Topic: how does Nintendo decide between 3DS and WiiU?

Probably the same way they decide whether or not they'll make a new IP.

If the play style of a game works with Mario, it's a Mario game. If a game works better portably, it goes on the 3DS.

Games like Dark Moon are already hits and the content exists. Upgrading them toHD would require some work, but would be so worth it IMO and still be less investment then a new game. Plus since the 3DS is so popular with some added content you might get some 3DS only owners to get a Wii U

Of course I'm just saying all of this because I want a HD Dark Moon for the Wii U

Portable games cost less to make, can be made faster and tend to be more profitable than home console games. So from a profit standpoint 3DS makes more sense to make games for overall, also some games flourish on handhelds (puzzle games,rpgs etc).

That said Nintendo have always kept their home consoles on equal footing in terms of the quality,care and attention games receive. At the moment some people are upset the Wii U has an apparent lack of games while the 3DS is bathing in them. This is because 2-3 years ago the 3DS was not as in a great position as it is now and Nintendo dumped a lot of resources and effort into new studios, staff, partnerships etc in order to get the 3DS to where it is right now. Now thanks to those efforts we have 1st party and second party titles bi-monthly in addition to 3rd party/indies monthly/weekly trying to capitalize on the install base,

The exact same thing is happening with the Wii U now and i imagine in about 2-3 years we will get a flood of Wii U games from 1st & 2nd party studios that started development after Wii U launch in reaction to the poor performance. Thats in addition to the projects Nintendo have been working on before launch, Nintendo like late reveals and only a fool would assume they don't have an AAA title lined up at least every 4 months (The current pattern) for the next few years despite us only knowing about a few. I would imagine that while 3rd party support will stay below average in the coming years, indies will swamp the eshop due to the easy accessibility and profitability.

Maybe I am naive and ignorant but I think whether the game is for Wii U or 3DS is basically not something they decide on.

What I mean is the don't make a game and then say "should we put this on Wii U or on 3DS?"

What they do is say "lets make a game for 3DS" or " lets make a game for Wii U". Generally it takes less resources to make a handheld game.

I here lots of talk that these AAA console games are becoming an endangered species.....They have just become too darn expensive to make and that makes them risky. Say GTA V was horrible and no one bought it.....that well could be the end of Rockstar. PS4 and Xbone will need some majorly expensive AAA games that are not on Ps3 and 360 and that could be risky since the install base is on the older consoles. If they keep making these cross-platform games for the old large install bases it will result in a lag in next gen adoption once the early adopter phase dies out. Realistically these consoles are selling based on what they promise in the future and not what they can do now.

I think the reason is that the 3DS is a very successful console and Nintendo wants to retain momentum. Both games should have come to the Wii U in my opinion, but with third party support on the 3DS not being good either, they have to keep releasing strong 3DS titles.

The way I see it all 3DS games could work on the Wii U but not all Wii U games could work on the 3DS. Portable games have to allow short play sessions because of the way the console is used. However a game in that style works pretty well on the Wii U because of the way people use off-TV play. It's basically a portable console some of the time anyways. That's why games like 3D World, DK and all of those indie titles work.

On the other hand local-multiplayer games, "party" games and the typical "big AAA" games won't work as well on portables. If I have the option I'm not going to play Assassin's Creed on a 3.5" to 5" screen. I'd rather have it on my TV, or at least have the option to, with proper dual-analogue and full triggers and have it run at a decent framerate. For a party-game sure local multi on portables works but for the spectator-ness sitting around a TV for Nintendo Land, Wii Sports/Party, Mario Kart or Smash is something a portable can't match.

So sure, a lot of 3DS games would work well on Wii U without losing anything. A lot of Wii U games however would not work on the 3DS.

Nintendo's decision in this area are bizarre, GB A and SNES virtual consoles and DS digital games and the NES remixes would make much more money on the 3DS but they decide to keep them Wii U exclusive, I'm sure they think they are helping the Wii U by giving it exclusive content but they aren't those aren't really draws that people would buy a console with they are just shooting themselves in their foot by not selling them in the platform where the money is, and then there are titles like 3D world and DK tropical freeze which just would sell much better on the 3DS and yet they decide to make them Wii U exclusive..... However, Super Smash Bros, the one title it would actually make sense to make a Wii U exclusive, they decide to also release a 3DS version which would probably don't sell too well as the game is primarily oriented toward local multiplayer but would allow some people to get the SSB bug out of their system who would otherwise buy a Wii U just to play it.

@ferthepoet
You're cherry picking examples to make your case.

#1 the VC stuffs. Having GBA on DS on the Wii U VC is no more "bizarre" than having NES, SNES or N64 games on the 3DS. Better to have them out on some platform rather than on neither. With VC on the 3DS I imagine there are a lot more technical hurdles to overcome than there are on the Wii U. That's probably why it's going in this order.

