@PlywoodStick To you and all others who have replied to me. Let's see where I can begin without making this post too long. It's a lot to explain. Let's start with the Hierarchy of Markets. What is the Hierarchy of Markets? It's a pecking order that determines the power of influence over the industry. The market that is #1 influences all markets behind it. You cannot win the World Market without winning the #1 Market.
From 1972 to 1985 the hierarchy went like this: #1 America. #2 Japan. #3 Europe & the rest of the World.
It was like this because the Videogame Industry started in the United States of America in 1972 from 2 entities. 1 - Atari Incorporated by Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney—The Videogame Arcade. 2 - Magnavox Odyssey by Ralph Baer—The Videogame Console. The Americans started this thing so America was the #1 market. However, both of the founders of this industry included Japan in the foundation of the industry (The word 'Atari' itself is a Japanese word from a Japanese game called Go). In 1973, Atari made a Japanese branch called Atari Japan which had connection to the Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company AKA NAMCO. In 1971, cardmaker/toymaker/gamemaker Nintendo struck a deal to provide their Beam Gun as a peripheral on the Magnavox Odyssey game Shooting Gallery. This led to Nintendo being the Japanese distributor for the very first videogame console in the world, the Magnavox Odyssey. Because of these efforts Japan became the #2 market. Europe & the rest of the world was NOT included in this foundation so they became the #3 market.
But when the irresponsibility of the Americans led to the Crash of 1983, a shift took place that is still in effect to this day. Ever since 1985 when Japanese Nintendo took over the Videogame Industry with the Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System, the hierarchy has been & STILL IS like this: #1 Japan. #2 America. #3 Europe & the rest of the World.
Ever since Nintendo became THE BOSS & THE LEADER of this industry, you cannot win a generation without winning the Japanese market. NES won Japan. NES won The World. Game Boy won Japan. Game Boy won The World. SNES won Japan. SNES won The World. PlayStation won Japan. PlayStation won The World. PlayStation 2 won Japan. PlayStation 2 won The World. Game Boy Advance won Japan. Game Boy Advance won The World. DS won Japan. DS won The World. Wii won Japan. Wii won The World. 3DS IS WINNING Japan. 3DS IS WINNING The World.
The Sega Genesis actually outshone the SNES for most of its life in the American market. Genesis had 65% of the American market but they still lost the overall race because they could not win Japan. EVEN WHEN the two PlayStations won Japan in home consoles, Nintendo was STILL the overall market leader because of their handheld consoles in Japan (Sony made a handheld 10 years too late). Nintendo merely lost a battle in Japan but still won the war. Nintendo has consistently been the Market Leader of the Videogame Industry for going on 31 years. Ever since they took over in 1985. Not many people realize this.
We just had a Media Create/Famtsu sales result showing Wii U RISING GREATLY even without any major holiday titles. Wii U just sold over 100,000 hitting the #2 spot under its comrade the #1 3DS AFTER Sony cut the price of the PS4. Wii U did not drop its price & STILL outsold PS4.
Nintendo remembers who made Japan the #1 market. THEY DID. And you no longer win Japan with home consoles anymore. You win them with handheld consoles. Nintendo made this happen during the transition between GBA & DS. THEY created that reality. Sony had publicly quit on the Vita & has said there will be no successor because mobile was too hard. Nintendo says 3DS is here to stay in the face of mobile. Sony has publicly quit on PlayStation Mobile. Sony is on the brink of exiting the smartphone business which means no more Xperia Play. Sony is doing every single thing to make themselves irrelevant in the portable-loving/handheld-loving Japanese gaming market with these moves. And Nintendo will be there to take advantage of it. Who does handhelds better than Nintendo? NOBODY. 36 years of constant success since 1980's Game & Watch that has destroyed each & every challenger that has gone up against it.
