The Fleeting Support of the WiiU

Nintendo, are you panicking yet?



Because I think now it’s about time.



EA has announced that they are not making any games for the Nintendo WiiU as of now. Literally, none. No Madden, no more Dead Space, no Mass Effect, no FIFA, no Battlefield, no Fuse, and potentially no more Need for Speed or Burnout. Not even NBA Live---okay, that was a joke. That being said EA has not made many good games in the past half-decade, but the issue isn’t that they aren’t making games for Nintendo’s latest machine. The issue is that the second- largest third-party gaming company has dropped support of Nintendo.



Nintendo, you need to pay attention. Right now.


The only company that makes more money off gaming revenue is you and Activision Blizzard...and your profits have been steadily declining because of the WiiU. Right before E3 strikes you have already lost support of one of the big industry changers in the gaming world—and the WiiU isn’t even a year old. Yes, EA's leaving Nintendo may or may not have something to do with Origins, but money talks and if the previous Madden had sold 2-3 million copies on the WiiU last year, then Origins would have been a non-issue.

Now, E3 is your one last final opportunity to show the industry that the WiiU honestly has a shot. While the 3DS had its rough start, it never had companies simply walk out and not believe in the machine.

If your very unique product wants to have a shot, it needs to convince the others that putting forth the extra effort will pay off. The 3D effects of the 3DS require a heftier budget (and more creativity) from third-party companies, but with the recent surging sales and quality of games it becomes an under-the-bridge issue when a sequel to an obscure Gamecube game continually is the best-selling game in the world (Did anyone expect 2 million in sales off of Luigi’s Mansion 2?). EA, despite the gamepad being a perfect device for a football game like Madden, didn’t see the point in having to make games differently. It is a business over art choice, and one that can be justified because motion-control gaming is simply a thing of the past.


Nintendo’s arrogance, ridiculous patience, and inability to reach out to potential suitors is starting to churn out weaker profits and fleeting support. EA is the first to go (for good or bad intentions in mind, who knows), what makes you think they won’t be the last? This E3 is starting to become more important for Nintendo. It has those three days to steal the show and try to gain any sort of momentum towards the extremely vital 2013 Holiday Season. Otherwise, it may have to face a new name:


The Dreamcast 2.


P.S. EA is a very dick company, so this news also isn't a surprise.

How Link Wound Up on the Wrong System

Super Nintendo Specs:
*CPU: 16-bit 65816 (3.58MHz)
*RAM: 128KB (1Mb), 64KB (0.5Mb) Video RAM
*Graphics: Dedicated graphics processor
*Colors: 32768 (256 on screen)
*Sprites: 128
*Sprite Size: 64x64 pixels
*Resolution: 512x448 pixels
*Sound: 8-channel 8-bit Sony SPC700 digitized sound

WiiU Specs:
*Tri Core, 3 GHz PowerPC-based 45nm CPU, very similar to the Xbox 360 chip. The CPU features 2 MB cache, 1 MB for Core 0, and 512 KB for cores 1 and 2
*2 GB RAM: 1 GB is allocated for games and is shared between the CPU and the GPU, while 1 GB is allocated to the operating system.
*Custom 40nm AMD GPU with 32 MB embedded eDRAM and unified shader architecture
*25 GB Blu-ray based disc
*8 / 32 GB internal flash memory
*Dedicated 120 MHz audio processor, 6 channel audio for console, 2 channel for controller
*512 MB separate on-board flash storage for the OS only

Now, there is a reason why this article started out with specs of both systems. One of these two systems is regarded as one of the greatest systems ever made and contained one of the greatest video games ever made known as Link to the Past. Now, for those that have yet to know this, Link to the Past was not only arguably the greatest game ever made up to that point, but was also the biggest game to ever be released. It was leagues ahead of anything we had seen before way back in 1992. As a matter of fact by the time I got my first Super Nintendo back in 1995, the game was still the biggest and baddest in the market.

So now we are flash forwarding to today, with Link to the Past 2 finally being announced. But it won’t come out for the WiiU, a powerful system that can really use some good news and a way to make use of its weaker graphical capabilities when compared to the upcoming systems. Instead, its coming out for the Nintendo 3DS. Now about a year ago I would have agreed with this decision since the 3DS was needing some good news. But now, the 3DS is on the right path with a good variety of games that had come out and are on the way.

The Nintendo WiiU is in trouble. Not 3DS trouble, but deeper trouble. It is threatening to become the next Dreamcast if something doesn’t change soon. What better way to bring the WiiU back into the spotlight than getting a sequel to one of the most beloved adventure games in history? What better way to make the WiiU relevant than releasing a sequel to a beloved game that has a mere 1 MB in memory?

