Topic: What Wii U Needs to Do in Order to be Successful

Also maybe not as important as other things but the less region locking there is, the better.

Sales of the recent zelda shows consumers wont be thinking of it all.

/troll

But ive given stats showing more people are using consoles for media instead of games so its a fair point.

My uncle recently was looking for a console and went with the xbox with kinect because even though the wii was cheaper it doesn't have ESPN/I heart radio, and no online store to purchase movies and TV since he recently cut the cord. He couldn't care about videogames bar my aunt picking up pacman and bejewled from xbox live.

Wii U Music, the ability to enter the locker room, and a free HD download version of 2008's Nintendo E3 Conference.

Viv.

I'm sure Nintendo is not looking to target their console to customer's that are not going to buy video games.

I dunno, that was apparently their target audience for Wii.

Or the PS2 launch for that matter.

Not to mention the fact that their biggest competitor is Apple, whose success in gaming is partially accidental.

Touché

Knowing Nintendo or any company they want to get their products into as many homes as possible and there are some people out there that would buy a Wii U because other than games it's a do it all box. You guys may not be spoiled but the average consumer nowadays is. Nowadays people want more bang for their buck so even though they have the technology they don't mind having a do it all box. As Sony said people are using their gaming consoles for more than gaming Microsoft knows this which is why they keep adding more media functions to the 360. Also from the big three Netflix is used more on Wii consoles than on any other system. Personally I like that my 3DS can use Netflix so I can watch some videos when the all the TVs in my house are being used, sure we don't need them but people like the convenience they get in a do it all box, and judging by what Nintendo showed off at last year's E3 they probably realized it too. Yes the games are important but everything else is bonus and it adds more to the experience, yes you get a burger but if they give you the fries and drink for free why not go for it.

I just have such a hard time deciding on which one of my oh-so convenient electronic do-it-all devices I should I play a game on, or watch a movie on, or watch TV on, surf the Web on, or listen to music on, or read a book on, or check my Facebook with. I really do need (not really) another do-it-all device but this time made from the video game company Nintendo!

That's the logic everyone else here is using. May as well go with the flow.

Yeah I know what you mean, a lot of products tend to have similar features to each other to the point that it can be ridiculous, but people don't seem bothered by it and I guess it's about convenience I guess people like having the option. Personally I don't mind it, I have a DVD player in my living room but when the TV is in use I can pop a DVD into my 360 and watch it in my room (which I does not have a DVD player in my room). I don't need my 360 to have DVD playback features but like I said it's convenient. It is ridiculous how some people can be with their technology but if it helps sell consoles I say why not.

and, given how cheap it is to do this stuffs, there's a good chance that if they want to do it they'd already be doing it.

Cool story. I recently got a 46" LED backlit LCD for ~$800AU which is pretty much the bottom end of the market for that sort of screen in Australia outside of generics. I have an iPhone/Android remote app for it and I can play videos from youtube on it. It also does DLNA so I can download videos and stream them across my network as long as it's in x264 which is generally alright. I can connect to all the TV catchup services for free to air channels including iView, SBS on demand and the same services for 7, 9 and 10 and then there's extra stuffs which includes a "euronews" service, a wiggles channel and Quickflix which is the Australian version of Netflix. Lastly there's Skype which works pretty brilliantly and a web browser which does not.

So you can see where I and pretty much everyone else who got a new TV, blu-ray player or even 360/PS3 in the last couple of years is sitting. I don't think I'm in an unusual position here and so I ask again, why would I care about the Wii U's media services?

more quality 3rd party games
not just relying on their big hitters, mario, zelda
having a really successful new I.P or I.Ps would definitely show nintendo are creative and can produce games other than their main core franchises, mario, zelda, metroid etc.

If they get a true, classic Ace Combat / Metroid game on the Wii U, I will buy the console, everything else be damned.

/personal opinion

What it needs:

• Nintendo Network to not suck (maybe, NN is live in Japan for the 3DS and I haven't really heard any complaints... or so I heard)
• Awesome third-party support (if it can run Unreal Engine 4, then they would come in droves)
• More power (there is a lot of credibility to the Wii U actually being very powerful: Crytek is 'very happy' with the dev kit, EA says 'it's not a transitional console,' you get the point)
• New IPs

What I would like:

• A toaster
• A toilet
• Coke machine

[/div]

This is just from your perspective though. Sure, all-in-one boxes are common these days, but that doesn't mean everybody has one. At the moment (my wife and I are living overseas for a while, and don't want to spend the money buying a whole bunch of stuff), if I want to watch DVDs or streaming TV or anything of that sort, I have to hook up my (only) PC to the TV to do so. It would be of value to me to have a device that can do all of that, particularly if I was going to buy it for the gaming in any case.

