Topic: Family Friendly and "Gamerness"

I don't mean this to be a doom and gloom thread, I feel the Wii U will do find. As Nintendo fans this is an important issue, Nintendo in the gaming community. It's amazing when you go outside communities such as NL how Nintendo often isn't even apart of the conversation. This is despite masterpieces last generation such as Super Mario Galaxy. I think a lot of this stems from the stereotype many gamers hold that Nintendo is "baby stuff" and is therefore not cool. This issue will not go away and won't kill the big N, but there is always room for improvement. Should Nintendo ditch it's overall family-friendly image to attract hardcore gamers. There is a lot of kids who buy Xbox and Sony systems who even get the rated M games. Or, do you feel they should stick with their family-friendly image and try a different route? You could argue the have a monopoly on people who are attracted to that sort of characteristic to gaming.

I feel Nintendo should first try by just sponsoring events such as EVO, MLG, or very big gaming/nerd conventions. I feel they should start there and see what happens first, but sadly due to what even young kids are playing today I feel they may need to shed that image of being family-friendly IF the want a bigger share of the Western market. If the don't really care about the West then, I guess none of this really matters. I already believe Nintendo isn't really trying to consciously win the "console war".

Wii U is not a Wii. Nintendo Wii was a family console. Wii U is not a "family console". Wii U will die for sure if "M" rated games does not come out soon.

They sure are advertising the Wii U like a family console, that's when they advertise (which is almost never). If you are correct the Wii U is almost likely to die.

It's a apart of the reason why Nintendo has had a bad start with the console. The marketing campaign was aimed at no one and the results brought in only the hardcore. The family audience has sort of left and Nintendo's marketing campaign never showed why they would want the Wii U and left them more confused than anything. At its more gaming focused events Nintendo tried to bring back the lapsed Gamer with promises of a powerful console with Nintendo and the best of the third party games, in the face of the PS3/360. This however failed after they realized the third party support was barley their and the majority of the nintendo games were delayed.

They should just drop any labels, make the games they make, and be on the ball concerning the gaming landscape when it comes to 3rd parties.

I always come back on "EA unprecedented relationship with Nintendo".

• When Nintendo Introduced Wii U back at E3 2011... they have announced Unprecedented Relationship with EA. If this wasn't clear sign that Nintendo is moving away from Family Console - only politics I don't know what it is..
• Wii U 3rd party lineup from 2012 was complete disaster and bad promotion of Wii U? How could they allow (Nintendo) 2k to release NBA 2k13 which is FAR inferior to PS3 version?? How could this happen? They have sent a message like "Hey look at this game, don't buy this console" and NBA 2k13 is just an example there are several more.

If Modern game studios really can't work with Wii U just because Wii U has weak hardware then Nintendo is in a BIG trouble. If BAD sales are the only reason then... there is hope for Wii U.

I don't think the problem is the matter of family friendly or not, the problem is the lack of third party support of any kind, Nintendo home consoles after the 64 have been about first party titles and nothing else, and the Wii was the worst of them.... they are only worth it if you like ALL Nintendo Games.... For example, I have a friend, he loves Zelda and Fire Emblem but don't care about any of other Nintendo Franchises, he sold his Wii and said he would never buy a Nintendo Console again because the console was not worth it for just two games.....

Same for me, I only like Fire Emblem, Pokemon and 2D Platformers from Nintendo, not Zelda Metroid Ect. I buy Nintendo handhelds because they have third party games I like..... but their home consoles simply never have more than one or two games that interest me. People talk about how the other consoles are all about FPS, I don't care about FPS at all, but Nintendo home consoles are not only lacking in FPS, its not like they are the best consoles for JRPGs, TPS, Survival Horror, Fighting Games, Sport Games, MMOs, Eastern RPGs, or anything really other than Plattformers and Party Games....