Nintendo, think of the possibilities! Think of just how much content you could pack into a 2D-action adventure game on an HD/Blu-Ray Disk system! You have the chance to take the already-long adventure of Link to the Past and quantify its length and depth by an exponential amount. You can make a Zelda game that can contain 15 Link to the Pasts and then some. I am pretty sure the entire world would prefer a 2D Link game on a blu-ray-like disk as opposed to a smaller cartridge. You can include all the necessary enhancements like day/night, month/year features, etc. P.S. the controller would have been perfect for item movements and the monitoring of maps.

You guys used to be about pushing the envelope and seeing what you can pull off with what cards you are dealt with. I had discussed this before, but Nintendo used to have the biggest games around, from the original Mario Bros. to the original Zelda to Link to the Past to Mario 64 to Ocarina of Time, and lastly Wind Waker. Notice most of our "larger" titles had been Zelda games. But in recent years, this envelope hasn’t been pushed. Even if the hardware isn’t that much stronger than the PS3, New Super Mario Bros. U could have been much bigger (My idea can be found here), and the same goes with Nintendo Land. Link to the Past 2 with the minimal graphical requirements could have been a 100-hour adventurous marathon. Instead, it’s a 3DS title as the WiiU winds up with a Wind Waker remake being one of their biggest releases of the upcoming holiday season.

Nintendo, you dropped the ball here. Link to the Past 2 should have been a massive, massive 2D adventure that is worthy of carrying the legendary Link to the Past title.

Instead, it will just become another handheld Zelda game that will make us ponder how much bigger it would have been if it had gotten the upgrade.

How Disney Continues to Drop the Gaming Ball

So Disney has finally pulled the plug on the silently dying LucasArts. The company had a decent run that was marred by too many delays, too many unfulfilled ideas, and an extremely underproductive generation of gaming. It was kind of frustrating that the sibling company related to movie franchise monoliths like Star Wars and Indiana Jones couldn’t come up with a consistent amount of good games to satisfy the souls of gamers everywhere.

That being said…why can’t Disney conquer the gaming industry?

Where on earth is Disney while the gaming industry expands to levels never-before imagined?





As a matter of fact if it weren’t for the Kingdom Hearts franchise---which is also dying slowly, Disney would pretty much become a mere mole in the face of gaming. And it makes minimal sense simply because of the overarching reach of the Disney brand. There is so much more to Disney than just…Disney. We are far past the company that got by in terms of gamers with its nice relationship with Capcom and Sega back in the 90s. Disney doesn’t have to license all their franchises. Disney can formulate a team and honestly take on the competitors themselves. They have the money, talent, and resources. So what are they waiting for?

Disney has hundreds of movies in its arsenal to start with. Movies like Aladdin, Hercules, Alice in Wonderland (the cartoon version), Treasure Planet, The Incredibles, The Black Hole, Tron, Tarzan, Pirates of the Caribbean, and so much more can be made into great modern-day games. I am aware some of these movies have been made into games, but they were mostly half-arsed efforts by companies that were only in it to make a quick slick buck. Can you imagine the mere story of Aladdin becoming a massive game? Exploring the Cave of Wonder, running around the streets avoiding the guards, and ultimately taking on one of the best animated villains ever? What about Hercules and his quest for becoming a God by taking on oodles of monsters all over the map? And don’t get me started on what Tron can look and play like….

Disney also has lots of parks full of stories that can also become great video games and/or remakes of past failed Disney games. Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Mission: Space, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and perhaps even Test Track (the new version) comes to mind.

Then there’s the fact that Disney now owns Pixar, Marvel, AND LucasArts---all purchases done within the last decade. Where are the spiritual prequels and/or sequels to The Incredibles? Wall-E would also make for a fantastic exploration game if done correctly. Same goes with Finding Nemo. Then there’s the potential for nice adventures for the characters from Brave. Its all here. And not just a mere adaptation for the tykes, we can do legit, full-length adventure/action games for the serious gamers.




Marvel. Freakin’ Marvel. 5,000+ characters in the Marvel universe and the Imagineers can’t try to make a good game themselves? The potential for great massive games is strongest here as the Marvel brand offers excellent heroes, characters, and villains. Imagine a Spider-Man game that allows you to also play the role of Venom, perhaps even Carnage. Imagine the Disney budget being given to Iron Man. Imagine being able to build your own suit for Iron Man as he battles crime. Disney, are we taking notes here?



Of course, now Disney also has Star Wars to depend on. You know, the 6 epic movies and the infinite amounts of spin-off storylines to choose from. Simply remaking the 6 movies into grand scale video games would be a very nice way to re-branding yourself to the gaming industry. 

Disney has far too many valuable products, franchises, and ideas to still remain in neutral in this aspect of entertainment. The gaming world should be excited for whatever Disney is doing, not ponder which franchise will temporarily receive access to translating the latest Mickey film to video game. If Disney were to take the gaming world seriously-----and not as a small quick investment----they can reach out towards the male/female teenage audience and college audience; an audience that Disney always struggles to entertain. Mickey Mouse has far too many great friends to just sit back and watch smaller companies like Sony and Nintendo make extremely good money.

Seriously Disney, you can be just as big a presence in the gaming industry as in the film industry.