There's a lot of Nintendo-related doom and gloom floating around at the moment — some of which we feel it is our duty to report — but today we've got a little bit of positive news. The Financial Post has stated what we knew all along: Nintendo's two systems are the best option for prospective buyers this holiday season.
In the piece, it is argued that the PS4 and Xbox One are so alike and share so many third-party titles that they are effectively fighting each other, but Nintendo is "forging its own path" and is "all about exclusive content" which can't be experienced elsewhere.
The Post then goes on to claim that lack of third-party support doesn't matter, as Nintendo's library of titles is so strong — and there's more on the way in 2014:
After a tumultuous and somewhat wonky year of generational transition, everything is settling back to the way it should be: Nintendo once again has the least powerful yet most affordable current-generation system on the market – and some truly great exclusive games to go with it – while Microsoft and Sony are left to battle one another on other fronts, including graphics, steep pricing, and blockbuster M-rated software.
It may have taken a little longer than Nintendo would have liked for it to get there, but Wii U is now a completely valid option for families looking for an affordable living room console. You can buy one with confidence.
While we'd certainly like to see a bit more third-party software on the Wii U, the points made here hold water — people buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games, and in Super Mario 3D World, the Wii U has the best game on any system this Christmas. And let's not forget the 3DS, which the Post claims is "the best platform for exclusives, period".
It's about time we saw a positive perspective on Nintendo outside of the gaming press, but do you agree with The Financial Post's assessment of Wii U and 3DS? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
[source business.financialpost.com]
Comments 61
A nintendo console was always the best options for groups and familys. Things like 4 (and now even 5) player MP was a real treat and for a family with younger children, nintendos IPs are perfect.
But to be honest, nowadays most parents dont care at all what their children are playing and will happily buy them their xboxes and playstations with the lates battlefield, call of duty and grand them auto. Why should they care, at least it shuts them up right ?
Of course everyone here will agree with the assessment. We sugar coat everything here like MSNBC/Fox. It truly is going to be an uphill battle for Nintendo sadly.
All aboard the NL fanboy wars roller coaster... Prepare for the same old lame arguments from both sides of the camp
I do question why all these financial websites get involved in recommending consoles? I mean if you're investing money in Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft shares I get why you'd want to know the lay of land, but if it's just recommending what the best game is to play on Christmas day, why on these websites?
I mean, you don't read the Financial Times to decide what pair of roller skates to buy.
Literally just received my Wii U, ordered it on Friday from Play.com they had it £199.99 for one day only, the driver asked me what it is said they've been delivering a lot of them. Pleased me anyway! And I've got mine, delighted
See, there's some good news in the press about Nintendo and Wii U.
For all the "conspiracy" theorists.
It's nice to finally hear good news instead of the usual "nintendo is doooooooooooomed!"
I've actually seen a ton of good press lately for the Wii U, saying it's the best bet this holiday season. Naturally there's still the doom and gloom but that's seems to just be what's popular these days - a fad really. It will blow over, the tide is already turning.
It's true that Nintendo didn't make use of its extra year advertising wise. It's also true that Sony and Microsoft don't have much going for their systems in terms of content yet anyway, and they are once again very similar while Nintendo once again forges its own path, if that's what you're into. And at this point a gamer knows if they are into that or not, and a family is going to look at all the bright colors and plethora of games (because don't forget backwards compatibility) and local multiplayer and go, "Heck yes! And it's cheaper, too!"
IGN (Of all places) done a nice piece about 2013 being the year of 3DS. It was so good I'm actually starting to take them semi serious again.
When the games come Wii U will have it's time to shine.
"There's a lot of Nintendo-related doom and gloom floating around at the moment — some of which we feel it is our duty to report"
Yeah, because God forbid Nintendo fans go a day without hearing about how the Wii U is DOOOOMED!!
I feel it's my duty to keep Adblock enabled as long as this site acts like it has a duty to post crap like that.
"— some of which we feel it is our duty to report —" yea right
So people buy Nintendo systems to play Nintendo games. Well that may be half right. But right now they aren't much of those. Nintendo needs a killer app and it needs games.. the 3ds has games and the wii u needs it now. All I see on tv is just dance ads. Where are the mario ads. The ads with other 3rd party games that says buy me. Show me a call of duty ghost add with the wii u gamepad the focus and then have wii u show alongside it at the end. Now that is good marketing. . Sony got it right this time around. Sony has a good marketing push. Good feedback from devs. And they have games.
Nintendo's on their own thing. Many want Nintendo gone for no reason while many want them to go on an on myself included.
I really want to get the Wii U I really do. Infact I'm positive that 3D World is the best game on Wii U. But there are just sooooooooooooooooo many games on 3DS that quite frankly I'm getting nervous as to which one to get.
