After months of salivating over HD footage of their favorite Nintendo characters, millions of fanboys lined up early Sunday to get their hands on the Wii U. As the first release in the next generation of consoles, (Microsoft and Sony will likely follow suit next fall) Nintendo has a year head start to solidify its software lineup and convince consumers that the Wii U is the must have hardware of the new console lifecycle.
Instead of reflecting on the Wii’s legacy, I’m going to peer into the blinding red lights of my Virtual Boy prognosticator and detail the future of Nintendo’s newest console.
The Wii U’s release date acts as a fairly good indicator of its possible future. Coming out a year before its anticipated console brethren, everything about the unit seems to indicate it may be perpetually caught in limbo. Touting similar graphical power to the Xbox 360 and PS3 will help keep costs down, but in the long run, may hinder the Wii U’s software lineup significantly.
Early reports say some Wii U ports look choppier than the same release on consoles that are upward of six years old at this point. Gamers oftentimes flock toward Nintendo consoles because of their exclusive first-party content, but the third party lineups are pitiful at best. If Microsoft and Sony severely cut the price of their current consoles, gamers would have the opportunity to get similar experiences to the Wii U at a lower price point, a larger install base and a more stable online network. Additionally, it’s unclear if next-generation projects such as “Star Wars 1313” or the “Agni’s Philosophy” demo will be able to run on the Wii U at all or simply with less graphical fidelity.
Their online Nintendo Network is also troubling. Nintendo’s online services have always paled in comparison to those of Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo promised a complete overhaul for the Wii U. This reworking appears to still lag far behind Nintendo’s competitors. It bothers me that only select games have chat and that Nintendo decided to allow third parties to institute their own online services.
Although this will allow more flexibility than the Draconian Xbox Live rules, it articulates Nintendo isn’t confident enough in their own ability to create a proprietary network that could provide some sense of conformity. The message system is intriguing however, (despite Nintendo’s decision to monitor all posts) and at its best could function similarly to “Demon’s Souls.”
Despite the obvious issues I see possibly plaguing the Wii U in the future, it’s not all doom and gloom for Nintendo’s console. Though it may sound asinine, the prospect of playing any of Nintendo’s fantastic franchises in HD is an incredibly appealing concept for many gamers. Not only did the Wii’s lack of impressive software turn off many hardcore gamers, but graphics snobs also had a hard time dealing with regular definition in an age where HD is the standard.
Although many of Nintendo’s practices seem archaic, the company is always looking for the next great innovation that will keep it ahead of the curve. Last generation they gambled with motion controls; conceptually it seemed ridiculous, but it was undoubtedly a success (partially due to a recession) and helped catapult the industry into mainstream culture in the same way “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” did during the same period.
Nintendo hopes its next success will be the gamepad, a less risky proposition, but one that has the potential to significantly enhance gameplay. The ability to shift your game from the television to the gamepad along with an exclusive screen for quicker item management are only some initial concepts. Ultimately, it will be up to the developers to create even more unique innovations, something that never materialized with the Wii.
With what is certain to be my incredibly accurate outlook based entirely on conjecture drawing to a close, my final prediction is that the Wii U will ultimately lose the next console war to both Microsoft and Sony. Although it won’t be a failure as colossal as the Gamecube, it’s difficult to believe the Wii U will garner the casual audience that allowed the Wii to win its generation.
However, I would have had a similarly pessimistic attitude about the Wii when it launched in 2006, and that console ended up blowing expectations out of the water. With my words now immortalized in print, I’ll be preparing myself to eat crow two years from now if the Wii U proves me wrong.
Have any next-generation predictions for Adam? Send them to arparis@wisc.edu
