Reggie Fils-Aime on Why the Wii U Was Misunderstood

The name.

Everybody I speak to about gaming all want power and graphics they don't really care for the games 1st, gaming has changed massively where it used to be seen as geeky past time now it's a mainstream pass time and people want they general 1st persons football etc.
They see nintendo as a children's company with lesser quality games it's not until they play some they realise the quality of the games nintendo need to loss this image and make sure companies put the generic games on the console (unfortunately) and get exclusives for them games (extra maps guns etc) to make people want to buy the next console

@maaleska Really though. I remember there being rumours that it'd be called the "Stream", imagine if they'd just simply given it a name that didn't associate it with the Wii.

The first mistake was expecting it would sell like Wii with little effort. The second was the fact they barely used gamepad for the games. The third was...

I could go on and on but let's just say that Wii U is also a home to some of my favourite games of the past decade, like SSB4, Bayonetta 2, Splatoon and DKC TF.

Had it launched with Mario Maker I think it could have been a huge success. That game shows a great use for the gamepad.

Hope the Wii U games will see the light of day on other systems. I'd play Xenoblade X or Tokyo Mirage Sessions...

The best NES game was Super Mario Bros.
The best SNES game was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
The best N64 game was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
The best GameCube game was The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
The best Wii game was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (hate comments incoming).
These games are classics, IMO. But the Wii U...?

It doesn't have a revolutionary Mario game, like Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy. It doesn't even have a new Zelda game so far! It doesn't have a big classic that everyone plays. And the most classic games, Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, launched one year late! That's the reason why Wii U failed.

We understood, it had a big screen on the controller. The problem was too few games and too many 'please understands'

@Piersen I'm only buying paper Mario color splash. I get the feeling a lot of nx games will be Wii u ports. That's fine I can wait for wooly world and captain toad.

Nintendo used a confusing name, so it looked like a add-on for Wii.

They thought it would sell like hot cakes without advertising.

'And although we've sold 13 million consoles, against 20 and 40 million from the competition (Microsoft and Sony, respectively)'

But I thought Nintendo didn't go up against the other two at all Reggie? Make up your mind!

You know something went wrong when Nintendo doesn't know how to sell their own product. On the surface, the gamepad's concept has extremely little appeal to most of today's gamers. Far too few games took advantage of gamepad + TV multiplayer. Support for two gamepads was never implemented which could have brought more compelling experiences though was probably impossible without drastically reduced visuals. Even if the Wii U managed to attract a more Wii or 3DS sized user base, it's horsepower would still have been reason enough for many highly acclaimed 3rd party games to skip the console. Ports of other games would obviously not look as good as their counterparts and likely be missing a lot of content. In the end many adopters, much like the Wii would be left unsatisfied unless you are indeed the kind of person to play only Nintendo games. Perhaps that is the greatest disservice consoles like the Wii and Wii U did to their players. There were many great games on the Wii U that I'm glad I got to play but I'm not satisfied. However, I am very interested in the kind of experiences the NX will be able to offer. Yet, it could end up in a place much like the Wii. Providing a lot of incredible experiences both traditional and new, but lacking many games and content that everyone else gets to play except for the players who chose to buy an NX.
TLDR: Wii U had great games, but Nintendo didn't know what they were doing. Hopefully the NX is awesome but strives to address the grievances I had with the Wii and Wii U.

We've all shared our opinions on why the Wii U has failed several times, so I just hope to God that Nintendo learned from the mistakes for the NX. I feel like Nintendo will improve their marketing and game release schedule a lot... I just hope the thing is powerful enough for third parties and not too expensive.

1) Name 'Wii' U. People even now think it's a tablet for the Wii. And by that time, the Wii was out of fashion.

2) launch titles- New Super Mario franchise was tired. People lost interest. Nintendo Land was a £50 demo

3) no advertising

4) NO ADVERTISING

5) a lack of commitment to the tablet concept from Nintendo themselves. DKTF outright ignored it.

6) lack of more intriguing titles for older audiences. It needed Turok and Shadowman.

@SanderEvers Don't get me wrong, I love the Wii U! But I understand why some people don't like it.

@Ninten-san I too love the Wii U- but I feel like I love it more than Nintendo do.

I'll tell you why; because Nintendo never put out any games, firmware, or services that TRULY showed off its unique features and abilities in the early days. A game like Nintendo Land mostly just showed off its gimmicky nature rather than its true strengths or appeal, and Miiverse was like a baby version of Art Academy: Atelier in terms of the drawing stuff. It wasn't until games like Super Mario Maker and Art Academy: Atelier that I think Nintendo started to show off why a GamePad was an idea that actually added something truly worthwhile to gaming. And that's not to say there wasn't one or two other decent experiences in there before then, but that's when it really stood out as something cool that might appeal to people outside of the normal Nintendo fans, imo, even with one of those games being a Mario game.

This is why I keep pushing the whole "bundled day one and FREE full creation suite" idea when I talk about my own concept for NX, because it really would sell the strengths of a system like this right out the gate and more so than almost any other launch software in history:

http://www.inceptional.com/2015/06/26/heres-the-gist-of-my-idea-for-nintendos-nx/

You'd have an entire community creating and sharing content on the system from day one, and that could be anything from posting some basic images both to other users and online in general, just like in Miiverse, to putting out full blown video games for other users to play and enjoy. Just imagine what Super Mario Maker did for creating Mario levels on Wii U, and times that by about a thousand (with users creating art, music, videos, 3D models, video games, etc., and sharing it all to other users; with some of it also being shareable to the Internet in general, like the art and videos for example). And, if there was also an option where Wii U owners could maybe sell some of their creations for a few squid in some kind of "MiiStore", you could see the whole thing totally blowing up into a bit of a phenomenon, much like happened with the iPhone and the App Store (think about how many people STILL churn out stuff there, and how just a couple of their creations have to turn into huge hits like Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Tiny Wing, Flappy Bird, and Pokemon Go for the whole thing to truly explode. . . .)

Now, again, imagine that creativity and potential built into the NX at a firmware level and available to every NX user from day one for FREE, and they could all share their creations with all other NX owners and possibly even sell some of their work for a few bucks too. . . .

With the year head start the Wii U had it could and should have sold over ten million units before any of the other systems even launched, and I think that definitely could have helped its case just a little bit more. But, Nintendo totally and utterly dropped the ball with the launch and first year or so of the system's life, and that is beyond question or debate at this point. Let's hope it's genuinely learned its lessons for NX.

Nintendo sure didn't seem to understand either.

Mid cycle release isn't a good idea I think

The thing is that so many aspects of the Wii U were botched in some way:

• The name was awful and unclear as to what the console's vision was.
• The operating system was slow and didn't get that much faster.
• Online play had it's troubles of speed and connectivity.
• Digital games were tied to hardware and not to an account.
• The hard-drive space was way too small, especially when they tried to push more digital sales.
• Nintendo didn't seem that bothered about using the tablet much themselves (although Super Mario Maker was a genius use of it, but it came in 2015!).
• Having one tablet per system is a strange set-up and puts players in different position when having same-room multi-player.
• They focused so much on the tablet and didn't talk about the system.
• Not a big amount of new IPs.

The sad thing is a lot of these aspects feel like basics that they should have hammered in at the start, but never did. That's one reason why Wii was so successful. They hammered home what it was, what it did, why it was important, why it was different and marketed the living sh*t out of it.

As for their future, I'm not optimistic as far as home console is concerned, but, as always, we can only wait and see.

@Ibberson Exactly my thoughts to pal. Hate how people say it's Childs Play

When the Wii U was released in the UK, there was a TV advert showcasing what it could do. However the advert was taken off air very quickly because the UK Advertising Standards Authority agreed with customer complaints, whereby it stated that all games could be played on the Gamepad with Off-TV play.

Any other company would have responded by either editing the advert or putting out a new one....but nothing happened.

Now I'm not saying that this was the reason why the Wii U failed in the UK (because I think the name was more guilty of that) but it's little things like this that add up.

Edit: I've just found the article from Nintendo Life. It was actually one complaint that got the advert taken off air.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/01/wii_u_advert_banned_in_the_uk

@Stitches I agree, I wish they just dropped the Wii name because I truly believe many people got confused (non gamers)

@Churchy This, 100%.

@SanderEvers Can't quite agree with you first 3 recommendations.

1. "Start with a 8, 32 and 64GB console."
Making multiple SKUs always adds to the confusion. That's why barely anyone bought the white model, and that's why both Xbox One and PS4 launched with only one version.

2. "Make the 8GB console 150 euro's, with no gamepad."
Agree that the pricing was too high but selling the WiiU without a gamepad would make that version dead on arrival. Why would you get rid of your biggest selling point that would make some games not compatible with the system they were designed for?

3. "Allow 2 GamePads to connect to a single Wii U."
That would be cool, but I think that it comes down to pricing. For games that would potentially support/require 2 gamepads you would have to buy a costly standalone gamepad on top of the console and game purchase. Can't see any developer willing to take a risk and design a game for multiple gamepads.

@Kirk Glad to know I'm not on my own! Although for some reason the formatting on my comments doesn't work! Ah well, incoherent paragraphs for me it seems!

@Uncensored If that is the case, I hope they don't think the lack of launch titles the Wii U had will be solved by releasing NX with 5 Wii U games and Nintendoland 2

Top question on any Wii U game on Amazon is "will this game work on my Wii?" People are idiots, they need it spelling out for them IN CRAYON. This is a different console. I don't think Nintendo ever really smashed that concept home to the mainstream. Still, some fantastic games for the rest of us.