...and this why I KNOW I will buy a Wii U and Im very sure I'll just get a gaming PC later since fighting games are coming to that I fear Nintendo may never get 3rd parties. I mean, it's hard to believe the big N just had no strategy in getting 3rd parties, they had to at least try. FSM forbid the Wii U is too weak or too much of a hassle to port games over. Either Nintendo literally made the WORST decisions possible on this front or, and I fear this is the more likely answer, 3rd parties just hate Nintendo for whatever reason and want the company to just die or be 3rd party. Nintendo has had many years to get this 3rd party situation sorted out. I will ALWAYS be a loyal fan and buy all their systems because they are just that great, but if they can't get 3rd parties this generation they will NEVER EVER EVER get 3rd parties, period.

However, and in argument against/for several of the points made on this thread (The majority of them being accurate).
Nintendo is currently underway with a massive campaign to bring in eShop "Digital Only" Indie Developer titles.

And that campaign is actually getting pretty substantial results at the moment, With several different studios already confirming that they've got games planned for the system. Nintendo has even gone to the lengths of funding/publishing several of the more promising studios as well. And though I'm well aware the "Indie Developers" aren't the same as "TripleA Developers", it's still a decent step in the right direction

Nintendo pretty much started up the gaming industry, and aimed it at a generation of kids. Problem is, for the most part, they didn't adapt their games to mature with their gamers, and as such many of them moved on. If you're looking for 'mature' titles (in one sense of the word) then Nintendo probably isn't for you. I however love Nintendo games, and so do many other adults. I think Nintendo would have to start doing a lot to bring back the rest of its former audience though.

@Geonjaha I agree with you. I believe that 60%+ gamers are 18+ and Nintendo failed to adapt.

but its not like you turn 18 then play gears of war the rest of your life. Im 21, a very average guy and i would call myself mature. nintendos the only company making games anymore pretty much. i think the right figures would be the 60%+ prefer interactive movies about war/zombies.

Not to me, no, I prefer the games to be accessible by all ages. I wouldn't want to buy a game only I will play and leave my brother bored with no games. We both share our money, so it's not fair when I get a game he cannot play. To me, M-rated games are pretty pointless. I mean, why would anyone care if the game M rated or not? What does blood, extreme violence, alcohol or nudity/sexuality add to the gameplay or anything at all? Why can't it be rated lower just so can everyone enjoy it no matter what their age is? Also, Nintendo being accessible by every age there is what makes me love Nintendo and why I'm sticking with them. The moment they turn into a shooter gory zombie gibberish company, you can count me out.

Nintendo needs to just build their exclusive list more and more, it cant just be nintendo games it has to be second party games also such as platinum to get to where they want to go.

The way i see it now Xbox & PS4 are becoming so ABSURDLY close to each other its becoming increasingly hard to tell the difference between them beyond from the color scheme and their actual names. They both are essentially boxes, both black, both have AMD Jaguar Processors, Same Amount of Ram(PS4 has faster ram) , Same storage, and do the same things. The battle between them has become purely a battle over brand's and the way things are going i have a feeling one will go by the wayside (my theory is xbox being retooled as a multi media device).

IF Nintendo was actually in this battle it would of lost by now, but it is and was not. It decided to go its own route with the Wii and focus on family games which proved successful . Wii U's goal is to meet an in between goal of coming back focusing on gamers but still having family being a focus.As such it should strengthen its exclusive line up to build it self a niche.

This way it can set itself a part . The Wii U wont be the console you purchase to get access to all the games like PC's or PS4's , it will be a console you purchase for a large exclusive library.

M games definitely add something to games, what would Resident Evil look like if it wasnt rated M? It would loose some of its atmosphere . Would GTA be the same if it didn't have violence and sexuality ? Being a M rated game allows certain atmospheres and stories that arnt possible with lower ratings that can add a lot to a game.

Just thinking of TV Shows, I doubt Breaking Bad would be interesting if instead of cooking meth they where making teddy bears.

