Wii U is moving dreadfully slow. It managed to move around 55,000 units last month. Bad news keeps rolling in with game delays and cancelations. EA Sports announcing that they will cease support is a major blow, and it's a blow I'd like to focus on. The reason being is that the Dreamcast was hurt severely by a similiar announcement, that being EA would not support the Dreamcast.
That's just one of a few parallels I'd like to mention with the Wii U and Dreamcast. The second is that both the DC and the Wii U released within about a year before stronger, larger competition released their offerings. Consumer faith wasn't there for the DC because of Sega's past mistakes. Sega finally got everything right with the Dreamcast, and it should have definitely had a longer life than it did, but people had enough of Sega. The CD, the 32X, the Saturn. Nintendo's burned a lot of people in present years, and that exact same shortage of consumer faith is present in the Wii U. Also, this really has nothing to do with anything, but both consoles had screens in the middle of their controllers. *cues Twilight Zone theme*
"But the Wii U's only been out a few months! Give it some time!" Ahh, now see, this is where I think Nintendo will fair better than Sega. Nintendo knows how to ride the storm. They can last like a nomad crossing the desert with just a bottle of water. They know they have enough loyal Nintendo fans that will buy their first party titles, and they know the systems will once again start moving when the big guns come out. The Wii U isn't doomed, but it sure as hell is a long long ways away from succeeding.
What matters most, though, is how much they can control the damage this generation. If they somehow manage to put out games slow enough for even the most die hard Nintendo fan, they might lose even more consumer faith. They need to rethink their focus immediately and work as hard as they can to get third party support back, because at this rate, Nintendo fans will be bored waiting for first party titles. They've got to start spending more money and create more internal game studios to keep that supply going. If they start building momentum this holiday season and continue to build it into next year, the Wii U will be alright. If not, Nintendo will just have to do what they can until next gen and try once more.
I have no crystal ball, but the way I see it, this in no way is Nintendo's last console system. Depending on how well or how horribly this does, it will determine whether or not Nintendo's NEXT system will be their last one. People think that if Nintendo fails this generation, that's it for them, because unlike Sony and MS, they have nothing else to fall back on. Well, Nintendo's doing just fine in the handheld business, so they'll be okay, at least for one more generation.
Will the Wii U suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast? No, it won't. But the very fact that thought is on our minds is quite worrisome indeed.
Will the Wii U suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast?
It's not a very bright time for Nintendo's new console. People burned on the Wii have since turned their backs on Nintendo, and those who never got behind Nintendo are laughing even louder. The Wii U had a good enough launch as far as libraries went, with some big name third-party titles like Mass Effect 3 and Assassin's Creed 3, and for once in a very long time, it actually had a Mario title right alongside with it. Finally displaying in high-definition and incorporating standard analogue sticks and face buttons into their controller (not to mention releasing a traditional Pro Controller), things looked good for Nintendo. This had the makings for the best Nintendo system yet.
So what's going wrong? On November 18th, 2012, why were you able to walk into a store and pluck one off the racks? Why were you able to go to Amazon.com or any number of retail websites and not see the "Out of Stock" status for the Wii U? Why were they going for just about the same as the retail price on eBay? Why were the casuals, who Nintendo targeted so vehemently last generation, so clueless that the Wii U was even out? Why don't people want a Wii U?
It's obvious where they went wrong. Personally, I attribute the major problem to the Wii U's slow start by simply naming it the Wii U, and not the Wii 2. People see Wii U and they think, "Is it an add-on?" They look at the Wii U and see the console pretty much looks just like the Wii. Then they see the tablet controller and think, "Oh, yeah it is. 300 dollars for a tablet controller? No thanks." The entire concept of the machine was wrong from the very start, I even remember Reggie and Co. trying so hard to explain what it was all about last E3. Oh yeah, and the fact that Nintendo probably spend $23.50 on advertising didn't help them at all.
Everyone should know by now that the Wii U is moving dreadfully slow. It managed to move around 55,000 units last month. Bad news keeps rolling in with game delays and cancelations. EA Sports announcing that they will cease support is a major blow, and it's a blow I'd like to focus on. The reason being is that the Dreamcast was hurt severely by a similiar announcement, that being EA would not support the Dreamcast.
