Topic: Is this part of the reason why the Wii U struggles?

This is a thread on a fairly popular forum for PC enthusiasts forum where they asked what their "gaming sins" are. AKA "what's in your pile of shame". What struck me is how many people on that thread mentioned Mario and Zelda.

So my thinking is, is this why Nintendo is hitting a bit of rocky territory ATM? Maybe the assumption that people are just interested in Mario & Zelda doesn't hold as much as it once did. There's this new generation of "core" gamers on their way who have had nothing to do with either of them. They started gaming in the Gamecube era when Wind Waker and Sunshine were making the less informed think that Nintendo had jumped the shark. If they haven't played a Mario or a Zelda game yet why would they be interested in the idea of them on the Wii U? Does the Wii U offer any other competitive advantage if you take those major first party titles away?

Or is the lack of these titles thus far the reason why they're struggling? When they release the new 3D Mario and the Wind Waker remake how do they reach these gamers who want to play these games but haven't gotten around to it yet? Or should they reinvent themselves with something new entirely? Even if it's "new" versions of what they already have like OoT being the first 3D Zelda and Metroid being a first person "adventure" game?

Wow, just wow.

I read the first few pages of that thread, and Zelda & Final Fantasy are practically every other comment.

Also surprised to see how many times, Pokémon, Mario, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Metal Gear, and Sonic were mentioned.

It almost makes you wonder what the newer generation of gamers is playing...

Three Words: Call Of Duty

Did you even bother reading the title? It's "What Game haven't you played that you should have?" These people aren't haters at all, just listing games they haven't played! It's called gaming sins because they're listing games that it's a sin NOT TO PLAY IT.

I dunno I think world has changed since Nintendo's game machines have been around. To me Nintendo is like the good old american western films industry. Once taking the center stage of Hollywood for a long time. Western films are old school and simply classic. But now there are far fewer westerns as movie genres have multiplied, the old wild west gets even older and less mainstream, and special effects evolved beyond what western films even need to be good westerns. Like western films new and old, nintendo has its loyal nostalgic fan base and occasionally the odd "new" western story to attract beyond them but they don't make up any majority amongst movie goers.

This. It's important to read more carefully. These people are actually complementing those games.

Who exactly are you calling out with this rant?
From what I can tell everyone posting has been civil and ontopic.

I do think we are living in a different age than Nintendo proper maybe realizes.

facepalm

Doubt it. Wii proved that, at least Mario, still is a huge hit amongst loads of people.

The only reason it's struggling is because Nintendo is handling the situation incredibly bad.

No matter how you interpret the reasons, @skywake is making the point that a modern generation of gamers has sprung up that hasn't felt the need to play Mario or Zelda. They merely acknowledge the "cultural" pressure to play these classics.

But they are enjoying the great hobby that is gaming without being grounded in Nintendo's core franchises.
How is that not something Nintendo should be cognizant of?

Honestly, even I was a bit disappointed by Wii during it's life cycle. It was fun overall, and I understand how important it was looking back now, but Gears of War, Bioshock, Uncharted, and Killzone 2, and Halo Reach, were too awesome to resist at the time.
My impression was that Wii was just as hard to develop for as PS3, but most of the focus was on the HD consoles so they got the goods most of the time. Wii was just as hard to develop for, but a weaker console overall.
Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, Kirby's Epic Yarn, DKCR, etc. showed that Wii was a pretty powerful console for what it was, which mainly got ignored by bigger 3rd parties.
I don't regret anything last gen, and I look forward to new games.

Well for those thinking I misread the thread title @OptometristLime has made my point in my absence better than I could have. I just was surprised that so many technophiles had never touched a Mario or Zelda game in their life and recognised that it was like not having watched Star Wars but were yet to do anything about it. So how do you get these people interested again? How does Nintendo convince people to get a console when Mario/Zelda alone isn't enough to do it?

It's prolly cuz its pc gamers and they're mentioning those icky console games they've played.

Well, Nintendo will probably hit it big when their games start coming out. I know tons of people who bought an Xbox 360 for Bioshock, Gears of War, and Halo Reach.
A generation has passed, and a new one is already in affect to a degree with Wii U. It's a fresh start, and Nintendo should be able to reel in the gamers they haven't already.
Really, I think 3rd party will be good, too. That always helps with people that genuinely don't care for their IPs. Then they will try Nintendo games, and all will assumingly be swell.
Maybe we can finally get a console Starwars game on Wii U that isn't mediocre at best. I know Force Unleashed wasn't what the fans wanted as far as an actually good game go, but that's probably set to change this gen.

EDIT: A better way to word this, is that PC gamers haven't been 'wowed' to any degree when it comes to console gaming. I could say the same about PC in plenty of ways, but I understand each platform has its audience.

I think this is a big part of it. Colleague of mine is a big PC gamer and isn't remotely interested in Nintendo - not because he thinks it's a "kiddy console" or anything like that, but basically because he's only interested in strategy games, FPSs and western-style RPGs.

I think there's just huge differences in different groups of gamers.

I can understand it - the thread title - because it's an inverted version of my opinion.

I don't play games sat at a desk. Never have, never will. I work at a desk.

I respect PC games, but not enough to go play them. I probably wouldn't go online to post about it though - this topic is just here.

The bigger question here is that Mario & Zelda were once platform driving titles. They aren't anymore, they aren't for everyone.

If Nintendo want to create new customers in growth numbers, like they did with Wii, they'll have have to come up with a new shiny.

To be fair, Mario and Zelda can still turn out to be major console sales drivers. After all, we haven't even had a Zelda game on Wii U yet and New Super Mario Bros U, while good, is hardly as ambitious as the Mario games of yore. Perhaps it's more people not seeing a 'New Super Mario Bros' title as a system seller on its own.

Potentially, anything can be.

But I can't see Zelda being able, shackles and all, capture that broad base of imagination to qualify. In 2,3,4 generations - will a true Gears of War or Halo, Uncharted or COD game be able to generate so much 'want'?

I doubt it. And they don't hold a candle to The Legend of Zelda in the grand scheme of things.

Mario is different, because Mario is more than a game. For Wii U, I think Mario is going to be a consolidation piece, across Kart, Party, 3D Platformers and more. Mario will deliver Nintendo a platform (which is amazing) but he can't be asked to make a 50+ Million install base happen.

Like I said, Something else will have to give that up.

I don't think it's as simple as that. The only games that don't exist on PCs are console exclusives and there aren't any genres skipped over. The only main difference between the two "types" of platforms in terms of game styles is the fact that PCs get MMORPGs and RTS games when consoles don't. Ontop of that "PC gamers" have often come from console gaming when they were younger and frequently own portable consoles.

They're basically the only gamers outside of the console wars

Does this signiy anyting but the cultural value of Zelda and Mario? On the internet you will find people who have and haven't played everything. A forum about what you haven't played will get games of cultural signifigance for the most part. You shoudn't be suprised or take this as sign of anything. This is all to be completly expected