Keep in mind that Wii U is The ONLY Handheld Home Console. The future of consoles will be Handheld even the ones at Home. The only obstacles in Nintendo's way are these portable All-In-One Devices, these Tablet PCs offered by Apple & Google. Nintendo demolished an All-In-One market before. The Home Computers of the 1980s through the NES. That's why PC gamemakers keep shunning the PC they came from & go to the consoles to make money. That's why former Amiga developer DMA Design now called Rockstar Games put out Grand Theft Auto on the PC 2 MONTHS BEFORE they put it out on PlayStation in 1997... ...but why that same Rockstar Games put out Grand Theft Auto V on PC 2 YEARS AFTER they put it out on PlayStation 3 (and XBox 360) in 2013. The PC game market still exists but it doesn't have the power & prominence of the console market. Shouldn't PC game companies like Bethesda, Crytek, CD Projekt, Codemasters, & the rest be promoting the PC FIRST & FOREMOST?
Nintendo has laid out a long range plan to UNIFY the gaming world. I should say RE-UNIFY really. 3DS & Wii U are part of this plan. And so is NX. Each of these vehicles has a specific mission to achieve but the end goal is an industry fully ruled by Nintendo without question. The 3rd Parties have been in REBELLION against Nintendo for 22 years ever since the PlayStation showed up in 1994. And Nintendo is fed up with the REBELLION which forces them to jump generations before they're ready, keeps the markets out of alignment, & keeps the craft of gaming from reaching its true potential. So this UNITY plan aims to end the Console Wars.
The easiest part to UNIFY is the Japanese 3rd parties. Their REBELLION is less severe than the "Western" one which ultimately stems from that destroyed All-In-One Home Computer market of the 1980s. There's a reason why Cloud is suddenly in Smash Bros. There's a reason why Namco is teaming strongly with Nintendo when you understand that both of these companies were on the ground floor with the founders of this industry. There's a reason why Nintendo is suddenly calling the Indies "Nindies". There's a reason why these amiibos are not just game toys but emblems of UNIFICATION (Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic, Ryu, Cloud, Shovel Knight). All Nintendo has to do is UNIFY Japan & this generation is over. You don't win The World without winning Japan.
Sony's PS4 gets its power mostly from European sales but what place in the hierarchy is the European market? #3......behind #2 America & #1 Japan. Ask yourself how many European consoles have you ever seen. ZERO. Football/Soccer is like a national religion in Europe with the World Cup sometimes causing Soccer Riots. Who makes their soccer games? An American company named Electronic Arts. Rockstar Games is the most successful European developer of all time. Who owns them? An American company named Take-Two Interactive. King Digital, a successful mobile game developer, just sold themselves to an American company named Activision. Mojang, a successful PC game developer, just sold themselves to an American company named Microsoft. You see that pecking order?
Sony will get crushed by American Microsoft in "The West" & Japanese Nintendo in "The East". This is part of Nintendo's plan. That's why Wii U launched so early. To force this crunch. Microsoft NEEDS America to sell XBoxes & if Sony gets in their way, Microsoft has all the money in the world from Windows to tire them out. Sony has abandoned proper focus on their home market chasing Microsoft in "The West". Nintendo will make sure to push Sony out of Japan ENTIRELY. Microsoft's money has no effect on Nintendo & the pecking order will show itself as Japan knocks on America & America knocks on Europe.
Nintendo is not leaving the Wii U if you understand these things I just told you. The U stands for UNITY & that's exactly what this console is going to achieve. NX is focused on Apple & Google which threaten ALL consoles—Home AND Handheld. It has a different mission than Wii U even though it's aiming for the same goals: The UNIFICATION. That's why NX was announced on the same day as the deal with mobile game developer DeNA.
I'll talk game cycles in another post because this one is already too long. If you know what I know, you won't say Wii U is ready for the grave. Nintendo will surprise so many people this year with what they have in store.
@Marshi Sorry Marshi. Not a fantasy. To understand how I came to those conclusions you will have to do a deep study on the history of the videogame industry. I don't expect many people to understand what I'm saying there. Most people don't know what drives the videogame business. They don't fully understand its structure. There's a method to Nintendo's madness. Wii U is not done. Not by a long shot. You will see soon.