It's not that you didn't clearly explain the concept Reggie it's that you never utilised the concept in games.

@Churchy Formatting, shmormatting; all the points were spot on, and that's all that really counts.

@Ninten-san

Best Wii game was Xenoblade Chronicles

I think name was the first thing they went wrong. Totally wrong.

I've liked Gamepad, but motes and procontroller would have been great as well. Gamepad just pushed the price up.

Given what the Wii U is, I think with more T.V commercials demonstrating how games can be played with the dual screens would have helped. I think he concept is brilliant and not the reason it failed. It just wasn't advertised enough to the necessary extent.
They could have even used the success of the DS to help sell the system. You've enjoyed dual screen on hand held, now exerience it on the home console. Something like that.
I understand Nintendo's use of the name to get the millions of Wii owners to upgrade. I don't think it would have confused people especially as the console is backwards compatible and uses the remotes for new titles. Maybe the Wii sports HD should have been a launch title demonstrating the motion plus.

Even Nintendo themselves misunderstood it, but to me it was beyond idiotic to release the console and do nothing, just sit on your butt and wait for the money.

So far NX sets up to repeat the mistake. March date looks pretty stupid, because on christmas and black friday they will miss their customers, who will buy consoles from competition and they will be busy with their games.

You can blame the name, Nintendo being confused by their own creation, but it could be something diffrent.

Wii U had to bomb, sadly. Even marketing couldn't help. Nintendo was on downward spiral with console sales since N64, Wii sold really well, because it was also aimed at casuals. With U they wanted to go back to gamers and casuals (hence the name) and combine the 2 worlds, but it turned out playerbase did not grow by much since cube, casuals come and go like usual, and the Wii hurt them badly with unrealistic expectations.

They've not really done anything with the concept anyway though so not sure how being clearer would've helped. Of all the best games on the console, Mario Maker is really the only one that really needs the gamepad.

@SanderEvers What Nintendo ACTUALLY should've done:

1. Started with one 256GB-512GB model only on day one
2. Made the console a bit cheaper from the start
3. Allowed multiple GamePads to connect to the Wii U, and sell them separately too
4. Advertised the hell out of it
5. Had a couple of titles like Super Mario Maker and Art Academy: Atelier available day one
6. Not counted on Ubisoft for anything
7. Made the battery life on the GamePad better from the start
8. Made the range of the GamePad better, so that playing with it anywhere in the house would have actually been a practical reality for everyone
9. Had the full Virtual Console sorted from day one, with all previous games available out the gate and available immediately and for free to anyone who'd already purchased them before
10. Had cross buy and cross play as well as the whole unified account thing sorted out the gate
11. Had analog on the GamePad's triggers
12. Not had any loading time issues and stupid stuff like that from the start
13. Had a true AAA, first party, genuine system selling, core-franchise title at launch, and ideally bundled—or at least done Nintendo Land right
14. And probably a couple of other things I'm forgetting right now

Of course, much of this stuff would have had to be figured out to even be possible at the time, but I'm not talking about the practicality of making it happen (that's not my job); I'm only talking about what I think really should have happened.

@Ninten-san I completely agree with you man. The Wii U got no big Mario, Zelda, or Metroid game of it's own.

NES: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid

SNES: Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid

N64: Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask

GameCube: Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime 1 and 2

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Twilight Princess (also on GameCube), Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime 3

Wii U: ...

I know some people will say Super Mario 3D World should take up that spot for the Wii U, but I personally disagree. I love 3D World, but the game did not feel revolutionary to franchise at all... in fact, it felt like a step backward when compared to the Galaxy games.

However, I feel confident that Nintendo will make up for the lack of heavy hitter Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games with the NX.

Reggie is The Boy who Cried Wolf. He's lied so much that I'll never believe a word he says.

The Wii U was doomed before launch. A load of factors just made its death quicker and other factors didn't help. Some of them being:

~ its price was way too high for what it delivered
~ it was weak, PS3/XB360 levels of power 6 years too late
~ awful OS at launch and for the first year
~ it took Nintendo ages to get used to HD development
~ its name, the Wii brand was dying and the name caused confusion
~ very, very little marketing. And what was done was awful(dubstep)
~ weak launch titles
~ didn't make use of its biggest selling point, the gamepad
~ EA. Even though I loathe them, losing their support was critical
~ its architecture made porting a pain in the backside
~ gamepad has brutal battery life and no range
~ no party chat, failed apps like TVii
~ just a handful of 3rd party exclusives, Bayonetta 2, the only real star
~ digital games were the same price as retail, no sales
~ Its VC compared to Wii is the pits(promised Gamecube games?)
~ 2 gamepad functionality never happened
~ its internal memory is absolutely puny
~ the list goes on and on

I love my Wii U and will continue to buy games until it's demise. To me it's the Dreamcast of its era.

Nintendo had far too much faith in the Wii brand. They failed to see that the original product was a fad in the eyes of consumers. If the NX does have associated Wii branding then they can kiss goodbye to any success this generation.
.... They wouldn't do that though, surely?!?!

2 main things killed the Wii U from the beginning.
1. The name. As many have said, it was confusing to the casual player. People thought it was a Wii upgrade.
2. The gamepad. As much as I like the gamepad for some games, it's not necessary on most. It could have been dropped from the system entirely which would have dropped the price dramatically and barely changed the functionality.
Imagine if Nintendo had come out with Nintendo HD which could play all your old Wii games and be compatible with the Wii controllers and accessories. It would also be packaged with 2 pro controllers. 64 gb upgradeable storage for $200. That would have been a huge seller, especially if marketed correctly. Third parties would have been more likely to develop for it without having to deal with the gamepad. Plus it would certainly have had a larger install base. It still wouldn't have been as powerful, but almost all of the games that were great for the Wii U would have been available for it. After the huge success of that, Nintendo's next console could have continued with the trend, but this time use the profits to top the power of their competitors. And we'd probably be playing Breath of the Wild already.

@SanderEvers I don't really care about any arguments as to why it [possibly] couldn't have happened. I'm just saying what I believe the Wii U should have been if most people were really going to give a flying **** about it and be genuinely and wholly happy with it. And, if the Wii U couldn't possibly do the things I'm suggesting, for whatever reasons, I'd suggest it was an inherently flawed design from the start—which, of course, it was regardless.

yeah Wii U failed from when third party support stop doing developement on it.
Wii U didnt had any strong games other then Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker.
it memory is waaaay to short,im disappointing the fact that Wii U can't support SD Cards to put your digital games in (as wii and 3ds could do this.) atleast give us an option for USB and SD cards
less use of the gamepad for some of the games.
hopefully the NX is an improvement over the Wii U

The slow start to the 3DS led to Nintendo's near abandonment of the Wii U. They had to make sure the 3DS was a success , because handhelds and Japan are , and always have been , Nintendo's main focus. Third and First party droughts then killed all launch momentum. The Wii U was definitely a stop gap system , soft marketed and released while Nintendo were merging R&D and dev teams as a plan for the future. The fact that it ended up selling 13 million should be seen as a result. The system was doomed by the Internet before it even released ( hence Nintendo's super secrecy around NX ) Once Smash Bros and MK8 failed to create momentum , Nintendo knew that goose was cooked.
Nintendo have no competitor in the handheld market , they could easily make the gen last 10 years with the N3DS like they did with the GBC. They are third with Wii U but making a small profit. If they release a PS4 beater in March they would still finish third , and incurr more losses. That is not going to happen. NX platform ("always a platform not a console") will allow Nintendo to focus all their efforts on one ecosystem and attract new consumers with a low price point. I have a 3DS and Wii U , so of course I'm excited for NX. We will know more in the coming months. I only care about the games , and history tells me I can rely on Nintendo to come up with the goods.

For me the reason Wii u was not as successful as Nintendo hoped was; it lost the simplicity of the Wii. That's what sold the Wii. So the casuals were out. Core gamers didn't want the gamepad, so they're out.

NX doesn't sound too simple either. These things should be self explanatory not need explaining.

I think Nintendo got complacent. They thought after the wii they could just release anything and it would sell. I think a 'hungry' Nintendo is much better, a company that has to prove itself in the market. So I think the NX will benefit from that. I remember plugging my Wii U in on Day one and thinking......'wow this thing is super slow' and then playing games with no substance.Nintendo Land and 2d Mario game (NSMBU WAS AWESOME THOUGH) it was really half baked for the 1st 12 months. By which time it was already too late.

The Wii brand sunk it, or rather their plan to coast on a name associated with shovelware and poor graphics. The wii craze was more short lived than their research allowed them to see because they just saw dollar signs and not the gamestops flooded with dime a dozen party games and game show games.

When they couldnt get casual players back on board they had to aim for the more hardcore gamer market but didnt have the support nor the graphics to back them up compared to the PS4 and XBone

As long as the NX isnt called the Nintendo Wii X or something they'll already have a leg up on the Wii U. With a mobile presence coming, hopefully this spells an attempt to aim for the casuals in the mobile marketplace and not on their console

A lot of gamers care about whether a console has their favourite 3rd party games, and which console is best for playing them.

If Nintendo doesn't want to care about power, and if they still struggle to get the major 3rd party games on their system, then they'll need to do a brilliant job at showcasing what their consoles can do.

