Reggie Fils-Aime Highlights Nintendo's Strength in Franchises, and Goal for Wii U to "Stand Up To Time"

"the axiom is that software drives hardware" should be changed to "the axioms are that hype, brand, software and cost drive hardware"

I can't wait for the Wii U to show off Zelda and Star Fox. Smash is doing well and I'm pretty sure that once the software comes, the hardware will sell well.

For Nintendo, the relation between software and hardware is as Reggie put it, but not on the global market - it's only applicable within Nintendo's own boundaries. The competition mostly sells on advertisement, and very aggressive hype-generating methods, rather than highlighting software quality.
It's the first impression which consumers foolishly rely on, sadly. And some developers abuse this to its fullest.

@RedDevilAde
Sad that quality is not on that list. Even sadder there's a reason for it not being on the list.

Oh look, Nintendo of America still not getting "it".

@BLPs I would painfully agree considering how it feels to me like PS4 has sold on practically nothing but hype alone

@ShadyKnights When they mention software, typically it refers to those with quality.

Not sure Nintendo always have done that (The extended period of time thing) Zelda I play once and then the Master Quest about 6-12 months later and then that is it.

Anything with collectables I only play once (Because I dislike that part so much).

The reason why the Wii U had a slow start is because 3rd party companies broke away. Now that Nintendo is pulling out the guns of course the Wii U is a success

@Wolfgabe
Yet those 20million keep on defending their purchase with often times ridiculing Nintendo. The Wii U has put out more "must- own" titles already than I'm 100% positive the PS4 will have when it turns 2, yet gamers don't care for timeless quality anymore it seems.
Games like Mario 3d, Mario Kart or SSB, which are some of the best games I've seen in years, are "more of the same ol Nintendo crap" if you hear PS4 and One owners. But where "nintendo should try something new for once", they all get excited for yet another AC, CoD or BF. Even a game like Bloodborne, a game I'll probably adore, is still Demon/ Dark Souls in another skin... At least if you feel Mario Kart 8 isn't bringing anything new to the table, I believe Bloodborne must feel exactly the same.
I completely fell in love with the Wii U about a year ago, in a time where I was expecting a lot from my One and PS4, and I still felt burned by the Wii which wasn't for me. But in all honesty, I had to really look into it before I realized the Wii U could actually appeal to me as a long time gamer. Nintendo just doesn't create hypes like they used to and like you said: in this day and age, you can sell 20million consoles on hype and promises alone.

@PolarKoalaBear
I'm aware of that. However, the implications of quality doesn't affect that quality doesn't seem to matter with the loudest gamers these days. Mostly what I hear is "Go where the games are!" rather than "Go where the good games are!" from gamers.

Gamers still scream about third party even though that very same third party has been proving since last gen and especially during this gen, that they don't care about quality of their products, they just care about mass appeal and sales.

I really hope, that Nintendo steps up their game when it comes to advertising ... and I don't mean some kind of minestrone family advertisment they did with MK8 and smash ... they need to put their games into thee right light, so the "normal" gamer (the vast majority of people inside the gaming market) will want their games ....
It's not hard to sell your crap to anybody, just make it seem appealing, nobody will complain about ZeldaU/Starfox/Smash/MK8 after they bought it, because these games are good and have a high quality standard ....
Just look at how good this turned out for the PS4/AC:U/BF:HL they sell like hotcaces because the ones selling these know how to generate hype ... given that AC:U/BF:HL are horrible and/or bugridden games and the PS4 has a huge ammount of games, but nothing worthwhile (for me) absolutly nobody would be pissed about Nintendo creating hype around their console/games.

I have an Xbox one, a 3ds XL and a wii u. My xbox has become a glorified video player while all my gaming comes from Nintendo. The first thing to interest me for months on the xbox is Ori and the blind forest. Honestly I don't know what those ps4/xbox only gamers play!

I am so much happier with the Wii U now then where I was last year. Personally I feel the Wii U has a great library with lots to come. The influx of great Indies have taken over the lacking 3rd party support for me and there hasn't been a shortage of great games to play IMO. Granted I've held off on Wii U purchases this past month and this month as I'm still hoping for Mario Maker which will fullfill my gaming needs far longer than any game should. So if another drought appears there will still be great games to consider. And I'm fortunate enough to have a 3DS to fall back on when needed.

@Boerewors I agree with you I love my Wii U and put out some of the best games of all the 8th gen platforms so far. In the limited time I have to play video games per week it gets the most attention (outside of my XB1,but only because it defaults to the main input with my TV). I don't mind new Mario, Zelda and Pokémon games personally, but Nintendo fans in general need to start picking up games that are more outside the box. As a rounded gamer who plays on every platform available (though I've yet to get a Vita) I want to see Nintendo do more with its dormant IP or create new ones. Though the catch 22 is that, they seem to be less willing as when they do step outside of the regular staples, they tend to sell less. Look no further than the awesome W101 and Bayonetta (though the latter sold within expectations I believe) We gotta show we're willing to buy outside the norm. With that said XCX and Splatoon looks like games to be reckoned with this year.

Concerning the article, yea, the Wii U won't make it to PS4 and XB1 hardware levels, but that's okay so as long as they continue to make a profit and go hard on creating awesome content with the life the system has left!

@Josaku agreed. Advertising the games would have gone a long way in helping Nintendo out. The amiibo commercial I saw yesterday was probably the best one they had so far (MK8 and SSB notwithstanding) but they need to go beyond Nick, Disney and Cartoon Network. They would do well to advertise in primetime on other networks. Bayonetta 2 for example would have been perfect to air during the Walking Dead or the like. But they decided to just air it during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, which isn't bad, but it's also not as visible a target.

@hillyarb They play good third party games and sometimes exclusives.Third party the Wiiu wish it had

I wonder if he will say this exact same thing on the next console Nintendo will make,i bet he will.This makes me think if Nintendo actually knows what they're doing.

@Sir_JBizzle Advertising everywhere would be a start. I agree with that. They need to get Ads everywhere like sports channels. I've seen countless ads for the Xbox1 and Ps4 on espn , Basketball and football games. They also need to step up and get out ads for games like Code Steam. I've yet to see one ad for this game yet. Also they need to step up with special bundles.for games like XCX, Devils Thirds, Splatoon, Bayonetta 2, etc.

@shinokami It is still slow and the reason 3rd parties left it is because the Wii U is basically like a last gen system with the touch screen. 3rd party left because they don't want to develop for yesterdays (or at least don't want to think they develop for yesterday). Nintendo needs to learn that the Wii anomaly will not happen for them again, at least not for a few generations.

Really optimistic there Nintendo.
At most, there's hope that Wii U will outsell Gamecube by the time it's life ends in 2017, but nothing more.

Nintendo keeps saying "spftware drives hardware," and I do think that it does to a certain point. A great game can give a system a boost in sales.

However, I also believe that Nintendo is mostly wrong in this regard. Software will only get you so far, as is proven this gen. The WiiU by far and away has the best games of the three consoles, yet pales in comparison to its competitors when it comes to sales. This is partially due to lack of 3rd party software, but I think we're all aware of the main reason third parties don't want to make games for WiiU: its hardware.

Nintendo set the WiiU's fate when they decided they would yet again forego powerful hardware in favor of a gimmicky controller (whose features they still have yet to take real advantage of). Gamers want power in their hardware, and prefer traditional controllers, and so do developers outside of Nintendo. The casual audience who made Wii and DS so lucrative has fled to smart devices and cannot be counted on to ever return.

So when Fils-Aime says software drives hardware, he isn't necessarily wrong... But the hardware-software relationship has to go both ways. If you make hardware that no one wants to buy/make games for, then you are in effect also losing the software case as well. I don't think its any secret that mainstream gamers today won't buy a system if it can't play FIFA, GTA or Assassin's Creed. They want those games first, and first party exclusives like Mario and Zelda second.

I love the WiiU. It caters to my preferences. But i also want to see Nintendo succeed, though, and if they create another console in the next few years that mimics what they've done recently with their home systems, I can't possibly see ot doing any better than WiiU has, regardless of what games they put on it.

@Wolfgabe Whats suspicious is how Sony has said they dont even know where all those sales are coming from

Push current hardware and software with deep price cuts to beef up the install base before the home run hitters are released. 3ds history shows that taking a huge loss to put your system in more households will ignite sales. The return should make up for the loss and increase profits. That's if it is highly advertised.

@ikki5 you guys act like the wii was an anomaly and it's simply not true. The game boy, snes, gba, ds, and 3ds all landed in the weakest hardware of their gen and all won big time. The og Xbox, neo geo, vita, Saturn, linx, and game gear landed in the strongest category and ether failed or came in dead last. Weak hardware is a dice roll nintendo has taken every time. Sometimes they win and sometimes they don't

@Wolfgabe Surely it's the simple approach of embarrassing the competitors from their mistakes. History has showed us that mocking the competitors is successful such as how the PS3 lost due to poking at Sony's terrible E3 reveal conference. The same situation happened regarding Sony mocking the Xbox One reveal and even in some regions the "Genesis does what Nintendon't" advertising campaign worked.

@Kaze_Memaryu I have to agree with this, software quality doesn't seem to matter anymore in the larger markets. We've seen plenty of horrible games nowadays, but they sell like hotcakes because they hit all of the right notes in advertising and manage to convey an image of being cool. Nintendo's philosophy doesn't seem to work very well nowadays.

Would anyone want Nintendo to sacrifice quality of software for increased efforts in hype/advertising?

The Zelda game and Xenoblade are going to help a bit. But I think it will be short lived. I mean come on Nintendo....Sony is sticking it to you. I'm a little bit afraid to see what Nintendo has planned next round. Now if we maybe got games like Dragon Quest X which is a Wii game it would help. Does square even port games anymore or does Nintendo have to publish for them in North America and Europe? Things are not looking good for Wii. 3DS continues to rock the planet. I think its time to consider just working on 3ds. I say make it possible to connect the 3ds to your TV to play that way or portable. Upgrade the system and make it the most powerful handheld out there. Then make it so you can connect Bluetooth controllers and other accessories directly to the 3ds. Make it a 1 system which does it all. Portable, TV and multiplayer with accessories. Time for Wii and Wii-U to go the way of the dodo. Right after the new Zelda and Xenoblade come out

@gcunit where exactly would they be sacrificing quality software. This is an old gimmick they used when Wii first came out. The Well is dry on this old line.

