Here's the Wii U reveal video of just over 5 years ago. How NOT to reveal a console

From June 2011.

This is the entire Nintendo E3 2011 press conference. The Wii U introduction starts at 39:10

And now, Nintendo is probably a few weeks away from the NX reveal, expected (but not confirmed) in September. Will they have learned valuable lessons from 2011 ?

Hopefully they have better games to show, that launch lineup was sad. I admit it was cool seeing off-screen play while dude was watching baseball and all the other concepts they displayed. But the games they showed didnt look too appealing.

How many times that a company can stumble before it gets it right?

I expect a disaster.

What a timid response from the crowd when Reggie announced it. It's like they didn't know if clapping or throwing tomatoes was the correct reaction.

Seriously, when they revealed that I thought it was an Addon UNTIL I saw the Zelda demo. That made me question if this was a new console.

Not only that but they showed this

which made me even more confused cause Nintendo still didn't clearly say it was a new Console, but this is stuff that the Wii can NOT RUN. So did the Controller make the System better? or is it a New Console? Nintendo 2011 was really confusing.

@LegatoSkyheart: Actually right before the first e3 footage shown, Reggie announces it as a new console, then the footage plays. The video cut out that part of course, dont fit the agenda.

probably would've worked if a LoZ game could ever looked that good, not even the new LoZ looks as good as that concept demo, not even the new NX LoZ game looks this good

oh well, at least we got Hyrule Warriors, that was pretty cool

@lamprey263:

But how do you know what the NX version of Breath of the Wild looks like?

I understand what you're saying though. That Zelda HD Experience demo on Wii U looked pretty damn good, especially the lighting and all stuff falling from the ceiling from the boss. That said, it was only rendering a small room.

They pulled a Gamecube.

probably like the Wii U version we saw recently, with higher resolution and a stable framerate, and by design they went with cell shading and it's a fair assumption the NX game will do the same

IT was right there when i said NINTENDO is focusing once more on peripherals and controllers than actually hardware and games and that this was a bad sign.

Guess what ... I got the laughters/hate/flame hard , mainly because of Wiis success NOONE agreed with me . Sheep and not only literally beleived Wii U would be a success even if now theyll tell you otherwise.

Oh well !

NX though is different because it tries to unify the massive amount of handheld fans to the console fans. It remains to see though what is NX all about , what will offer for its price , games , 3rd party support and many more things before we jump in conclusions.

lol I wish they would have used the Wiimusic stuff for the entire conference instead of a real orchestra, would have been legendary, legendary bad.

I don't actually remember the conference or the reveal here but I do remember the WiiU unboxing that Iwata(RIP) did:

I enjoy seeing a messy Nintendo, they're very entertaining. Cannot wait for the cringe worthy NX announcement!!!

There were some tough lessons they had to learn with Wii U. They needed to learn that branding and console design are still real things that need to be addressed. You can't make a console look identical to the previous one and not expect confusion. You can't advertise Wii U and tuck the console away in a corner. You can't name something U instead of 2 and not expect confusion. They should have been smacking everyone in the face with the number 2. Repeatedly. And nonstop for the first 2 years.

@misterpmedia: That Iwata Wii U unboxing is one of the best youtube videos i have ever seen in my life.

All of you Nintendo haters do remember the Wii and DS setting the world on fire, right? They are literally only 1 generation removed from both.

Stop it.

Lol can you imagine if they tried to pull that on Wii U as a full game...Wii U would melt. :P

& the best Miyamoto could come up with for the gamepad was Starfox Zero..lol.. :P

This.

@superbuuman: Star Fox Zero dont actually need it. You can play the whole game toggling on one screen.

@superbuuman:

Not to mention that the early Project Cafe / Wii U devkits in 2011 were reportedly somewhat more powerful than the final production console released in 2012.

The sad thing is that a lot of that functionality never made it in the games...

Also, they should probably get someone besides Reggie out there. I mean, he sounds like a decent enough guy, but it just seems like he is playing up to a group of pre K kids. Like you are expecting Barney and Elmo to come bursting out and dancing on stage at any moment....

What a turd of a conference, it's like they're a bunch of robots talking !

And a turd of an introduction for a new console.

They should have Showed the console, Showed the Specs, and then showed the Controller. Also emphasized the WiiU as HD and provide a clear interpretation what the GamePad was capable of.

It's no wonder consumers were mind f-cked about WTF a Wii U was.