That's just one of a few parallels I'd like to mention with the Wii U and Dreamcast. The second is that both the DC and the Wii U released within about a year before stronger, larger competition released their offerings. Consumer faith wasn't there for the DC because of Sega's past mistakes. Sega finally got everything right with the Dreamcast, and it should have definitely had a longer life than it did, but people had enough of Sega. The CD, the 32X, the Saturn. Nintendo's burned a lot of people in present years, and that exact same shortage of consumer faith is present in the Wii U. Also, this really has nothing to do with anything, but both consoles had screens in the middle of their controllers. *cues Twilight Zone theme*
"But the Wii U's only been out a few months! Give it some time!" Ahh, now see, this is where I think Nintendo will fair better than Sega. Nintendo knows how to ride the storm. They can last like a nomad crossing the desert with just a bottle of water. They know they have enough loyal Nintendo fans that will buy their first party titles, and they know the systems will once again start moving when the big guns come out. The Wii U isn't doomed, but it sure as hell is a long long ways away from succeeding.
What matters most, though, is how much they can control the damage this generation. If they somehow manage to put out games slow enough for even the most die hard Nintendo fan, they might lose even more consumer faith. They need to rethink their focus immediately and work as hard as they can to get third party support back, because at this rate, Nintendo fans will be bored waiting for first party titles. They've got to start spending more money and create more internal game studios to keep that supply going. If they start building momentum this holiday season and continue to build it into next year, the Wii U will be alright. If not, Nintendo will just have to do what they can until next gen and try once more.
I have no crystal ball, but the way I see it, this in no way is Nintendo's last console system. Depending on how well or how horribly this does, it will determine whether or not Nintendo's NEXT system will be their last one. People think that if Nintendo fails this generation, that's it for them, because unlike Sony and MS, they have nothing else to fall back on. Well, Nintendo's doing just fine in the handheld business, so they'll be okay, at least for one more generation.
Will the Wii U suffer the same fate as the Dreamcast? No, it won't. But the very fact that thought is on our minds is quite worrisome indeed.
Comments
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? EA Sports
Dreamcast introduced me to 2K sports. 2k sports knocked NBA Live off the face of the earth. And Madden was about face the same fate. EA Big was they last hoo rah -
Turfaholic wrote: »? EA Sports
Dreamcast introduced me to 2K sports. 2k sports knocked NBA Live off the face of the earth. And Madden was about face the same fate. EA Big was they last hoo rah
Co Sign. EA been cheating and scamming gamers from their money long before Activision. -
Turfaholic wrote: »? EA Sports
Dreamcast introduced me to 2K sports. 2k sports knocked NBA Live off the face of the earth. And Madden was about face the same fate. EA Big was they last hoo rah
Co Sign. EA been cheating and scamming gamers from their money long before Activision.
yeah I agree....losing EA wasnt a big loss for dreamcast because of 2k sports...but the wii u is gonnalose out on that madden money
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lol yeah, EA sports not supporting them isn't going to be the same death blow to nintendo as it was to the Dreamcast.
But sadly Nintendo probably won't last much longer, not as they are anyway. The motion controls on the wii was the last innovation by this previously innovative company. You can't keep remaking Pokemon, Mario and Zelda and expect your console to survive off those, as great as they are or once were. Nintendo need to create new games that are good and appeal to people if they want to survive. -
ROZAYTABERNACLE wrote: »lol yeah, EA sports not supporting them isn't going to be the same death blow to nintendo as it was to the Dreamcast.
But sadly Nintendo probably won't last much longer, not as they are anyway. The motion controls on the wii was the last innovation by this previously innovative company. You can't keep remaking Pokemon, Mario and Zelda and expect your console to survive off those, as great as they are or once were. Nintendo need to create new games that are good and appeal to people if they want to survive.
If Nintendo was smart, they should start working on Virtual reality tech. Technology is evolving at a fast rate and they need to do their own thing, and not be Sony that is riddled in debt. -
wii u failing b/c its the same as whats already out.
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Dreamcast died for a different reason it was really a solid console and bought a lot things to the table but the Wii U
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No. Nintendo actually has games people want to play. Sega didn't.
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No. Nintendo actually has games people want to play. Sega didn't.
you didn't have a Dreamcast. -
Dreamcast was an amazing system. I still say it had the best controller ever.
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Wii U = Dreamcast 2
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Its not the Dreamcast, it is the Ng64 and Game Cube though. Their first party did not save those consoles and they will not save this console. he DS is the only reason why Nintendo has not went the way of Sega. The WiiU will lose money as the months go on and they will have to slash the price too early. The fact is that the Wii's fanbase did not really exist.
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I remember taking my Dreamcast to Gamestop, I had like 6 controllers, 8 memory cards, and 15 games. They offered 50 cents, I almost flipped a rack over...
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Billy Poncho wrote: »I remember taking my Dreamcast to Gamestop, I had like 6 controllers, 8 memory cards, and 15 games. They offered 50 cents, I almost flipped a rack over...
? GameStop. -
so disrespectful...so i'm guessing them games were worth .1Billy Poncho wrote: »I remember taking my Dreamcast to Gamestop, I had like 6 controllers, 8 memory cards, and 15 games. They offered 50 cents, I almost flipped a rack over...