@bizcuthammer I agree with you but what I see is for 1 Quality software by Nintendo the PlayStation 4 and XBoxOne get 3 to 5 quality titles in the same time frame. So this quality over quantity which started early on with Wii is a dead point.

@BLPs and that's the key. Turtle vs. Hare. Nintendo has shown true devotion in sticking with a lagging system, while everyone has been crying for them to abandon the Wii U and to release IPs on smartphones. I'll stick with them til the end, for they inspire quality, AND integrity in my book

Well Nintendo, I had the weekend off and it's snowing, so I played a lot of games. 33 now with 2 kids. I played mh4 for sbout 5 hours. Dark souls 1 PS3 for like 4 hours. Smash wii u for like 2. Tipping stars for like an hour. Hearthstone on my iPad for like an hour. Nintendo won my weekend. And I still plan on more mh4 later. My oldest, 13 played some cod on his PS3 with his friends. My youngest played a bunch of mh4demo. He is 4 and loves to just play the demo. And I have to add that my oldest and his friends have all the cod games, but only play black ops 2. But none of them will play on wii u. It's to kiddie is what they say.

@faint really??? The Gambeboy... the GBA.... lol, look at the competition it had. Also, handhelds don't count, why? Because Because hardware doesn't matter too much with those because of the age demography they are targeted to and it is what games are on there. The SNES, they was the market share Nintendo already owned. Look what happened after the SNES and that will speak for itself. The Wii was an anomaly, it was something that adding something completely new to the gaming market that intrigued a lot of people which Xbox and Sony tried to Mimic but it didn't work, Why? because it was already done.

Also, you cannot compare the old generations to the new ones especially with the way technology has gone. So much advancements in a short period of time now. Basically Nintendo release a console that already felt 6-7 years old with a touch screen that made it awkward for people to develop for leading to the gamepad not being utilized much and is now just basically a second screen. The only people really doing anything with it is Nintendo... in fact, Nintendo is basically one of the only ones really doing anything for the Wii U. In the future, there is hardly anything coming from 3rd parties because the Wii U is just not 3rd party friendly due to the dated hardware and the gamepad. No one wants it, Nintendo screwed up. You can keep believing that hardware doesn't matter when it completely does now. We are not living in the 90s and early 2000s any more.

@gcunit Sakurai just proved last year that you can have both. Smash Bros was easily one of the most hyped games of the year, and it's a very high quality game.

Nintendo could play a card of having genuine hype and being transparent about the games, in contrast to games like Destiny and Watch_Dogs, which the developers/publisher overhyped and fooled people with. Smash Bros was hyped beyond belief, but it was over revealed and confirmed content, not expectations and promises.

@AVahne I don't think they're being optimistic about the sales of the system. It sounds like them sticking to their guns and also being hopeful that the Wii U and it's games are remembered fondly over time like the previous systems. The Nintendo 64 sold horribly, but it's remembered for having "legendary games". Same goes for the GameCube. They want the Wii U to follow the same path. I think it can - Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, DKC Tropical Freeze, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Star Fox, Zelda, Zelda Wind Waker HD, Captain Toad, Super Mario 3D World, etc. could make for one fondly remembered library.

I love nintendo and this does not matter. They are making a profit. So what if they are not winning in sales. They will keep on trucking and do what they always do, make great games. Do they need to be edgier? Yes. Do they need to take more risks? Yes. Do they need more advertisement? Yes. Do they need new IPs? Yes. Let us all focus on what they are doing right and that is making fantasticly great games. So what if they rely on there remakes. I love them and many do too. I own a PS3, Vita, and ps4. I spend my time with Nintendo more.

Even if Nintendo makes the most powerful console after the Wii U, even if it is more powerful than the next Playstation or XBox, it will still not help Nintendo win back 3rd parties. Their reputation is nearly completely shot. It was a process that started at the tail-end of the SNES era and goes all the way through their hardware consoles. They could change it, of course, but it would require them to change the way they think, and I don't see that happening with their current management. And they need those 3rd parties, if not for their immediate sales, but for the long-term. Having years with just two or three releases from major 3rd parties is a big black eye to the consumers. Indies may be great, but they don't have the visibility of the major companies, sadly.

Well, at least Reggie seems hopeful, and not just blindly throwing out blind optimism. I don't like where Nintendo is heading, and it will affect their handheld systems as well if this keeps up.

@electrolite77 Ubisoft spends 4 times as much on advertising as making the game. Advertising does have to be paid for.

The question is what would happen if somebody put the entirety of that money into the game. (I don't know of a recent instance where somebody tried).

Well, it most certainly looks like it's going to be remembered fondly. The Wii U is definitely to going to come out on top this generation, but that's okay. It's still at least surviving, and the games are great! If anything, the Wii U will be remembered after this generation as "The underdog with amazing games", while the competition will most likely be remembered as "the systems that sold amazingly well despite having over-hyped games that ultimately dissapointed many." I'm sure there's a bunch of good games on those systems, and if you've found one that you like, good for you, but from what I've heard, games like The Order 1886 and Destiny have been major disappointments.

@ikki5 wait so we can't compare old generations? Then why bring the wii up at all? So we can't count handhelds? Is this like the whole Wiiu has no games because download only doesn't count? I also disagree with the only marketing kids excuse. Nintendo has always marketed to everyone. I hope eight year olds haven't been playing resident evil, fire emblem, conception 2, devil surviver, ghost recon, ect. Every handheld since the rating system has had plenty of mature/teen games. Also tec has allways moved fast. This is why the atari 7800 failed

@NintendoFan64 I will always remember the Wii U as "The bundle of neverending excitement" (The neverending part is a reference to Hyrule Warriors )

@ikki5 also the game gear was a great system for its time. That's why you can find gg titles on the 3ds vc

Wii U has been adequate. It had too many throw-a-way Nintendo games.

@electrolite77
Tons is a stretch of the term. There are plenty of good ones, I'll not deny, but many of them are available on the PC and are playable on reasonably old computers at that. Some are even coming out still on PS3 and 360. The necessity to move to a new console for them is really not all that great in the grand scheme of things.

@faint Lol, why? Because it was only the last generation and that's what one of the topics of my post was. Nintendo and people seem to have the idea what Hardware doesn't matter any more because Nintendo had one fantastic generation with the Wii due to the anomaly it was. It the Wii never had motion controls, it'd be just as bad as the gamecube... or worse as the WIi was an over clocked gamecube. But then again when you look at the Wii, the motion controls were hardware, hardware that people liked and didn't seem dated so they developed for it. The problem is that everyone has this illusion that Hardware matters. Nintendo nailed it with the hardware people wanted with the Wii. They didn't with the gamecube because they decided to be arrogant and think people didn't care about discs. Then with the gamecube, they went with mini discs.... still, people didn't want to develop for it. Now it is all about hardware power. Something Nintendo again was arrogant to see and was totally obviouslt towards the end of last gen as people started comparing which hardware was better, Xbox 360 or PS3 while the Wii dwindled and died and by the end of the last generation,l it was one of the worst selling consoles (the worst selling home console). Nintendo ignored this fact and now they're paying for it.

@hillyarb
Precisely. People can mock Nintendo's lesser quantity of games and lack of AAA all they want, but at the end of the day, I'll take my 8-10 games on Wii U each year over everything the AAA industry has to offer, and not even think twice about it.

And sure, PS4 and X1 have high scoring games too, but just because reviewers who favor those consoles assign a similar score to a game doesn't even remotely mean it's on the same level as Nintendo's games. You look at games like Evolve or Infamous or TitanFall- all high scoring games, but I'm sorry, I'll take Captain Toad or Rainbow Curse, heck I'll even take Tipping Stars over all three of them!

I mostly quit playing PS4 and as for the Vita, well, I haven't played it in over a year. The X1 did just redeem itself in my eyes though because Ori and the Blind Forest is brilliant, in fact, I'd buy a system for it if I didn't own one already. But that's typical. Even $15 downloadable games are better than AAA nowadays.

@ikki5
3rd parties left because nobody buys their games. That's the only reason. That gamepad screen doesn't matter to them and neither does the power. If a game sells, believe me they'll bring it. They'll find a way cause they're not passing up free money. Heck they find a way to bring their games to iPhone if it sells. Power means nothing, controls mean nothing. Sales = money which is everything. Nobody cares about AAA a on Wii U (probably why people bought it in the first place, if they wanted AAA there are far better choices out there) so it's not surprising to see most AAA games sell 100k (if they're lucky).

There's a reason people buy Nintendo- they want something more than what modern western mega-publishers dictate they should be playing.

There's really nothing about the other two consoles that interests me, and I get the feeling more and more that I'm not alone. Almost all the worthwhile games are on PC or Wii U.

@JaxonH
Which is exactly why AAA third party games don't matter as much as they did, say last gen or very early this gen. The Wii U has it's games, it's market and that's fine. They don't need mainstream AAA and the indies the Wii U does get are an excellent bonus to the console. It's why I've calmed down more about the whole GF and Sega thing and the Metroidvania game that aren't coming to the Wii U as my backlog exploded last year and I got games to get now rather than cry about adding more games to the list this very moment.

@ShadyKnights
Ya know, The Order 1886 is really representative of the entire AAA industry. Story based, quick time events, run through it in a weekend... No wonder those who only play AAA need 40 games a year to keep them entertained. But the games I play, really I just need 10 good, solid games a year that I'll actually play and get sucked in to. Between Wii U and 3DS, I get twice that, not to mention VC releases like Metroid Prime Trilogy or Fire Emblem that I can easily sink 100 hours into. For $8-10.

Right now I'm playing Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. I spent over 600 hours in MH3U on Wii U, and I'm expecting about the same for this one. That's a good 4-6 months just from one game. Tell me again why 10 good games a year on Wii U and 10 on 3DS isn't enough? Especially when they're all more enjoyable than anything else out there?

