Let’s just be very honest right now. Nintendo’s Wii U is in a very rough place. It started with an interesting launch, beating the competition to the punch with an interesting peripheral and what seemed like Nintendo getting really serious again. Holiday 2014 put that momentum to rest with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Nintendo tried to hold its ground, grabbing a few strong third party titles and making the great, older games they’re known for. It worked at first, but after the PS4’s insane launch and the Xbox One experiencing a complete turnaround, the Wii U was left struggling. For most, that would mean that Nintendo had completely lost out, but the events of this past year point to quite the opposite.
Despite the challenges facing the, Nintendo made a few moves this year that are starting to get their groove back.
Taking Chances
For a while it seemed like Nintendo wasn’t trying to break the mold too much. Sure they innovated once again by included a tablet as a controller with tons of neat features, but they were still safe in terms of games. You got several Mario games, Donkey Kong, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., and more that you knew would continue to exist. While none of these games were bad by any means (except maybe Mario Party), safe doesn’t sell systems. They needed something new, something that only they could do, as well as something unexpected.
Splatoon was a brand new IP that came out of nowhere. It was Nintendo’s way of jumping into the competitive shooter scene without giving up on their values, and you know what? It worked exceedingly well. The traversal, unique weapons, frantic combat, and easy to love characters became something much more than anyone anticipated. Nintendo followed up that hit with Super Mario Maker. Creating is nothing new to games, but what about building a simple level creator that just uses Super Mario assets? Turns out that Nintendo was sitting on another gold mine, and this simple title blew up. Two games nobody would expect to be amazing, but they absolutely were.
Then you had the third party side of things. Devil’s Third and Xenoblade Chronicles X, while not both a hit, showed Nintendo’s willingness to provide variety on their platform. Nobody would expect a hyper violent game like Devil’s Third on one of the Big N’s machines. And Xenoblade was a game that pushed the Wii U to its absolute limits, showing that it can hang with the big kids.
Nintendo’s shift away from the comfort zone is a big deal. To those who see consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One offer all of these types of experiences already, it may not seem like a big deal. But for fans who have watched Nintendo’s rigidity over the years, this is the foreshadowing of a great awakening.
Courting Third Party
Not too long after the launch of the Wii U, most major third party publishers stopped majorly supporting the console. Square Enix, EA, Ubisoft , and 2K are relative no shows on the platform. Sure, you may get a small game on the 3DS or some licensed product, but none of the heavy hitters were showing their faces around Nintendo anymore. Whether you purchase a console based on exclusives or not, it’s those third party games that help to fill in long waits between releases. Nintendo lost that support due to a weak install base, slow sales, and lack of power.
For a while it seemed like all hope was lost, but small deals here and there show that Nintendo is talking again, and companies are willing to play ball. Super Smash Bros. is proof of that. It seems like a small accomplishment, but having Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII) appear in the game alongside Nintendo mainstays and Ryu is a big deal. Things like this don’t just happen overnight. Licensing is one thing, then getting permission to cross universes is another.
For too long Nintendo rested on its laurels, but it’s good to see that they are making moves behind the scenes once more. With Capcom and Square Enix having their own big games on the horizon, it would be nice to see Nintendo get some love on the Wii U and 3DS. Let’s just hope that they keep it up and sit down with other major players.
Nintendo is Ready to Fight For Its Spot
Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are known as the big three. That’s because they rule the console market with iron fists and anything worth playing on your TV comes through these guys. But you may have noticed that most talks these days only concern Sony vs. Microsoft. Many have already counted out Nintendo because it sort of seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere. Yes, they introduced a console stronger than both the PS3 and Xbox 360, but that was expected; at the time those consoles were over five years old. The Wii U ended up being immediately outclassed when the next console generation entered the scene.
While power and graphics don’t guarantee an amazing experience, they do provide a lot more options to developers looking to make specific types of games. Something like the Witcher 3 or Rise of the Tomb Raider just wouldn’t be possible on the Wii U, and when you have developers who don’t want to lower the quality just to get a game on a machine, you run into walls. It’s admirable that Nintendo is still creating amazing experiences for the platform, but it couldn’t ignore that it became shadowed almost immediately after release.
That’s where the NX comes in. If rumors are to be believed, then we are in for a Nintendo console that pushes the limits of technology, something that hasn’t really been seen in the last two generations. A powerful machine capable of playing the Nintendo games everyone loves, as well as being able to play games like the upcoming Mass Effect is a much sought after platform. This would be the first step in making the company a force to be reckoned with once more. Of course, it’s only one step in the grand scheme of things. Power won’t solve all of their problems.
But, when combined with their new courtship of major third parties and the willingness to take chances, Nintendo has shown that they have found that groove that they had lost. Nintendo may very well be headed back in a big way.
What do you think about the recent going ons with the fan-loved game company? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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