I’m noticing something very interesting among my friends. First, everyone is excited for the PS Vita. They don’t even think it’s expensive. Everything about it is glowing. But also, they all think the WiiU is a joke. We all think the controller is going to be too expensive. We were joking about it last night. If you’ve ever seen Kung Pow: Enter the Fist then it is even funnier.
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Just watched a video on the Wii U. I have to say I’m really unimpressed, at least when it comes to gaming capabilities. I remember when the Wii was released at E3 that’s all everyone could talk about and how this is the next stage of gaming. Tell me how many good Wii games there are that actually harness the Wiimote. Nintendo, you’ve become a joke now :/
It seems like Nintendo trashed the Wii dream. It’s pretty sad when the best thing about this E3 was the prospect of another Super Smash Brothers title.
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There are people out there who believe that I have such superman abilities with this little blog to influence the entire Internet and market. I am reading an email where someone thinks all the bad response to the Wii U is because everyone reads my blog. I suppose the investors selling on Nintendo was my fault as well (I actually recommended they sell earlier, but you can see that the world doesn’t read my blog. But they should, and then we would have a more interesting world!).
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While I am eccentric in real life, I really do like how I am in the ‘mainstream’ of video game players. Most gamers on the Internet try to run from being ‘mainstream’. If a game gets too popular, then they will declare the game ‘sucking’ just so they don’t become part of the mainstream. I’m old enough and have seen enough of the ebbs and flow of gaming to know that behavior is silly. When you find a game you like, treasure it, for it will unlikely come again. Good games create so much excitement because they are so rare these days. Anyway, it pleases me that my reactions were in sync with your friend’s. Even though I’ve been doing this blog for… way too long, I haven’t yet become out of touch.
Many gamers I know have had the same reactions as your friend did. Wii U seemed… strange to say the least. People are despising the ‘gimmicks’ they see as on a rise in gaming. But Vita looks interesting to them in big part because of the lack of the ‘gimmicks’.
Nintendo is worried as well. I may be making too much of this, but in an interview, Reggie Fils-Aime said, “How do you pronounce the name Vita?” as if trying to mock it. Vita does pose a significant threat, and Nintendo knows it. This won’t be like the DS vs. PSP again. The 3DS is going to perform weaker than the DS and the PSV is going to perform stronger than the PSP. 3DS may still pull it out, but nothing is assured. Currently, PSP is outselling the 3DS in Japan.
Today’s Sony is not the same Sony of PSP and PS3 (just as Nintendo is not the same Nintendo of DS and Wii). Vita doesn’t use UMDs. It uses cartridges. Hell. Yes. I’ve found myself looking through the PS Store to see what games I would like to buy for the Vita if I bought one. I buy a game console when I have six games I want (three need to be out at least). Just through a casual browsing, I found five. If user reviews are good, I might buy the Vita a year from now.
Meanwhile with the 3DS, I do not see anything for me. Everything is in freaking 3d. At the first E3 after the DS launched, Nintendo announced NSMB which caused me to buy the DS. But 3DS has… Luigi’s Mansion 2! Mario Kart with kites! Ocarina of Time remake (which I passed when the game was brand new on the N64)! The E-shop seems ridiculous. $3.99 for Super Mario Land? $2.99 for these Gameboy games? I actually still own these Gameboy games. The E-shop seems so backwards. The trickle of releasing games needs to stop. One thing I think would be interesting is to offer a subscription model where the player’s 3DS can download most if not all of the games for a certain amount of time (like Netflix). Gameboy games haven’t aged well enough to stand alone as single products in this day and age.
But the theme I am seeing from many gamers (I meet in real life) has been, “Wii U is lame. I hate console companies doing these gimmicks. Vita looks interesting. $250 for 3DS is expensive. $250 for Vita is cheap.”