E3: more bad Nintendo news; Wii U not a hit amongst the money hats

Matt Hawkins Contributing Writer, Video Games

Nintendo sure has their work cut out for them; not only must they try their best to win back hardcore gamers, but now word comes from Japanese stock holders are less than impressed with their new thang.

wiiu2 E3: more bad Nintendo news; Wii U not a hit amongst the money hats

I absolutely hate drawing comparisons between Nintendo and Apple, because everyone else does, and it’s for the stupidest of reasons, but I guess it’s apt in this instance: on Monday, Apple unveiled a new operating system for both the Mac and iPhone, plus their move towards cloud computing, and it was enough to make Wall Street analysts all giddy, hence why their stock rose even further up.

And the very next day, Nintendo held their E3 press conference, with a large part built around their new upcoming hardware, which they believe will put them at the top of the home console mountain once again. Unfortunately, those who own shares in the company were not impressed, hence why the stock plummeted over 5% on the Japanese Nikkei. Ouch.

So what’s the deal? Basically, the Wii was a smash hit, but then it basically hit a wall for a variety of reasons… the casual game market all of a sudden being wooed by Apple’s platforms (regardless of the quality of the games that are one them, that point seriously needs to be emphasized), along with major publishers basically giving up on the platform, due to both inadequate hardware and an even worse online infrastructure, are just two. Again, Wii Sports is one of the best and worst games of all time; it’s so awesome that many have found zero need to get a second game. Ever.

Basically, much like Tickle Me Elmo, what was once hot is no longer the case, and Nintendo needed to show everyone that they were serious about getting back in the game. But in the end, folks are more confused than anything else (the fact that many couldn’t even figured out if the Wii U was an actual new system or fancy new controller, and this is among seasoned gamers, speaks volumes), plus along with the lame duck that the 3DS has been thus far, Nintendo needs to work harder. Their usual shtick of being clandestine and resting on the laurels of their legacy might not be working anymore.

On the plus side, and as noted yesterday, Nintendo officially axing the friends codes nonsense and going with a gamertag system, with a unified friends list. What’s bad news for parents who are now basically unlocking the front door for child molesters (or so Law & Order SVY would have you believe) is great for the rest of us. My prediction is that the most played game on the Wii U will be Super Smash Bros Brawl, provided it gets online support.

Nintendo Falls Amid Questions Whether New Console Can Repeat Wii’s Success [Bloomberg] & Wii U Ditching Friend Codes For Unified Gamertag, Friends List [MTV Multiplayer]

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