It's about time somebody at the top realized that advertising was absolutely non existent. How on earth did they expect non gamers to buy into what the WiiU can do if they don't communicate that to them.
As for the name, if people were getting confused over the addition of the letter U, how are they going to understand the differences between an XBOX and an XBOX 1. I don't think it was just the name that confused people, the WiiU looks far too similar to the original Wii. If Nintendo made the WiiU look completely different from the Wii, it would of helped in some way to make it obvious that they are two different consoles.
Where Mario Maker was concerned, that would have been a far better title to launch the the WiiiU with. It was just a shame that it wasn't thought of until after the WiiU was already in the shops. But that should have given Nintendo the ace card to play in selling the WiiU when it did come out. It might not have made a massive difference, but it could have made a far better impact on sales than just leaving it to drift along like it has been.
Both Reggie and Satoru Shibata need shake things up with there adbertising departments, there's a saying "you need to spend money to make money", Nintendo needs to start spending money on advertising if they want to see the sales that they're after.

It seems to me that Nintendo came up with a gimmick just for the sake of it, then tried to think up a good use for it afterwards, rather than there actually being a compelling reason for it in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like the Wii U. It is by no means my least favourite Nintendo console. The GamePad was useful for maps, web browsing etc, but I wonder if "useful" is a good enough reason to take up so much expense. Without the GamePad, the Wii U could have been on par with Xbox One and received the multi-platform games.

I'd also say the Wii U did indeed lack truly classic games, with nothing genuinely on a par with Metroid Prime, Wind Waker or even Mario Sunshine. This year's highly positive social media reaction to Breath of the Wild shows gamers still just really want great-looking, epic games.

I would say the Wii U's issue was:

1. NEXT TO NO MARKETING
2. Online hate campaign
3. Nintendo weren't ready for HD - took too long for the games.

I still mention Wii U to people today and most don't even know it exists. I've seen about two ads for it on random channels over its lifespan.

There was no attempt to inform the mass market at all.

Its PowerPC up against the x86 hardware industry. Its hardware was NEVER explained or compared in simply processing power. Thats the only comparison that was needed, processing power Wii U vs Ps4 vs Xb1.
Instead the only comparisons were gpu and cpu comparisons which are irrelevant. I don't see anyone making these kind of comparisons to nx which is using Tegra ARM architecture. If you compare gpu and cpu, nx will look really bad too but its irrelevant because its ARM.
Wii U's demise is because of a misinformed ignorant public that didn't want it.

@wiggleronacid Wii U was SHAFTED by 3rd party AND 1ST PARTY.

I think a major factor is that the wiiU gave little to no reason to upgrade. If one cares for better graphics, they go for sony or microsoft. Pretty much every major player game on the wiiU is available on the wii. New super mario bros, smash, mariokart, donkey kong country, wind waker, mario party, etc.

Even has less vc games!

I hate it when people try to boil it down to one issue; it's a multi-faceted issue, and its' complicated, and a lot of the reasons are tied to Nintendo's old, outdated Japanese corporate culture.

It's not just that its a weird concept that appeals to few outside of Japan - handheld gaming is a joke outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. Worldwide, mobile kills all, casually. In other Eastern nations like S.Korea and China, Online and PC Gaming are the kings of hardcore, while everywhere else, consoles are king. There's literally zero reason to make the focus of this the Gamepad - why would anyone want a console that asks you to look away from your big, beautiful HD screen? People who are like, "Someone else wants to watch Netflix" - you can have more than one TV. Like, they're cheap. Go to Best Buy and Wal-Mart right now if that kind of thing is a problem. Jeez louise. Its such a niche concept.

Then there's the thing where they underpower it, because its' more than enough for THEM. Except it absolutely wasn't - Monolith Soft was CLEARLY compromised in several places when making Xenoblade Cross. It barely could be crushed onto the damn disc and hard drive! THEY'RE SO CHEAP, ITS STARTING TO GET TO THE POINT WHERE EVEN THEIR OWN DEVS CAN BARELY USE THEIR MACHINE!

And of course, that kills all support insofar as Western devs are concerned. If you can't even hold a game that's new on your disc or in your hard drive, gtfo.

As far as Japanese support goes, Sony and STEAM kill Nintendo these days. Japanese devs have thankfully realized that they can't survive on 3DS alone, and have started porting/remastering so many games to consoles and PCs. And that's where they have to go if gamers internationally are to care.

Plus, this was just bad for Nintendo. They've spent over a decade making games to Gamecube specs, with Wii and 3DS hardware not evolving far enough beyond that. You throw them an HD console after 7+ years of them ignoring it, you think they're going to be good at it? Heck no; so many games they put out on the Wii U were worse-looking than Gamecube games running on the Dolphin emulator. They didn't learn how to sculpt things for higher detail model, they didn't learn how to light their games better... I mean, there were a few exceptions (the Splatoon and Mario Kart teams figured out lighting), but mostly they just looked poor. Mario 3D World looks noticeably worse than, and is absolutely less ambitious than, Mario Galaxy.

Speaking of less ambitious, that defines their first party lineup so much. I have no idea who would buy a Wii U to play Mario 3D World. It's so clearly an unambitious straight followup to Mario 3D Land! Donkey Kong got a super safe direct follow up, their stupid Mii games got a super safe follow up, etc. So many boring, or misguided (Star Fox Zero) sequels and little else. Smash and Mario Kart only pleased the people who were already Nintendo fanboys; it didn't grow their audience. When they did go outside the lines, like with Splatoon and Mario Maker, they started to see a little bit of a turn around, but its really clear that their output was defined so much more by "Well, we need a game this Holiday" or whatever than it was "I'M INSPIRED! LETS DO SOMETHING AWESOME!". Really pathetic.

Speaking of less inspired, they wasted their time making sure their digital output was just pushing out the same VC titles as before, instead of overhauling their online infrastructure and just bringing over the games they ALREADY ported to the Wii Virtual Console. They're so inefficient!

Like, everything about them these days is defined by such old-fashioned, out-of-touch thinking. It really sucks. Holding them up next to Sony, who is constantly trying to make other devs happy with their hardware, overhauling their online infrastructure, making sure they have amazing teams all over the World (NOT just Japan), and putting out such, such amazing games constantly... its ridiculous.

I don't know what they're doing at Nintendo. But they're just really out of touch. The Wii U's failure was tied to that. All of their failures are, these days. Any of their successes are accidental and, increasingly, tied less and less to games - they're certainly doing a good job with merchandise at least.

The failure of the Wii U is going to be one of those topics of gaming conversation that will be talked about until the end of time.

The reasons, as many have pointed out, are many. They could have done so much more with it.

However, despite all that, for every reason that someone DIDN'T buy a Wii U, why not think about the reasons that someone else DID.

For all those 13.2 million people thus far that have purchased one, surely they will be left with such fond memories of their time with the console (I know I will), and, if they keep it as opposed to trade it in, they will also be left with a console and a games catalogue that will in perhaps 10-15 years time be worth a lot of money i.e Dreamcast, Saturn, especially to collectors.

The Wii U will, as someone else pointed out, go down in history as this generations Dreamcast, but is that a bad thing? I used to wear my Sega Saturn and Dreamcast ownership like a badge of honour. The great games it DID have meant so much more to me than the games it DIDN'T have.

The Wii U will also no doubt go down in history as the very last console ever created, that was purely and predominantly a games console first and foremost (yes I'm aware it obviously has the odd app here and there but you know what I mean).

I realise everyones needs are different, but for me, all I need from a console is an hour or two of playing a game, that's it, and the Wii U does that for me. It is my go to console, followed by my Xbox One, followed by my PS4.

If the Wii U goes on to sell a grand total of 15 million units worldwide in its entire lifetime for example, I for one, as cheesy as it sounds, will be proud to have been a part of it, despite its flaws, as for me, the pros of the console outweigh the cons, and the apparent failure of the console is insignificant to me.

The NX will be the next failure talked about until the end of time. The Wii Us failure is simple and nobody will say it because their scared to lose their job.

Sure the system sold rather poorly, but I love it all the same. I leave the concerns of system sales to Nintendo, all I care about is the games and for me personally I have received plenty.

@SanderEvers I'm with you on two Gamepads, I still don't have any clue why they never did that. They even said in multiple different interviews that the capability WAS THERE, they just chose not to utilize it. What? I love the Wii U, it has some of my favorite games and virtual console plus indies mean I have a very extensive library on my console, and I really love the Gamepad and the overall user interface, but Nintendo did not manage the Wii U well at all. The fact that we could have had two people on the same system go online together in Splatoon kills me every day (I freaking love playing games online with my brother, we play Smash all the time as a team, but there are so few games you can take online with a friend on the same console).

The fact they barely marketed certain games in favor of Mario Tennis, looking at Fatal Frame and Xenoblade Chronicles X who didn't got much exposure.

The Wii U failed commercially, but I consider it a fantastic system with exclusives that absolutely trounce the competitions, both quantity and quality.

That being said their biggest mistake was calling it the Wii U which made people think it was some Wii accesory, and everybody was done with the Wii at that point. Their second was not making it technologically competitive which cost them the third party support.

Their biggest was trying to replicate the Wii's success and that crowd has moved on. They need to appeal more to mainstream gamers. I think they have a shot to do that if the specs and rumors are true about this next machine. Most gamers I know have a 3DS and will assuredly buy this. Merging their market is the smartest thing they can do right now.

