Wii U Irony

Following comments made to investors during a Q & A session, Satoru Iwata got Nintendo gamers talking by suggesting that "brand-new types of games" are coming to the Wii U during 2013 and 2014, not yet announced in order to have maximum impact and avoid rivals copying the ideas. Some may speculate that these were comments were merely made to appease shareholders and turn out to be not particularly "new", but the optimists among us happily considered what kind of experiences the Nintendo President may be referencing.

We had a go at it ourselves, arguing that there are plenty of opportunities for new experiences on the Wii U, but then asked the community to share their thoughts over on a dedicated forum thread. The trouble is that Nintendo can be tough to predict, especially when it comes to what innovations it may bring to the table. Nevertheless, some of you gave it a go.

Below is a selection of posts from the thread, and thanks to those that contributed.

Prof Clayton

Nintendo is claiming that they have new ideas to put out into the market; supposedly new things that we've never seen before. They don't want the ideas copied or used by any competitor and would like to control the market on it as long as possible.

This reminds me of the Wii motion control feature, it was new, exciting, but eventually just copied by competitors. Nintendo could have something new and unexpected planned, like motion control, although probably nothing that large. Whatever it is, they want it secret for now.

You have to wonder what they have that's so large though. It seems like it would be a game, but a new game usually is revealed farther in advance. It's probably nothing old, because any other companies could, and probably have been copying it for years. Whatever they have up their sleeves, it's something innovative.

DLC? No, others have that. An add-on attachment, like a nunchuck? Not exactly game changing (well it is, but you know what I mean).

Something is needed that the ordinary person will be able to use, hopefully, and say "Hey! I want one of these!" That's why Wii Sports clicked. To reach new fans, get them to like it and want to buy systems, and do something new and innovative, all of those at once, Nintendo would have to do something genius.

An actual guess I have would be that they are working on a new game, that contains no new characters. What is new, is the ways those characters are used to create a unique and fun experience for everyone involved.

Another guess, is that most people will dislike the idea until they actually use or play it.

Geonjaha

I doubt these upcoming games will be as big as some are making them out to be. With the PS4 and XBONE announced many people will be making the decision as to which home console to go for; not announcing a first party killer app until close to its launch would be a big mistake. Especially considering that most of Nintendo's announced Wii U line-up has been for 2014, it doesn't make sense for Nintendo to keep such a game (or games) a secret.

From the sounds of it though it will probably be another casual title (a la Wii Sports), and while this isn't a problem, this isn't the audience Nintendo is having a tough time persuading to buy their console. Nintendo skipped a generation of catering towards more hard-core gamers with the Wii, and they may well lose them again if they don't get something out for them soon.

Nintendo Land Zelda Multiplayer

Mamp

Well my question is when they say "new types of gameplay" do they mean A) new types of gameplay people have never seen before or do they mean B) new types of gameplay we haven't see done by Nintendo?

If it's A): I believe it could involve some kind of peripheral like the vitality sensor since Nintendo said it could still have a chance of reappearing, maybe they could further push the idea of asymmetric gameplay, or the introduction of a new genre we never thought possible or the combination of genres we never thought would work well together.

If it's B): Maybe something along the lines of MMO style gameplay since Nintendo hasn't yet ventured into that territory. Maybe along the lines of an online First person shooter since that seems to be really popular nowadays (Metroid Prime Hunters with bigger more robust online gameplay anyone?). The next best alternative could be an MMO RPG.

Sony_70

Nintendo needs something that is easy to understand but accessible to both established gamers as well as newer fans. It's going to be something that takes the GamePad and shows why it's an essential tool that adds to the gameplay experience. That said whatever this new IP is it can't be from a widely established brand such as Mario or even Donkey Kong. We know that Nintendo has a free to play Steel Diver in the works and while the 3DS game got bad reviews a version that isn't sent to die might actually do well. My answer, which is pretty simple, is taking the Nintendo Land mini games that work and expand the concept into eshop title.

... Another thought would be something similar to the the StreetPass games for the Wii U. Just take a bunch of smaller ideas and base them around Mii characters and working with Miiverse.

SCAR392

...I'm thinking camera games, more Wii Remote Plus games (with possibly the Nunchuck), various virtual kits for your living room using the geomagnetic sensor in the GamePad, and possibly 3DS connectivity.

If anyone recalls the Revolution teaser back in 2005 or so, they showed how a virtual drumset would work. If you have the GamePad on a stand using the the screw-in on the back, I'm pretty sure the geomagnetic sensor would be able to track where your Wii remote plus controllers are in it own virtually created environment.

LzQuacker

There really is no telling what these new types of games will be. We've already seen sports, party games, and GamePad usage in Nintendo Land and Game and Wario. I would imagine that these new types of games will take advantage of features such as NFC and the second screen. I am excited to see something new from Nintendo, especially since the industry seems to be mainly focused on established popular ideas such as guns and violence.