Nintendo: Not learning from their mistakes – Video Games Feature
The majority of the gamers this generation were disappointed when Nintendo announced the Wii because it was graphically inferior to the Xbox 360, even though it came out a full year after the 360.
Nintendo had basically re-released the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo’s previous generation console, with motion controls added to the package. Nintendo never took the leap into next generation since the Wii was considered to be as powerful as the original
Xbox.
Things however did turn out favourably for Nintendo in the short run as the Wii became a cultural phenomenon, much like the iPod or the iPhone and started outselling both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.
Greater console sales unfortunately do not make gamers happy since the Nintendo Wii games library was severely lacking hardcore games. Because of the decision to opt for weaker graphics to reduce the cost of the console, Nintendo alienated itself from hardcore
third party developers.
A huge factor was also the lack of online multiplayer functionality in the Wii since the majority of the third party games relied on multiplayer and without them they would lose half their appeal. Third party developers discovered that there was a huge difference
between the graphical capabilities of the Wii compared to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 which meant that if the developer was going to port a game to the Wii, they would have to remove a lot of features from it.
This would just discourage the fans to buy the Wii version of the game and just opt for a High Definition version on either the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3. The Wii version of a multi-platform game always fared the worst out of the three and soon developers
just gave up on developing a Wii version altogether as porting a game on the Wii was just not profitable.
The Wii was a nightmare for developers because despite the extremely large install base of the console, third party games simply did not sell well on the system. There was only demand for first party games from Nintendo or casual games.
Nintendo fans were desperate for some hardcore games as bestselling third party franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed and many others were absent from the Wii’s game library. The lack of games finally slowed down Nintendo Wii sales
and caused Nintendo to suffer a considerable financial loss for the last fiscal year.
As the Wii ran out of steam, Nintendo announced a new console last year at their Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The Nintendo Wii U, dated for release at the end of 2012, aims to take back the hardcore gaming fans which the Wii lost to the Xbox 360 and
the Playstation 3.
Developers who have received Wii U development kits have revealed that the console is capable of displaying 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second for most of the games. Nintendo also announced a new analog controller, for hardcore gamers, that looks eerily
like that of the Xbox 360.
It may not look the case right now, since the Wii U is clearly superior to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 graphically but the console will age very quickly. Nintendo will be in the same situation when Microsoft and Sony release their own next generation
consoles, which are reported to be much more powerful than the Wii U.
DISCLAIMER: The views and the opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of bettor.com.
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