53 replies to this topic

[grahamf]

I just want a discussion of what realistic AND specific things Nintendo can do to improve Wii U reception and marketshare, like advertising, updates, accessories, games. I'm aware that some of you will try to be funny and say something like scrapping current hardware, but please don't because it is not helpful. No matter what Nintendo will be using the current hardware (or a minor revision that maintains compatibility with the original version) for at least the next three years no matter what we demand.

 

What I think Nintendo should do:

 

Virtual console:

It really shouldn't be that hard to develop emulators for older consoles. Heck there's a Gamecube/Wii emulator for PCs that works perfectly (if you have the hardware) NES, SNES, and N64 can be translated on the fly to Wii U compatible code, and the Wii U's chips are backwards compatible with the Wii (and therefore backwards compatible with the Gamecube), so an emulator would be a very basic thing that just translates APIs (and upscales) with no Wii Mode needed.

 

With these emulators the Wii U can run virtually ALL NES-Wii games no problem (and makes the agonizingly slow VC update cycle ridiculous). Plus it allows all Wii Shop games to be added to the eShop (along with Gamecube and Wii disk games).

 

The emulator can have all miiverse and off-tv access built in. It would also have to allow each user to have his/her own game save storage location, but that's pretty simple in N64-Wii games (NES and SNES may be a little trickier because game saves are on the cartridge itself, but not much trickier)

 

Region Locking: Nintendo is about to lose a case about blocking Homebrew because of region locking, so if they were to concede on this part it may save them a lot of problems from people using illegally obtained ROMS. nintendo doesn't even have to unlock the Wii u by default, just have an official method that isn't too expensive or complicated.

 

Accounts: First and foremost Nintendo should have an account transfer method like they have on the 3DS. And they need to have a method for when the old console is dead or missing, but that may be OK to be done through customer service. A game sharing system would be nice, but I believe that may be too far out of nintendo's comfort zone. Maybe though an authentication device that connects to the gamepad?

 

Accessories: The Wii U needs to add support for bluetooth headsets

 

Pro Controller: Nintendo could release an updated pro controller that has analog triggers, a headset jack, and ideally a little port to attach an official keyboard (like the PS4 or Xbox keyboards). it's fine and dandy that the gamepad makes a good keyboard, But I don't want to have to pick it up just to type a single word.

 

Wii U: Nintendo could refresh the Wii U hardware eventually, mostly to add more storage space (or maybe even support for an internal HDD) and maybe make it smaller. But it does have to be identical enough to the original Wii U that it's indistinguishable for developers.

 

Games: Nintendo needs to come out with all of the heavy hitters (paper mario, real 3D Mario, Metroid) And advertise the Daisy out of them.

 

thoughts?

[Goom]

Stop making 2d platformers and bring more 3rd party support.

[Mewbot]

1. Pay out Ubisoft to bring some of their next gen exclusive titles to the Wii U like the division. Ubisoft will be happy to do it if Nintendo pays the costs for porting.
2. Reveal Zelda, whatever form it is in. I don't care if we have to wait a year and a half from reveal to release.
3. Make more GAMEPLAY changes to Smash Bros. to make it stand out from previous entries.
4. Market the hell outta it when MK8 and Smash come out.
5. Release a new pro controller with analogue triggers (I don't see the point, but some people want it).
6. Bundle, bundle, bundle.
7. More info on X. Something say, comparing it to Xenoblade to make it look more technologically advanced and put off the trolls.
8. Hire anti-troll employees to scour the net and stop the Sonydrones etc. Of course, this is frowned upon, but it needs to be done.
9. Push the multi-gamepad support out as soon as possible, make multitasking available with it (one person playing Zelda on one gamepad, one person using the internet browser on the other gamepad).
10. Add media playing services (MP3 player, MP4 player or their equivalent streaming services).
11. Reveal all these changes in one massive mind-blowing Nintendo Direct.

 

Get da moneys.

Edited by R00bot, 24 January 2014 - 06:35 PM.