My first post here at NintendoLife. And I gotta say this. Those who think 2016 is Wii U's last year have a RUDE awakening coming. Wii U is not anywhere NEAR the graveyard regardless of what the popular buzz says or what the rumor mill says. NX is not Wii U's replacement. I could write a long explanation why that is but attention spans are short so I'll post it if requested. Nintendo is preparing a HUMONGOUS year for both 3DS AND Wii U.
Keep in mind that 2016 is the year for key anniversaries. We already know about the 30th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. But remember that 2016 is ALSO the 30th Anniversary of Metroid as well. Metroid didn't get a proper celebration of its 25th so it will get the 30th celebration. That's why Metroid Prime: Federation Force will come out this year on 3DS. And that's ALSO why Metroid will be announced on Wii U this year. Why do you think Sakamoto has been so quiet? It doesn't take that many resources to create a Rhythm Heaven game. And before you say it, the series is called Metroid not Metroid Prime which is a SUB-SERIES of Metroid.
Also 2016 is the 30th Anniversary of Kid Icarus. 2015 was already the 25th Anniversary of Fire Emblem but we'll be getting that major game of Fates here this year. And 2016 is the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon. Pokémon X & Y hasn't got their summary game or followup game yet. Most likely it will be Pokémon Z or Pokémon A & B (or L & R maybe). That's why the original Red & Green/Blue get released on Virtual Console this year. That's why Pokken Tournament comes out this year. All representations of Pokémon's 20th Anniversary.
Also Animal Crossing has not seen a mainline release on Wii U yet. There WILL be a release. It will use amiibos & that's why Nintendo is pushing amiibos so hard on those 2 spinoffs. In addition, the mere existence of a Mario Tennis on Wii U means that a Mario Golf is coming since these 2 Camelot games always come out in tandem. If those Mario Sports come out while Wii Sports Club exists then all Mario Sports will come out & that also includes Mario Strikers. Rosalina hasn't got her attitudinal outfit yet & everybody's waiting to see that. And it might be on handheld too this time around.
Pikmin 4 has been announced by Miyamoto. That's a Wii U title. The Upad is PERFECT for Real-Time Strategy games & Pikmin fits the bill. ALSO with all of these amiibos coming out, don't you realize that there will be a title most likely named Nintendo World using them in a brand new unique viral way? Think about how Animal Crossing's data morphs & changes if you want a clue on how they're gonna do this. I give it the title of Nintendo World since there's already a Nintendo Land. And don't be surprised if a F-Zero or Punch-Out shows up on Wii U either.
Nintendo is not going to cut off the sales trains of these key major titles abruptly. There will not be another Mario Kart on Home Console until at LEAST 2020. There will not be another Smash Bros. until at LEAST 2020 assuming Sakurai even decides to make another one. Both 3DS & Wii U will have long lifespans because there are no new incoming competitors for Nintendo to address.
NX is focused on what Apple & Google are doing to the entire console business. I expect it to be a 3rd gaming line to coexist with 3DS & Wii U. That's why they say they want to make it BECOME part of their core business. If it is home console, wouldn't that be by default?
Nintendo in 2016 will shock the world. Nintendo is UNIFYING the entire videogame business under them. RE-UNIFYING I should say. Wii U will be one of those vehicles to help them achieve this. Notice that Wii U is still rising in sales even if slowly. Notice how Wii U demolished PS4 AFTER PS4's price cut in Japan recently. Once Nintendo UNIFIES Japan, they will have won this console race.
Just because Nintendo hasn't told you everything they're doing for 2016, don't think they're going quietly into the night with Wii U. They have just BEGUN to fight & you will see what I'm talking about this year.
Comments 3
Re: Feature: The Biggest Wii U Games of 2016
@PlywoodStick To you and all others who have replied to me.
Let's see where I can begin without making this post too long.
It's a lot to explain.
Let's start with the Hierarchy of Markets.
What is the Hierarchy of Markets?
