Writing about the Wii U? Mii too.

The Wii U is still likely over a year away, and the internet is already rife with speculation about the system. There are many concerns including the lack of announced launch titles, an issue that plagued the recently released 3DS as well, but there’s plenty of time for them to announce a fuller list of launch titles at next year’s E3 event. Then again, the good folks that all but singlehandedly kept me from exercising until I was entering high school could phone this one in and bank on the notion that an innovative controller and backwards compatibility will lead the system toward success despite its apparent lack of launch titles.

Certainly Nintendo has used the "Two screens are better than one" argument before and this is no different.  Nintendo has made some obvious upgrades over the Wii graphically, and they’re including a low resolution 6+” touch screen in the controller. Cynically speaking Nintendo has run back to the well of innovation to try to come up with a new system concept, but they found that they’ve dipped into the well too many times and now they have combined their two most recent successes into one super system. Optimistically speaking, one can have faith that while 3^rd parties may not have a clue what to do with this technology right away, Nintendo has been developing successful titles for both platforms individually, and should be able to make some absolutely spectacular games that mix up the fun.

Nintendo as a company has had their missteps, but with over a year to announce more launch titles, and with the speculative knowledge that Nintendo’s launch price in the US market will likely be under $300 (Nintendo strives to bring consoles to market at approximately $250), and the projected price per controller is being estimated at around $70 the system is going to enter the market at about the same price as the current generation consoles, which in and of itself isn’t enough to sell the system, but it’s certainly a good starting point, especially as they promise better online gaming support and full backwards compatibility with the Wii. 

The system has a lot of time to build up steam, but only time will tell what Nintendo is really going to accomplish with this system. Certainly the Wii U is going to be an upgrade over the current generation Nintendo console, but they will fall into the same trap they have with the Wii, once the competition comes to market, they will look two steps behind again. Innovation and some engaging exclusive titles have carried them through this generation, but they’ll need to bank on the same reasons for success in the next generation of gaming consoles as well. I for one am excited, but the console certainly has potential to fail. Innovation can only carry them so far. Sure the Wii U will have 1080p HD compatibility but we’ve got quite a bit of time to see what Nintendo’s new system will really be capable of, and while graphics are far from the top priority of some gamers, and most Indie game designers, they are a selling point to most of the core market.