Before the system's launch, myself, like many others were excited for its release. I originally planned to save up the cash and buy the system once it became available, as pre-orders were discontinued by the time I got interested. I wanted to desperately play ZombiU, since I'm a sucker for anything with something of the zombie variety in it. But as the months wore on, I became less interested in the console, simply because it's software did not entice me enough. And I was not completely sold on its new controller either. The console released and was sold out everywhere in my area for about 3 weeks, but now it can be found at any store you walk into. Hell, I saw a whole stack on display in Best Buy this week. No one even giving a second glance. I wonder why that is.
A look at the recently released sales numbers shows that the new console has sold around 425,000 units during it first week, which is around 50,000 less that the Wii did during its first week. The PS3 and 360 both have outsold Nintendo's new consoles by around 100,000 this month. Though I'm sure some of that has to do with the recent holiday bundles that had been released and/or announced.
Nintendo is still certainly going all in with the Wii-U as they recently announced they will no longer be making games for the original Wii console. I can't help but feel that they may be making a mistake especially considering how little attention the system is getting right now. It also doesn't help the image of the new system that some geeks from many places around the web have torn the system apart, revealing it's less than stellar components. It is barely more powerful than current gen systems and I have to say that it does show.
That is my next worry about the system, its library. It's a fact that software sales hardware, and the software seems to be a bit lacking. Sure they have the New Super Mario Bros U and ZombiU, but the other titles seem to only be current gen titles running on a NEXT GEN system. It feels like Nintendo is simply playing catch up and trying show the hardcore crowd that they are still there and making games for them. I was even considering going out and buying a system and a few games as a gift for the family but after examining the price tags of the system and the games, I quickly decided against it. I didn't feel as though I would get my money's worth. Nothing shouted "Next Gen Experience" to me. It looked and felt like current gen with a new controller. If they really want consumers to pick their new console over the current gen contenders, they need something that really feels like next gen. Otherwise, we as buyers wont feel safe enough in our investment. And that's what a gaming console is right? An investment. For the next 5 or 10 years, we wont have to buy another system as the hardware we have will be good enough to run the software that is currently being put out.
So what can Nintendo do? The need a killer app. Something that really shows a unique experience, something that you can only get on Wii-U. They need to prove they aren't shoving out current gen hardware in a next gen costume. Otherwise, the hardcore crowd will again feel like they have been abandoned by the grandfather of gaming, and the general consumer base won't buy it because it doesn't show it is truly a step forward, rather than running in place.
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