I'm not saying my position is more common than yours - all I'm saying is that Nintendo can add value to their product by allowing it to do these other things, and do it fairly cheaply if the hardware already exists in the console (i.e. only the development of software is required).

Hell, my wife and I had to buy a DVD player at our last house because the Wii didn't support DVD playback, even though it was demonstrated to have the capability. Even that simple addition would have been appreciated.

The market wants convergence with devices, and I think it'd be a bad move from Nintendo's point of view if they didn't offer that.

Picture this scenario: parents are buying their kids a console that will be hooked up to the kids' TV (I'm led to believe that's pretty common these days). What are they going to buy - the console that can play games, and ONLY play games, or buy one that can watch DVDs, surf the 'net, stream TV and the like? I know what I'd be buying them in that situation.

EDIT: Forgot the rest of my post.

I think, in order to succeed, the Wii U needs to offer the following:

• Comprehensive multimedia capabilities, whether that's through official applications (such as dedicated Netflix software) or simply through having a good browser that can support streaming video from the major providers, Blu-ray support etc.
• A strong, varied selection of games from the get go, and a steady stream of releases. None of this 6-months-without-a-decent-game rubbish that the Wii has suffered from.
• To achieve that, attractive propositions from third parties. Support the things that they want to see on the console. Help with marketing, particularly for smaller devs. Make the online store a viable option for cheap game distribution.
• A strong online presence. Let's face it: Nintendo's current implementations of online functionality are a joke. (Having said that, I don't own or know much about the 3DS' capabilities in that regard). Getting with the times and supporting easy online play, console-wide friend lists, account-based downloadable games and content, achievements etc. will go a long way towards this.
• Finally, a factor 'X'. Something that the Wii U, and only the Wii U, can do really, really well and in a unique way. In the age of smartphones, tablet PCs, free to play online games and the like, Nintendo needs to have something that people will buy the Wii U for because they can't get it anywhere else. Maybe that will come with the tablet controller - we'll have to wait and see.

These are the things that I think, as a consumer, people want to see. To succeed, the Wii U basically needs to be an attractive purchase, and all of the above will contribute to that.

Nintendo already has that 'factor X.' It's called Nintendo games. Pikmin is wildly different than StarCraft. Kid Icarus: Uprising is not God / Gears of War. Xenoblade Chronicles surpasses Final Fantasy XIII. Metroid is (slighty) different from Alien (Metroid was based on Alien, but Metroid has the backtracking and exploration). Super Smash Bros. is not the same as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (looks the same, but the strategies are different; plus, even though there are Smash Bros. clones, the sheer polish and popularity Smash Bros. has over them all ensures that Smash Bros. will be their first choice brawler).

Yeah, that 'factor X' is already there. The gaming community and the others just need to be aware of that fact.

Sure, but so does any other system - it's called exclusives. I agree that Nintendo makes some great games, but all the other systems have exclusive games that other people might like just as much or prefer to Nintendo games. Believe it or not, the appeal of Nintendo's games is not universal.

I'm talking about some feature of the console that gives a unique experience when playing many or all games. I'm not creative enough to think up any good ideas, but I know Nintendo's capable of doing so.

P.S. - I like how you make factual statements about an as-yet unreleased game. Nice one.

I think Miyamoto's new IP must be good, and unique. That would help the Wii U.

Exactly. When looking at the Wii's catalog of Nintendo games, they always seem to find a way to make motion controls awesome for their game, and that's their prelude for the Wii U controller. Super Mario Galaxy depended on the pointing mechanics with the Star Bits. Skyward Sword (and to a lesser extent, Red Steel 2, but wait, that's third party... however, it shows that even third parties can use Nintendo's technology to good use for non-gimmicky gameplay) proved that it was possible to make sword controls with ground-up motion controls awesome. Metroid Prime 3 gave FPS games the first true aiming system that blows away dual analog for shooters on consoles. Excitebots makes turning with the Wii Wheel seem fun and interesting (not Mario Kart because that requires a real controller; plus, that may vary between person to person).

Those were just a few examples on how Nintendo can constantly use their 'gimmicks' to their full potential.

@allofyou
As of right now the factor X does exist, the Wii U controller has so many creative uses on its own, even I can think of a couple of uses not to mention there's even more when you combine it with Wii peripherals like the guy who was golfing using the wii and wii u controller. The problem here is that how long can they maintain that X factor when Sony and Microsoft are waiting around the corner ready to see what they can rip off of Nintendo.
EDIT:
NVM they'll find a way they always do