Here is Reggie demonstrating the Wii U.
Question to All: Why the saturation of the Nintendo theme? That is what Nintendo Land is. Instead of mini games, they are forcing Nintendo themes into them. Why are they doing this?
When Wii Sports was made, it was decided that the Nintendo theme be stripped. There have been Mario themed games forever, and the masses didn’t come. But the NES Sports games tend to be Nintendo theme free. Wii Sports was designed in that vein. They even went so far to remove the Nintendo logo from inside the game (and replaced it with the Wii logo). Wii Sports was free of all Mario, Zelda, and traditional Nintendo baggage. And it was intentional so people who turned down Mario, Zelda, and traditional Nintendo games might give this a try. And it worked.
So why is Nintendo doing a total 180 degrees and stuffing the flagship game for the next console with Nintendo themes?
Let me pause while the reader thinks this over.
Does the reader have his answer? Well, let me tell you mine.
Nintendo’s actual mission with the Wii was not to create new gamers but to create new gamers who would buy Nintendo games like Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 (which Miyamoto made easier just for them) or Zelda: Skyward Sword (which also uses motion controls just for them!). This never happened. Instead, this audience broke for the games Nintendo doesn’t want to make like New Super Mario Brothers Wii or Mario Kart Wii.
My theory is the overdose of the Nintendo theme is to get new people comfortable with the Nintendo theme as gamers, not just make gamers for the sake of gamers. The Wii Sports crowd didn’t want to buy Super Gamecube games.
My other theory with Nintendo Land is that Nintendo actually believes stuffing multiple IPs will ‘surely make it sell’. Nintendo Land, which is the Alternate Dimension where Nintendo executives actually live, will be ‘all the rage’ because of all these IPs. The more IPs they add, the better sales performance they think will occur.
They want Nintendo Land to not be bundled with the hardware. The thinking in this alternate reality called Nintendo Land is that all these IPs give the game collection the gravitas it needs to be a stand alone title.
I’m not sure how they got to this conclusion since the only games Nintendo sells are games without any Nintendo heritage on them: Brain Age, Wii Sports, Wii Fit. Games like Mario Kart Wii and Super Mario Brothers 5 were seen more as successors to the SNES games than following the N64/Gamecube lineage. But this is Nintendo. For Tetris DS, they did slap every IP they could on it.
I honestly believe Nintendo does not want another Wii Sports. Don’t get me wrong, they want a game that sells like Wii Sports but they want these customers channeled into Nintendo’s traditional IPs. Maybe they think it will work out as a combination of Smash Brothers with Wii Sports.
But I can’t see a grown man buying Nintendo Land for himself. The theme revolves around a toy train! I’d be embarrassed to hold it in public.