"It's called a "Wii", but you play alone on a crappy tablet and the system is less powerful than a 360. What could go wrong?"

-Nintendo circa 2010

@scrollinglayers:

Since this is system wars and for comparison, Xbox's Project Scorpio reveal presentation.

I am just pointing out from the video shown, what Miyamoto said about the Wii U gamepad - what could be done?...before Wii U launch...to what he did with it after launch. :P

That was the problem with the reveal, too much emphasis on the damn Gamepad when they should have also put in equal amount of time showing quality software as well. Nintendo has said on multiple occasions that "The platform with the best games will win", yet I didn't see good games in that reveal, all I saw was just a bunch of tech demos.

First time for me to actually see the reveal I only heard about it and thought it was just an upgraded version from the original. Only after I read about it in one of the articles did I realize it was a new console.

I liked the gamecube, but the Wii was a different story so I even didn't bother with the U.

From a mass mind control perspective the big mistake is that they created an unintentional false idea of their product (Anchoring the mind. Everybody is alert but not reasoning. Look, a controller. Look at what this controller can do. It's a controller.), and after that false idea has been firmly established suddenly, for a very short time present the real product.

If they had showed the console and the name first on stage and in the video, so that people knew it was about a console not a controller (and used the word console instead of companion), and shortened the anchoring, you can then go about showing off the controller for half an hour and people would still 'get' it.

This is a classic example of focusing on the mind control aspect so much that you lose sight of the fundamental points of the message you want to get across. The creation of this desirable idea is only one of those points and should get the appropriate attention, not dominate the whole play. Also to have it be the first impression is super risky. Yes that is when people determine what they think about it the most, but it's also where people determine what it is that they think things about. It would have been way better to have at least a short exposure to the actual whole product and name.

The second problem is the most common problem with mind control tactics of marketing is that it tends to be very visible and therefore counterproductive. They had Reggie take the explanation of the name way too far. Another good example of Nintendo doing this is the infamous "PLAY THE GAME". It needs to be subtle.

And I can't believe I'm giving marketing department tips to better influence the people. Normally I never do that, but this is really what went wrong here, if you really want to know. They clearly dove into mind control tactics which is cool and all, but they botched it.

You cant expect Nintendo to do all the work always. Also there are many ways to use the Gamepad, not just one way. My favorite is off-screen play, which Nintendo uses a lot.

True, and I agree. However, they still are having a hard time understanding pricing strategies.

That really doesn't mean anything. Nintendo might not have hardware successes on the level of DS and Wii for another decade or more, assuming they stick with dedicated gaming hardware that long.

All I want from Nintendo is a powerful, conventional home console and a constant supply of Nintendo games and Japanese 3rd party games.

If Nintendo did that, they would definitely be exiting the gaming market in the next decade. They have to GROW the market to succeed. Just making stuff and releasing it isn't good enough anymore. Nintendo has to do something to separate themselves from the competition, not emulate it.

@iandizion713: Thank you. I could've sworn it was said it was a new console. I always wondered how people didn't get that. Granted it was a console that was basically catching up with ps3/360 in terms of tech capabilities and we all figured this was a fail move because the other two would be advancing soon. So Wiiu was left behind. They love this idea that they aren't in competition with MS and Sony. Sorry Nintendo you are.

You know, after watching that 2011 E3 conference again, Fils Aime is the most wooden public speaker in the world.

@cainetao11: That was one of Nintendos mistakes. They stated, we want to go this way and not compete with Sony or Xbox. So they designed their console and games to be different. What they didnt expect, is that Sony and Xbox would change coarse and follow Nintendo forcing them back into competition. Nintendo then tried again to go a different route with Wii U, trying to be more balanced, but Sony and Xbox went above them again. Everything Nintendo tries to do different, the industry just follows Nintendo for some reason forcing them to compete.

Remember Miiverse and Mii characters, all thats being copied. Remember Nintendos Indie scene of trying to help the little developers, it was the reason they made cheaper consoles, to lower development cost, Xbox and Sony would later do the same. Remember 3D tech and AR tech Nintendo tried to do to be different, that tech is being used by Sony, Xbox, and others too.

Big money is powerful.

@iandizion713: I don't deny Nintendo positives and groundbreaking moves. I merely state that the days of generations growing up on Nintendo are gone. My nephew and his cousins, ages 10-12 are asking for Xbox and PS from the age of 6. They all have 3ds' but in the home console space neither they, or their classmates want Nintendo games or consoles according to them. All they ask me is when will uncle cainetao let them play far cry or battlefield.