I remember when I saw the first trailer for Wii U I was confused I thought it's just an Add ON for old Wii that you can add and play with the pad etc ... Later I figured out that it's a new system that replace WII

@Kirk The idea of providing a creation suite could actually be very enticing for all those gamers who love to mod their gaming experiences. The issue might be that providing such a creativity suite would give too much access to the system and it would be used to circumvent paying for content and/or used as a tool by jerks to mess up (via online) other people's gaming experience. However, if Nintendo gave full access to developer tools for an older system like the 3DS and that system could be run on NX as well as the NX operating system/environment, that might be something people would jump on. Nintendo have recently opened up their dev programme by taking away some of the onerous conditions. 3DS has been hacked wide open now. Whether they'd ever do something like that or even if the concept is at all possible, I have no idea, but I do think it might be of interest to some.

I honestly don't know if even Nintendo knew what their concept was for the Wii U. After watching the DYK Gaming episode on the Wii U, it seems like no one knew exactly what they were doing or where they were going with it.

I've enjoyed my Wii U, I have almost 30 games for the system, but it just feels like there is wasted potential there.

The Wii U was misunderstood because it has a terrible name, an even worse logo that looks more like a regular Wii logo with a small blue box next to it, advertising was abysmal, and the few things that made it somewhat unique were never brought up enough to even be an incentive for purchase.

The Wii U failed because all of that, and much, much more.

Jeeeezus...I'm a big fan of both the Wii AND the Wii U, but let's be serious as to the REAL reason it was "misunderstood". It was "misunderstood" because they made it really confusing for consumers to figure that it (Wii U) wasn't just some peripheral extension to the Wii. If I hadn't intently follow up on the Wii U prior to and up til launch, I would've mistaken it to be just an additional screen as well. And seriously, I think it's also apparent that Nintendo wanted to jump on the bandwagon of keeping the name of the system and adding a tag to it (i.e. PS1, PS2...PS4, PS14141784926 or XBOX(360/1/15823k4ehsuud3i726s3)). GRANTED, in all fairness, they already did that with (Super) Nintendo. Anywho...STILL a huge fan of the Wii/Wii U....but it's not without it's faults.

The Wii U virtual console still has less games than the Wii VC.

Reggie is essentially saying that his company made a top-notch product, and that he himself was a primary reason why it failed (i.e., lack of communicating its potential and uniqueness to consumers). If he truly believes this, he should resign.

The sad part of all this is that even in the face of irrefutable evidence from literally EVERYONE in the industry, their representative still tries to BS his way out of it.

Nintendo need to stop acting like we can't see behind the curtain.

I always said It should have been called Wii 2. Straightforward and to the point. No room for misinterpretations. Oh well...

Whether it failed or not, I got a nice lil batch of games for it that justified my purchase and I'm happy. Carry on.

So no actual news here? Man the entire week, and last week nothing but rumors, and now news that everyone has known for years...September needs to come faster.

@Sakura I don't think it would be a problem giving NX owners access to a fully curated creation suite at a firmware level and also the sharing platform/store to go with it—as long as it were managed properly. Much like iPhone and the App Store (where pretty much anyone can easily develop and publish Apps, games, and other stuff on it), I think it would ultimately just make NX a platform where everyone would basically be trying to take a bite of the pie, creating all kinds of content (both free and paid), and I think that's what would almost certainly make it huge, potentially a Wii-level phenomenon but in a different way. Also, I think that's what would almost certainly lead to some truly amazing and ground-breaking "indie" games and whatever else on NX too, which is something that much like the App Store could actually counter the lack of AAA developers out the gate; and then the third parties might eventually feel they have no choice but to jump on board if it become popular enough. Let me put it this way; absolutely nothing would stop me implementing this feature/software/service on NX if I were in charge, and I absolutely believe it would be HUUUGE—I have done since before even the original Wii was first shown, and before stuff like the iPhone or App Store even existed.

@readyletsgo Really, lol. And whether Nintendo wants to admit it or not, they're in the gaming industry so they're competing with Sony and Microsoft in some manner. As for Fils-Aime, all that spews from his mouth is thick, foamy marketing goop. He talks a lot but says a whole lot of nothing, really.

Nintendo needs to stop treating people like they're stupid. People know what the Wii U could do and what it's built for. They just don't care, and see no reason forking over so much money for a console that's not much cheaper than the better valued competition (more expensive than the competition now).

The first comment by @maaleska (whose comments I've never seen so far, so... welcome aboard, chica!) put it best in two mere words. Even "Wii 2" would have been clearer, if they wanted to advertise it as the next Wii. 3DS is a clever pun that makes the key gimmick behind the console clear right away - it's a DS with 3D - which also works with the 2DS ("DS 2", as in, the DS' successor). But Wii U sounds like a simple redesign, which, coupled with the console's price being not enough cheaper than its rivals to make up for the power gap, caused it to bomb.

"When we launched Wii U, we missed the opportunity to be clear on the concept, to show off its capabilities and what the users could do. And that hurt us. Sales were also hurt, during the beginning of its lifespan, by the lack of games."

That's also an enormous problem. While the 3DS has struggled at the beginning, at least the new 3D Mario game - a vital step when selling a Nintendo console - came rather soon-ish, a few months after the console launched, with New Super Mario Bros. 2 coming out later. The Wii U did the opposite, with New Super Mario Bros. U coming out at launch and Super Mario 3D World coming out a whole year later. And a side-scroller, no matter its polish and finesse, can't show off the console's muscles on its own.

"And although we've sold 13 million consoles, against 20 and 40 million from the competition (Microsoft and Sony, respectively), what pleases us the most is that Wii U has the games with the best reviews and ratings from fans."

Reggie's own mea culpa on this regard made it clear that the initial lack of first-party games is what eventually resulted in the console getting first-party games only. Of course we got awesome games, that's par for the course with Nintendo hardware. What makes our awesome library so tragic is that it's a threshold (as I've always said Super Mario Maker is - could you even imagine Maker being a thing on a Nintendo console that sold like the Wii?), with most later games even existing because of the law sales. The DS also got plenty of good first/second-party games, but that was because there were sales to further support this. Same for the Wii.
The 3DS started off like the Wii U until Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 opened the floodgates. The Wii U's counterparts for the latter games, however, came out so late in the system's lifespan that what we got were enough system sellers that would last a decade's worth of launch line-ups.
As far as my situation goes, I've gotten out of my Wii U exactly what I expected to: a line-up of games that basically define its status as a "Nintendo machine", because I don't need to be anything else. But I'm a fan, and that's what makes up the majority of the console's userbase - Nintendo fans who were fans to begin with. I really doubt anyone who owned an Xbox 360 could want to "upgrade" to a WiiU back in 2012, let alone now that Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are out.
While Nintendo could be glad to have their claws on my wallet, their own wallets might want to go beyond me or Nintendo fans; and in order for that to happen, they need a console that has
1) power
2) a price that's competitive in relation to its power
3) a good launch line-up
4) a great second-year line-up
5) a clear name.
And notice how I never mentioned gimmicks in these five points. We need a good console, and good games. Sales and third-party games are a consequence that, alas, must be earned.

Before Wii U ended, at least for Nintendo :
1. Release new bundle with new color such as Baby Blue, Golden Yellow, Emerald Green, Passion Red, Mystical Violet, Zesty Orange, Lovely Pink and Metallic Silver. Colorful console will attract more people to buy before the end of Wii U era.
2. At least 64 until 128 GB . Duh... 32 GB is totally Ridiculous small.
3. Gamepad can be bought separately.
4. Official Wii U empty box from Nintendo for replacement for who dislike Red Wii U box.
5. Wii U battery replacement with more higher ampere, for long lived Gamepad.
6. Cut the price for some BEST Wii U games and Re-released again in Nintendo Selects banner not just only PAL version, but also all region including USA.
7. Remake some previous Nintendo games in Gorgeous HD version.

Well, my suggestions for Wii U before Wii U ended.

I think that the name might've also had something to do with it...

@Kirk It certainly would be a "new way to play". The issue with iPhone and Android, though, is that Apple and Google don't actually make console games; they provide the framework for others to make games and although quality is improving, mobile games are not usually considered as good as console games. Moreover, the cost of most mobile games is far lower even than many eshop games and the eshop games where cost does compare, are the ones considered shovelware by many.

The situation for Nintendo is fundamentally different. They probably could bridge the gap, but they'll do it in a Nintendo way. I like the idea, but I'm not certain they would take such a risk as to provide a similar experience. I'd also be wary that quality could drop dramatically and Windows phones have shown that the market is already saturated - Windows phones are often overlooked in the same way that the Wii U is overlooked. Too many fingers in the pie at times just makes it a mess. I feel that if Nintendo were to go that far, they might as well just become third party, developing for the existing platforms. That's not to say something couldn't be worked out, but I doubt Nintendo will give full access to the NX infrastructure. It will certainly be interesting to see what they actually do though. I mean, really, what do I know? The speculation is somewhat fun, but also somewhat pointless. I wish they'd just tell us.

@Nin10doh Really slow news week. Clickbait and comment agitator articles....just look at the walls of text in here!

@Ninten-san All the WiiU games are classics...

@Sakura This is why I'm suggesting Nintendo provides and curates basically that same kind of "framework" at a firmware level on NX, installed on every NX system from day one and available for all users to take advantage of for FREE immediately and easily using the actual system's features and capabilities directly to do so; and not just the place to distribute people's creations, but the means to actually create them in the first place (the stylus, the touchscreen, the creation suite/tools, a huge selection of included pre-made assets to use for free, etc). The issue of shovelware becomes largely irrelevant because it would work much like Steam and all the good stuff would certainly rise to the top. Having loads of crap is usually just a sign of how popular and pervasive something is, and I think that would be fine and par-for-the-course with such a system and service on NX. But, the point is that everyone would be using it and sharing content because it would be extremely easy and intuitive, it's basically in all their interests to do so, and there'd be a lot of fun to be had with it and the awesome user created content (even amid all the junk), just like we saw happen with Super Mario Maker. And, as soon as even one hit "indie" title like Angry Birds, Flappy Bird, or Minecraft appears on this service . . .

