There was a recent interview of Koichi Hayashida on IGN talking about why the NES Remix games have not been released on the 3DS. In short words, he basically said that the 3DS doesn’t really have the technical capabilities to be able to run NES Remix. Of course reading the interview I found the answer interesting and would like to add one extra word:
Nonsense.
Total, unadulterated nonsense. The Nintendo 3DS will be running Super Smash Brothers (P.S., why is it lacking a true title?!?) on 60 FPS with no issue---and this fighter needs some major processing power to be able to replicate the Smash experience. You telling me that you can’t run a game that takes NES games (all of them 20+ years old by the way) and gives them little twists? Absolute lie. I don’t believe it in the slightest bit, sorry.
This is the truth: NES Remix would work perfectly fine on the 3DS, and to an extent should have been a strictly 3DS game with GBA or even SNES Remix occurring in the Nintendo WiiU. But the success of the 3DS is starting to directly affect the sales of the WiiU and Nintendo is beginning to see the problem.
Part of the WiiU’s failures (Trust me, there are dozens of reasons) includes the fact that it looks like the Nintendo DS on pure steroids. And while in hindsight it is a good idea since the original DS sold over 150 million copies worldwide during its epic run, it diminishes the value of the WiiU altogether. Why spend the $300 on a big DS when you can fork over half that cash and buy a system that is easy to move around with, and has a killer library of games?
Why get a WiiU that features Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Brothers WiiU, New Super Mario Bros. U, and the Virtual Console feature when you can get the cheaper 3DS with games like: Super Mario 3D Land, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario Kart 7, Super Smash Brothers 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 1 & 2, Virtual Console, and a much bigger assortment of games?
Nintendo is making fantastic money, but it’s all coming from the 3DS. The 3DS nearly has 85% market share in the handheld field, and is steadily being able to hold off advances from the smartphones and Apple products to continue making good money---and this is without a major 3DS release currently making waves---until Smash Brothers and the inevitable Pokemon X/Y spin-off that is. The WiiU on the other hand is getting obliterated by the PS4 and has not taken off a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e., not even in the usually-reliably Japanese region.
Nintendo is not going the Sega path, since Sega failed in every field at the same time in the late 90s. Nintendo is still raking in cash, its still going to be fine in the long run even if the WiiU fails harder than the notorious Gamecube. But in order for the WiiU to have any sort of chance, it needs to distance itself from the 3DS as much as humanely possible. And NES Remix (And potentially SNES Remix, GBA Remix, N64 Remix) is part of that solution—becoming exclusive for the struggling machine.
This is why any idea that seems better-suited for the 3DS is winding up on the WiiU: GBA Virtual Console, DS Virtual Console, The Remix Games, and the long-overdue influx of indie games. Although it seems like giving more Nintendo gamers options to play these types of games, if the 3DS owners have their hands on any of these properties, they will be much less inclined to transition to the WiiU in the eighth generation of gaming.
Nintendo has totally dropped the ball in terms of upgrading the looks of their main franchises, still sticking with the 2-D, not-as-hardcore installments to their heavy-hitters like Mario and Donkey Kong—resulting in the WiiU versions feeling like mere Windows-like upgrades to the 3DS gems. Am I really going to fork over the $60 for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze when it looks like a game that can handle itself on the 3DS?
Side Note: One of the worst things Nintendo did in the past few years is manage to condense a first-party Nintendo Wii game to the 3DS and display how behind the Wii-series of systems is compared to the PS4 and XBox One.
So it may look strange, it may look downright bizarre that all these incredible ideas that seem perfect for the forever-improving 3DS wind up on the WiiU, but it’s mainly because the console is struggling to find its footing and momentum—and it is leading to the transferring of handheld ideas to the larger machine. The 3DS is a successful piece of hardware that is all but eliminating its own best friend, Nintendo’s own WiiU. Nintendo’s shift of focus is smart and understandable, for the console market is bigger and more successful than ever (Grand Theft Auto V anyone?) and it is time to take advantage of this.
That being said, in the field of transferring handheld ideas to consoles, why is Pokemon STILL not on the radar?
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