One of the threes in the name E3 is Nintendo. Curiously, they've decided to skip gaming's biggest annual trade show. Semantic issues aside, that is a humongous vacuum left by gaming's oldest and most respected surviving publisher. But lets not pretend this is shocking. They drunkenly stumbled into the launch of the Wii U, after gorging themselves on the mainstream juggernaut that was the original Wii. They learned the biggest draw back to appealing to the casual market in the most financially painful way possible: They don't give a flying F about what else you want to sell them.
Because of this, the Wii U has sold under the launch numbers for the Gamecube and that... that is just depressing. As such, exclusive content is jumping ship and the future prospects for the company are dismal. As a PC and PS3 core gamer, this would be the perfect time to put on my burgundy smoking jacket, gaze out of my drawing room window at Nintendo's flaming shipwreck, and cackle subtly into my glass of 67' Pierre Ferrand Grande. Yeah that's right, grand with an E!
But I won't do any such thing. The performance of the Wii U is a sobering portend of doom and a sign that the game industry is headed for a crash not seen since the arcade collapse of the mid to late 80's. Ask any financial historian to draw a straight line to the primary reason gaming survived that catastrophe at all, and it will lead to Nintendo's front door. Whoa. Dang.
This could be it folks, if the new consoles don't make enough to survive, Sony and Microsoft may not be able to afford to attend another trade show. And while E3 isn't necessary, I say it is vital for the fan bases and the developers that stoke their fires. The industry needs excitement. It needs that light at the end of the tunnel, it needs the school yard rivalries, the petty one-up-man ship, and the goofy, tin eared, presentations.
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I needed that.
E3 is doomed, and there is going to be another crash, but I wouldn't worry about Nintendo
ReplyDeleteFor one simple reason, the 3DS
Nintendo can survive a console debacle like the Wii U because of the sheer strength of their handheld market.
The Vita is dead, and app gaming is just a time waster, if you want more quality gaming fare you buy a 3DS.
So Nintendo will survive this, in fact the Wii U debacle will be humbling for Nintendo.
The Wii succeeded because its early days were so similar to the NES, not the gamecube, Nintendo went back to its Retro gaming roots, NSMB Wii was the crowning glory of that return.
Then it veered off into Supergamecueb territory with Galaxy, Skyward Sword and Other M, all of which were sales losers, failing to move any consoles, the Wii U is a continuation of that stupid supergamecube path.
The Wii U gamepad is a monstrous child of that old GBA/Gamecube connection they had back on the GCN, where you could hook them together to play.
People hated it then, and they hate it now.
Sony and MS are the ones in real trouble, if their console market fails, they are gone from the industry, and this DRM/no BW comp path both are taking is a sure sign that gamers will not warm to those systems.
If they come in above $400 it'll be a complete debacle for both of them.
But it may be a good thing, when Nintendo resurrected the industry in the 80's we got the glory that was the NES, perhaps when Nintendo resurrects it again they'll release another amazing system.
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ReplyDeleteEDIT: yeah, I regret not bringing up their handheld sector, and I am going to be watching the ps4-xbox price point announcements through my fingers.
ReplyDeleteStill there is a privately traded outlier... The Steam Box! and who knows where those chips are gonna fall.
thanks for the thoughtful coherent comment anon.