@ikki5 For a console to be classed as 'next'gen', the technology inside, must be at least 2 years newer than the previous consoles tech. This makes all 3 consoles 'next-gen', it is just that the other 2 chose the easy route of using PC architecture, and Nintendo did not. You coukd say this was lazy of them, but to be honest, it was the right move, in a way. Devs have been producing PC games for many years, so it should be easy to do the same with the Xbox1 and PS4. Unfortunately, due to bottle necking and Ram issues, the ability to create native 1080p games, that run at locked 60FPS has become a pronlem for them.

One of the main rrasons 3rd party devs have stopped makimg Wii U games, is the way Nintendo weng about securing these games. Both Sony and Microsoft get companies to sign contracts for a certain length of time, that demands that they release their latest titles on the new consoles. However, Nintendo were happy to just accept 'gentlemen's handshake' agreements, which have no legal binding. It is heartening to know that now, for their new console, they are actually getting companies to sign contracts.

Nintendo were very late getting into the HD scene, digital downloads, cross buy system, and some other features that the other 2 had already nailed with their previous systems. However, they are making big strides in a very short time, and are starting to embrace thse features more and more.

While I love my Wii U, and it is my 'go to' console, and I have a gaming PC for everything else, Nintendo are laying the foundations for their next console, but have said they will NOT be giving up on the Wii U. The reasons are, they believe in the machine and the tech, and what it offers, as do a lot of devs, and hundreds of Independent devs, plus they do mot want to let down/betray loyal Nintendo userz who have purchased Wii U's. Their next console will be released either mid, but more likely at the end of 2017, catching the Christmas holidays.

@JaxonH
I honestly wouldn't say it's representative of the entire AAA industry, but merely another stop along the inevitable road to the cliff. I mean look at Mass Effect. A great game that I personally love saver for the glaring error that, for an RPG, it's too damned short and there's not enough branching things to do in the first game let alone the series. The second game completely forgets what the hell teh first one was and the third goes off the rails, forgets anything resembling the original charming, but clunky original game, and ends in a craptastic way that makes the multiple endings of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time seem ground breaking as those endings are actually caused by interactions with people you had rather than an arbitrary choice at the end of the game.

And after all of that, people still treat BioWare as if they are not only infalible, but still get pants wettingly excited for their games. Water flows under the bridge fast when Halo: MCC releases buggy as hell cause the New Halo will be fine. Kill Zone Shadow Fall was a bust, but Sony will get it right with inFamous.. Okay that one was okay, but Ubi will do well with Watch_Dogs... Okay well Drive Club will be premium cash... Okay but the Order 1886 will be the mad business... Okay but Bloodborne will be fantastic. I don't get it. I mean Bloodborne may be amazing, but no one puts on the skeptical goggles after blowing how much money?

As you said 10 to 12 games a year is plenty for me. When I was a kid I was lucky to own 5 games a year and the people at Blockbuster knew my face. So actually buyin the games I love rather than renting them, and having the games I really want as well as the occasional super special game to pop up is good enough for me.

@argh4430 I agree, with some of what you say. With their next console coming somstime in 2017 likely, Nintendo won't make it a massively more powerful than the other two. Yes, it will be more powerful, and offer new innovation, but this time, Nintendo are going about things differently

In the past, Nintendo have just been happy to take the word of 3rd party devs that they will produce for their console. However, now they are actually doing what Sony and Microsoft have been doing for quite some time already. They are getting devs to sign contracts, that legally bind them into releasing their latest title(s) on Nintendo's next console. This, along with them really embracing the digital download scene, paying devs to allow cross buy, and giving dev kits for free to ceveloper, can only be a positive tbing for Nintendo.

People should really be looking at Sony. Whilst the PS4 is doing well, it will not sustain Sony for tbe future. Sony is relying heavily on the Playstation Now service, which it hopes to launch world-wide sometime this year I believe. Having the console built into modern TV's, thereby negating the need to buy a physical console is a good idea to a point, but very risky.

A lot of households already have a new type of tv. Are they really going to be swayed into buying yet another one, with a console built in? A lot of the yohnger gamers use their consoles in theif bedrooms. Are parents going to fork out YET AGAIN for a big tv with a console built in? Especially if the household already has a PS4. Analysts both in the U.K. and N.A. are very sceptical about this route, and many say it could be the true making of Sony if handled well and recieved well, or it could be the demise of Sony. Only time will tell.

@Boerewors to be honest though. I've owned a Wii U since Feb 2013. The last game I felt compelled to buy was Mario Kart 8. The graphics are amazing. The reply "slow-mo" feature is jaw dropping stunning and the game is fun to play.
But so far I'm a little underwhelmed and disappointed with my Wii U. Mainly because it has no third party support. I'm a huge lover of Classic style fighting games. So injustice for Wii U is one of my favorites. I'm so disappointed that Mortal Kombat X and Street Fighter 5 won't be coming to Wii U. I dont want to have to buy a PS4.
I love platformers a lot too and Mario 3D World in my opinion sucked. It sucked compared to Mario 64 and Galaxy. It was trying to hard to please everyone instead of just being a badass platformers. It was too easy. Mario moves so slow. I liked it better when he was fatter and faster. I was excited for Captain Toad treasure tracker but I flew through that game so fast it made my head spin.

Nintendo is sucking right now. i love Majoras Mask on 3DS but it's sad that I'm reminded how much better their classics are than they're most recent stuff. All their recent stuff is overly cute and bright for the sake of being child friendly instead of just being itself and being cool.

They better step it up for Zelda Wii U. If Zelda Wii U isn't as good or better than Twilight and skyward than ill sell this system.

@Purple
I'm in a lucky position where I own all consoles available, so for me the Wii U is a true pearl. Every 1st party game is a hit for me personally and I'm at an age where everything that I grew up on, seems better. The Wii U is giving me my retro games, in an HD "jacket". But could I possibly rely on my Wii U alone? Nope, I need my fighters too, heck I own an One primarily for KI, and there are certain games I just can't go on without. But personally if I had to choose, I'd probably stick with the Wii U anyway: it brings by far the most joy in my life and whenever there's a game out, I feel just like in the SNES days.

I have 5 friends that game. 4 of them just got PlayStation 4 within the past 4 months and one of them got an X-Box One. I'm the only one with a Wii U and I told my friends about the Wii U saying it was pretty good but they all had never heard of it. They all asked what is it? They say things like, oh yeah I saw that at GameStop but yeah... It looks kinda weird.
I don't like the controller. They don't even know about the Pro Controller.

I watch YouTube and see PS4 and XBox1 commercials and billboards all day every day. I never see Wii U commercials or adds. Why is that?

let me ask you all this.

What's it tell you when Nintendo doesn't even promote their own console?!!!
That they don't even believe in it.

@Boerewors haha I hear you.
How is Killer Instinct? Do you like it? Is it still exclusive to XBox? I'm thinking of getting either a PS4 or XboxOne to help me through my wii u droughts. And vice versa. Which would you recommend? Or are they virtually the same? I Love fighting games and racing. I might just be forced to go the PS4 route since most of my friends have it and love it and it would be nice to chat and game with them. They say you can voice chat with your friends even if you're all playing different games. That's awesome.

As a huge Nintendo fan, I just run out and buy the newest system they make, and Im sure 90% of the people here do the same. We are not the people they need to convince to buy, its all the other people that need convincing. I don't watch much TV but I've never seen a Wii U commercial on anything that I or my wife watches. I did see some on if I remember Nick Jr maybe? I dont understand how that is advertising, my 4 year old son isn't running out to buy a Wii U or 3DS. They need to advertise to the masses and same thing with all the Youtubers, that is marking to a certain type of person. I have no idea who iJustine is, not until my wife told me who she was. I honestly thought she was a rip off of icarly. They just need to start advertising to everyone, make it the cool system to own like the PS4 and XBox one. They have the money to hire an advertising company so why dont they?
Even tho I love my Wii U, it wasn't a good idea to make. They followed the causal crowd that moved to tablet/ mobile gaming. I realized in 20+ years from now if I want to play Zelda U or any great game from this system, I probably couldnt because Im sure the gamepad screen isn't going to hold up over time.
But it is what it is with the Wii U and them doing so poorly will just make them work harder. Look at what Phil Spencer is doing for Xbox he completely turned it around for them. It was a complete laughing stock and now its turning into a great system to own. I plan on picking one up when Rise of the Tomb Raider comes out hopefully Gears soon after. Nintendo really just needs to take a pointer from Sony. The PS4 is an awesome system I was holding out until a "must have" but I'm glad I just gave in and got it. Other than the sloppy UI they really did everything right with it, share play is incredible, where I can jump into my friends game and play with him as if we where on the same couch with only one copy of the game is awesome. Point is tho I really hope Nintendo can turn it around and stop looking for that "one" game to take them to paradise and focus on the bigger picture.

@electrolite77
No, what sells a console is the amount of quality games on it. Not just the amount of games. The games must be worth the purchase of the console and to be purchased on that console specifically. What I said still stands as mass appeal requires there to be enough quality for the largest audience.

Now, that being said, there is a difference in quality for a wide audience third parties provide, to a focused audience that first party games give. Yeah AAA games are technically good at what they aim to do, but those games tend to be throwaways. You buy them, play them, throw them away for the prettiest new sequel. First party games are more about staying power. You're supposed to keep returning to a first party game after you've played it through, because it's quality is beyond that of a third party game.

Last gen we had devs lying about what we saw in game demo vids (Aliens: Colonial Marines), this one they lie about the mechanics and visual quality of the game (Watch_Dogs). Last gen we had buggy releases that required day one patches and sometimes didn't get patches for months on down the road, this gen we have Sims 4 and AC: Unity. Last gen we got Kane and Lynch, this gen we got The Order.

I don't think people are being too obsessive about first parties at all as, again, you can play third party games anywhere. And you're not locked into only playing one console or a console and no PC. In fact, many have argued the best places to experience the third party games worth playing will be on PC. And most games work just fine on even standard PCs. So if the gamer really wants teh highest of quality, they'd go with a Wii U and PC combo. People just want to get the best bang for their buck and, as far as games from a purely gaming standpoint is concerned, Nintendo offers that more than the others. The others mearly offer more games, but you could still get enough fun that you need via the indies that are on the Wii U as well.

But to each their own. Not everyone likes Nintendo games and that's cool. But the lack of third party should not be a reason to say the console itself is lacking.