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vagrant-718 wrote: »
so disrespectful...so i'm guessing them games were worth .1Billy Poncho wrote: »I remember taking my Dreamcast to Gamestop, I had like 6 controllers, 8 memory cards, and 15 games. They offered 50 cents, I almost flipped a rack over...
Wasn't even like they were demos or bad games either. I had Capcom vs SNK 1 and 2, a couple King of Fighters, couple 2Ks, Fur Fighters, both Ready to Rumbles, etc. -
themadlionsfan wrote: »Turfaholic wrote: »? EA Sports
Dreamcast introduced me to 2K sports. 2k sports knocked NBA Live off the face of the earth. And Madden was about face the same fate. EA Big was they last hoo rah
Co Sign. EA been cheating and scamming gamers from their money long before Activision.
yeah I agree....losing EA wasnt a big loss for dreamcast because of 2k sports...but the wii u is gonnalose out on that madden money
and FIFA money -
LOL They would probably only give someone a penny for the WiiU
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themadlionsfan wrote: »Turfaholic wrote: »? EA Sports
Dreamcast introduced me to 2K sports. 2k sports knocked NBA Live off the face of the earth. And Madden was about face the same fate. EA Big was they last hoo rah
Co Sign. EA been cheating and scamming gamers from their money long before Activision.
yeah I agree....losing EA wasnt a big loss for dreamcast because of 2k sports...but the wii u is gonnalose out on that madden money
and FIFA money
Fanboys will say it is not a HUGE blow, but it is. Where focus @? ? bashed the PS3, but the PS3 @ $600 sold better when it first launched. ROFL what did I tell that clown? -
This is a post of ethers, not co-sign. -
I think comparing the 2 is asinine, SEGA failed because they were releasing too many consoles & borrowing too much money. Dreamcast failed b/c they were rushing consoles to the market, the hardware had issues (lets face it if you played that joint for 4 hours it'd go to the blue home screen & the CD would never load back up), games were all ports so they were poorly marketed, & it was hard to find batteries for your VMU among other issues.
BUT I will say tho, that Dreamcast for what it was worth was waaaay ahead of it's time. It was the first to have online w/ Phantasy Star, the VMUs were GENIUS, graphics were dope as hell, the games were awesome - overall it was a good system. They were just too early & poorly managed. Nintendo doesn't have that & isn't anywhere near it.
What really killed the Dreamcast tho was the Playstation 2.... it could do everything the Dreamcast did, it had the same port games too but also had a DVD player thrown in along with exclusives. Why not pay $100 extra for the DVD player which at the time was the thing to have ? Nevermind paying $400 for a separate DVD player just buy the PS2 - that's one of the reasons why EVERYONE had a PS2 & it sold so well.
No, what killed the Dreamcast was ? was pirating. -
Billy Poncho wrote: »vagrant-718 wrote: »
so disrespectful...so i'm guessing them games were worth .1Billy Poncho wrote: »I remember taking my Dreamcast to Gamestop, I had like 6 controllers, 8 memory cards, and 15 games. They offered 50 cents, I almost flipped a rack over...
Wasn't even like they were demos or bad games either. I had Capcom vs SNK 1 and 2, a couple King of Fighters, couple 2Ks, Fur Fighters, both Ready to Rumbles, etc.
Solid list of games -
ROZAYTABERNACLE wrote: »lol yeah, EA sports not supporting them isn't going to be the same death blow to nintendo as it was to the Dreamcast.
But sadly Nintendo probably won't last much longer, not as they are anyway. The motion controls on the wii was the last innovation by this previously innovative company. You can't keep remaking Pokemon, Mario and Zelda and expect your console to survive off those, as great as they are or once were. Nintendo need to create new games that are good and appeal to people if they want to survive.
Powerful posting b/c it's so true. I've been sayin this for the longest, and I'm a Nintendo fan. They need to step up. The Wii was Nintendo's biggest innovations. But thru dropped the ball big time wit ? poor gaming support. ESPECIALLY 3rd party. So should be surprised about the dismal Wii U sales? Folks aren't tryin to get hoodwinked again.
I mean honestly, what makes the Wii U so great? B/c it has a controller tablet? Ok I'll give it that. B/c it's in HD? Uh congratulation Nintendo, but too little to late. You should've did that wit the Wii. I'm frustrated wit Nintendo b/c they can easily crush Sony and Microsoft. Smh. Man what is the PS4 coming out again?
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The Wii only delayed the inevitable.
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What games did Sega have at the time that could sell even half of what Zelda, Mario 2d/3d/& cart & smash bros?
None. I didn't say they don't have good games just that they had ? no one wanted to play.