I know the Wii U will have its time. Give it time and it will do well. Besides I'm pretty sure Sony and Microsoft will end up like Nintendo if they released it earlier than Nintendo did.
Before we continue the comments, if you could just pop on over to
They need a bit of love ya'll
Nooo Nintendo is DOOMED! ! !
Oh wait this is good news..
I got the Wii U day 1 and there were a couple of months there in the beginning that my Wii U was a glorifed TV remote but I can say that has changed with releases like Super Mario 3D World , Pikmin , COD ghost , Splenter Cell , Assassins Creed 4 , Luigi U , Zelda Wind Waker , Wonderful 101 , some great Virtual Console releases and so much more great titles mostly exculsive to the Wii U on the way I'm more than happy with my chose of getting the Wii U personaly I think it's the best system out and Nintendo's best system to date , and Wii U offers so much more than gaming alone with a great video chat feature , TVii app , a solid internet browser , video streaming netflix , hulu plus , U tube , Amazon , Mii verse and so much more that it's sad not more people have discovered it yet but I think this will be a great year for Wii U.
What annoys me is when any former game industry worker makes an anti Nintendo comment NL thinks it's news worth printing.
Next it'll be some guy who once voiced a character in a game thinks Nintendo is doomed or the Wii U is doomed.
@Will-75 For me, any multi platform game is superior on Wii U just because of the gamepad. LEGO Marvel is possible the best example of this.
It will be a battle to gsin a true momentum again but ithink 2014 releases will be huge and will push consoles.
My best friend has a ps4 abd his biggest complaint no games
While i play w101, zelda, mario 3d. Luigi u
My 2 favourite current systems are Wii U and 3DS, and I bought both day 1 knowing Nintendo would deliver, eventually. And so far, with a few quite wide gaps in between, they did not disappoint. Some third parties also really surprised me!
These machines are pure gaming devices, with some gaming-relatable extra features. And the games are here now, and many very promising titles are announced, while we know Nintendo won't sit still after those.
At least this opinion isn't completely unprofessional. It says what it is and who it's for, and what you can expect of it. That's what gaming press should do, instead of all that doom-stuff.
What is all this mess about killer app wiiu isnt a cellphone, we have miiverse, wiichat, tvii, they can all use upgrades tweeks but hey
I would like wiiu to cone out with a camera aop that uses the wiipad camera for photos and maybe be able to edit your photo do fun things with it and upload directly to social media including miiverse
@Bliquid No what?
@mostro328 I would love a camera app too, but you should know that Nintendo won't let us upload pictures to MiiVerse. o.o
The casuals all want their COD boxes these days, unfortunately.
With the PS4 and One so hard to get right now, and a new Mario game, surely sales will rise?
This comment section is proudly brought to you by KNACK... WTF is KNACK?
Let's all just get 2 systems and stop fighting!
@mostro328 killer app is a game you'd buy the system for, the like of Sega Rally for Saturn, back then everyone used to talk about having a 'killer app'. I bought it for 3DWorld, I'm sure I'm not the only one
@Anclation
You keep Adblock enabled because they report news?
@MadAdam81
Same here, I've actually bought a couple of games for Wii U that I have on PS Plus just for Off TV Play.
Anyway, the more news sites post things like this the better. Good to see.
Now for a word from our sponsor
Don't feel obligated to post bad news! Lol.
Whoo! More positive news! If there's positive news on my birthday, I'll post a video of me dancing.
They described it as a cheap family console ("families looking for an affordable living room console."). While it's nice to see them endorse it, I hope this isn't what Nintendo has decided to be (the cheap family console).
Thanks to the 2DS model, the 2DS/3DS family has really come to its own now, and even with its troubles, the Wii U has plenty of great games too, like New SMB U and New Super Luigi U, the Just Dance games, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Wii Party U, Mighty Switch Force 1 & 2 and many more.
Finally, someone speaks positively! I was sick of some articles that were mainly about "Nintendo is doomed", "Nintendo are dying", "Nintendo will fail". Nintendo is still breathing guys, and it'll keep standing till the last breath no matter what!
@MJKOP Nice, at least it shows that the Wii U CAN be sold. I think with a second price drop Nintendo will finally be able to sell the Wii U properly. Not thinking they should do it, but it will bring them back.
The financal post couldn't have said it better.
@MadAussieBloke is one of my favorite users, that is all
@MJKOP @JtotheY I'd been holding out on getting the wii u but finally caved and got the mario and luigi bundle this past weekend. Future Shop and Amazon in Canada both had them for 250$. It just seemed like too good a deal to pass up, since it includes both New Super Mario U and Luigi U. They must have sold quite a few in Canada also at that price.