Trust me; the idea is sound. It's just a matter of executing it right—and then something very special indeed could happen here, and likely would. And, I think the point is that Nintendo has to take this kind of risk—opening up the development community to all its users rather than just a small handful of licensed developers—because it can't really hope to compete with the likes of Sony and Microsoft when it's not really getting the AAA third party support and its own games aren't enough to fill the gaps, and other platforms like the App Store have literally hundreds of thousands of cheap or free games and Apps for users to choose from. The approach is one of the few and best options open to Nintendo at this point in time, imo, and it could just be the greatest move it's made in generations. Just imagine all the awesome stuff NX users might create, if something like Super Mario Maker is anything to go by (and that's regardless of all the junk). . . .

@djtwenty9 But not so classic that everyone bought them, like Ocarina of Time and Super Mario Bros. There has to be a reason why Wii U failed!

BTW, Super Mario 3D World was just a HD version of Super Mario 3D Land with new features. That's not as revolutionary as Super Mario World and Super Mario 64!

Just ask someone who doesn't own one but owns a wii.They thought it was too expensive and didn't ''see'' any games that made them want to upgrade for £300.My friend has only just upgraded from his wii to an Xboxone, because they dropped to £200.The flaw was fundamental and simple given a decade of recession.

@WiltonRoots I agree! It's so slow that Nintendo Life starts treating rumours like news...

Honestly, this could be an article from 2013, 2014 or 2015. I feel like I've read this story or others like it dozens of times. Bottom line: the Wii U has a great selection of quality, exclusive titles. Everything else is just personal preference.

Also, there's commercials for the PS4 in every subway in Sweden, but there's not a single Wii U commercial in the whole country! That's a sign of how bad the Wii U marketing is. Only Nintendo fans know what the Wii U is, because the only sources for information are Nintendo magazines and Nintendo news sites (like Nintendo Life)!

The concept was pretty clear: A tablet controller with low battery life, outdated touchscreen and mandatory screen use (you can't simply turn it off and use as a regular controller) that came at least five years late, when everyone either already had a tablet for their children or a Wii, and ended up thinking the "U" meant just an add-on for it. I mean honestly, back in 2007-2008, everyone was talking about the Wii, my friends bought it, my relatives bought for their kids, I used to hang out with friends to play Wii Sports or Mario Kart. I didn't see the same happening with the Wii U. Why?

There's no excuse to call it "misunderstood". Poor timing, wrongly developed concept and confusing marketing isn't our fault.

Reggie's game comment is false; there are so many good games on other consoles that, compared to the Wii U, most likely stack up better. Also, he seems to forget that Nintendo is making some games (and decisions) that fans hate. Ex. amiibo Festival, Color Splash, lack of games, terrible marketing, tiny storage, and... (for me) No motion controls on the $50 Pro Controller. WHY? (Nintendo still doesn't understand what makes a console sell. Sure, they can innovate and do their own thing, but they have to combine that with what the fans want.)

Despite Nintendo's huge strengths, they still dont seem to have learned how to launch a system. So far though, it seems like they may remedy that with NX.

The wii u failed because it was underpowered and the name was lame.

The Wii U failed because...

1) Bad marketing. Most of us thought this was a Wii add-on before it came out. A lot of people still thought that for far to long after.

2) No third party support.

3) Very little first party support. Smash Bros was announced years before it came out. We're still waiting for the new Zelda. No real Animal Crossing game. No Metriod.

(At least MK8, Splatoon, and Pikman 3 all got same great updates)

The initial price didn't help either. I don't care about specs; i have a hard time telling Sony and Microsoft's current and last gen products apart anyway. I just want to play games. However if you're making a technically inferior machine then you should set the price lower.

Nintendo misunderstood the fans. We don't need better graphics, we just want different games. Wii U has better graphics, but not many different games.

Lylat Wars + HD = Star Fox Zero.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii + HD = New Super Mario Bros. U (the prototype was even called New Super Mario Bros. HD).
Mario Party + HD = Mario Party 10.
Dr. Mario + Luigi + HD = Dr. Luigi.
Animal Crossing + @#%! = Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival. The list goes on...

It's funny to see all these comments claiming what the Wii U should have been. I think it's pretty clear, and Nintendo knows that (it's been here more than 125 years after all), Reggie was just PRing a bit.

So many comments...

What is the concept behind Wii U? Gamepad? I wonder Wii U games can be developed without the gamepad.

No. It was because you tried to replicate the success of the Wii, but neglected to realize that casuals have moved on to mobile games, and don't care about consoles anymore.

The biggest mistake was the fact that it was all based on a poorly implemented gimmick. The Wii did it very well with the motion controls because they followed through with the idea and stuck with it. They nearly abandoned the GamePad very early on, making it seem pointless. The lesson Nintendo needs to learn from this is to stop trying to be unique with half-baked gimmicks. Just give us a console and a controller, that's all we need. Sure, they could make some motion control-centric games, but have that be like an add on, where most games are normal D-pad and buttons games. Also for the love of God actually market the NX soon, please

Nintendo needs to stop living in the past..

@Ibberson ik this is so sad

@Ninten-san Indeed, it's like they're flogging a dead horse with this article. As someone else said I felt like I've read this a hundred times.

@Manjushri Interesting theory. Almost as if it was a guinea pig.

No one knew and still no one knows what it was. Their advertising was close to none existent. What was there wasn't clear either. They could have made everyone upgrade from the Wii if only they would have advertised correctly and clearly. I saw one Wii u console commercial for the first year of the console. Couple that with a system that was way worse and borderline broken out the gate. Not to mention the very limited range of the Wii u pad. Does anyone remember how slow the wii u was at launch? We were promised specs that would be equal to the x bone if not better. We got no such thing. There was way too many errors in the way the Wii U was handled, way too many.

@Kirk Nice wish list.

@whanvee Source? I'm pretty sure the Wii U came out before the XBox One was revealed.

1 8gb system was a joke, even 32gb should have been 128gb
2 No advertising whatsoever before or after launch
3 Wii branding hurt it more than it helped
4 Large size of gamepad turned people off (even though it's actually light, comfortable and ergonomic)
5 Full generation behind in power, which isnt that big a deal once the HD plateau of diminishing returns is reached, but in the minds of the masses it lacks appeal

NX needs
1 Respectable storage capacity or SD slot for easy expansion
2 Advertising, advertising, advertising
3 Distinct separation from Wii/Wii U branding
4 Pro controller for docked TV play, and detachable controllers that are ergonomic and/or clasp together
5 If home console only then power at least in ball park of X1/PS4- if it's portable then even Wii U power will far exceed expectations for a handheld device and suffice for TV play.

This is the Saturn/Dreamcast days of Nintendo. NX is a failure already. Nintendo is bound to be a software company.

Their biggest mistake was not distinguishing it as a new console.
A lot of people thought, it was a tablet for the original Wii.
Complete missed opportunity.

I don't think it's been a flop, broke even, just not a great success.

Personally i still think it offers more than Xbox One.
For now at least.

It failed because people are stupid . Wii U is awesome and the GamePad is amazing. People's tastes sometimes is really horrible that's all.

@Al_Godoy
That's nonsense. Nintendo is not Sega, and real life isn't as predictable as saying well this is what happened to Sega, Nintendo had a rough generation with Wii U therefore NX is gonna fail to follow the pattern.

And Nintendo still holds a monopoly on the handheld market, and NX will sell to that very market. And that's the difference between Sega and Nintendo. Sega had multiple failures spanning the SegaCD, 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast and had nothing left to fight for. Nintendo is thriving with their handhelds, still to this day. And now appear to be fusing that handheld success into the next home console via hybrid.

It could fail or it could not fail, but you don't have a crystal ball.

For Nintendo to be a software company they would have to lose their handheld market share. And that's something they been holding onto for 30 years. Anything is possible, but I don't see it happening.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy
The x bone was known to be in development by the Wii U's release. They revealed a video at E3 with Reggie saying it would have graphics equal to or better than the competition. Just look up Wii U E3 reveal. You look it up if you so feel the need. I'm not a reporter and don't have to be sourcing all my info.

I feel like they didn't communicate the concept well because they themselves didn't understand what to do with it. Even Maio Maker was just "eh". I've been waiting since launch for something that really blows the doors off and shows how cool the GamePad is, but it's never really felt like anything more than a gimmick.

Q) What do you think?

A) Having read the interview, I feel some of the lines came across as a bit... arrogant, but it's hard to truly be sure with a text based translated interview. Reggie's language when replying to the question concerning new Nintendo franchises come across as aggravated, which I could totally sympathise with, as Nintendo does make plenty of new IPs. The key problem is they they don't usually become successful, or at least to the same scale as their older and firmly ingrained (within consumer's minds) IPs.

As far as Reggie's point concerning why the Wii U failed; I disagree with him. For starters, it is difficult to narrow it down to a singular reason, and while I do believe a lack of clarity was an issue, I don't feel it was a lack of clarity with it's easy to understand concept.

Q)Why did the Wii U fail to generate a mass audience?

