I first saw the new Nintendo system during the unveil ceremony at the 2011 E3 Expo I was intrigued by the promise of the system. I knew Nintendo was not the system for hard-core gamers looking to push the boundaries of technology, but the intriguing possibilities of next-generation technology and power combined with the social aspects of their games was intriguing proposition to me.
As time went on I became skeptical of the new system after seeing it at 2012 E3 Expo as my concerns were that it was not going to offer anything more powerful than what we currently had on her PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. While the game certainly looked fun, I noted that many of the Nintendo exclusives didn’t look overly complex and graphically were only slightly better than what we have seen with previous console. I did find the new control very intriguing and during our hands-on time at the San Diego comic con I realize that the system would definitely be an entertaining console and that third-party exclusives and social gaming would make it worth having.
So I said a week one adapter of the Wii U, Nintendo land, ZombiU, and Super Mario Bros became the way we spent most of our gaming time for the first 3 to 4 weeks that we on the system. However, the system now sits there and hasn’t been used in the better part of three weeks. This is not because I have any issues with the system rather there’s nothing to play that peaks my interest.
So the question I ask is has Nintendo let down its customers by not providing enough quality games to justify purchase of their system? Nintendo promised the largest collection of titles at launch ever for any system but when several of the titles have already been released previously for other systems, and there is a real lack of must own titles, it just seems very frustrating.
I look forward to the pending release is especially what will be announced at E3 as I’m hoping this holiday season will see a flood of new exclusives for the system which hopefully will allow us to have greater diversity in which just choose from.
I feel like the system really doesn’t get a chance to show off what escape love with the current releases, as I equate it to a sports car being forced to drive in second gear. There is a tremendous amount of hardware and potential in the system but honestly, standing in the middle of a room, turning in circles, firing arrows at slow-moving targets is not what I had in mind for next generation technology and gaming. Where’s the great online experience, the cutting-edge graphics, and the increased social activity that we had been promised? One of the biggest concerns I had about the system was that I saw no reason to play anything other than exclusives on it as I could likely get a better experience playing something like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, on either of our consoles or PC.
If you believe the stats that have been bandied around online, there has been the discussion that the new system has been a disappointment to retailers and is not selling to the magnitude that they had hoped. There has reportedly been increased pressure for Nintendo to lower the cost of the unit and attempt to drive up sales. For me I don’t think the price of the unit is the question I thought it was fairly priced at launch for what it offered. For me the big issue is that I need to have games that I want to play, as well as games that justify the cost of obtaining the system. I do not want to see repackaged Wii games spruced up a little bit with slightly better graphics but essentially the same gameplay when the system has the power and abilities to do so much more.
It is in this regard that I feel Nintendo has let us down and hopefully when future titles such as the new Mario Kart, Zelda: Wind Walker and Pikmin 3 arrive it will be a sign of many new games coming for the system that gamers will actually want to play.
