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Email: Still in the dark

seanmalstrom
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Master Malstrom, you know what is sad? Nintendo had their big Wii U showcase and I’m still left with unanswered questions about the console. The biggest gaping hole is their online plans. It is confirmed that none of their first party titles will have any kind of online multiplayer at all. The Virtual Console is barely mentioned, E-shop has a big ? next to it. What the hell? Nintendo has adopted some of Apples practices, why not adopt an iTunes like account based system? This is inept behavior. 
 
The industry does seem more accepting of the Wii U, but that is only because they have no choice, economic conditions are forcing them to adopt this attitude. I feel console gaming is in store for a rude awakening. I don’t care about jr. PC gaming coming from Sony or M$, and I hope their next consoles do attempt to break the bank with more powerful consoles. As you keep reiterating with Yamauchi’s quote about games being the only reason consoles sell is fact. The only reason to choose a Nintendo console over their competitors has always been Nintendo’s first party games. Nintendo Land is a f*ing waste, I’d have rather had a Wii Sports 2 (Not resort) that had a more robust core and ONLINE MULTIPLAYER. I loved Wii Tennis, it was the game that sold me a Wii.
 
Super Mario Bros 6…The more I see of it, the better it looks, but there is still the issue of aesthetics for me (lack luster graphics), recycled gameplay mechanics, No Online multiplayer (even if it they could have added a battlemode like Mario Bros. 3 with online) etc. And despite all this, I still want it. However, when the inevitable 3d Mario releases, with all the added effort, I will feel slighted and won’t buy the game out of spite (lol). Pikmin 3? Who cares? Aonuma Zelda? Who cares? Nintendo has a software problem. The games we want to play, the devs don’t want to make, and the games they want to make, we don’t want to play. I would love a Super Mario Bros. 2 game again, but Miyamotot doesn’t want to make that. That game would be a monster, as long as they didn’t gimp it.
 
The most frustrating thing about all of this, is that we know they know what we want, but they refuse to give it to us. So like many others, I will find other ways to spend my time. I will wait to see where Wii U goes. But as long as the devs at Nintendo don’t care, neither will I.
 
How do you think this coming gen will play out Master Malstrom?
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I like your term of Xbox 360 and PS3 being “Junior PC Gaming”. I’m going to steal it! Haha.It is very strange we have no details about the E-Shop on the Wii U. We do know Reggie and NOA talking about the account system and how games you buy can be used on systems in the future. Their silence on that tells me there is conflict between NCL and NOA.I know what the conflict is. NCL is backwards. The entire nature of an account system is a contradiction to Iwata’s mantra of ‘integrated hardware and software’. If software can be used on multiple consoles and into the future, then it isn’t ‘integrated hardware and software’ is it? This is why I use the word ‘ideology’ when Iwata chirps his phrase of ‘integrated hardware and software’. Apple is an integrated hardware and software company (boy, are they ever!) and even they don’t force you to rebuy all the software again for their new hardware. You can even use content you already have on your PC.

The account system is Nintendo’s most important decision since deciding to make the Famicom. If trends hold steady, the Nintendo platform of the future will be the accounts. I see the account system as infinite backwards compatibility. Nintendo probably sees it very differently. Iwata may think that if we can buy old games, we won’t buy the new ones. But if everyone is choosing to buy the old games over the new ones, then maybe the new games aren’t that good and their ‘unique hardware features’ aren’t giving the game additional value.

I know exactly what you mean by your uncertainty with the Wii U. While NSMB U looks great, is that all we’re ever going to get? Are we stuck with Gamecube-esque games? No one wants to purchase a game console for *one* game. This is why the Virtual Console is so important to me. With it, at least I’ll still be able to enjoy the console even if Nintendo’s later offerings aren’t my cup of tea.

As for how the generation will go, we don’t know what Sony and Microsoft are going to do. The big, big issue is the economy. It will continue to go down for a while. Japan, for all we know, may end up in a war with China.  I think the Wii U will have a strong start and then struggle as it moves further in 2013. The Wii U is a red ocean product and will be competing for game sales with the Xbox 360 and PS3… both of which are cheaper and have larger game libraries.

If the Xbox 360 or PS3 begin outselling the Wii U monthly in a market, Wii U will be in big trouble.

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