A) For multiple reasons, and one of those I believe to be a lack of clarity... with it's naming. Wii U was an odd choice in naming, and given the regular presence of Wii remotes within advertising, I'm not surprised there were those who mistook it for a new Wii controller. Within a mass audience aspect, I feel pricing is also one of the most key issues, and really should have been obvious given the 3DS failure to sell at it's initial price point. The Wii was released at a price point of around £180, and to jump from that to a good £300-£350 is a hard thing to transition to (for lack of a better way of phrasing it). As problematic as it could have been for their finances, I feel Nintendo should have taken more of a hit with the Wii U by only launching it at £280 at most (the premium/deluxe edition, not the basic model).

Other problems for why the Wii U did not sell well include it's lack of advertising (strange given how much the original Wii had), as well as it's long delay between Nintendo game releases (they should have prepared for the HD era earlier, and in doing so, formed larger teams). A lack of 3rd party support was also an issue, but I feel this came about as a result of Wii U's lack of sales primarily, so it is more an effect of the Wii U's failure rather than an initial cause.

I do not blame the lack of 3rd party support on the Wii U's lack of power compared to the Xbox One and PS4. During 2013, 2014, and even 2015, there were several games that were released on not only the Xbox One and PS4, but also on the previous Xbox 360 and PS3. If these games are able to run on the Xbox 360 and PS3, they are more than capable of running on a Wii U. The bigger issue, prior to a lack of Wii U sales, might be more to do with the difficulty of porting from these systems to Wii U. As far as I'm aware though, it shouldn't have been to difficult to port from Xbos 360 and Wii U, given some similarities in their technology, but I'm not knowledgeable enough on this subject to state whether that is the case or not. I will reiterate my opinion though that I don't believe power was the issue for a lack of 3rd party Wii U support, at least within the 2013 and 2014 time-frame.

I do not believe a lack of clarity concerning the Wii U's concept to be an issue with the Wii U's lack of success. The Wii U's concept is insanely easy to understand; this controller has a second screen which can be used for a bunch of features. It can free up the TV for families and friends through off-tv play, allows for two people to play a game without split-screen, allow maps and menu's to feature on it to free up space on the main screen and avoid pausing as much as possible, and it can do a bunch of other stuff if game developers are creative and desire to. It has a couple of easy to understand features that would be popular spread across many games, and it has the potential for many other unique ideas if game developers so desire to experiment with them; it's a stand controller with the possibility to do some unique features per game.

Q) Do you think Nintendo will repeat its mistakes in the future?

A) They have the potential to make the same mistakes with pricing, as they has said they don't want to take a loss on the NX, but I feel it'll need to be less than £300 to be a success (£200-£250 would be the sweet spot, particularly if the recent Eurogamer rumours are true). They also have the potential to make the same mistake with advertising, though as a hybrid would make the NX it's sole gaming hardware product (again, going off the rumours), I somewhat doubt they would. I think they'll be capable of avoiding most of the other mistakes that plagued the Wii U, particularly as it seems they've been preparing games and learning the system for a long while now.

For any of you still in denial about where the market demand is in today's gaming industry, look no further than those Xbox One numbers.

The XB1, essentially a less powerful PS4 clone, still has managed to sell 20 million+; 7 million more than Wii U and in a year's less time.

Hopefully the NX, Nintendo's latest "let's throw this dart blindly against that wall" attempt at regaining relevancy in the industry they themselves pioneered, is a better effort.

It's almost as if the day Sony and Nintendo ended their partnership before the PS1 marked the beginning of the end for Nintendo's dominance (save for the Wii/DS blip on the radar with Wii being the truest definition of smoke and mirrors success).

Nowadays, Nintendo's core audience is basically one of the following two ilk:

1) fanboy radicals in denial about the company's position and completely enraged about the abundant success of the other two platforms

2) once diehard fans of the Nintendo vs. SEGA days who are little more than completely disappointed in Nintendo any more and just wished they'd wake up and give their fans what they actually wanted for once.

@123akis
Ehhhh, don't think so.

Most of the third-party support that's been coming to PS4/X1 was also ported to PS3/360, which are slightly weaker systems than Wii U.

At the end of the day it's not about how much power you have- that may make it easier to run the game which requires less work to port, but at the end of the day what matters is whether or not the market for selling the game is large enough on that particular console.

On PS3/360 the market was large enough, therefore games were ported. And the cell architecture for PS3 was notoriously difficult to develop for, yet they still did it, despite less power than Wii U and despite being harder to develop for than Wii U.

@gatorboi352
There's also group 3, which is gamers who aren't diehard fanboys and just love playing on any console that has games they enjoy, and for the most part are still enjoying the games Nintendo makes.

That's the group I'm in. I play the heck out of my PS4, and my Wii U and 3DS. I acknowledge Nintendo's place in the market, but I'm all about the games and I'm not really going to trouble myself with Nintendo's problems, or Sony's or anyone else's. Group 3 gamers are just along for the ride and wherever fun games are, they go.

@Ventilator
That's the honest truth
I saw a 40-ish something year old lady picking up a Wii thinking it's a Wii U and going to purchase it with the words coming out of her mouth at the same time to someone on her phone "I'm buying him a Wii U right now because that's what he wanted". I had to stop her in tracks and explain and then convince her that's not a Wii U. Sadly I'm sure even some children were confused. They really screwed up with the name and possibly lost millions of sales. At least that's my opinion.

@electrolite77
Don't think I quoted anyone directly really.

contradiction "from the competitions" uh haven't they been saying for YEARS they don't view them as direct competition? Sometimes Nintendo is so out of touch with reality..

Absolutely nothing wrong with the name. "Wii U - A New Console From Nintendo"!!! Whats there to be confused about? Its much less confusing than Xbox 1 or , the worst offender, "New 3DS"... Try searching for one on eBay!!! Still love my Wii U and have no problem with the Gamepad ... Nintendo just couldn't find games to utilise it uniquely!! Gonna hang on to it anyway. If those NX mock drawings are at all accurate, Wii U might STILL be the best way to experience Zelda:BotW!!!

I really don't need to explain the reasons why the Wii U didn't catch on because most people on this comment section have already done it for me. Couldn't agree more. Hopefully Nintendo will lerarn something from this, guess we will see.

Well,some games are great thats fot sure,still nintendo didnt capitalize on their opportunity and didnt reach their potential. Pity. Why did they bother with amiibo festival when people were crying out for another metroid

@JaxonH that group most certainly exists, but I stated the two groups of Nintendo's core audience, specifically. The group you detail falls outside of this. Your 'group 3' is also the largest group of gamers there is.

@electrolite77 I meant the NX poll article that was uploaded on Nintendo Life recently.

In other news, the sky is blue and the grass is green.

@electrolite77 he asked for sources prior to that comment. That was me telling him where to look. It was during the Wii u e3 reveal, maybe 2012. I remember I was so pumped for it.

@maaleska I agree. It sounds like an ambulance!

My opinion:
Quality over SHORT quantity

@Ventilator
Yeah that's true. Even if a person does a quick glance at the console itself it could quickly be mistaken as a normal Wii.

It was not "misunderstood", Nintendo just screwed up. I love my Wii U games library, but let's be honest.

Also, even geeks thought Wii U was a Wii accessory when Iwata presented it saying "This is Wii U" with a GamePad in his hand.

The WiiU could of been on par with consoles like Xbone and, maybe 3/4 Ps4. It was the 2 years of no games that killed it. When Mario Kart 8 had released that was the main reason the console got back on its feat. If we had Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8, or atleast Bayonetta 2 at launch. Then I think it would of sold much much better

@remlapgamer : Yeah. I have a friend that claimed Wii U had same hardware as Wii. Wii U is much more powerful as we know and proven by its games.
PS3 and PS4 names is actually less confusing than Wii and Wii U.
I wonder if they are planning to sell NX without marketing too since its well known already.
When NX releases it will probably have a new name, and then most people don't know what it is anymore.

Coca Cola is using billions each year or something on marketing to remind people that they still exist.
Most needs marketing.

Welcome to: Nintendo fanboys and fangirls tell Nintendo how to advertise games, the comment section.

Good to see nothing's changed here on NintendoLife.

@Chibiterasu
Discovered the internet, have you?

@Ninten-san Agreed, Nintendo's first HD console was a bottomless pitt of 2D platformers. Also another issue is that Wii U is barely weaker than the XBone and it released a year earlier, had Nintendo released games such as Xenoblade Chronicles X on day one people would have been wowwed. In-fact Xenoblade Chronicles X actually looks better than most PS4 RPG's so that would have definitely improved sales. Instead Nintendo releases 90% 2D platformers and 10% all other genres which killed the system as far as I'm concerned. I am looking forward to some of the indie JRPG's releasing on Wii U this year including Soul Saga, YIIK, Earthlock: Festival of Magic, Project Light, Chromophore: Two Brothers Director's Cut, etc.

"When we launched Wii U, we missed the opportunity to be clear on the concept, to show off its capabilities and what the users could do."

Meanwhile we still don't know a single concrete thing about NX and it 'comes out' in a little over half a year from now. Wii U was announced in mid 2011 and released over a year later. Nintendo hasn't learned a thing apparently.

The Wii U looked like it'd cater to actual gamers or at least (try to) bridge the gap between Wii audience and traditional just from looking at Nintendo Land: basically a Wii Sports but featuring the varied, colorful IP Nintendo's known for rather than sterile imitations of sports (though I'll admit that Tennis and Bowling were fun at the time). Sadly, there just wasn't enough substantial games or Gamepad usage. Most of the good games were on 3DS instead.