It's a pecking order that determines the power of influence over the industry.
The market that is #1 influences all markets behind it.
You cannot win the World Market without winning the #1 Market.
From 1972 to 1985 the hierarchy went like this:
#1 America. #2 Japan. #3 Europe & the rest of the World.
It was like this because the Videogame Industry started in the United States of America in 1972 from 2 entities.
1 - Atari Incorporated by Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney—The Videogame Arcade.
2 - Magnavox Odyssey by Ralph Baer—The Videogame Console.
The Americans started this thing so America was the #1 market.
However, both of the founders of this industry included Japan in the foundation of the industry (The word 'Atari' itself is a Japanese word from a Japanese game called Go).
In 1973, Atari made a Japanese branch called Atari Japan which had connection to the Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company AKA NAMCO.
In 1971, cardmaker/toymaker/gamemaker Nintendo struck a deal to provide their Beam Gun as a peripheral on the Magnavox Odyssey game Shooting Gallery.
This led to Nintendo being the Japanese distributor for the very first videogame console in the world, the Magnavox Odyssey.
Because of these efforts Japan became the #2 market.
Europe & the rest of the world was NOT included in this foundation so they became the #3 market.
But when the irresponsibility of the Americans led to the Crash of 1983, a shift took place that is still in effect to this day.
Ever since 1985 when Japanese Nintendo took over the Videogame Industry with the Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System, the hierarchy has been & STILL IS like this:
#1 Japan. #2 America. #3 Europe & the rest of the World.
Ever since Nintendo became THE BOSS & THE LEADER of this industry, you cannot win a generation without winning the Japanese market.
NES won Japan. NES won The World.
Game Boy won Japan. Game Boy won The World.
SNES won Japan. SNES won The World.
PlayStation won Japan. PlayStation won The World.
PlayStation 2 won Japan. PlayStation 2 won The World.
Game Boy Advance won Japan. Game Boy Advance won The World.
DS won Japan. DS won The World.
Wii won Japan. Wii won The World.
3DS IS WINNING Japan. 3DS IS WINNING The World.
The Sega Genesis actually outshone the SNES for most of its life in the American market.
Genesis had 65% of the American market but they still lost the overall race because they could not win Japan.
EVEN WHEN the two PlayStations won Japan in home consoles, Nintendo was STILL the overall market leader because of their handheld consoles in Japan (Sony made a handheld 10 years too late).
Nintendo merely lost a battle in Japan but still won the war.
Nintendo has consistently been the Market Leader of the Videogame Industry for going on 31 years. Ever since they took over in 1985.
Not many people realize this.
We just had a Media Create/Famtsu sales result showing Wii U RISING GREATLY even without any major holiday titles.
Wii U just sold over 100,000 hitting the #2 spot under its comrade the #1 3DS AFTER Sony cut the price of the PS4.
Wii U did not drop its price & STILL outsold PS4.
Nintendo remembers who made Japan the #1 market. THEY DID.
And you no longer win Japan with home consoles anymore.
You win them with handheld consoles.
Nintendo made this happen during the transition between GBA & DS.
THEY created that reality.
Sony had publicly quit on the Vita & has said there will be no successor because mobile was too hard.
Nintendo says 3DS is here to stay in the face of mobile.
Sony has publicly quit on PlayStation Mobile.
Sony is on the brink of exiting the smartphone business which means no more Xperia Play.
Sony is doing every single thing to make themselves irrelevant in the portable-loving/handheld-loving Japanese gaming market with these moves.
And Nintendo will be there to take advantage of it.
Who does handhelds better than Nintendo? NOBODY.
36 years of constant success since 1980's Game & Watch that has destroyed each & every challenger that has gone up against it.
Keep in mind that Wii U is The ONLY Handheld Home Console.
The future of consoles will be Handheld even the ones at Home.
The only obstacles in Nintendo's way are these portable All-In-One Devices, these Tablet PCs offered by Apple & Google.
Nintendo demolished an All-In-One market before.
