[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]
yeah, I don't think the guy who wrote the article really knows what the term "risky" means. The wii was a featureless console with whacky controllers. It was a massive risk to take and was a boom or bust product that boomed. The wiiU is a very safe approach. It is full of options and features to try and cover every base possible. That controller pro was the last straw that proved it. As if having all the control options of the wiimote-nunchuck as well as the gamepad weren't enough, they had to put a normal controller along with it. Couple that with all the online and media features in the wiiu, and it seems to be aiming at absolutely everyone. It won't bust but it won't boom either.
SuperFlakeman
The reason why Wii was a high risk proposition was because its control scheme was unconventional, with a minimal increase in horsepower gen over gen. Nintendo stated a goal to expand the market before they even released it.
Its games lineup was half unconventional (Wii Sports etc.), that's why Nintendo made sure to have a mainline Zelda, Mario and Metroid title within the first year & also announced before the system launched, in order to reassure the Nintendo fan. Notice how we don't know anything about their big AAA franchises yet.
Everything about Wii was unproven. That made it risky: Nobody had sold a console without a significant horsepower leap before. Nobody had successfully sold a console without traditional control input as the main controller.
Wii U continues with the same kind of software as Wii, i.e. it is conventional. It consists of Wii-like casual/bridge games, core 1st party games and traditional 3rd party games. Mini game collections, fitness games, 2D Mario, etc. are proven sellers today. Wii Sports was not a proven potential seller at the time. Get it?
And GamePad is anything but unconventional, in fact touch interface is trendy and known to be highly appealing amongst consumers. A social component (Miiverse) was also given considering the age we live in.
Everything about Wii U is safe imo. The system, its features and the type of games announced are proven types.
do i get it? Yeah, you basically just repeated what I said :D. As for the gamepad controller, it is not exactly new and unproven. We've had a similar setup on Nintendo handhelds for over a gen. There will be some unique applications and it isn't exactly equivalent, but it's still firmly based in tried and tested tech. It's definitely not as new as the wii's controller setup was, and nintendo forced devs to adapt to that new and crazy setup.
As for Nintendo's big franchises, the wiiU has NSMBU. That series is bigger than 3D mario and Zelda combined. Mariokart is even bigger than that, and that would be the game I would expect to see right away considering it sold about 30 million units on the wii. The wiiu launch is much more aggresive than the wii's and it covers a much wider variety of games.
The wii's unimpressive tech was riskier than the wiiu because it launched a year after the 360 did. The wiiu has inferior tech but it is launching a year early, again to safely protect it in the case that gamers see the better visuals on the competition and go running. The wii was jumping straight into that fire, many expected gamers to turn away, and yet it was a success. Ballsy little console for sure.
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