It didn't help that the 8gb Wii U model even existed: It was clearly inferior to its 32gb brethren, without being significantly cheaper to justify it. And even being the cheapest console, it seemed like a hard sell compared to the PS4 which would be much stronger at a fairly small increase in price. For me, it was strictly about the games---I wanted Nintendo Land and Mario Kart, and I wanted to see more of what that GamePad could do.

What I don't understand is how the Wii U's name was so damaging that a little bit of research couldn't have helped. People don't look at the box or check online for these things?

Still, it's been the most I've enjoyed a Nintendo console since the N64 days despite having such a small library. Mario Kart at 60 fps (well okay 59 but I just don't notice that missing frame often enough to care) and Splatoon pretty much carried the system though.

It'll all be history soon, like the virtual boy

The Wii U wasn't just misunderstood, it was also undesired by the market it was targeted at, the non gaming casual market that initially made the Wii a success.

Every gamer knows what the Wii U is.

It's the non gaming casuals who don't know what the Wii U is, but even if they knew, I doubt they would care, because it doesn't change that the non gaming casual market had moved on to smartphone games and they had no interest in consoles or $50+ video games anymore.

I don't know what the point of this statement is though, it's the same thing Nintendo has re-uttered countless times, and Nintendo has already announced they are abandoning the Wii U. Are they just trying to tell their investors that they are going to market the NX better?

Even if all consumers had properly understood the Wii U's concept and its capabilities, it would still sell like it did, because the console itself was a bad idea. Reggie can't say that, so instead he goes with the "consumers didn't understand us".

@Chibiterasu
nobody would be trying to tell ninty what to do if they were doing it right

Oh please, all wiiu games were either too short, lacking or forgettable. Just to not say mediocre even.
Nin themselves didn't love wiiu-- which is why Wiiu was my last purchase from them.

Let us see about BotW... My prediction, an 'ok' zelda. They won't surpass Albw for sure.

Software sells hardware, it's as simple as that. Quality software is good, but with a platform refresh cycle that is becoming increasingly abbreviated, Nintendo can't generate interest or promote the value proposition of its hardware with an average 8 - 10 first-party main-series titles and a smattering of derivatives each year for four years, not when their competition can offer four times that or more.

Regardless of what the Nintendo supremacists choose to shout into their echo chamber, the company needs third-party support with CONTEMPORARY titles if it wants to gain any sort of traction beyond being the console mistress of perhaps the 5 - 6 million Nintendo consumers that buy into the gospel of hardware integration.

Another Thing... Nintendo used an IBM PowerPC Tri Core Processor which people assumed in the gaming community were outdated before really understanding what is different in detail. Misunderstanding that it is more powerful then the XBox 360 and PS3. Most gaming engines were more x86 processor focused which is why the Wii U also failed in this area.

The fact that game developers were frustrated with the Wii U's hardware was due to the lack of optimizations available from their respective gaming engines: that heavily favored x86. So in most cases, as we have already seen, the Wii U versions of said games get scrapped completely.

"Now You're Playing with Missed Opportunities!"

Nintendo's unofficial slogan since, say, some fifteen years ago.

The gamepad was a novelty that was quickly abandoned and as such was basically just tacking on 80 bucks on a system that got maybe 3-4 high profile releases a year. No one wants to pay money for a console that barely gets games. In addition, 32 gb of storage space is a joke in today's world. No reason they couldn't have had 200+ gb of space given how cheap hdd are nowadays but no they wanted to shoehorn in more gimmicky crap.

Further, their online is still dreadful. I can't think of one game that offers anything close to good online. Splatoon is the closest but even that lacks basic features like voice chat, or even things like load out selection without having to exit out of the lobby and don't even get me started on the lack of mode/map selection.

Honestly the Wii U will go down as Nintendo's worst system. While there were some great games ultimately Nintendo really didn't do a single thing right and it's comments like the one Reggie made that has me furious with Nintendo. It's not that people didn't understand the Wii U, it's that they're smart enough to know what a polished turd looks like and that's what the Wii U was... a polished turd.

Nintendo needs to open their eyes!

They always say it's misunderstood.

Wii u, star fox, Wii music, the new metroid spin off and the animal crossing mini game.

These are not misunderstood.

It's simply not what the customer wants.

@SanderEvers about using two game pads...

They never had a good reason to even use one Gamepad, so why two?

The GamePad in my opinion was the worst idea that they had.

Basically a bigger version of the 3ds, nevertheless I bought one anyway for gaming parties.

@JpGamerGuy90 could not have said it better myself.

The Wii U Gamepad concept was just bad. It wasn't misunderstood.

Nintendo should have ditched the Gamepad when it became obvious what a mistake they had made.

@Mahe Agree with you there, the Gamepad just doesn't cut it.

I have nothing to add, really. Yeah. Nice comments.

@123akis
Sure, would have been able to run without scaling down, but being able to run is not enough reason to bring a game to a system. Even PS3/360 stopped getting ports when sales dropped low enough to no longer justify it.

Wii U being powerful enough to run Batman Arkham Knight or Fallout 4, doesn't mean there's a market to sell Batman Arkham Knight and Fallout 4. People forget there has to be a demand in order to supply.

Bottom line, is if there is demand, then one way or another they'll find a way to port the game anyways, because devs are in business to make money, and where there's demand there's money. Just look at all the smartphone games related to AAA releases. They will do anything to collect from a viable market.

But if games aren't coming to a platform, it's not because of lack of power, it's because of a lack of demand. A more powerful system may theoretically allow the game to be ported without scaling back, but it doesn't magically make the game sell. And a less powerful system may theoretically make it harder to port or must be scaled back, but it won't stop developers from cashing in on a goldmine of a market

I think they probably could have raked in a couple million extra sales if they had named it something other than the Wii. Then they probably could have broke 25 million or so if they spent a bit more on the hardware and advertised it based on its upgraded capabilities rather than just on the two screen gimmick.
I seriously know people who have never really even thought about the Wii U because it just slipped out of their minds from looking too similar to the Wii.

@Ninten-san It has classics. It's just 90% fewer people have played them this time around.

@Danrenfroe2016 Many of those games were made with the same mindset of their biggest successes. I think one thing that makes Nintendo great is their willingness to experiment with new ideas and that lead to their biggest successes. One thing I've seen quoted by Nintendo is that they try to "give the customer not what they want, but what they didn't know they wanted" rather than trot out proven ideas and stick to industry trends. Before it released people were saying the Nintendo DS was a bad idea that nobody wanted, yet it went on to sell 150 million units. Yet the PSP what would be the standard follow up handheld and "what everyone wanted" sold a lot less and in fact had a big issue in that it sold very little software.

I think a big issue Nintendo has is that there's a lot more people in 2016 willing to convince themselves they definitely don't want something before its even out than there were in 2003 and it leads to a lot of groupthink. How do you already know that Metroid Prime: Federation Force isn't misunderstood? I'm not saying it is(I've only played the Blastball demo), but It's not like there's only one good way to make a Metroid game...if there was then Metroid Prime itself would have failed.

-Not powerful enough to compete with upcoming PS4 and XBoxOne
-A horrible and confusing name
-Lackluster and old ports from 3rd parties
-Lackluster 1st party launch games
-Not enough games that really utilized the game pad at launch

It would've been more successful if the first games took better advantage of the Gamepad. NSMBU was released at launch and it didn't show the true capabilities of having a second smaller screen. Being able to touch the screen and make platforms isn't enough, especially since it's more fun to play as an actual character. It would have been better to start with a game like Mario Party 10 where it's just as fun for the player with the GamePad.

I don't think Nintendo will make the same mistake again. They'll be careful to show the power of the NX from the beginning.

In a couple of years the Wii U will be a classic system like the Dreamcast. Be grateful if you have one.

There are many wonderful comments already. I think most of the reason for WiiU's failure has been well described above (and I strongly think the WiiU was a failure in BOTH creative and commercial senses). I'll just add one element I haven't seen mentioned. Reggie runs/ran/represents Nintendo of America. Nintendo of America is largely a localization and marketing firm. I am highly doubtful they have much IF ANY input on new hardware or even game concepts. Reggie probably recognizes that the failings of the WiiU were many, but marketing is one aspect his firm is directly responsible for, and therefore he can criticize without insulting the Japan mothership. It's pure office politics packaged as courtesy and heard as arrogance and ignorance.

I always thought that "Wii U" was the sound you make (while holding your nose) after someone floated a rotten air biscuit in the same room as you. Shrug.

@Ninten-san Slpatoon and the new Legend of Zelda are pretty groundbreaking. Mario3D world is the first 3D isometric with 4 players and better than Galaxy imo and there is no Denying that Smash4 is a on a league of it's own. WiiU's library is some of the best that Nintendo has put out, popularity does not equal good, just remember that.

@Ninten-san These games are classics. But the Wii U...?

It's Super Mario Maker and it's better than anything else ever.

Wii u rocks! I understand Nintendo would want better numbers out of it though. Would help my online experience too.

Well, there certainly went a lot of things wrong with the WiiU and one could say it was doomed from the get go due to its inferior hardware. Also, don't give us a statement like "why it was misunderstood". It's your job to make us understand. And you failed doing that since 2012.

That said, the WiiU was so good in terms of exclusives. The WiiU reminded me a lot of the Gamecube in that regard and made me love Nintendo games again. I almost considered not buying another Nintendo console after I was so disappointed with the Wii which reminded me a lot of the N64.

