14 DAY TRIAL // The biggest announcement from this year's E3 trade event has been that Nintendo is working on its next home console, called the Wii U, and plans to launch it, complete with touchscreen-powered controller, during 2012.
But at least one prominent analyst of the video game industry believes that the new platform is arriving too late and has too little to offer to the average gamer.
Michael Pachter, who is watching the video game market for Wedbush Morgan Securities, has said that “We were once again impressed by this year’s E3, and the show continues to get better and better. The hardware displayed was impressive, and each of the console manufacturers showed many core games for their respective systems.”
He then added, “The most impactful 'reveal' at the show was the Wii U, which, in our opinion, is arriving two years too late. Depending on pricing, the system will be either a phenomenal success or a phenomenal failure, as competitive bundles for Xbox 360 with Kinect and PS3 with Move are likely to be priced below $300 by the time the Wii U launches.”
Nintendo has not announced an actual price point for the Wii U, but executives have said that it is likely to be higher than 250 dollars on launch and the company has also refused to pinpoint a launch date, although some sources have pointed to the summer of next year.
Pachter seems to believe that the unique selling point of the Wii U, the new controller than incorporates analog stick and a gyroscope as well as a touch screen, is not attractive enough to the average gamer and to the mainstream developers.
Nintendo says that the new home console is designed to reach as many potential customer groups as possible and that its capabilities make it better suited to group gaming than the rivals from Microsoft and Sony.