The Home Computers of the 1980s through the NES.
That's why PC gamemakers keep shunning the PC they came from & go to the consoles to make money.
That's why former Amiga developer DMA Design now called Rockstar Games put out Grand Theft Auto on the PC 2 MONTHS BEFORE they put it out on PlayStation in 1997...
...but why that same Rockstar Games put out Grand Theft Auto V on PC 2 YEARS AFTER they put it out on PlayStation 3 (and XBox 360) in 2013.
The PC game market still exists but it doesn't have the power & prominence of the console market.
Shouldn't PC game companies like Bethesda, Crytek, CD Projekt, Codemasters, & the rest be promoting the PC FIRST & FOREMOST?
Nintendo has laid out a long range plan to UNIFY the gaming world.
I should say RE-UNIFY really.
3DS & Wii U are part of this plan. And so is NX.
Each of these vehicles has a specific mission to achieve but the end goal is an industry fully ruled by Nintendo without question.
The 3rd Parties have been in REBELLION against Nintendo for 22 years ever since the PlayStation showed up in 1994.
And Nintendo is fed up with the REBELLION which forces them to jump generations before they're ready, keeps the markets out of alignment, & keeps the craft of gaming from reaching its true potential.
So this UNITY plan aims to end the Console Wars.
The easiest part to UNIFY is the Japanese 3rd parties.
Their REBELLION is less severe than the "Western" one which ultimately stems from that destroyed All-In-One Home Computer market of the 1980s.
There's a reason why Cloud is suddenly in Smash Bros.
There's a reason why Namco is teaming strongly with Nintendo when you understand that both of these companies were on the ground floor with the founders of this industry.
There's a reason why Nintendo is suddenly calling the Indies "Nindies".
There's a reason why these amiibos are not just game toys but emblems of UNIFICATION (Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic, Ryu, Cloud, Shovel Knight).
All Nintendo has to do is UNIFY Japan & this generation is over.
You don't win The World without winning Japan.
Sony's PS4 gets its power mostly from European sales but what place in the hierarchy is the European market? #3......behind #2 America & #1 Japan.
Ask yourself how many European consoles have you ever seen. ZERO.
Football/Soccer is like a national religion in Europe with the World Cup sometimes causing Soccer Riots.
Who makes their soccer games?
An American company named Electronic Arts.
Rockstar Games is the most successful European developer of all time.
Who owns them?
An American company named Take-Two Interactive.
King Digital, a successful mobile game developer, just sold themselves to an American company named Activision.
Mojang, a successful PC game developer, just sold themselves to an American company named Microsoft.
You see that pecking order?
Sony will get crushed by American Microsoft in "The West" & Japanese Nintendo in "The East". This is part of Nintendo's plan.
That's why Wii U launched so early. To force this crunch.
Microsoft NEEDS America to sell XBoxes & if Sony gets in their way, Microsoft has all the money in the world from Windows to tire them out.
Sony has abandoned proper focus on their home market chasing Microsoft in "The West". Nintendo will make sure to push Sony out of Japan ENTIRELY.
Microsoft's money has no effect on Nintendo & the pecking order will show itself as Japan knocks on America & America knocks on Europe.
Nintendo is not leaving the Wii U if you understand these things I just told you. The U stands for UNITY & that's exactly what this console is going to achieve.
NX is focused on Apple & Google which threaten ALL consoles—Home AND Handheld. It has a different mission than Wii U even though it's aiming for the same goals: The UNIFICATION.
That's why NX was announced on the same day as the deal with mobile game developer DeNA.
I'll talk game cycles in another post because this one is already too long.
If you know what I know, you won't say Wii U is ready for the grave.
Nintendo will surprise so many people this year with what they have in store.
John Lucas
Re: Feature: The Biggest Wii U Games of 2016
@Marshi Sorry Marshi. Not a fantasy.
To understand how I came to those conclusions you will have to do a deep study on the history of the videogame industry.
I don't expect many people to understand what I'm saying there.
Most people don't know what drives the videogame business.
