The Nintendo WiiU is hours away from being launched into the stratosphere (and technically by the time you read this article it’s probably already out) and being the first system in a new generation several years ahead of the competition, one of two things will happen: total success to the nth degree, or total disaster. The last time a company attempted this---well….Sega Dreamcast. Now, I have devised a list of things Nintendo must do in order for the WiiU to ever have a shot at matching the success of the Nintendo Wii, which did indeed win the Seventh Generation, even after giving up two years ago.
Strong First Year
The launch isn’t half-bad, with Mario, Pikmin, a few third-party gems, and a few surprises sprinkling the first couple months. But 2013 has to have many more surprises because as of now, the WiiU really has not discussed about anything past March. At least two of the major players in Nintendo should make an appearance, whether it be a good Mario spin-off, Metroid, or perhaps recent forgotten franchises like Kirby, F-Zero, or Fire Emblem. There is a good chance that ultra-secret Retro Studios project can be the big-big release of 2013.
Perfect the Online
Microsoft has conquered the online gaming market for years, and Sony and Nintendo will never catch up. Seriously, never. That being said, Nintendo has three major cards that could really threaten Microsoft’s Xbox Live fanbase. Mario Kart, Pokemon, and Super Smash Brothers. One is the best-selling racing franchise in the history of gaming, the other is the best-selling RPG franchise in history, and the last one contains two of the best-selling fighting games of all-time. Now, if Nintendo can greatly improve their online functionality, then there’s no reason why these three franchises couldn’t create games that will be played for years upon years to come.
Imagine the online Pokemon tournaments. Imagine the Mario Kart worldwide leaderboard. Imagine the random matches of Smash Brothers 4. Mario Kart 64 essentially was the first game to perfect multi-player of more than two players, so it only makes sense that Nintendo finally takes the next major step in multi-player. But it has to be done. It must be done. In order to really appeal to the hardcore, its time to embrace the internet.
P.S. You better improve that Virtual Console, Nintendo has far too many great games for them to neglect some.
Embrace the Past
Let’s be honest: Nintendo’s remaining hardcore fanbase is still around because they still yearn for 90s Nintendo when almost every single exclusive was a pure gem, from Super Mario World in 1991 straight to 1999’s Pokemon Snap. So with this being said, why not start doing the HD collections or HD remakes and start selling them? I would love to see SNES and N64 classics getting the cleaned-up HD touch. If there is a company with plenty of history to refer to, Nintendo is definitely a grand example. Imagine how awesome it would be to have HD collections of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.
Zelda Must Be On Top (Of the gaming world, you perverts)
Every single generation since the NES, Zelda was the biggest, baddest, and most amazing game in the business. Nintendo always went the extra extra mile with Zelda. From the original through Majora’s Mask, Nintendo would always have that edge over the competitors with this franchise. Hardcore gamers used to hang on to that Nintendo because of Zelda. Now…well, not so much. Wind Waker ditched the usual Zelda look, and Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword looked like games trying to follow the trend, not necessarily set them. This next Zelda needs to impress in multiple layers like the good ol’ days in order for Nintendo to really get the respect and attention of the true-blue gamers. Every major system has that one Best Picture Oscar-like game that showcases their best work. Sony has the Uncharted franchise, Microsoft has Halo, and Nintendo has Zelda. To move more sales, Zelda in HD better impress.
Second or Third-Party Must Improve
Third-party gaming has always been an issue with Nintendo, as the gaming industry has the memory of an elephant. The Playstation exists solely because of an act of revenge back in 1994. Most other companies still remember Nintendo’s death struggle on smaller companies back in the NES and SNES days. Because of this, the first-party games are what has kept Nintendo afloat during their weaker days like the late N64 days and the entire Gamecube run.
Now, third-party definitely improved on the Wii whether you realize it or not. Just Dance, Guitar Hero, Disney, and even Sega have benefited greatly from the surprise smash hit system. But there’s much work to be done, as there are still franchises like Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Burnout, Need for Speed, among others that have not moved their way to Nintendo in recent years---if ever. The Wii can technically classify itself as a dark horse win as many factors outside the actual system contributed to its victory. I doubt the WiiU can be this lucky—so they must improve relations with third-party companies OR—
Improve the second-party offerings. Nintendo has a good slew of companies to rely on, and they need to continue putting out good games. They have Intelligent Systems, Next Level Games, Camelot, and especially Retro Studios that can carry the mantle once held by Rareware as the top go-to company when first-party falters. In recent years the second-party offering was a bit lacking with a few disappointments here and there. So if the WiiU wants to really succeed, they must whether help their smaller companies step up or find a way to entice the bigger shareware industries to step up their game or at least actually put some effort in Nintendo product.
Price Drop When Others Launch
This one is very simple: don’t get greedy. The second the next Xbox and next Playstation launches, you better have a price cut in hand because those competitors will have prettier machines, more powerful machies, more capable machines, and above all, much more money to run through. Nintendo’s ability to correctly drop a price at the right time is what saved the 3DS (temporarily) and destroyed the Vita. Dropping the WiiU down to between $250-$275 when the Xbox 720 launches at $450-$500 will be quite a nasty blow to the competition.
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Finish Strong
This is the most important, because for two generations Nintendo ended in a feeble whimper. The N64’s mistake was extremely poor marketing and not truly embracing the final gems of Pokemon Stadium 2, Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and especially Majora’s Mask. You need to save some of your best cards for last in order to give the system some necessary legs and good momentum once you hit the ninth generation. I can promise you the hype towards the WiiU isn’t as big because the Wii ended so, freakin’, weakly.
Save some dark horse franchises for the end. Ending the WiiU run with a Star Fox sequel, an F-Zero sequel, a WiiU version of Advance Wars, or perhaps even that Earthbound game we had always wanted to see would do nothing but great things to the sales, and the overall reputation of the gaming device.
Nintendo, don’t just start strong, finish strong. All the great systems did the same---the NES, the SNES (especially), and the Playstation 2---with the Playstation 3 doing the same except for the fact that it might be another three years before we see the PS4.
I wish the WiiU success because when Nintendo succeeds and looks good, the gaming industry as a whole improves.