@Purple
If your friends have a PS4, than it's a no- brainer. Otherwise it's more or less a question if you prefer Forza or GT, or SF or KI. I like my One better at the moment, but that's mainly because of Sony's empty promises, where I didn't expect anything from Xbox, but the experience is really good so far. And then there's the money issue: I recently bought another One to send back home for just €300, that's with a game...that's €100 cheaper than the PS4 here in Europe.
I would honestly wait till a big fat price cut comes along: by that time here will be a library worth owning.

@ikki5 your wrong on many levels. The Wii died first due to the wiius announcement and lace of titles. Some developers are still making cash of it. The last two just dance games sold better on the Wii them 360,one,PS3,ps4 or wiiu

@Purple There are commercials for Wii U games, or at least in the US and Japan. Every game over the past year has had a commercial. They air on Nick, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, and Spike. The problem with their TV commercials isn't the lack of one, it's frequency. They aren't airing frequently enough.

Anyways though, there's far more to advertising than TV commercials. In store displays, promotions, media coverage, online ads, merchandising, hands on demos, and word of mouth (especially through social media) are all major advertising venues. Nintendo also has Nintendo Direct to use. Believe it or not, Splatoon is actually hitting most of these. There's an in store display for the game (alongside MP10 and amiibo) that recently cropped up, and it has a pretty good slogan too.

@ShadyKnights
Always exceptions to the rule but when you can have 200 games to the Wii U's 10, and still not get me to want to play my console that's 2 feet in front of me over Wii U and 3DS, well, it's indicative of the larger picture.

I do like some AAA games mind you- Mass Effect was fantastic, I loved Dragon Age Inquisition (I really did, thought it was great), and I'm very hopeful for Final Fantasy. But generally speaking I'm just tired of realism, I'm tired of the same old formula. When I can play a racing game (The Crew) and feels just like Far Cry, or Shadow of Mordor, something has gone terribly wrong. The games are just too dang similar, and THAT'S the problem. Maybe for someone who's never played a AAA game in their life they might be able to enjoy a good generation before they get sick of it but for anyone who's been playing games longer then a few years, it's beyond monotonous.

With Nintendo I'll only play one or two Mario platformers in an entire generation (and adore every one of them), one Mario Kart an entire generation (and love it), I might even play 5 different Zelda games across Wii U and 3DS in a generation (and crave 5 more). But all are different and unique. But with AAA it feels like 5 HUNDRED games that are the same in a generation. Even completely different genres feel like the same game, that's how bad it is.

I have nothing against people who prefer AAA, but when they start telling those of us who want something more, someone different, that THEIR games are mandatory for a system to be worthwhile, that's when I have a problem. Because honestly, right now the only thing worthwhile in gaming is Nintendo.

@ShadyKnights Good points about quality "day 1 patch" is a 4 letter word and it's annoying at how common it is with so-called AAA titles.

@JaxonH
Exactly. As I stated before, AAA games are for mass appeal and most people consider games kiddy unless they look realistic. They don't want to play a game, regardless of how fun it may be, because it looks "too cartoony" or "not mature". The mainstream gaming audience wants games they won't feel embarrassed about when talking to someone else about gaming because to them mature is respectable and E for everyone is kiddy.

As you put it, all the games blur into each other, so once you've played the best of that 200 games (probably 5) you've played them all. After that you're just replayin the same game with varying degrees of competency in design.

Once gaming went mainstream with the 360 and PS3 wars, obsession with third parties and trophies that do nothing became the talk of the town.

@electrolite77 @IceClimbers @Windy

Any company has a finite resource to work with. Any money or creative energy Nintendo puts in to hyping/marketing its products obviously diminishes the resource available for product development. Nintendo could dip into its savings, of course, but they will have set a budget for each project, probably including a contingency amount, but won't compromise the longer term business plan and increase financial risk by ploughing unplanned money into a struggling product.

I've said the following in another post or two a few months back: I have a strong sense that the Wii U was always intended to be a stop-gap console and that Nintendo purposefully set out to minimise development and marketing costs while providing fans with an HD system to fill the gap while the company sorts out what its next big thing will be within the changing gaming landscape. Nintendo doesn't need the Wii U to sell like hotcakes, and probably never expected it to. Sales have been below expectations, but not to the extent that emergency action was required.

Nintendo has quite clearly focused on software over hardware with the Wii U. The games others have listed above, e.g. MK8, SSBU, Bayo2, W101, DKC:TF, SMW3D, LoZ:WWHD, Pikmin3 - these are games that, among the players that have actually played them, have undoubtedly strengthened the individual IPs and the Nintendo (software) brand as a whole. This, I believe, was Nintendo's primary objective during the Wii U period: strengthen the Nintendo lore while minimising hardware & marketing costs.

@JaxonH Spoken like a non-engineer. There's nothing trivial about hardware, nor about how dire a situtation in which Nintendo finds itself currently. In a way, the combination of PPC architecture and integrated hardware/software philosophy mirrors Apple during the period following Jobs' departure and eventually had the company being three months from insolvency where they once owned the market. The problem at present is that the costs for porting the Nintendo have a incredibly poor return on investment. PC, XBOne and PS4 are all x86 whereas Nintendo is PowerPC. These two architectures use different instruction sets, which means they are not binary compatible, and very few modern development environments even still support the architecture as it's generally limited to proprietary IBM server architecture and a few offhand mobile handsets. Add the increased development costs with the significantly smaller install base with little momentum outside core first-party titles, a crippled account system and an exorbitantly expensive eShop with no cross-buying, and Carnac the Magnificent could've seen third-party abandonment it coming.

And you mentioned that they manage to develop for the iPhone, as though this were somehow difficult, which isn't the case. Aside from the fact that the iOS platform has one of the most robust IDEs available for mobile development, the architecture of iOS and Android are both ARM. This fact is precisely why the 3DS continues to thrive: it also uses ARM architecture.

@JohnGrey
You're getting all technical trying to argue an irrelevant point. Architecture means squat when the games don't sell anyways. No demand.

3DS thrives because of great games and lack of viable competition. Nothing more.

@JaxonH Oh? Look at the yearly sales charts for last year and tell me two things: how many in the top twenty are first-party titles and how many are on the Wii U. I'll wait.

@JohnGrey He means there's no demand on Nintendo's platform. 3rd party games simply don't sell on Nintendo's home consoles. If the Wii U's guts were identical to the PS4's, I can guarantee you 3rd parties would still have abandoned the Wii U. That fact right there will prevent Nintendo from acquiring 3rd party support for future home consoles for any actual length of time.

@IceClimbers
Makes sense. Wii U certainly looks like it'll join the ranks of N64 and Gamecube. Some really good games, but barely anyone who bought them.

@IceClimbers I don't feel that you can make such a statement considering it's been at least three generations since we've had anything approaching hardware parity with other major consoles. Adding platform-specific user input has only widened the gulf in the past two generations in terms of development feasibility.

@JohnGrey
As IceClimbers said, I was referring to demand on Nintendo's platforms. Even if they built a western clone that sports nothing but power, it still doesn't change the fact that those who buy Nintendo consoles don't buy AAA games. And of the segment of gamers that do, even if they had that third option they're not going to choose Nintendo, they're going to choose the console they've been playing on for the last 20 years.

Input method is verbatim the exact same as everyone else. DKC Tropical Freeze is a perfect example.

It's not input, it's lack of demand. If there actually WAS demand, and the games actually WOULD sell, and the only thing standing between AAA publisher X and millions of dollars is a screen on the controller, do you really think they're going to say "Ah well, we could make all this money but there's a screen on the controller, too bad..."? No. They're either going to mirror the display and call it a day, leave it blank, or if they have the time and resources they might throw a menu or map on there.

Besides, even IF there was magically some mountain of demand that nobody saw with the last 2 dozen failed attempts, if getting those AAA games- games that I can play on either of the other two consoles mind you- if getting those games meant I'd have to give up awesome innovations like motion controls or a second screen or Miiverse, I wouldn't want them anyways. That's like trading a goldmine for a bottle cap collection. Because that would mean no Wonderful 101 puzzles or drawing morphs, no Wii Sports Club Golf, no Smash level editor or Kirby Rainbow Curse, no Tipping Stars, no Pikmin 3 (it's unplayable with analogs), no Metroid Prime Trilogy with motion controls (the only way to play), no asymmetrical gameplay in numerous titles, no off tv play, VC games would have to be played on the TV where they look like crap, no NintendoLand, no quick weapon shortcuts or map for Zelda games, MH3U would be cluttered as hell, etc etc etc....

Ya. No thanks.

I just bought my wii u 2 weeks ago and im hooked. I love it. I really hope they keep the games coming!

The Wii u is a great console, love SM3DW, MK8, Pikmin 3, Shovel Knight, but 2015 in my opinion seem's like the worse year for Nintendo Wii U games. The only games that I will be purchasing for the Wii U in 2015 will be Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Zelda U, and maybe Starfox still need to see more of that game to make up my mind on it. As for the rest of Nintendo's Wii U line up I don't really care for mini games, party games, or DIY Mario Maker that is being releasing in 2015. But Maybe need will surprise me at E3 this year with some games that I will actually be interested in like Metroid for Wii U or F-Zero for Wii U or a New Ip not splatoon either.

@shinokami Um, the Wii U had great third-party support for the first year of its life.

During that time, it got major titles like Assassin's Creed III and IV, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Ghosts, Injustice, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Batman Arkham Orgins, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and other major titles that were coming out on platforms.

The Wii U in its first year had the strongest third-party support of any Nintendo home console since the SNES. Almost every major title that was on other platforms made it onto the Wii U. There were some games that did miss the Wii U like Battlefield 4 and a few others, but for the most part the Wii U got a share of the pie.

And while it could be argued that some third-parties like EA spread terrible rumors about the Wii U that hurt it early on and other games missed out on features, many Wii U third-party titles were comparable to their counterparts on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Not to mention, there were several cases like Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Call of Duty, Splinter Cell Blacklist where Wii U versions got extra features or content no found on other versions.

Many third-parties gave the Wii U a chance. They never really started to break away until it became clear their games simply were not selling on the Wii U.

