Well i actually think those that say the gamepad doesnt intrest them are the one that have NEVER played the console. Nintendo problem is they do design their systems around an experience somethng you wont "GET" until you pick it up and play it. i actually think the gamepad is a gamechanger and i play games on gamepad more than i do the tv it is just a convenience in a house with 3 kids and a wife. I think the problems is Nintendo havent done enough to justify the system manily the gamepad. We were told the system can support two gamepad and we havent seen one game built around that yet (correct me if i am wrong). Nintendo marketing have been HORRIBLE i do think upping the marketing will help a lot which i hope they do this year ( they have said they will) but words from them mean nothing to me at this point. So yes i do think this "FAILURE" if you were to call it that SHOULD wake nintendo... SHOULD i hope. Notice the trends, spend some money, and move a little outside their box. Manly all Nintendo needs to do is balance. Bring n64/gamecube games to VC, give us the ip's we havent seen (starfox, f-zero), and new ones, and invest in more studios because 3rd parties have made it clear you are last on their list.
I think there are plenty of owners, myself included, who don't think too big of the Gamepad's functions. I don't believe it to be as game changing as you say. I don't think all of those ideas are going to help the Wii U either. But never mind that, this is a thread to discuss what we'd like Nintendo to do with their next console, not the Wii U.
The first thing to address what the next console should do. We're now in a market where there are plenty of people content with using cheaper mobile devices like tablets and phones. I think any hardware developer should abuse that at this point, and get their systems to have some sort of connection with those devices. At least, it will no longer be against that market, as it can be integrated. As crap as they are, the PS4 tried with Companion Apps. The apps themselves have proven a craptasm, but the concept of having the console connected to whatever phone you are using for a bit of an edge could become a bonus if done right. It should be at least capable of all multimedia functions currently accessible to all consoles. People will complain about one or two functions and it can have the deciding vote for whatever reason goes through a person's mind. The less you skimp on, the more that the games will be the decider becomes true.
Another thing they should be doing is having a well integrated network. The whole shebang. Miiverse quickly lost it's relevance and just became an overly modded drawing board. Users should be allowed to create communities, and have their own control of what happens in the community. The online store should be easier to navigate and all titles should be downloadable. Everything should be clear and not based on these 'channels and icons' design crap. The online should be sufficient and not restricted for third party developers.
I'm not gonna ask for the best hardware spec wise, but it should be decent enough and easy to develop on so that no third party can use the excuses that they've gotten away with the Wii U. If it can do that and run as quietly and as cooled as the Wii U, that's a bonus.
The controller shouldn't force new control designs. It should be like your standard controller, and if they want to add something to it, it needs to be simple, easy to access and this time around, not painful to one's neck. A nice long battery life and a nice feel to the hands.
The software, and more specifically the launch software. Nintendo has tried to let third parties have first dibs on their launches twice, and both times the result has been less than stellar. Nintendo doesn't have good relations with third parties to begin with so they should focus more on rolling out first party titles at a breakneck speed for the first year.
What a launch lineup shouldn't look like:
2-3 first party titles that aren't particularly stellar
5 party titles
4-8 major third party titles of which most are gimped
What a launch lineup should look like:
4-5 first party titles, 3 of which can be experimental and attempting to highlight new controls, 1-2 of which are solid Game of the Year material. Ambitious, I know, but the sooner they can hold ground with their own Nintendo quality, the better. Wouldn't hurt for one of these titles to come off as 'too adult for Nintendo'. They should broaden what kind of games they think they are allowed to make.
2-3 party titles, no gimping
Any relevant major third party titles at the time, no gimping
1-2 console exclusive third party titles, less focus on trying to be a game that can only be made for the console and more focus on a game that the other consoles wish they could play
A first party title, online only, attempts to put Nintendo on the MMO map. Free to download. If it has that Nintendo quality with a stellar performance, people aren't gonna mind shelling out for DLC add-ons.
So what kind of titles are we talking about here? Here's a few things they could do.
- Mario Kart 9: It's been proven, people get hyped over Mario Kart. I don't know why, but they do. And so, one of their launch titles should be one with known online capabilities and likeability. They'd also be in a position to expand this game's life through DLC. The first DLC pack should be tracks that are a little out of Mario's way if you get what I mean, just to build even more hype.
- Nintendo VS Capcom: Well, what could sell a system more than the hypest fighting game never to have existed or been confirmed. Seriously, if they did this, if they did this, the only thing left to wait on is Arcsys VS Capcom and then I can die happy. So bloody happy.
But seriously, this stuff could easily replace UMvC3 as the hypest fighting game if done right. Capcom likes to make reachable complexities in their fighting games. You tag team that with the rather unorthodox fighters of Nintendo and all you need to do is order a pizza.
- Golden Sun/Earthbound HD: Yeah, I just suggested that. I just suggested that they should port a 2D RPG classic from older hardware into a HD model of itself. I just suggested something that would make every old person on this forum cringe so hard that their final exams would shrink. This is the kind of cringe that would be turned upside down and into joy the second Nintendo release any form of media of it onto the public. And you know it. Deep down you know that this is the kind of game you want, and you don't even realise it. You refuse to let it into your soul because you can't handle it.
It's so far left field, that it does it's job: it becomes a radar blip to any gamer.
- Mario Sports Mix: This one is a little off field. They can make something of this, something more fun than Wii Sports. The idea isn't to cater to the casuals. The idea is to make casuals into gamers. The Wii range is too basic for that. Mario Sports Mix can become competitive for these kinds of gamers.
-- Those are just random ideas that kind of fit the bill of what a first party title at launch should have, but giving room for more powerful ones, like a fully fledged Mario Action Adventure, a Zelda title, but not so much shooting straight to a safe title like a 2D mario or a gimmick display which they should just seriously stop doing. At the very least it would have MK9 (or 10 if we think the 3DS gets succeeded first), which is pretty much a system.... WHEN THE SYSTEM FIRST RELEASES! --
Now, to the MMO. Just another 'new' for Nintendo to do that will really make people rethink if Nintendo just wants to play safe and stale all day. The two IP's I actually had in mind were Metroid or Sin and Punishment. Every time I think about the attack on Norion at the beginning of Metroid Prime 3, I keep thinking this is actually a pretty good start point for making a unique online multiplayer battlefield. It wouldn't be so much versus as it would be working together against rapidly changing environments and AI. The more you explore the battlefield instead of staying on the frontline, the more you realise there are a ton of background operations you can effect during the fight, such as keeping cannons maintained and powered up, to being part of espionage teams. And of course with it, all the gadgets and weaponry that you'd expect from a Metroid game.
As for Sin and Punishment, I just imagine flying through ruins at high speed Shingeki no Kyojin style. Throw in a class system, make it feel like a community-based RPG on crack and hey presto! A mature game by Nintendo loved by everyone who isn't a casual.
...
Well, that was a tedious task to type up. I wasn't even paying attention half the time. This Wawrinka vs Djokovic match in the Australian Open is way too hype right now.