Ok, lets get something straight right now. This is not another doom and gloom post about how Nintendo won’t be around in a few years. This is a post to remind people and maybe even Nintendo about what they seem to be forgetting. I thought I would write my opening post here at Geekoholics by saying they are not nearly as far off mark as everyone is claiming. But I understand that they have somehow gotten a little off course since the Wii U.

I think the first issue that Nintendo has with the Wii U is the name. Instead of the Wii 2 or something completely different they chose the Wii U. I feel that this doesn’t do enough to send a message to people that this is in fact a new console and not just another Wii. Even in the original E3 press conference no one was sure if this was a new controller for the Wii or if in fact it was a new console. I feel that if they do want to get people buying the Wii U they need to do a better job of educating people that this is in fact a whole new HD Wii 2!

The Second issue that Nintendo needs to address is the games. Now I think this is a twofold issue at the moment. Firstly, they need to get some good games on the way from their own first party studios. We want a new 3rd person Mario game in HD!  We want a new more grown up Zelda in HD! People buy Nintendo consoles for the great first party Nintendo games, but we don’t just want rehashes, we want something new from Nintendo that pushes the new hardware, something that we haven’t seen for a while. Maybe a new Starfox in HD? Or what about a new Fire Emblem in HD on your TV, that is not a 3DS port?  Or what about a new third person Donkey Kong? These are the kinds of games that they need to be developing.
Secondly, They have to get third party developers excited and developing for their system. We are already hearing about too many games that are bypassing the Wii U. Without that support the Wii U will always struggle. For whatever reason Nintendo seems to be scaring away developers instead of embracing them and helping them to develop for their system. Third Party Support is key here.
Thirdly, I think it is very important to land some 3rd party exclusives that make sense for that system. As great as i think it was getting Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive, it really is not the kind of game that they should be aiming for as a Wii U Exclusive. They did great with the Lego City Undercover, they need more of these kinds of creative games that work to the strength of their system. They need to start working with 3rd party developers to get unique content for their system instead of just the quick hash of current gen games. Without these no one is going to feel the need to buy a Wii U. Give me a reason to buy your console over the other guys!

The Third issue that for whatever reason seems to scare Nintendo is online. They need to get their online strategy figured out and fast. They have so much potential with so many great games, and backlogs and yet they have far and away THE WORST online out of all the current gen consoles. What happens when the PS4 or Xbox 720 come out and change the rules even further then they already are in regards to online? Nintendo needs to stop being so terrified of the Internet and embrace it like everyone else has. The next gen is ONLINE! They need to realize this and make changes to address it. They need a unified account structure for all 3DS, Wii and Wii U under one account, not linked to the actual consoles.

Lastly, as much as it pains me to say this, they need a price drop. Not even because i think the Wii U is overpriced, but they need people talking about it again. I think so many people can smell it in the air that they are not buying because even though Nintendo says they won’t do one, they feel that they are going to soon, some people just need that little nudge. If they price dropped and get some good content out/on the way, i know they would start selling again.

I think Nintendo isn’t that far off track, but if they don’t start implementing some of these, they are going to veer off a course that will be very hard to recover from.

By Dayne “Anjel” Cody

@DayneCody