@IceClimbers The fact that third-party games can't sell on the Wii U bothers me. Some of the best games on the Wii U are third-party games because I can play them on the Gamepad, something I can't get from a PS3 version.

I honestly don't understand why third-parties can't get their games to sell on Nintendo home consoles. The NES and SNES never had this problem. None of Nintendo's handhelds have ever had this problem. Two of the 3DS's best selling games are third-party titles!

But third-parties get nothing when they put their games onto Nintendo's home consoles since the SNES. This has been a trend since the N64, and it's only gotten worse each generation. Even on the Gamecube, games like Resident Evil 4 sold better on the PS2 then they did on Nintendo hardware.

I guess this is a general question to other Nintendo fans. Why do third-party games get ignored on NIntendo's systems? I understand Nintendo does great games that are often high-quality, but there are also games they don't do.

I just honestly don't get it. I remember when third-party games on the NES and SNES were hyped and sold just as well as Nintendo's own games. Hell, you could make the argument that third-party games played a major role in letting the SNES beat the Genesis during the 16-bit hardware wars.

What happened? Did Nintendo gamers just stop caring about games unless they had Nintendo's name on the box? Something else happen?

Anyone have any opinions on this?

@Caryslan SNES had plenty of good 3rd party titles, yes, but starting in the 5th generation and throughout the Game-Cube years, Nintendo got a "kiddie" reputation. Regardless, many of the kids from my generation, who grew up on NES/SNES, ditched Nintendo for PS/Xbox.

Personally, I feel the landscape has changed. All games were colorful on SNES/Genesis because bright colors displayed better. Regardless, the market has been saturated with FPS type games for an entire decade now, a genre which I particularly loathe. The 1st Party Nintendo games have more to do aesthetically with the good old games found on the 4th and 5th gen consoles. Frankly, the grays and browns of modern FPS games just look bland as hell.

Regardless, I think the rift between Nintendo fans and MS/Sony fans has more to do with personal aesthetics. If you love cute, colorful platformers, you'll buy a Nintendo. If you like blandish gray/brown FPS, you'll buy a Sony or Microsoft console. Hence, if Nintendo fans don't like what 3rd party companies are putting out, because they don't share the same preferences as MS/Sony console gamers, then the games simply won't sell. Which tells me that the companies that cater to the MS/Sony fanbase don't know how to cater to Nintendo's fanbase, because those fans expect a different experience. Those few who demand both will undoubtedly buy both consoles. Case in point: just look at the smashing success of indie platformers such as Shantea and Shovel Knight on the Wii-U eShop.

@unrandomsam I was still playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl five years after it's initial release. There were a number of other games I continuously played throughout the Wii's lifetime, but Brawl is (of course) the most notable.

@Purple

All due respect to your opinion, I couldn't possibly disagree with you more about Super Mario 3D World. It sucks? I'd admit I liked the Galaxy games better but of the three current gen consoles, at least imo, Super Mario 3D World is the best game. It's an absolute joy to play. And somebody like you, Nintendo's games have been a bit hit and miss for me and I don't feel the same about the company as I did back in the NES, SNES and N64 days when it seemed like everything it released hit all the right notes. But 3D World is fantastic and I'm sure the next Legend of Zelda will be excellent as well.

@Gamer83

I too thought 3D World was overhyped and not nearly as good as people pretend it is. Other than a couple of tricky levels the game is basically a cake walk, and it has no soul. I beat it, made it to maybe the second secret world, then just set it aside. Eventually I sold it after a couple months.

I still play SMW, SMB 1-3, SM64 and Sunshine regularly (in that order), but 3D World was completely forgettable imo.

I love nintendo since they first made games for the Atari, and have stuck with them and still will as my kids are loving mario and peach. I like Sony's exclusives though too. The Wii U has a strong library, but they still need more on the system itself. The Virtual library is weak, bringing the same games to download and buy that have already been on the Wii (with the exception of a few), and they still have not listened to some fans that are wanting some of the other classics from other publishers, which is where nintendo should stand in and ASK those publishers. The 3DS is a hit due to a more variety of games, where the Wii U is just getting constant platform adventure titles. There is a very small amount of football, baseball, soccer, basketball, sports in general, action, horror, RPG (Just monster hunter 3 and xenoblade in the future), shooters, simulations...you need a great variety of these to make a system sell. I really hope that nintendo can get it together for their next system. My Wii U is played, but not as much as I would hope like I did with the Gamecube and Wii. I don't see the Wii U ever coming close to the others, but of the comments that I read, PS4's hype is due to their amazing game line up in the next year or so, and I'm sorry to tell those that are bashing the PS4 and XONE, their exclusives will top nintendo's amount of exclusives by the time they turn 2-3 years old. Wii U was out a year before, add up the games within the 3 years and stop bashing the other systems and look into reality. You can still be a fan of one company, but if you're going to make complaints, you need to look at the others too and think on if you would run a company like this.

@MasterBlaster Agreed with you on 3D World...actually, I think almost all of the Wii U games are like this. It seems that they're quick games to beat that doesn't have a lot of depth, which makes you feel that nintendo is just quickly releasing the titles to just have titles on the system. Wii and Gamecube, N64, Super and NES all seemed to have games that looked like they took their time with.

Can't wait for zelda to be released! Apart from that game I'm not really interested in anything else nintendo have to offer so I think I'll trade my system in.

The last good advertisement I saw was the kirby triple deluxe with its opera. I watch it to this day.

Nintendo is not going to be competitive against Sony or Microsoft, and the Wii U will never stand up to those two. The Wii U already feels like it's on its last legs, and we're barely in the third year. The console is already languishing on the dismal "1 new retail game per month, maybe" status that defined the awful final two years of the N64. By the time the PS4 and XBO are hitting their stride (2016 and 2017), the Wii U will already be ready for retirement.

Without strong 3rd party support, multiplatform games, competitive and robust player accounts/profiles, better online, and the entertainment offerings you get elsewhere (Blu-Ray player, streaming services, etc), consumers aren't going to care--as we've already seen.

Sticking with the Mario-Zelda-Pokemon titles over and over only sells the consoles to the already-converted and aside from that, those franchises do not sell hardware. They don't convert fence-sitters and non-Nintendo fans.

Maybe if they slash the price by a hundred bucks they could regain some lost ground, but at this point, they will never be any kind of real competition to Sony and MS (and have damaged themselves in that capacity by pretending they aren't competitors for over a generation), and they will certainly not be industry leaders.

Hell, the Wii wasn't even an industry leader. It had higher sales, and that was it. Microsoft was the leader in hardware design, multiplatform game development, software sales, controller design, user profiles, and online gaming during that time. The Xbox 360 was the industry leader and industry standard for everything last generation. It just sold a bit worse because Nintendo's gimmick "put Wii Sports in more nursing homes." It was the first generation where the console with the highest sales was dead last in literally everything else.

This "we hope things will turn around" is as disconcerting as Iwata saying "we failed" before. Neither of these statements is "we have strong plans brewing that are going to be amazing." Instead what I hear is "we're going to make more of the same stuff that didn't sell consoles so that we can keep our dedicated cult around because we don't know how to sell to new people."

I also find it ironic that Reggie made the "software sells hardware" mantra while having less software and more remakes than anyone else--on hardware that they clearly thought would sell on gimmick alone because that's how the Wii sold.

As I've noted before, Nintendo liked to defend these gimmicky designs with the concept of "we make the hardware for the games we want to make," but that is obviously not true since the games they do make are largely no different than what appeared on earlier hardware or could be done on any other hardware. What about Mario Kart or Donkey Kong Country or New Super Mario U required the GamePad? What about Super Mario Galaxy made the Wii Remote worth it? Nintendo very clearly tries selling hardware based on the hardware gimmicks, and this has backfired big time.

@ShadyKnights

Your post perfectly illustrates the sheltered Nintendo fan that has absolutely no idea what the gaming industry is actually like outside of a Nintendo console. You have no idea why the other consoles sell better, you have no idea why other games are popular or enjoyable, and you cling to invented stereotypes.

I agree with Reggie, but at the same time I don't know what Nintendo is going to do about their lost marketshare. I feel that marketing is the key and an yet with development loosing the middle market (the B and C rank games that pad gaming libraries) because so many devs have gone under or have been bought out, it is more sink or swim than ever. I look at sony and microsoft's library and I see the same thing. It is either AAA or indies. However if you have AAA fatigue (just like those that complain about Nintendo have Nintendo fatigue) then its pretty barren all around. I'm actually thinking this may be the last gen that I own every system...and I still haven't found enough games to buy the other two yet.

Overall, this cycle (and the Wii U) has a lot of similarities to the Dreamcast. Back then you had the industry leader in Sony, the former champ in Nintendo and the struggling Sega. Today we have leader with Sony, the former champ with Microsoft and now a struggling Nintendo. Time will tell if Nintendo ends up like Sega, but one huge difference is that Sega poured a lot of love and craziness into their console.

Overall, I think that the market for video games is headed for a crash. We are left with either "AAA" overhyped, overmarketed, under-delivered, and inflicted with sequelitis products or indie stuff. Unfortunately the indie stuff will not maintain the market except for the most hardcore gamers (in the original sense of that term, the true believers and lovers of the medium).

@StarDust4Ever

When you are dismissive of everything "not Nintendo" as "the same boring gray and brown" games, you're not only advertising your blatant ignorance of the rest of the gaming industry, you're making all Nintendo fans look bad by association.

Booo! The color gray! Booooo!!!

No Reggie, software is NOT the only factor that sells hardware. What an asinine statement. And yet you can tell it's exactly what the company believes, because there's hardly any marketing, hardly any attempt at trying to sell these consoles apart from tossing games at them (and they've barely even been doing that!).

Nintendo is a shadow of the gaming monolith that it used to be in the NES/SNES era. The more gimmicky decisions they make with their hardware, the further they separate themselves from hardcore gamers, and that's been the case since their decision to use cartridges for the N64.

Now we've come to the Wii U, and what may be Nintendo's most pointless gimmick yet. Seriously, what the hell was the point of adding the Gamepad to this console? Not even Nintendo's own games use it! Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, Smash Bros, NSMBU, Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, Wind Waker HD, all of these games rarely (if ever) use the Gamepad in any meaningful way. In fact, I'd argue that some of these games would've been BETTER if they only needed to be played on a standard controller. Nintendo made a console with a gimmick that not even they understand.