#2 NES Remix, DK:TF and 3D World. So what, we're complaining about the fact that the Wii U doesn't have games AND complaining that it gets games at the same time? Really? Sure NES Remix and DK:TF could have worked on the 3DS (I'll get to 3D World) but that doesn't mean that they should not ever put games on the Wii U. Kid Icarus Uprising could have worked fantastically on the Wii and it was being worked on when the 3DS was a "failure". These platforms won't grow if they don't get content.

and 3D World, no. 3D World is not a game that would have worked on the 3DS. Period. Not up for discussion, you're wrong.

#3 Smash Bros on portables. The thing is people have been wanting a portable Smash Bros for a long time. It's something that was demanded even more when the DS came along with it's simple wireless 4+ multiplayer. The main reason not to do it has always been the lack of an analogue stick. Now it has one and so bam, there it is. I think it's interesting that you'd complain about the Wii U getting 3D World and DK but then also complain about the 3DS getting Smash.

I don't see how that diminishes the appeal of the Wii U because frankly the definitive Smash "party" style experience will still be on Wii U. Just like how Mario Kart Wii didn't fail because Mario Kart DS was already a smash hit. There's plenty of room for both.

As always, if you don't like it don't buy it. Simple as that. I'm really, really sick of all this doom, gloom, Nintendo bashing and conspiracy. Just lighten up, enjoy the games. Get over it.

@skywake: the 3DS is, quite obviously, completely capable of running DS games, and by extension GBA games, by default. The only thing they lack is access to the home menu.

If they wanted they could make both systems available digitally on the eshop by using just that.

The decision to have them as exclusives to the WiiU (as far as we know) is fishy, to say the least.

I didn't say it wasn't I just said that there are less technical hurdles to get around. It certainly is capable of running these games as it is but they won't behave like all of the other software. On the Wii U they're treated more-or-less the same as any other VC title. Getting GBA working on the Wii U as well as all of the other VC stuffs isn't that much different than getting NES, SNES or N64 games going.

And yes, I agree it would be better if they were on both but they're not. So everyone should just get over it, nobody is forcing you to buy into any of these services. As for it being "fishy" or some kind of ploy to beef up Wii U content.... who cares? If it's not a technical reason it's probably something as simple as the Wii U VC guys being in a panic about expanding the service while the 3DS VC guys are happy with where their service is. Either way I really don't see how it matters.

My main complaint is that I just don't see why someone complaining about the Wii U VC expanding would then go on a rant about how DK:TF, 3D World and NES Remix should have been 3DS games. They have two systems, they're supporting both. Get over it.

@skywake

You are missing my point I was not complaining about anything...... I was just saying that the decisions Nintendo made were bizarre from a business point of view

We have a situation where:

1. Most titles are likely to sell better and make more money to Nintendo if they are in the 3DS or in both 3DS and Wii U than only in the Wii U

2. Since the 3DS is doing well and the Wii U isn't Nintendo may need to sacrifice some of the money it could make by selling 3DS version of game by making some games Wii U exclusives in order to encourage buyers interested in that exclusive to get a Wii U

3. Nintendo has made SNES, GBA, DS digital games, the NES remixes as well as DK: TC, and Mario 3D World Wii U exclusives... I think this is a wrong move because they are losing more money by not offering those to larger 3DS audience than their potential effect on increasing the Wii U user base warrants.

4. Nintendo is planning on making SSB available on both the Wii U and 3DS, this I also think is a bad business move, this is a case where I think having the game as a Wii U exclusive could have a lot of impact and therefore it would have made sense for them to sacrifice the 3DS sales in order to boost the Wii U user base

It's not surprising that portable games are showing up on Wii U, because they already run native on 3DS. By putting GBA games on Wii U, they that much closer to having shared titled.

Portable games are already portable, that's why they are programming them to run on Wii U. The same could be said for it they put home console games on 3DS. Wii and Wii U are already running that stuff, so that's the only area that needs work before those libraries can be mixed as such(VC).

@ferthepoet
Again my counter would be that they started work on Luigi's Mansion 2, Super Mario 3D World, Kid Icarus Uprising and quite a few others at a time when the 3DS wasn't a sure thing. Infact they kept pushing on with them for the 3DS when it looked like the 3DS wasn't going to do that well. The success of the 3DS in the end was largely because of those sort of games.

If they sit back and say "ok, so Wii U is dead now. Abandon ship! These games are now for 3DS" the Wii U will be dead. No question. If the Wii U hadn't had SNES VC, 3D World, DK:TF and small things like NES Remix and Dr Luigi we'd all be asking about why some of these 3DS games aren't on Wii U. So I don't agree with you at all here.

I'd go even further than that. If even a couple of the first party 3DS games of the last two years had made it to Wii U instead Nintendo overall would be in a better spot. Just for the sake of argument lets say Kid Icarus Uprising came out for Wii U at launch and Luigi's Mansion 2 had come out in August. We'd almost surely be in a whole different spot even though neither of those games are "system sellers". So this argument that Nintendo should push for more 3DS content at the expense of Wii U seems very strange to me.

Lastly Smash Bros. No, I don't agree. I also find it weird that you're making this argument when you simultaneously are calling for less Wii U content. We've seen this before, New SMB Wii and Mario Kart Wii are still two of the biggest selling games of the last generation despite DS versions already existing.