They don't fully understand its structure.
There's a method to Nintendo's madness.
Wii U is not done. Not by a long shot. You will see soon.
John Lucas
Re: Feature: The Biggest Wii U Games of 2016
My first post here at NintendoLife. And I gotta say this.
Those who think 2016 is Wii U's last year have a RUDE awakening coming.
Wii U is not anywhere NEAR the graveyard regardless of what the popular buzz says or what the rumor mill says.
NX is not Wii U's replacement. I could write a long explanation why that is but attention spans are short so I'll post it if requested.
Nintendo is preparing a HUMONGOUS year for both 3DS AND Wii U.
Keep in mind that 2016 is the year for key anniversaries.
We already know about the 30th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.
But remember that 2016 is ALSO the 30th Anniversary of Metroid as well.
Metroid didn't get a proper celebration of its 25th so it will get the 30th celebration.
That's why Metroid Prime: Federation Force will come out this year on 3DS.
And that's ALSO why Metroid will be announced on Wii U this year.
Why do you think Sakamoto has been so quiet? It doesn't take that many resources to create a Rhythm Heaven game.
And before you say it, the series is called Metroid not Metroid Prime which is a SUB-SERIES of Metroid.
Also 2016 is the 30th Anniversary of Kid Icarus.
2015 was already the 25th Anniversary of Fire Emblem but we'll be getting that major game of Fates here this year.
And 2016 is the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon.
Pokémon X & Y hasn't got their summary game or followup game yet.
Most likely it will be Pokémon Z or Pokémon A & B (or L & R maybe).
That's why the original Red & Green/Blue get released on Virtual Console this year.
That's why Pokken Tournament comes out this year.
All representations of Pokémon's 20th Anniversary.
Also Animal Crossing has not seen a mainline release on Wii U yet.
There WILL be a release. It will use amiibos & that's why Nintendo is pushing amiibos so hard on those 2 spinoffs.
In addition, the mere existence of a Mario Tennis on Wii U means that a Mario Golf is coming since these 2 Camelot games always come out in tandem.
If those Mario Sports come out while Wii Sports Club exists then all Mario Sports will come out & that also includes Mario Strikers.
Rosalina hasn't got her attitudinal outfit yet & everybody's waiting to see that. And it might be on handheld too this time around.
Pikmin 4 has been announced by Miyamoto. That's a Wii U title.
The Upad is PERFECT for Real-Time Strategy games & Pikmin fits the bill.
ALSO with all of these amiibos coming out, don't you realize that there will be a title most likely named Nintendo World using them in a brand new unique viral way?
Think about how Animal Crossing's data morphs & changes if you want a clue on how they're gonna do this.
I give it the title of Nintendo World since there's already a Nintendo Land.
And don't be surprised if a F-Zero or Punch-Out shows up on Wii U either.
Nintendo is not going to cut off the sales trains of these key major titles abruptly.
There will not be another Mario Kart on Home Console until at LEAST 2020.
There will not be another Smash Bros. until at LEAST 2020 assuming Sakurai even decides to make another one.
Both 3DS & Wii U will have long lifespans because there are no new incoming competitors for Nintendo to address.
NX is focused on what Apple & Google are doing to the entire console business. I expect it to be a 3rd gaming line to coexist with 3DS & Wii U.
That's why they say they want to make it BECOME part of their core business.
If it is home console, wouldn't that be by default?
Nintendo in 2016 will shock the world.
Nintendo is UNIFYING the entire videogame business under them.
RE-UNIFYING I should say.
Wii U will be one of those vehicles to help them achieve this.
Notice that Wii U is still rising in sales even if slowly.
Notice how Wii U demolished PS4 AFTER PS4's price cut in Japan recently.
Once Nintendo UNIFIES Japan, they will have won this console race.
Just because Nintendo hasn't told you everything they're doing for 2016, don't think they're going quietly into the night with Wii U.
They have just BEGUN to fight & you will see what I'm talking about this year.
John Lucas