The Unofficial Official Start of the Nintendo WiiU

FINALLY!!!!!!



FINALLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the general consensus of the gaming public as Nintendo finally opened its box of surprises and unleashed an arsenal of great news that breathes so much life into the WiiU, it’s going to take the announcement of the Xbox 720 and/or PS4 to slow it down. Where do we begin?


1) Yoshi Land—directed by the same man that helmed Yoshi’s Island. You all bite your tongue, Yoshi's Island remains one of the 25 best video games of all-time.


2) New Fire Emblem


3) New Mario Kart, New 3-D Mario at E3


4) New Smash Brothers at E3


5) New Zelda in the works


6) Wind Waker HD coming out this August


7) Virtual Console this Spring


There was more, but these seven big announcements have quenched the WiiU owners’ thirst for good news. Software updates, hardware updates, interactivity updates, and for God’s sake, the next-generation Smash Brothers with Namco behind the scenes. While some may ponder why they chose a random January day to announce all this, and others may ponder why Nintendo is revealing so many of its first-party cards so early in the lifespan of the WiiU but let’s be frank here……who cares?

This is what Nintendo should have done months ago to prepare us for the WiiU launch. If gamers had known that Wind Waker HD and several other major franchises were just around the corner, I am sure the launch would not have been so quiet. If gamers had known that the Virtual Console was starting up in Spring with $1 specials, then we probably would not have become so hesitant.

Nintendo’s eternal wait to unleash the goods has definitely affected the launch, but January 2013 has gone from Post-Unsuccessful Holiday Hangover into the month that may have officially jump-started the excitement wheel of the WiiU.

It wasn’t the launch. It wasn’t New Super Mario Bros. U.





It was this conference.


How long is it until E3 2013?

The Required Makeover of the Playstation Vita

Now, we have discussed the disaster of the Playstation Vita time and time again. Its actually kind of fun sometimes. Well, the disaster continues as they can barely break 100,000 on weekly sales and their hold on the handheld market stands as a miserable 12.7%. Their best-selling video game is all the way down in the #72 spot with a Call of Duty game that is more likely being sold in a 1 to 6 ratio when compared to the console versions. The Nintendo 3DS and the tablet gaming market has been utterly annihilating this system, and to be honest its only going to get worse if 3DS’ software lineup continues expanding (Virtual Console being a ho-hum addition has definitely saved Sony as of now) and Pokemon X/Y is hitting shelves simultaneously this fall.

And with Sony continually trying to breathe some life into the Vita, the big question is how they can possibly develop an audience for the neglected handheld.

What the Playstation Vita might need more than anything is this: exclusive IPs.

The PSP couldn't beat the DS despite superior hardware because of the totally inferior software. Sony learned the hard way that it takes more than just taking Sony's best console games and translating them to a smaller screen. They needed more games that cater exclusively to the dimensions of the PSP. The Nintendo DS had the likes of Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Brain Age, Pokemon (most prominent example), Golden Sun, and several other quiet gems that propelled the handheld into becoming the most successful system in history, even though it wasn't the most powerful system out there.

Sony needs to start crafting some new IPs or exclusively continue them on the Vita in order for any chance whatsoever of creating any sort of success or profit from the machine. Franchises like Chrono Trigger, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper can benefit from moving permanently into handhelds, while Sony can find ways of making new IPs to make the Vita fresh and exciting. While Nintendo is the first-party IP king, Sony has had its share of great recent franchises like Little Big Planet, Uncharted, Journey, Infamous, among others.

Games are getting more expensive--it becomes difficult to justify a $40 purchase of a game that is a watered-down version of a much bigger game that's just a mere $20 more. You need to offer experiences that you couldn't encounter with the PS3 (I did offer a solution of selling tons of classics as opposed to new IPs, but you can still manage both as long as the classics are sold at APP prices). Part of the trouble with such a massive software lineup like the 2011-2012 PS3 lineup is that it leaves no room for the Vita to stand out.

The Vita needs to become less like a younger brother of the PS3 and more like the red-headed stepchild.

What's in a Console's Name?

So the WiiU isn’t exactly selling like hotcakes. As a matter of fact the original Wii is outselling it right now, as we speak. In the United States and also in Europe, the WiiU is being outsold by the seventh generation systems and by a substantial amount. And so now while Nintendo refuses to engage in panic mode, they must be mildly pondering why the company’s very first HD system isn’t reaching into the mainstream like the Nintendo Wii did all those years ago. And while I have lots of theories and possible explanations as to why its chugging along slowly in the sales department, I think the main reason is very simple and very low key:

The name.

Nintendo WiiU. What a miserable name.

Does that honestly sound like an upgrade over the Wii? Or does it sound more like just a mere add-on?  Doesn't the WiiU sound very....2005ish? Doesn't this sound like a mere miserable upgrade over a system that has already tarnished its reputation because of its final 2-3 years? Let's look at the progression of names:

XBox--XBox 360. Very simple, sounds like an upgrade from the getgo.

Playstation--Playstation 2---Playstation 3. Also simple, and each time sounds like an upgrade over the previous system.

Even Nintendo had it right for a while:

NES -- Super Nintendo -- Nintendo 64
Game Boy -- Game Boy Color -- Game Boy Advance


But then the marketing department got lazy and didn't focus much on the names, with the major upgrade over the DS being called just the 3DS, and the Nintendo Wii's successor being the Nintendo WiiU. This is why the 3DS had such a slow start, because it just sounded like another version of the DS and doesn't quite exemplify its superior hardware, superior graphics, and upgraded gaming. The WiiU is suffering the same fate--after all, if you had not read and researched about it (and Nintendo did not help at all with all the secretive ways just weeks prior to the launch) you would not know that this is Nintendo's FIRST HD system, as well its first majorly interactive system with heavy online capabilities.

That's right, how can Nintendo's first HD system not be a good seller? How can the idea of HD versions of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Smash Brothers, Pokemon, etc. not be appealing to gamers? Its because that detail is lost behind the uninspiring name. Now, the marketing team has to work extra hard to ensure that the WiiU isn't a mere minor upgrade, but a major improvement.

After all, the name doesn't say squat.