And I hate to break it to you Reggie, but the "software sells hardware" spiel only works if you have the proof to back it up. Your console sales have been declining for generations with that mantra (minus the Wii, which was no more than short-lived lightning in a bottle), so maybe it's time to wake up and stop trying to be so different.

@FlaygletheBagel

To be fair, Pikmin 3 does use the GamePad, but it's in the most cumbersome manner possible. Basically, you set it next to you, play the game with the Wii Remote, and then every now and then attempt to control map bits on the GamePad. It drags the flow of the game to a halt and feels like an interruption more than anything else.

@Quorthon

I agree completely, and that's why I said I didn't feel it used the Gamepad "in any meaningful way." In fact, I felt that the game would've been just as good, maybe better, on a standard controller or Wii Remote or whatever, where you can just pause the game to see the map. Having it next to you didn't really add anything to the experience. It was, as you said, cumbersome and occasionally disruptive.

@Quorthon

And I like the picture collection you posted. Nintendo obsessives like to pretend they're the only ones with colorful and innovative games, when in reality color and innovation is happening all across the industry. I own a PS4, Wii U, and 3DS, and I see more innovation on my PS4 than on my other two consoles combined.

@FlaygletheBagel

I feel the same way. I haven't played Mario Kart or Smash Bros Wii U in ages, and most of what Nintendo has delivered has just felt like "the same old Nintendo games again." I completed almost all of Mario Kart 8 the weekend I got it, and I didn't even play it that long. It was just so formulaic that it felt like I'd played it all before, because in a way, I had.

I just flat-out don't understand how the 3DS has fallen so far in it's software offerings. It has 50 million in sales (granted, chunks of that are people buying the system more than once), but how does Nintendo fail to get ample 3rd party support for a platform with this large an installed base?

@Quorthon Cherry picking games doesn't disproove my point. There are still a lot of FPS games out there with bland color pallets.

I bought a PS3 just for Little Big Planet, so I know that First party exclusives on the Sony/MS consoles can look and feel amazing. I just wish the editor in Super Smash Bros was half as intuitive as Little Big Planet. 3D Dot Heroes was also an amazing game and a great homage to the Ledgend of Zelda.

Thing is, I could care less about the majority of EA, Activision, Ubisoft, etc titles. They are either crappy sports or shovelware, and the only real AAA titles are FPS (I just can't get used to the dual stick mechanic in most first person games, yet I can play platformers with the 3rd person dolly cam all day long) or some on rails RPG that is either an FMV fest or requires either 80+ hours of grinding or tons of DLC add-ons in order to play competitively.

@Quorthon Reggie didn't say anything about the Wii U being able to be competitive. That was an analyst. All Reggie said was software sells hardware and that he's hopeful that the Wii U and its games are remembered fondly over time like previous systems. Nintendo 64 and GameCube sold horribly, yet are remembered fondly for having great games.

@FlaygletheBagel Pikmin 3 uses integrated touch controls to launch the Pikmin. Lego City also had ingenious Gamepad controls with the gyro sensor. The others though I'll agree occasionally use it as an optional menu screen (use + to toggle offscreen play) or duplicate display though.

@StarDust4Ever

Actually, I don't have to cherry-pick, and it does disprove your point. Hell, you're wrong even with you "only real AAA titles are FPS" nonsense. Assassin's Creed, GTA, Gears of War, Saints Row, Resident Evil, Skylanders, etc--all AAA franchises, none of which are FPS games.

You want those games be all the same dull gray and brown so it's easier for you to be ignorantly dismissive and childish about it. But the reality strongly makes you wrong. Even the grayest games--like Gears of War--are still filled with color and energy.

There will always be games with bland color, empty gameplay, or other issues--and this includes Nintendo games. To be dismissive of everything without the Nintendo logo slapped on the front as all the same "gray brown crap" is factually, incredibly, ignorantly wrong. Your desperate attempt at painting other games in a bad light is grossly illogical and factually incorrect. Try speaking honestly and just come out and say, "I don't like games with realism, I like games that look like cartoons." Because at least then there's no way for me to prove you wrong.

@Quorthon Fine, I like cartoony games. Happy now?

And by the way, I do occasionally pick up other games besides Mario, et al. Bayonetta 2 was awesome ftr.

@IceClimbers

I didn't say that Reggie said that. I noted his "software sells hardware" comment. Prior to that, I noted his "hope" in turning things around is the opposite of "we have plans we're getting ready to reveal." It does not inspire confidence.

@StarDust4Ever

Geez, was that so bloody hard?

And I think Bayonetta 2 is the best game on the Wii U. Pity Nintendo did so little to promote it.

@Quorthon The 3DS might not have western 3rd parties, but it certainly has Japanese. Hell, Monster Hunter 4, which only came out in Japan, has sold almost double that of Zelda ALBW's worldwide sales. 4 Ultimate has also outsold ALBW.

Again, Reggie didn't say anything about being hopeful of turning the Wii U around. He said that he's hopeful that the system and it's games are remembered fondly.

@StarDust4Ever

Pikmin 3 didn't even have said touch controls until a patch came out many months after launch. So when Pikmin 3 came out, the Gamepad was a fancy map screen and not much else. I'm glad they added new controls, but does it really make the experience better? That was my main point. It's nice that the controls are there, but the game would've arguably been just as enjoyable with standard controls. I completely agree though, the Gamepad hasn't done much to show why it's even part of this console in the first place.

@Quorthon

The 3DS software offerings are baffling to me too, especially when the DS had plenty from all kinds of studios. Theres some decent Japanese games that can be found on 3DS, but not much in the realm of Western studios. It's overall pretty rough by Nintendo handheld standards.

@IceClimbers

It has some Japanese. The Vita has more Japanese studios and games on tap for 2015. The 3DS doesn't have anything notable from Konami or Namco-Bandai, and only Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest-themed rhythm games from Square-Enix. Outside of Monster Hunter, it doesn't even have anything else from Capcom.

The DS, meanwhile, had ample support from 3rd parties worldwide, and regular game releases, even from many AAA franchises.

The 3DS has lost a lot of 3rd party support. There is either something wrong with the platform or with Nintendo if they can't get more 3rd party support on a platform with 50 million sales, when Sony seems able to get it for the Vita, with just over 10 million.

I would not call the Gamepad a pointless gimmick.
Even though Wind Waker could been played with ProController, I enjoyed the freedom the Gamepad gave me.
Was it necessary? No.
But I still enjoyed using the Gamepad.

It's not about hardware, not even software.
Nintendo needs to modernize the eShop, Nintendo ID and unify the OS.
The games are already there and it's plenty of hardware for everyone.

Speaking for myself I'm really happy about owning a Wii U. I enjoy the retail games, but to be honest I own more VC games then retail. For the next gen Nintendo console, they better shape up and come to grips with the times.
If not, my money will go to a new PC.

With that being said, I don't want Nintendo to stop innovating and come with new fun ideas. They need to be different, if not I don't see a reason to choose console over a computer. If hardware is outdated, I just buy new hardware. When buying a gaming console I need something a PC can't give me.

Also give up the region lock allready...

@FlaygletheBagel

Your comment reminded me that one of the things Nintendo fans love to tout in order to try to prove that "all other games suck" are patches, DLC, and updates, which both Pikmin 3 and Mario Kart 8 received. MK8 didn't even have it's stats screen until the patch.

@PaperMario64

The reason to call the GamePad a "gimmick" is that it was a weird device that Nintendo hoped would sell the console (like the Wii Remote), but it's ultimately unnecessary, it's not revolutionary, and it's not even used well by Nintendo who dreamed it up. It's totally unneeded for almost all of Nintendo's own games.

After two years of this, the GamePad has ultimately become just a gimmick. Hell, even most Nintendo fans don't seem to like using it.

For most games, I use it myself, in part because it came with the system and in part because I'm used to it. But I use it as a controller--and almost never for its unique features.

@Quorthon "even most Nintendo fans don't seem to like using it"

You mean the vocal minority? I, for one, could not imagine life without the gamepad! It has allowed me to game far more than ever before on a console. Yes, for the majority of the main game, I play on the TV... but the gamepad-only mode has me coming back to games while I am doing other things. I will have a race or two on MK8 while watching TV or go back and collect some Riddler trophies or do side quests in Arkham City. I have probably played more Hyrule Warriors on the gamepad than on the TV.

Beyond just off-TV, I personally love the maps. My favorite genre is action-adventure. Glancing down to quickly get your bearings is 1000 times better than constantly pausing the screen. When I went back to play Arkham Asylum or Infamous on the PS3, I kept looking down at the dualshock 3 to no avail.

I don't understand why the gamepad has to be revolutionary? Why cant it just take normal things and make them more convenient and intuitive, like maps and inventory? For me, those two things are more than good enough. And most games do that well (except for SSBU, why cant I use the touch screen Sakurai!!?!). As for it being a requirement for games, that's quite untrue too. DKCTF proved that the gamepad does not have to be utilized, and the gamepad has the same inputs as any "normal" controller. So the excuse that the controller is too different for developers to develop for is hogwash.

@Quorthon If you are a fan of the Gamepad or not really boils down to personal opinion. It might not been used to it's fullest extent, but I partially blame 3rd party publishers for this. There are tons of great games on other consoles I would preferred to have on Wii U just because of the Gamepad.

It was not revolutionary like the Wiimote and therefore it wasn't enough to back up the inferior hardware this generation. Because of this we don't see as many games for Nintendo as before. But I know many like the Gamepad regardless and the games coming to the console as well.

@Quorthon So Final Fantasy Explorers and Bravely Second are rhythm games? Huh, didn't know that. Namco? We just got Ace Combat. Capcom only gives Monster Hunter? That's flat out wrong. Ace Attorney says hi. Konami? Pfft, they haven't been releasing major games at all for the past few years minus a half decent Castlevania and a $60 demo for Phantom Pain. How about Atlus? Level 5? Sega?