@djtwenty9 Yes, but Zelda will be released in 2017. The Wii U was released in 2013! Everyone had to wait for so long...

@8itmap_k1d Yes, I agree. But they're classics in a different way.

Im happy with my Wii U. Bought it in late 2014, time when it was already obvious that it "failed" and rumors about NX started to appear. Never regret though.
Still I see it has much more potential.

Most complaints I see about the gamepad are either that it ever existed in the first place or that it was under utilised. I've never really been a fan of the concept (or at least I've never played a game that made it feel worth having), but one other big issue I had with it was the poor screen. It needed a nice crisp screen with a high resolution. If that was too expensive then they shouldn't have bothered with it until they could provde that. If I could play games off screen on a nice bright and crisp display then I would have seen some justification for it.

-Nintendoland sucked.
-No Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, or F-Zero games (Wii U gamepad would have been PERFECT for these games)
-No cross-buy

Also, Nintendo NEEDS to bring back their official Seal of Quality. To many shovelware games on the eShop. Get them off there!

@gatorboi352 Beautifully put and I wholeheartedly agree. It seems like Nintendo's descent began around the time of the N64 and has continued ever since. And I don't care what any delusional fans might say, Iwata's insistence on unconventional ideas - I say 'unconventional' because someone oddly got a little miffed when I used the term "gimmick" here awhile ago - hasn't helped matters. The only thing that concerns me about the NX is it being released mid-cycle again - more succinctly, since its hardware will eventually be outdated mid-cycle by the upcoming PS4/XB1 reboots, are third-parties going to shun the system again in favor of supporting the higher-end platforms?

@BionicDodo It's funny you mention wanting a crisper, higher-res screen on the GamePad. About a week ago here on NL, I mentioned that while I love the 3DS visuals, I wished the top screen on the 3DS has a crisper, higher resolution and some person here on NL responded something along the lines of "don't be the guy that complains about graphics," lol! Fanatics are something else... But yeah, I agree with your point also.

People keep talking about a games drought harming Wii U sales at the start. Really? What was selling the PS4 for the first year then? It certainly wasn't the games because nearly all of them were ones I either already had on PS3, or could get on PS3 without having to upgrade....it wasn't until Assassin's Creed Unity came out that I finally got a PS4, and we all know how AC Unity turned out (sigh). Even Destiny, I thought 'Great, this thing will be best on PS4 and supported for years'...turns out I was fed up of it within a week.

I honestly feel the marketing was the main problem, and Nintendo still refusing to release a system with the same kind of functions as the others....sure, it has Netflix and a couple of other apps, but people expect things like proper voice chat in games now, party chat and a proper account system....absolutely no reason at all as to why those couldn't have been implemented. I actually know people who wouldn't buy a Wii U due to the lack of party/voice chat in most games as the see the biggest selling points of the other consoles as being the social aspects of them on top of everything else. Hell, the main reason the group of friends I usually play with online dropped out of Splatoon is because of the lack of basic features in it like party chat which would have made it a lot more enjoyable and social.

Then there was the nonsense last year with Nintendo restricting people's content on their Youtube channels, which seriously hurt their reputation and free advertising.

It's about time that Nintendo started embracing the positive social aspects of the internet instead of only going so far as to have a draconian system like Miiverse, where everything is moderated and censored to death. People may say 'it's to protect kids' but millions of kids use the other consoles and you very, very rarely hear of bad experiences with them or any kind of a negative media outcry.

On saying all this though, I'd argue that even with it's 13 million sales, it's been overall more of a success than the Xbox One. Higher game sales for anything that matters and cheaper to produce, whereas Microsoft have had to backpedal, constantly make changes and throw tons of cash at the X1 just to get it to the 20million sales it currently stands at.

I remember at the time it was revealed hearing so many people say they thought it was an accessory for the Wii. I don't think they ever got past that. Underpowered, horrible slow UI, released a year too late, tiny storage capacity... all the things listed by everyone else above. I love the games that have been released for my Wii U but I can see clearly why it is the Atari 7800 to the Wii's 2600.

One HUUGE mistake Nintendo isn't keen on admitting is the whole "two SKUs at launch" debacle. Launching with both a "basic" and "premium" bundle, as it was.

This approach had a generation previously hurt both Microsoft's and Sony's launches gravely, and lo and behold, they're both back to one SKU this generation.

What happened specifically with the Wii U is that the Premium bundles sold out immediately at major retailers. Literally before the end of January 2013 for most of them, but none of the retailers felt like ordering more systems until they had also cleared out the Basic bundles. They did not understand the difference.

So for months on end, Basic bundles that none of the hardcore fans wanted, and none of the casual fans even knew existed, were rotting on shelves, until the system was taken out of retail altogether at many major chains (even the majority of chains in Europe) before its second holiday season. OUCH!!

All because Nintendo thought fans ought to make a decision Nintendo should have made for them; What comes in the package with your system.

Because Nintendo knew the price of manufacturing the system was getting out of hand, and didn't want to gamble on keeping the price low.

Because Nintendo didn't IMMEDIATELY buy back unwanted Basic bundles and provide the market with what was desired.

There's a bunch of other things they did wrong with launching the system (basically everything they did right with the Wii,) but the two SKUs in general and its execution seemed to me their most dire mistake.

Im looking forward to see how the marketing campaign will be for the NX.

"Missed" the opportunity????

It was colossal failure to attempt anything remotely anywhere near something that resembled an advertising campaign.

I have loved video games since 1987, more so Nintendo than anything else. Me! I! Didn't even know anything about Wii U until the week before it launched. Had fallen out of touch with games for a year or two then took a Christmas job at Game, who gave me a 30 second breakdown or what it was and I thought "really!? That sounds awesome" and behold it was.

Nintendo just forgot to tell anybody about it.

The FIFA demo was absolutely amazing. The concept of managing a team on the fly on a second screen was revolutionary, ultimately looked and now sadly missed from all sports games it could have been in.

NHL is my game of choice and this could REALLY have done with the Wii U controller for changing lines, logically changing strategies and calling times outs. All things that require either a pause of the game, or cyclical options tied to one button. Archaic.

Touch screen on the fly oils be huge to sports sims. Shame Nintendo didn't capitalise on that.

@SanderEvers True... I just wish nintendo had done differently for wii u. I'm afraid they are falling into same traps for the NX.

However, I need to be positive once in a while.

What I like about the NX so far:
1. Carts - Physical Media... 100% on board IF they allow developers to choose what size, compression scheme and such... Remove the Idiot limitations! Let developers innovate.
2. (if it holds) A new name. NX works, or just call it Nintendo. please drop the wii branding.
3. Not opposed to ARM with Tegra or something similar IF it is more powerful than the PS4/xbone.
4. Ram and Storage MUST be large! Min 8GB ram and 64GB storage.

What I dislike:
1. ARM with Tegra IF it is the current chips provided by Nvidia... This would be bad... Sure great for a handheld... But for a console? Way under-powered...
2. Detachable controller idea? Not sold on this yet. What happens when the clips / plastic holding it in place breaks?
3. Vitality sensor???? Unless its built into the controller grip or something, and works completely passively, otherwise it will be a silly gimmick and not needed.

@Ninten-san Did you forget about Super Mario Maker and Splatoon?

@Ninten-san Skyward Sword as the best Wii game? What in the hell are you smoking? It wasn't even the best Wii Zelda game, and it only has one game to compete with in that category.

@happylittlepigs Calm down! Just because everyone hates Skyward Sword doesn't mean I have to do that too. That wasn't the point anyway...

@bert0503 Nope. What do you mean?

I agree with all who have said Nint didn't know what it was doing. Just add that the controller also didn't do many of the cool things I was expecting. For example when I first played MK8 and the screen controller couldn't be used in multiplay without showing the split screen on the tv. 5 player local would have been fantastic. But used as it was, why look at a tiny screen compared to the tv?

@8itmap_k1d It also has 90 % fewer classics than Wii.

@Ninten-san The Best Wii U game is probably Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, or Xenoblade Chronicles X. All 3 are games that greatly make use of the console.

@bert0503
I agree. Super Mario 3D World is awesome too.

People understood it quite well, that's why they didn't buy it!

It was misunderstood because nobody knew what it was. They are doing the same thing with the NX. I guess they think surprising gamers on release day is the way to go. NOT!

@Dr_Lugae I would be onboard with what you are saying...

but...

This generation saw:

No Metroid prime, No animal crossing (wii U), no Zelda (except a promise) & a Star Fox that Bombed bad...

I get offended when he tells me I am misunderstanding... I sunk 11 hours into star fox and came out with mixed results.. Its just meh... Could have been great, save for "we want new experiences)

Additionally, I am worried Nintendo will continue to blame the customer instead of looking inward...

So I do agree with you in principle (and I loved my DS, best machine in ages...) But I never picked up a 3ds because of the small screens. I would rather play on my 57"

Wii U Aint goin ANYWHERE. Wii U is here to STAY! nx will be emulated almost right away. Wii U will start to get 3rd party more and more because of the lack of 1st party.
You see, with nx, its steeling Wii U 1st party so Wii U gets 3rd. Nx gets first party but then they will be stolen by pc. PC can't steel Wii U games because they wont run worth a **** on PC. Wii U's user base will continue to grow over the next couple years. It will develope a load of great indie games like Fast Racing Neo and get the 3rd party games that don't have to compete with Nintendo 1st party, then after nx fails, 1st party will be back to Wii U.

@G-Boy Good food takes time to cook... you're still going to be able to eat it, you just have to wait.