R-I-Pii: Here Lies Nintendo

            It was recently announced that Sony’s next generation console, the highly anticipated Playstation 4 has already routed Microsoft’s Xbox One in sales. As of December 2013, 4.2 million Playstation 4’s were sold compared to 3 million Xbox Ones; outselling the new Xbox system 2 to 1 in the first month of 2014. One next generation console that has been quietly lost in the next gen shuffle is the Nintendo Wii’s successor, the Wii U. The Wii U was released a year before its next gen counterparts and failed to garner the anticipation and luster of its highly interactive predecessor, the Nintendo Wii. Since its launch in November of 2012, Nintendo sold a meager 5.8 million units as of December 2013 and was deemed a failure by various news outlets just days after picking mine up. Only 2 of their games have hit the million-unit mark while slashing projection numbers for fiscal year 2014 from 9 million to a crippling 3 million. There is no question that the Wii U is Nintendo’s best looking system to date so what went wrong?

What I like about the system:

            I’m pleased to finally own an HD system from Nintendo; it’s truly grueling trying to play 480p titles on a high definition television. The titles on the Wii U look nothing short of spectacular. I really like what Nintendo did with their handheld hybrid GamePad controller that also emits sound during game play. Though the selection is fairly limited at this moment, I enjoy taking trips down memory lane and downloading classic titles that I grew up on (notables include the NES’ Legend of Zeldas, Super Nintendo’s EarthBound and Super Metroid with Game Boy Advance titles coming this April). Overall, I think the Wii U is phenomenal and is a system I believe in despite its shortcomings.

What I don’t like about the system:

            My biggest bone to pick with Nintendo about the Wii U has to do with its lukewarm video game lineup that was not ready for primetime when it was rolled out. I had to wait a whole year before they began to release games that I was the least bit excited about. Even a year after its release, there still isn’t a big selection due in part to third party developers not particularly interested in investing time and money into the system. I’m not a big fan of online gaming myself but since Nintendo was trying to foster a family-and-friends heavy experience with Super Mario 3D World, the online experience has been lackluster overall and this growing sector of the gaming experience has clearly been left on the backburner as a result. I’m waiting patiently for a new Metroid side-scroller and an HD follow up to 1995’s Yoshi’s Island but sadly, I won’t be holding my breath. I’m very nervous that the Wii U will be short-lived before it can demonstrate its full potential and that Nintendo already released its final console.

What’s next?
            Nintendo’s devastating third consecutive annual operating loss may very well be forecasting an impending doom for a company that’s been in business for the last 125 years. The only thing keeping Nintendo afloat right now is their 10-year-old Nintendo DS handheld. With 154 million handhelds sold and close to a billion titles sold worldwide, the highly sought out DS is the best selling handheld of all time and the second best selling video game system of all time. Nintendo’s inability to viably compete with hardware giants Sony and Microsoft will most likely cause them to downsize immensely from producing home video game consoles to producing video games solely as a publisher and/or developer. Don’t be surprised to see future Nintendo titles being played on the Playstations and Xboxes of the future ala Sonic The Hedgehog. It’s clear to see that Nintendo may have to follow in Sega’s shoes one day unless they can show us something and fast.