The 3DS hasn't "lost" 3rd party support with the exception of Ubisoft. You can't lose what you never had. The DS had primarily shovelware from 3rd parties. The stuff that wasn't shovelware continued on to the 3DS, while the shovelware stuff jumped ship to iOS and Android.

@PaperMario64

I blame Nintendo, as several 3rd parties put some serious efforts into the GamePad--particularly Ubisoft with ZombiU, still arguably the best use of the GamePad. Activision also used it well with Call of Duty multiplayer. In Mario Kart 8, it was a horn.

@IceClimbers

Right, I knew there had to be something else from Squeenix. I forgot about those two. Still, it's a shadow of the support they gave to the DS, or what they're giving to mobile. And if I go back a couple weeks in the articles, Nintendo fans were COMPLAINING about Ace Combat as it is just an update of the title that launched with the 3DS in 2011--outside of that relatively simple update, they haven't done anything else.

The 3DS only has 1 Ace Attorney game compared to, what, half a dozen on the DS? So mentioning that franchise actually backs up my point. Oh, and Ubisoft was on the 3DS, and had more titles at launch than Nintendo. Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Take Two, Sega, etc--all have largely ignored or walked away from the 3DS.

Sega at least supports the eShop with 3D classics and Game Gear games, but they aren't spending much to make new retail games for the thing anymore. Activision is only making their licensed shlock for it now, and pretty much nothing from their major franchises.

The 3DS has, indeed, lost 3rd party support--and 2015 is the lightest year for it yet. It's kind of undeniable.

Hell, let's do a simple run-down of the known games list via Wikipedia:

2011: 105
2012: 140
2013: 119
2014: 60
2015: There are fewer than 30 known games announced for 2015.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_3DS_games

This is a representation, and I threw these into Xcel to better track it. The numbers I used are the North American numbers. The Japanese numbers are actually worse.

It's pretty much a fact: The 3DS has been losing support. Or would you like to spin those numbers again? Even if you want to pull the "shovelware" card, keep in mind--shovelware needs two things to exist: High sales of the hardware and confidence that there in an audience there. But then, there is still quite a bit of shovelware. Just not as much as on the DS.

@Shadowkiller97

The GamePad was sold as revolutionary by Nintendo prior to the launch of the Wii U. They said it was going to change things, and it didn't. It has to be revolutionary because that's precisely how Nintendo was trying to sell it.

It's good that you enjoy the GamePad, but your personal anecdote does not change the fact that the thing has failed to live up to it's potential, failed to justify it's price tag, not changed anything for the better, and any game released for the Wii U that uses only the GamePad is met with Miiverse posts wishing they could play with a Pro Controller.

You like taking your eyes off the screen to look at the GamePad? That's fine. In my experience, most people would rather just press a button to bring up a map.

@Shadowkiller97 It's not necessarily that it "has" to be revolutionary. But the way Nintendo focused on it entirely in their presentations leading up to launch (neglecting to show even the console itself) made it seem like they had some grand use for it that went beyond just being a map/inventory screen, or an Off-TV screen.

Nintendo spent so much time focusing on the Gamepad, but doesn't have much to show for it. Without it, Nintendo could've easily shaved nearly 100 bucks off their stumbling console's price tag. Or they couldve kept the price the same, and instead of manufacturing Gamepads, they could've used that money to enhance the console itself, create greater parity with its competitors, and therefore encourage third party devs to actually make games for it.

The Gamepad may be a convenience and you may enjoy it for what it offers, and that's fine. But business and sales-wise, it was a poor decision on Nintendo's part.

@Quorthon
Oh wow neat! You're the very first person to read anything I've ever posted on the internet and make assumptions of me being a fanboy or claim that I don't know what I'm talking about based on my opinions derived from a study of facts! Cool. I must be getting better at posting if what I wrote was interesting enough to be read "enough" to make someone so salty.

Okay, fine, I shall respond with the mandatory list of what consoles I own and how long I have been gaming, which will be ignored by you, but it seems to be the customary response to such accusations on the internet and I'd not like to be rude. ahem~.

I've bene gaming since I was 6 about and and 27 currently. Started on NES, moved to SNES, Super GameBoy, Genesis, 32X, Saturn, N64, GameBoy Color, Dreamcast, PS1 (own 2, one died), Game Cube, PS2 (own 2, one died), DS, 360 (own 2, one died), PS3 (own 2, one dead), Wii, Wii U and 3DS, roughly in that order.I don't particularly game on one console, I just prefer Nintendo cause they're fun to me. and generally provide different experiences.

I don't get what I said was so salty or ignorant, it'd be nice if you elaborated other than making silly accusations of my gaming credentials as if your word was gaming law and what not. But you do provide me with a nice example of the current gamer of today. See, I don't care what you say about me or any Nintendo fan cause, whatever, you can like what you like, you have your reasons for disliking or disagreeing with me, and that cool. Means you're human as I am.

However, this also means that our values are different. I personally see no value in most third party games as I've watch them turn to crap over the years. Assassin's Creed died for me in AC3 when they changed everything to be like the Arkham games for no good reason and the story was crap. Mass Effect turned to crap after the first game because it gave up the excellent basis for the RPG in favor of more Third Person Shooter friendly principles that ruined the feel of the series. None of Bethesda's works look good to me as it's just buggy and just looks clunky and empty. inFAMOUS wen south immediately after the greatness that was the very first game in lieu of going after a wider audience. Again, to me.

Does that mean I hate all third party games? No, I just mentioned a couple of series and games that I loved at a point in time. Mostly played on my PS3, but on my 360 as well. Hell Alan Wake I'd probably consider one of the greatest games to come out all of last gen and that isn't on Nintendo at all. Does that mean I love all of Nintendo games? No. I don't even love all the LoZ games. I feel the 3D series peaked at Majora's Mask, just nosed dived at the horrible story and plot of Wind Waker, picked back up a bit with the better, but still bland world of Twilight Princess, and picked up a bit more with the better Skyward Sword as the characters were much stronger and the story was at least memorable and fun. Why do I keep playing them? Cause they're all genuinely different from one another and anything else in this industry. Others try to copy, some might even do it better mechanically or story-wise, but very few actually meet the quality of Nintendo's offerings.

All my statements have said were that I simply don't think third party games are necessary for a Nintendo console in the volume that they are on the PS4 and XBOne. Because unless the PS4 and XBOne put out exclusives that are of actual high quality (and XBOne has a few more that PS4 currently) there's no reason to get them. You can get the vast majority of those games on your PC that will, for the most part (most as in not all coughWatch_Dogscough), play better on the PC and will be cheaper there as well. And if your PC isn't much older than 7 years, you can likely play those games decently. Some of the games are even on PS3 and 360, again neutering the reason to upgrade. The majority of the Wii U's library are mostly found on the Wii U, meaning if you want those games you need the console.

I don't quite see how that's a sheltered mentality to have, but I' sure you have a reason as to why and will happily let me know. ^_^

@ShadyKnights

I am not the only person to call you on your ridiculously bad post about 3rd party games, and when one of the most obvious fanboys on this site is siding with you, then you should understand where your focus went. If you're really so well informed, then your post should have reflected that. Instead, it rang of the tired old Nintendo fanboy mantra of "third party bad! Nintendo only good! Reality scary! RRRRRRGGGGG!!" Not saying you are, per se, but that's how it read.

The point about Nintendo's quality is of the same problem. Because then you have to explain stuff like Wii Music and FlingSmash and Pokemon Rumble U, and why every Mario Party game is met with "here we go again" humdrum critical views. The more I look at Nintendo, the more I realize that their quality in most aspects exists primarily because of how strictly formulaic they've become. New Super Mario U, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, almost every Zelda, annual Pokemon games, etc. Give someone enough color-by-numbers rules and they, too, could paint the Mona Lisa or Starry Night. And that's what Mario Kart 8 was. A color-by-numbers game. A quality piece, sure, but it did nothing noteworthy or truly refreshing. Even adding the anti-gravity tracks did nothing to change the formula that's been carved in stone for 3 generations. It was still the same old Mario Kart.

Third party games aren't necessary? Indeed they are, as the revenue from those games determines if Nintendo floats or soars. It's the differences between merely surviving and truly thriving. In both of those sentences, Nintendo is doing the former, not the latter.

Beyond just the revenue, 3rd party games are necessary to sell the hardware to wider audiences. Face it: Mario, Zelda--these don't sell hardware to fence sitters. They only sell the hardware to the pre-converted Nintendo fans. They don't expand the audience and while Nintendo fans lie to themselves and pretend they do, even Nintendo knows they don't. Which is part of why they made the Wii. Mario and Zelda certainly didn't make the GameCube a big seller, but the gimmicky Wii Remote got sales. And Nintendo soared because, while there was mostly shovelware, they still had 3rd party support--especially on the DS, which was a "right time, right place" kind of chance success.

Go ahead and continue to think that Nintendo doesn't need third party. Eventually, that'll cut their revenue down to the point that they will have to become third party. And once their games are on a Playstation, Xbox, and/or Steam Machine, they'll have a much, much bigger audience.

Finally, one thing you anti-3rd party folks seem to be forgetting is how important 3rd party was in selling the N64, namely something you've apparently never heard of called STAR WARS.

That is the actual goddamn N64 box. BUT THIRD PARTIES DON'T MATTER.

@ShadyKnights Don't pay attention to him he is like one of those crazy people that think he is always right and what he says is true and what others say is false. He is close to that witch from Cinderella. Was just curious how things were it seems like nothing has changed. So I will be leaving here and never coming back too many of him around here too many crazy people. Its actually pretty peaceful once you don't pay attention to these kind of people. Don't listen to the "witch".

@gatorboi352 They are turning In profits. Yeah they don't "get it" alright. OK I am gone not coming back here. Ever since I left here not paying attention to the comments its been peaceful and i have been enjoying my time with my Wii U. I came back here just curious to see how hilarious these comments get and if anything changed nope nothing changed. Well adios I am leaving.

@Quorthon Was Ace Combat just an update? Huh, didn't actually know that. There is actually more than one Ace Attorney on 3DS (and I'm not even counting Ace Attorney Trilogy), though Capcom refuses to localize them because it's a sub series. Square Enix also has some Dragon Quest games, but again, they refuse to localize them (freaking localize the damn things please!).