The Nintendo fan has grown up. And judging by WiiU numbers not enough of them are buyers to support another weak, Mario, smash, kart, Kirby console.

They need to get in the real world.

@cainetao11: I highly doubt that, majority who play CoD, Madden, GTA, etc are adults. Sure some kids play them, but its such a small amount. Nowadays kids are way more diverse in their gaming. Pokemon, Smash, Mario Kart, Zelda, etc are still popular amongst teens and kids.

If the generations are all coming to Sony and Xbox, then why arent the franchises growing more. Why are all the teens playing phone games and PC Dota's, etc.

Back when i was in high school, Nintendo wasnt the most popular. Gamecube was a joke and very few played it too. We all played PC, PS2, Xbox, and Dreamcast.

@iandizion713: Doubt all you want. I related my experience with kids in upstate NY.

They don't give a shit about Mario, Zelda, Kirby, smash, or Kart. They ask to play FZ horizon because the cars "look real"; COD, Battlefield, Far Cry because they curse and it's cool to be a killer/hero.

You don't believe my limited experience? Oh well!

@cainetao11: O i believe its popular. But i dont believe all the kids are doing it. Nintendo was never the most popular when i was growing up either. Well except Pokemon. Pokemon hit when i was in middle school.

That might have been true during the 7th gen and loss-leading era, but if you look at the numbers Nintendo hasn't grown anything. The WiiU has ~1/8th of the market that the Wii had and they were going after the "blue ocean" tablet fad. So now in classic Nintendo fashion they are going after the tablet market even harder.

People simply want 3rd-party support. They want games and the WiiU did not provide them. However, a Nintendo fan is only able to break from the cycle of abuse once they recognize that one of Nintendo's cornerstone philosophies is to stifle 3rd-party support on their systems.

Actually their pricing strategy is spot on. At this point they don't really wanna sell more Wii U units than they have to. Otherwise they will have to do another production run and the parts Wii U uses is both outdated and heavily customized. It would be a spendy venture that they would rather avoid. They heavily expanded on Nintendo Selects, and they frequently do sales, offers, and have plenty of value games out there. They are doing everything to make sure that current Wii U owners have games that they can pick up on the cheap, without going into rare games like they used to in previous generations. They are pretty much spot on pricing wise.

@iandizion713: Well come on. Really? Nobody said ALL the kids. My point is enough are not flocking to Nintendo to keep them relevant sales wise compared to a family that figures get a PS or Xbox and some games like skylanders or infinity while dad has his games and the fam has a multimedia device

That's Nintendo's audience.

@cainetao11: I guess, but id want them some more fun games to play, not just Lego games etc. They like to watch Disney, Yo-kai Watch, Pokemon, etc. And they like to play games like that. 3DS has those games and tablet has their other needs.

But yeah, as they get older, a PC and stuff makes more sense. They get sports, shooters, and all that stuff. Nintendo is more diverse in its audiences, but it does lack in the more older popular stuff.

@ronvalencia:that video left me with nothing but dissapointment. also a poor way to reveal a new console. but then the new console itself is not that exciting and with nothing to show making use of that new hardware...its a hard pitch. here is a new console. we are not actually making anything new for it specifically...but...tadaaa.

but yeah...the way the wiiu was revealed was shocking. mass confusion. they made an absolute mess of selling the concept. it was a convuluted idea and, internally, i dont think they actually had any great ideas on how to use it.

here is how you reveal a console.....the wii. this is when nintendo executed a clear plan very effectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXW_ap3xmJk

there is no confusion about what the console is about...none. it has motion controllers. heres stuff it can do....maybe (its advertising...everyone lies :P). ends with the iconic blue strip that got traction from the previous TGS (i think) and it has a brand new name so clearly new console.

@osan0: This is how you reveal a console.

That dude pulled it out his suit, straight gangsta style.

Seems more like "new controller" rather than new console. Also what Zelda is that one?

@Kruiz_Bathory: Thats the second Zelda they are working on that was suppose to come to Wii U in year 6. But now has to push to NX, so we can expect in year 2018-19. It will most likely be a time when the hero was defeated. Might be a very dark one.

Or get this one. Maybe thats the original Zelda Wii U but was pushed aside due to poor Wii U sales and the NX version was down-sampled to use on Wii U instead so that Nintendo could launch a game on both.