[Azure-Edge]

Stop making 2d platformers and bring more 3rd party support.

 

And how do you imagine Nintendo can bring in more third party support? They can't force a third party to make their game on the Wii U, much less ensure it isn't a gimped piece of crap.

 

Realistically the only things that I can see Nintendo doing is working on improving their software selection and the services they provide through the Wii U.

 

E-shop and the Virtual Console being two of the biggest things they could improve. This dead trickle of virtual console games is pathetic. They aren't doing themselves any favors by limiting their selection. They need to get the Wii's entire VC collection up on the e-shop, and they need to do it yesterday as well as offer Gamecube titles. They also need to work on their pricing. While I might be willing to pay 8 bucks for SNES game that I love, other people aren't. They need to bring down NES titles to around 2-3 dollars, SNES to 5, N64 to 8, and place Gamecube games at 10. I have no doubt they would see way more sales at those prices and with that sort of selection. Nintendo's sad that they didn't make a profit this year? Well maybe if they had a couple million Wii U owners all buying up old school classics during their long droughts then maybe they would have been better off.

 

They need to combine and integrate the 3DS and Wii U e-shops as well as make more of the content cross purchasable as well as making games tied to peoples' accounts instead of the hardware. A lot of people are scared of the e-shop for this very reason, and if it changed then their digital sales would no doubt increase.

 

Moving on, the Wii U needs more features that gamers like. There is a microphone built in to the controller, why not put that to use with cross-game chat and party chat? A join game function to make it easier for people to link up and game and perhaps more things such as Crunchyroll. 

 

Other than that, software! Lots and lots of software. Nintendo needs to come to terms that they are going to have to be the primary software creator for their system and as such they need to increase their offerings by a huge amount. They need the manpower needed to develop not just a few games at a time for a few key franchises but enough manpower to have practically every IP in the pipeline at this point. The NEED to have a Metroid, Kid Icarus, Starfox, and everything else at some level of development at this point in time as well as enough resources to dedicate to experimenting with new IPs and different genres. 

 

1. Pay out Ubisoft to bring some of their next gen exclusive titles to the Wii U like the division. Ubisoft will be happy to do it if Nintendo pays the costs for porting.
2. Reveal Zelda, whatever form it is in. I don't care if we have to wait a year and a half from reveal to release. The problem with this is that they're paying money and getting ports. Plus they're creating a precedent of paying for third party support. Every third party would demand money for their games. If they're gonna pay, it's gotta be for exclusive content.
3. Make more GAMEPLAY changes to Smash Bros. to make it stand out from previous entries. I don't see the point. People love Smash.
4. Market the hell outta it when MK8 and Smash come out. Obvious.
5. Release a new pro controller with analogue triggers (I don't see the point, but some people want it). Would never see any use.
6. Bundle, bundle, bundle. Couldn't hurt.
7. More info on X. Something say, comparing it to Xenoblade to make it look more technologically advanced and put off the trolls. Agreed. They need to give that game exposure. Big time!
8. Hire anti-troll employees to scour the net and stop the Sonydrones etc. Of course, this is frowned upon, but it needs to be done. Not sure if serious.
9. Push the multi-gamepad support out as soon as possible, make multitasking available with it (one person playing Zelda on one gamepad, one person using the internet browser on the other gamepad). Meh. I could take it or leave it.
10. Add media playing services (MP3 player, MP4 player or their equivalent streaming services). Maybe. Being able to play a playlist while playing your games could be something some people would like.
11. Reveal all these changes in one massive mind-blowing Nintendo Direct. No comment. 

 

Get da moneys.

 

[Mewbot]

Not sure if serious.

im srs

Edited by R00bot, 24 January 2014 - 07:24 PM.

[GAMER1984]

overhaul the Wii U OS and features in one BIG update.

[Mewbot]

overhaul the Wii U OS and features in one BIG update.

Yeah. Add media capabilities like MP3 players or their equivalent streaming services (pandora, spotify, etc.).

[GAMER1984]

Yeah. Add media capabilities like MP3 players or their equivalent streaming services (pandora, spotify, etc.).