Why can't we have awesome third party support to go with our excellent Nintendo games? I can't stand the notion "Nintendo consoles are only for Nintendo games".
@SkywardLink98 Cheap? My estimation is it's the most expensive considering what you have to buy to get to what I consider a 'complete' system.
@Dogpigfish I still consider it rather cheap as compared to the PS4 and One. The backwards compatibility of the Wii U with the Wii's hardware and software help me save a lot of money by being able to keep using my old remotes. Sure, I'll probably invest in 3 more Pro Controllers which isn't cheap, but the same goes for any PS4 and One owners that want local multiplayer, so it balances out. As for HDD space, I know people that have those larger drives and still buy bigger ones for whatever reason.
I keep hearing "killer app" and all I can think about is that Futurama episode.
@Dogpigfish Their words, not mine. They describe it as (quoting them) "an affordable living room console." IE Cheap(er) than the competition.
"Doom and gloom for Nintendo"... so, just like every week of the past ten years or so, then?
It alarms me to see some (youth?) want the site to only post "good" news.
Why would you want such a thing? If you are walking towards a cliff edge with a 200 ft drop looking up at the sky and everyone around you just kept saying, "Isn't the sky lovely? It's sunny out and the clouds look like various wonderful shapes". Wouldn't the one person that said, "You're about to walk off the edge!" be the best friend in the group?
The "good" news would be the negative in that case that keeps you from making a very bad mistake. Right?
You'd be right to question the value of the opinions of some that make headlines, though. I would think that it would be within the bounds of integrity for Nintendolife writers to sometimes amplify the context a bit at times. Either that or readers should be a bit more responsible in evaluating the sources.
@Mahe
Woah, woah, you have some 'splainin' to do. You listed Wii Party U as an example of a good game and you hate the GamePad and don't like Nintendo Land. Help me understand this.
One thing is for sure and should be thought about. The Nintendo consoles definitely have their own unique games and gameplay that you cannot and will not experience on any other systems. That's for sure! This article could be 100% correct and has really made me think about the Wii-U a little deeper. If you want a unique experience Nintendo really is the way to go.
@Windy Agreed. Same is true for the other consoles but in a less extreme way. If you don't have a Wii U and you have loved some Nintendo console gaming in the past, I predict it will be nigh impossible to resist by the end of 2014.
PC and Nintendo is best combination. Discuss.
@aaronsullivan Of course it is the best friend the one that tells you that you are doing something wrong. Still I believe there is a mix between years and years of trolls, teens, stupid people badmouthing Nintendo and their fans and fanboys which to them their precious company is anything but flawless.
Anyway let's hope for the best here and let's see after this Christmas where Nintendo goes, whatever they do though they better get their online component up to par with PSN or Live ASAP.
Well duh. The 3DS has a ****ton of games already available and the Wii U has Super Mario 3D World. Why anyone would buy a No-good-exclusives-station 4 or a Glitchbox One is beyond me.
But I digress...
Time just ran an article from Matt Peckham titled:
10 Reasons I’d Pick the Wii U over the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Today
The (strong and getting stronger) case for Nintendo's flagship console in 2013.
A few inaccuracies in the article but makes a good case for the system.
@LoZ4life98 actually no one here sugarcoats. Most of the time, A lot of industry analyst are wrong. Some are just bias and kind of forget that Nintendo always makes a comeback. Even when Universal tried to ruin them.
Just to be clear: this week the Financial Post has run articles about how the PS4 won the console launch and the Xbox One is the best item on the market so, yeah, I think they're just afraid to take a side.
Here's ANOTHER possitive Wii U article: http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=218308
Go figure.
And here everyone [some people] was thinking that all the media hated the Wii U and was conspiring against it.
Couldn't have said it better myself. These are my sentiments to a tee.
But I would like to point out, the Wii U has had the best games for quite a while now- ever since the glorious MH3U arrived, it's been a "case closed" scenario for me. But even Pikmin 3 could hold that status, as well as Windwaker HD , or, one could argue, The Wonderful 101. And while Rayman Legends is multiplatform, there's no doubt the Wii U version outshines every other by leaps and bounds.
Super Mario 3D World is just the cherry on top.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2RbFVRRtqI
@aaronsullivan
That was a very interesting analogy... Although I feel like everyone is saying You're going to fall off the cliff!!! but in reality you are 3 miles from the nearest lethal fall.
To put that more clearly I think everyone is saying false bad news about nintendo. Think of all the doom ridden news that never affected anything. It's good to hear the reassuring voice saying "you're no where near a cliff, keep walking."
@Benjelo
Right. Keep in mind I was specifically trying to describe the problem with a couple people on here that seemed to actually want to only hear good things about Nintendo on this site. I don't think Nintendo or Nintendo fans or even the Wii U are anywhere near a cliff.
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