I still believe Nintendo's best bet is to just go all out to become the "Japanese" system. It's my observation that most Nintendo fans prefer Japanese style games anyway. The 3DS is quickly becoming the JRPG system of choice. No reason why Nintendo should just go all out to grab as many Japanese devs in their camp along with Japanese-style western devs. It is an easy choice because they already got a lot of that fanbase. In fact, I think Nintendo should buy out Atlas. I mean, a bunch of Atlus games are on Nintendo systems anyway.

The is quite a big difference between Xbox One, PS4 for a start the PS4 has super fast RAM, 50% more powerful GPU. And the PS4 doesn't have 3GB OS. The Xbox believe it or not is going to be going toe to toe with the WII U for the casual crowd this gen. I like some of what Nintendo does, but Nintendo are aiming themselves at familys & children. It was only the other week Nintendo said thay saw themselves as a toys company selling toys to children, Nintendo are part of there own problem, as thay view themselves as a family & children console. I'll post links if you like.

Perhaps your not familiar with PC gaming, but that is not a significant difference. Your looking at it as raw power, rather then looking at it with the idea that we are even using computer parts to compare them shows how not different they are. The Difference between a High end and a Mid end PC is simply how fancy the game looks, they both can run the same games.

Currently the PS4/ONE are (More or Less) on par with a medium-high level computer.
Though give it another two years and you'll see them dramatically increase in difference as computers increase in power.

What that essentially means is that (In the long run) consoles generally sell due to innovation, and due to the market they target. And Nintendo happened to sell rather well last generation, due to the release of "Wii Fit". And hopefully with an appropriate amount of marketing, and with the upcoming release of "Wii Fit U", the system will gain a little traction in the overall console market. And if Nintendo has plans on releasing another Zelda/Metroid in the near future, that may well be the system-selling push that'll get more mature developers interested in the system again

Well I personally (does not mean I'm right) think that's one of the main reasons the system doesn't sell in Western markets. I asked my 11 yr old nephew if he wanted a Wii U and he said no because Nintendo only makes little kid games (because he's another one of those little kids that plays COD all day). Also because Nintendo made the Wii U family friendly they screwed themselves not because of their image but because the people who bought their console aren't typical gamers. Do you think grandma is gonna wanna buy a Wii U when she's got a Wii that works just fine (also because she most likely thinks that a Wii U is just an updated Wii, kinda like how you go from iPhone 1 to iPhone 2). The other reason it doesn't sell well at least in the US, is because we're all about trends and well the trend here is OMG Nintendo is a childish company and in America even little kids think they're adults and well what's more adult than the "Bro"ed out XBox 360 and PS3. Advertising is another problem, Nintendo did not do a good job on letting us know that a Wii U is more than just a tablet that you attach to your Wii. Also if you look at Nintendo of America's ads you'd see that they look so childish, little kids and families playing and did you see the latest Pikmin 3 commercial it's a little kid with a whistle. Also there are barely any ads at all. Nintendo Direct is kinda pointless for attracting new customers, I think it's more for hardcore Nintendo fans like us that follow Nintendo already. I think Nintendo should cater to all and when I mean all I mean even us 18+ gamers some people like a more adult story line.

This post has a lot of truth. Sadly, rated M games not only sell to mature gamers but also little kids. Nintendo made mistakes and I do think they need to realize that the "family friendly" MAY not be all that important. Maybe it is, but if little kids are just going to play COD then what's the point? Don't even get me on the advertising, I've been saying that Day 1. Now I don't care about rated M games and Im 18. I just realized I got my first rated M game and I didn't even know the rating till I bought it (SMTIV). However, I realize I am in the minority and many gamers want M rated games. I sometimes feel Nintendo is not sure what their image should be. I mean, back to family friendly thing, I don't even think the Japanese really care for that image either. What I would give to know what goes on through Iwata's head. This would be so much easier to understand if we knew their line of thinking.