 

yeah i just think people saying they should dump Wii U have no idea. This is the age of internet. They can easily upgrade features and make the console feel brand new.

[Mewbot]

yeah i just think people saying they should dump Wii U have no idea. This is the age of internet. They can easily upgrade features and make the console feel brand new.

Maybe they could even add the ability to record and upload footage to Miiverse? Maybe...?

[GAMER1984]

Maybe they could even add the ability to record and upload footage to Miiverse? Maybe...?

 

I think we will see that in the very soon furture...MAYBE... HA! anyway they need to be more aggressive i dont like how silent they have been lately. Speak up market, and act like you have a console people should go out and buy.

[Mewbot]

I think we will see that in the very soon furture...MAYBE... HA! anyway they need to be more aggressive i dont like how silent they have been lately. Speak up market, and act like you have a console people should go out and buy.

Indeed. People are actually forgetting they exist lol. On other sites if you so much as mention the Wii U (without saying that it's a failure) you get downvoted, or called names. It's sad really. Nintendo just needs a way to get themselves back into the mainstream media (for good things, though).

Edited by R00bot, 24 January 2014 - 08:55 PM.

[GAMER1984]

Indeed. People are actually forgetting they exist lol. On other sites if you so much as mention the Wii U (without saying that it's a failure) you get downvoted, or called names. It's sad really. Nintendo just needs a way to get themselves back into the mainstream media (for good things, though).

 

totally agree. I am not sure MORE marketing and something of SHOCK value. they need this! they cant just rely on their IP's anymore. We love mario, zelda, metroid but people could care less now. they want more

[grahamf]

Indeed. People are actually forgetting they exist lol. On other sites if you so much as mention the Wii U (without saying that it's a failure) you get downvoted, or called names. It's sad really. Nintendo just needs a way to get themselves back into the mainstream media (for good things, though).

What? which sites are these?

[Mahmoodinho98]

Nintendo should advertise more in middle east

because i never saw any advirtisment here in middle eastern channels involving wii u

and they should also disable reigon locking or make devs choose if they want to reigon lock their games or not

[Mewbot]

What? which sites are these?

Try mentioning how the Wii U isn't doomed on N4G.com

Nintendo should advertise more in middle east

because i never saw any advirtisment here in middle eastern channels involving wii u

and they should also disable reigon locking or make devs choose if they want to reigon lock their games or not

This is the most sensible thing I've ever seen you post.

I think we will see that in the very soon furture...MAYBE...

I don't even mind if they have to cut some corners to do it. For example, you'd have to actually START the recording, unlike PS4 and XBO where you can just get the last 5 mins of gameplay. It'd probably also have to turn off all multitasking stuff like the internet browser, background downloads and Miiverse. But that's still ok, nobody wants to upload something that has them going to the home menu and checking Miiverse in it anyway. 

[KeptMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

This is the most sensible thing I've ever seen you post.

I don't mean to circlejerk but it's so true.

|I came to the comment like "oh no, this is gonna start an argument, cringed my way through reading it and then

wait... that actually makes sense *read again* Yeah. That might actually help. Wow.

 

 

I don't even mind if they have to cut some corners to do it. For example, you'd have to actually START the recording, unlike PS4 and XBO where you can just get the last 5 mins of gameplay. It'd probably also have to turn off all multitasking stuff like the internet browser, background downloads and Miiverse. But that's still ok, nobody wants to upload something that has them going to the home menu and checking Miiverse in it anyway. 

 

This Seriously needs to happen soon. One of the worst things for me in Brawl was doing a mindblowingly awesome combo and only being able to save the vid to the wii and not get it onto my cpu

And allowing people to record your games s free advertisement so...

Edited by BlackWydrA, 25 January 2014 - 02:04 AM.

[Mewbot]

 

This Seriously needs to happen soon. One of the worst things for me in Brawl was doing a mindblowingly awesome combo and only being able to save the vid to the wii and not get it onto my cpu

And allowing people to record your games s free advertisement so...

