Hardware

Wii Info

Wii Past

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional
Valid CSS
RSS Feed

Wii U targeting core audience more

Wii U targeting core audience more

In a new 'Iwata Asks' interview on the official Nintendo website, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru 'Shiggy' Miyamoto discuss how the Wii was perceived by many as a casual device for gaming, and how the Wii U will make amends.

Iwata: The other thing is, shortly after the Wii console was released, people in the gaming media and game enthusiasts started recognizing the Wii console as a casual machine aimed toward families, and placed game consoles by Microsoft and Sony in a very similar light to each other, saying these are machines aimed at those who passionately play games.

I certainly do not think the Wii was able to cater to every gamer's needs, so that's something I wanted to resolve. Of course, with the Wii console I'm sure everyone would agree that we tried really hard to go wider, but even though we worked aggressively to go deeper in certain areas, the general public's impression that Nintendo was casual grew as time went by.

Miyamoto: But one of the key reasons that such things as the core and the casual exist today is that we decided not to adopt HD on the Wii console. Of course, besides that there are things like issues with the controller and the challenges that it brings, network functionalities and many other things, but I think HD was the biggest factor that everyone was able to clearly understand the difference.

In terms of the HD capabilities, Wii U can do something similar, and on top of that, it is equipped with this new controller that adds an entirely new structure to games. I think this is an opportunity for those games that were considered to be core up to now, to evolve into something even more interesting, structurally. In that sense, I do wish all kinds of games would be released, regardless of the debate over core or casual.

Do you think HD and the new controller will bring core 3rd party developers swarming onto the Wii U? Here's hoping.

Interestingly, the interview also reveals that the standard Wiimote will still play a big part in gaming on the Wii U. So hold onto your remotes, folks.

Posts

StarSailor
Core or casual or whatever I don't care, I just want more Mario. Bring it on.

danfango
Nintendo did their best but Wii was a flop in terms of getting solid gaming franchises, the most we had were watered down spinoffs. I agree with Shig and think HD will go a long way to bridge that gap.

kate
When is wii u coming out?

PHiRE
It's coming in 2012 sometime, I don't think there is a date on it yet.

Dave
I think that the new controller will be a pretty radical improvement to the FPS core gamer franchise. The controller, with a similar button layout to other FPS controller setups, will allow gamers to reload, swap weapons, look at radar maps, etc with no on-screen obstructions, no game delays, and no image burn-in on expensive HD TVs. Now, this is *if* hardcore gamers adopt the Wii U. I think that the name will be a hindrance; Wii HD would have been much more appropriate. Also, Nintendo needs to get their online network core-gamer friendly, aka beefing up speed and removing such nannying tools as friend codes. Also, I'm very concerned that the Wii U will end up being massively underpowered when the next Xbox and PlayStation debut--this would be disastrous unless Nintendo plans on the Wii U being an interim console until Microsoft and Sony unveil their next consoles. Nintendo also needs to make sure that they invest in alternative uses for the U. Netflix compatibility out of the box is a must, but the Wii U really needs to stretch beyond that to other services such as Amazon VOD, wireless file sharing with locally-networked PCs and smart phones, Bluray playback, and compatibility with or comparability to trendy apps for casual gaming and socializing. These things are a MUST! Nintendo should have really looking into linking up with Google for access to casual Android Market apps and/or Facebook for connection and communication with friends. These things would have solidified Nintendo's place as #1 hardware manufacturer, but as it is, I'm not certain that the Wii U is offering much *new* beyond its controller, which has a 50/50 chance of being fully accepted by hardcore gamers. Also, I've heard no mention of 3D; this concerns me. I think that sluggish sales prompted Nintendo to rush the Wii U, but more connectivity and content are pretty obviously required. I really hope that some of the ideas I've mentioned become an announced reality before launch, or else this will be another Dreamcast or Gamecube, unfortunately. But, as I said, if Nintendo is working on some of these alternative uses, the the Wii U has the potential to be more legendary than the first Wii.

Add a post





Upload avatar



Around the web