14 DAY TRIAL // No matter what actual sales figures Nintendo eventually releases, the Wii U home console is not performing very well at the moment and there’s no clear sign that it can rebound in the coming year and mount a solid challenge to the current domination of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 when it comes to next-gen hardware.
Consider the fact that the platforms from Microsoft and Sony have managed to sell more since November 2013 than the Nintendo device has amassed since November 2012.
Nintendo understands its current predicament certainly and is currently offering vague information about a future initiative that’s apparently centered around non-wearable devices that will be able to improve a user’s health while also entertaining him.
But the company should not be too fast in abandoning the traditional hardware market and should try to update them both one more time, with a solid marketing and launch campaign, before it decides to move away and maybe finally launch its biggest franchises for third-party platforms.
The Power of the Mass Market The original Wii was an undisputed success, a piece of hardware that punched above its weight because Nintendo was able to introduce an innovative series of video games experiences all built around the idea of motion tracking.
The Wii U aimed to take the concept and slightly update it, but it had no hook for the mainstream players, no way of significantly upgrading what its predecessor was offering in a meaningful way.
Nintendo still benefits from a huge cache of good will among the wider gaming community and there’s certainly a big potential audience for any kind of hardware that it might deliver in the future.
The company needs to find a new transformative idea and build an updated version of the Wii U around it, launch a marketing blitz and aim for a 2015 launch, hoping that by then, the market has gotten tired of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 and is ready for a set of new and interesting ideas.
Nintendo Can Trade on Nostalgia
The company can also easily create interest by making sure that all its big franchises, from Mario to Zelda, are ready to deliver a new installment when its next hardware is available on the market.
A lot of the modern gaming public grew up with Nintendo games and nostalgia is a powerful force when it comes to sales, especially if it is deployed properly.
Imagine a new home console, integrated with the 3DS, able to play classic titles with updated graphics, all of them offered on launch, and including an innovative gameplay-focused idea that’s as revolutionary as motion use was.
Surely, such a device might fail to generate interest in the market place and might sell even worse than the Wii U in its first two years, which would be a big blow for the future of Nintendo.
But the company currently has the resources required to try once more to create something revolutionary, which it might no longer have if it continues to back the Wii U for another three or four years.
The future of any business is uncertain, but most gamers would certainly prefer to see Nintendo deliver another hit piece of hardware than go the way of SEGA and only focus on video games.