If 3rd party support is decreasing, than that is really sad because it shows how poorly Nintendo is supporting the 3DS as of late. There are more 3rd party titles confirmed for the 3DS this year than 1st party. The only 1st party games we know of are Majora's Mask 3D, Code Name STEAM, Fossil Fighters Frontier, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, with Fire Emblem If in Japan. Two of those already released, and one releases on Friday. That means there's only Xenoblade and Fire Emblem left after this week, and Fire Emblem might not even come out in the west until next year while Xenoblade requires the newer model!

@IceClimbers

The lacking Dragon Quest games are kind of mixed blame bag--Nintendo of America was in charge of publishing many of those to North America on the DS, so it was like a slap in the face of fans when Reggie tweeted "I want more Dragon Quest, too!" I just muttered, "idiot, that's his damn job." But it's not like Squeenix can't do the publishing work themselves. NoA also published Bravely Default over here. The second one might be going multiplatform per my understanding, so Square-Enix may take over publishing duties for that.

Yes, that Ace Combat game is an update to Assault Horizon Legacy that launched with the 3DS, with added Amiibo support. I was really annoyed by how Namco handled that, too, as I have the original game, but I'm not clear if I could just do an update and get the Amiibo stuff or if I'd have to rebuy it. Plus, it seems to be $10 more than when I bought it new. Pretty sure it was a budget title at $20 new. It's an awesome game, though.

The 3DS is one of my biggest game libraries thanks to the eShop, but it's disconcerting to see the retail shelves have barely changed in a year.

There are 50 million of those things out there. If those numbers aren't enough to bring more games, Nintendo is doing something really, really wrong.

@Quorthon
Oooh okay, that's what got in your craw. The whole Nintendo doesn't need third party thing. Okay, but I elaborated on that in my direct post to you. Nintendo doesn't need third party games in the volume of which Sony and Microsoft do. I say this cause they don't. I mean Sony is selling PS4s like gangbusters, yet they have to lay off how many people and close down how many divisions? Why? Cause they're not making very much money off of it. Hell Nintendo isn't with the Wii U console sales more than likely. They make money off software. Nintendo not shelling out money for third party games and instead developing their own games cheaper, that sell better than any other first party game from the competition, nets them a nicer chunk of profits over all. Sony and Microsoft throwing money at getting exclusives costs them money and they need to sell even more copies to make that expense back. Selling more consoles will generally not make that cash back and is not as important in this generation as it was in the past. This is not to say that it isn't important at all, but just that it's not the absolute end all be all.

So running off that logic based on actual facts, I can honestly say that Nintendo doesn't need too many third party games. At least definitely not the ones that they need to pay for like SonySOft does. All they need to do is cater to the 9 mil + owners who have a Wii U and are enjoying it and toss out more games for those waiting till their specific lesser selling, but still deeply loved game pops out. Which they are doing this year with Zelda U and Star Fox. And for those wanting more mature games Devil's Third is coming (personally excited for that one) and Bayonetta 2 is on the Wii U. Not to mention Wonderful 101 and Hyrule Warriors are two excellent third party games on the Wii U. Would more third party offerings like those be welcomed? Hells yeah, but I also believe they'll come. They just need to strategize smart since they're not focused on providing a stupidly powerful console that would cost them even more money to sell and time to develop games for.

I'm not whining about third party games myself cause my desktop plays my Steam collection like a sexy vixen and my laptop that I can hook up to my TV does a very noice job as well. So~ I'm good really.

Oh but back to Nintendo's quality, okay I'll concede, their quality isn't always great. Just almost always. No one's perfect and sometimes their out of the box thinking does get weird, but on the hole, their works are fantastic. Your complaints on formulaic can be reflected far more at anything outside of Nintendo than at Nintendo themselves. Most first person shooters, third person shooters, sports games, all are much more formulaic and don't even try to be interesting or subvert their own tropes. LoZ games generally try to do that with varying degrees of success, and Mario games are about skilled platforming so they'd better damned well have a formula for moving through the levels like a boss at top speed. And Mario Kart 8 does racing well and pretty much set the standard in how paid DLC should be done. A feat that has only been matched by Hyrule Warriors. That is ground breaking enough for now.

I will admit I was super salty in the beginning of the Wii U era for third parties being douche nozzles, cause they had everything they asked for during the Wii era with the Wii U and just went back on their promises to put games out on it and didn't even try to port game of the year editions over which I would have purchased. But after seeing Watch_Dogs, Aliens: Colonial Marines, the crap ports and all, I just stopped care about getting stuff from them for my Wii U. My library is strong on and off the U so why be upset? Specially since I can play MGS V on my PC. It's a lil weird to play it off a Sony console, but I have a pro controller and the means to use it to play PC games with so I will live.

I will say this about you, from how you present yourself and I mean no insult to you, but again you are the perfect representation of the current gamer. Your arguments and points are all about bringing down or shaming the person you're talking to and you like using exceptions as examples of standards on both ends. You ignore what people say then respond to them quite hostile based on your own willful misinterpretation.

You seem to be quite upset that Nintendo fans are genuinely happy not playing the games you love and claim they do so either because they just haven't played them or are just being sheep, too afraid to admit what you feel is the truth. You seem to believe that the way you see and understand the gaming culture is the only and correct way to do so.

Now I say all these things cause it is how you present yourself. You're hostile, rude, insulting, condescending, and come off as a guy with a bug up the butt. I could be absolutely wrong and hope you don't think I'm trying to be personal with you as I'm just making general statements based upon how you present yourself to me directly and to others in posts you've made.

@Quorthon In Reggie's defense, I don't think he has that power to choose which games are localized. I feel like that's on Iwata, who is CEO of NoA. Still though, NoA does take some of the blame on that.

Nintendo's decreased support of the 3DS mostly comes from the Wii U's struggles honestly. Their development resources are very much focused on the Wii U, which causes the 3DS to suffer. The opposite happened leading up to the Wii U's launch, as shown by the numerous 3DS games in 2013. The 3rd parties I don't really have an answer for.

@Quorthon I concede the fact that Nintendo marketed it as revolutionary. But I disagree on the point that simply because it is not revolutionary, it should be scrapped and abandoned.

The point of the anecdote was to counter your generalization that "everyone" hates using the gamepad from the comments of anonymous people on the internet who like to whine, the vocal minority.

Those are not FACT, they are OPINIONS. The gamepad failed to live up to its potential, for you. It does not justify the price tag, for you. It does not change anything for the better, for you. For me, it does all of those things. Maybe it is because I am used to multi-tasking? I work in a paperless office and have 4 screens on my desk. Six if you add phones.

The only game off the top of my head that does not have Pro Controller support is Captain Toad. I looked through 2-3 days of posts, and found not one on Miiverse asking for Pro Controller support. Can you share some of these posts on games that I am completely missing? The only reason I can think of for someone to want Pro Controller over the gamepad is battery life, but that's not really an issue for me (my home has a power outlet near my couch).

Lastly, I appreciate how my personal anecdote is non-evidence for you, yet that is all you use to back up your claims. Personal anecdotes of whiners over the internet. I do find it strange that you can have a personal experience of how most people would prefer to push a button...

@FlaygletheBagel For the record, I didn't start playing Pikmin 3 until late 2014. When a game gives an option between Wiimote and Gamepad controls, I usually choose the Gamepad.

I will just say that I really like my Wii U and I really enjoy playing off-TV on my Gamepad in general.

(Disclaimer: English is my second language so there might be some weird grammar in my text.

For one, in terms of third party games I think it is not about that most Nintendo fans don't want third party games, but rather what kind of third party games we are talking about. Like for example I am aren't really interested in shooters, assassinations, football and games with blood in general ;^^.

Like for example I think maybe Nintendo fans including myself want more (J)RPGs localized from Square Enix (I miss you ;^;) and maybe more 3D adventure games.

Me personally are more into story, adventure, puzzle based games like Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends With You, Okami, Picross, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, to a degree Kirby games and Pokémon games (more interested in the Dungeon ones now), "Tales of" games and many others too I just don't remember right now.

You see I am not strictly a Nintendo fan, I need to feed my (J)RPG carvings too .

I also think Nintendo could take more advantage of the Gamepad that it is actually a screen we can draw on and create beautiful artwork like we can see in the Art Academy Community on Miiverse.

We could have a game/application program where we could create our own small 2D/3D games and share them with each other. I mean for example a Zelda (Dungeon) Maker where we could make our own little areas we could design ourselves and maybe we are even able unlock special mechanics, items, skins through the different Amiibos. (Or like Tipping Stars).

Anyway, as for more "Mature" third party games I am not sure how many of them we Nintendo fans are interested in, even if they are really well done ;^^. Still more games should always be welcomed in my view .

Sorry Reggie but Nintendo can't do it alone! I don't care how great your games are!! This is partly why NOA has their heads up their own butts!! As great as Mario Kart 8 was I haven't touched it in probably 6 months. Or maybe you guys are in complete denial? 3rd party is a must have to compliment a consoles library going all the way back to the Atari 2600(which had it) 5200,7800 both in which did not and died a quick death!! I love my wii u but there are plenty of great 3rd party games I play on the other systems!! It's that simple! And fix the damn snails pace virtual console release problem!! The retail situation is bad enough and if it wasn't for the indie games you'd hear nothing but crickets!! NUFF said!!

@joey302 That doesn't mean that the games the system does have won't be remembered fondly.

I agree

So very many comments. I just wanna say that of course the Wii U is going to develop nostalgia and love among its fans, because here we are talking about it so passionately, while it's still alive, so to speak.

It's less like the NES or SNES, more like the Saturn or Dreamcast. I mean, look at the GameCube. I was in high school during that console's lifetime, and any time I talked with friends about new-at-the-time games like Rogue Leader, or whatever, the #1 response was some variation of "gamecube sux." Now, look at it. Even people like Yahtzee recalls the GameCube fondly. Da Wuu has lots of compelling content for many audiences. It just carries the current stigma of being the "uncool" console to have. I feel that the nostalgic impressions of the system after (at most) ten years will be overwhelmingly positive. You just wait.

What they really need is a REALLY good Mario game. And by that, I don't mean a great one like 3D World. I mean blowing Galaxy away. Different visuals would be fantastic.