SailtheSeas

They're probably saying it's the Wii U's last chance for getting decent sales for the rest of it's lifespan, and getting somewhat decent 3rd party support too I guess.

If they're talking about that, I agree completely. Mario Kart and Smash are the only things that could possibly be mass system sellers at this point. If they can't do it, chances are nothing else will (possibly Zelda though). 

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.

There's a lot of truth in this. Iwata knowing gaming is a big advantage for them, however I'd also say it's a weakness. I feel like Iwata needs to take a step back and seriously reevaluate how he's running his company from a business standpoint. However that doesn't mean gutting the company, nor does it mean paying for good press. Gamers with half a brain already know to take the 'media' with a grain of salt, or two, or twelve. Also when your employees know that you care about them and are looking for their best interest then they will work harder and create better results. From a moral stand point there isn't any problem with what Iwata is doing. However there are other things he needs to seriously reconsider.

The first being that I think he lets his own devs have a bit too much input in to their console design whereas third parties have too little. It seems to me that Iwata looks at hardware as something that would be made that THEIR devs would like instead of building a platform that for the gaming community as a whole. Take for example the one slide pad on the 3DS. Now I personally don't think there is much use for a second one, however there are third parties who would think differently. I can almost guarantee you that Miyamoto said no to a second analogue stick because he wouldn't need it for one of his games and that was that.

Same with the Wii U. Someone like Miyamoto probably said it would be cool to have a giant screen in a controller and they went with it without considering specs that third parties would want. A console is simply the means to play software and the less amount of good software a console has, the less incentive there is to buy it. I say they should work towards building a good all around console that third parties want to work on and then they can innovate through software like they used to. 

Secondly Iwata needs to realize that Nintendo isn't in a bubble, they are in a business and therefore they have competition. What that competition does is important and they would go far by learning from it but doing it better. You can't have a non-competitive attitude in business if you want to survive. Trying to do things your own way is all well and good but if you're falling behind then it's not working. This goes hand in hand with Nintendo's slow adoption of HD. They had an entire generation to learn about what it would take to produce HD games in terms of time, budget, and manpower. There's really no excuse on their part, they should have been ready. 

All in all I think Iwata can turn things around but he really REALLY needs to actually LEARN from his mistakes. He always talks about how he's learned from mistakes, but he needs to show it and not say it.

I can see Battlefield going the same way Medal of Honor went.

This reminds me of the many times I flirted with the girl players on CoD Black Ops II.

When buying the Heathen Boxes this generation always remember that only one of these two words will exist in a game, "1080p" and "60fps steady".