Yep. If they really want they could enablevoice overs through the gamepad mic. Of course, it'd probably have an age limit. Say, if you registered your account as under 14 years old you're not able to upload. That way you wouldn't get as many uneducated 5 year olds making videos (youtube..).

And with the current policing of Miiverse, I can't see too many bad videos getting through. Unlike the PS4 (there was that video of the guy stripping his wife lol).

 

The thing is, I can't see Nintendo using a popular site like youtube or dailymotion (lol) to upload to, then embedding it to Miiverse. They're just too stubborn. So we'd probably end up with bad loading times and no way to download the videos. 

Edited by R00bot, 25 January 2014 - 02:20 AM.

[grahamf]

I know this may be asking too much, but maybe Nintendo could synchronize the virtual console games on my Wii, Wii U, AND 3DS. I'd be OK if I had to pay a dollar to unlock the game on the 3DS.

[alan123]

The Virtual Console isn't going to bring people to invest in a WiiU, if they really want to play the games they can get a Wii for £20 also most people who would be interested in the VC games will have played them already on the consoles they originally came out for, i for one have zero interest in playing old games on a new console.

 

There is no point in redesigning the pro controller all they can do to improve it is by giving it analog triggers & people who have one already won't want to spend the £30+ Nintendo will charge for it, the same as redesigning the WiiU & adding storage because by adding a HDD will make the WiiU bigger, use more power & push up the price.

 

There is only one way Nintendo can save the WiiU & that is by money hating EA, R* & Ubi etc this will mean that Nintendo are going to have to fund or compensate the dev's/pub's for the lack of sales if the total cost of FIFA 16 or CoD is £30m each to port to the WiiU with decent gamepad features then Nintendo are going to have to pay this money, the pub's/dev's are in it to make money & Nintendo is going to have to cover this cost, but Nintendo won't do this, what Nintendo will do is what they always have done & that's nothing, they will keep making Mario, Zelda & Kirby etc & hope the indie games can keep it going, they will just say there is not many games but we have all these indie games & there is 250 going to be released in 2014 alone, they may not be games anyone wants to play but it's the numbers they will go on.

 

The short answer is there is very little Nintendo can do, if they really drop the price to £100 they will be losing a lot on each console sold, they will also upset people that have already got a WiiU & this will reinforce peoples view that it's not worth buying a Nintendo console at launch, you may as well wait a year & get it at a big discount, the 3DS Ambassador Program does not make up for the 3DS cut at all, but whatever Nintendo do will upset people.

 

The most likely thing that will happen is what i mentioned above that they will try to keep the WiiU going until 2017 with a couple of first party games a year & hope the indies make up the numbers & then release a console the same spec as the PS4/X1 but cheaper & hope that people will buy it as a second console, but that console will then have a short life because Nintendo have to get back into sync with the tech & release the same time as the PS5/neXtBoX.

[MorbidGod]

First and foremost, create a new Wii U. Call it the Wii U Slim or something like that. Or Wii U Xtra ... Or whatever. I really don't have a good name for it. However, this new Wii U should come with 150 GB of built in storage. Drop the price of the current 32GB model to 150GB and the 150GB be 319.99. Also, it should be bundled with a free game.

To make current customers happy, for one month after the new console is announced and released, let them get a free external HD. Then after that sell them at a discounted rate online (like 39.99) that way it's cheaper then going to the store.

Second thing they need to do is go on the Today show and show off the latest Wii U Fit. It would be really good way to advertise the Wii U to the casual market and get them interested in the console. Then you could show off the Nintendo TVii and tell the customers directly why they should upgrade from their old Wii.

Third, they need to make more games. Try to have a new game from either a third party or first party every quarter. To advertise to current Wii U owners, when they power on the console advertise the latest game on the controller screen. That way if you want to hear more about it you can tap it and a trailer will show on the TV screen.

That's what Nintendo, realistically, can do to get more units sold. But this isn't the only option. Hopefully Nintendo is thinking of their own way to get more people.