Have Nintendo Lost The Plot with Wii U?

Yet again Nintendo are rolling out their multi million pound selling favorites mario and co and seem to be relying on the family market and the “Non Core Gamers” again with updated versions of Wii fit cleverly named Wii Fit U. Ok we got to see a couple of screens from UBISOFT’s new Wii U IP ZOMBIU (see what they have done there which seems to be a growing trend) but as for going after the core gamers again which Nintendo has stated more than once there was very little on display.

So what did Nintendo and the Wii U have to offer us so called “Core Gamers” or should I rephrase that? What did Nintendo show us so called “Core Gamers”, well it was single screenshots and pre rendered or non live gameplay of last years, this year’s and next year’s games. To be honest none of the games listed below stand out to me as a day one buy just because I can now use a fancy pad (or maybe not so fancy pad) to look at maps and change weapons and cameras does not warrant buying a game I already own and have owned for the at least a year once it becomes available on Wii U.

1. Batman Arkham City Armoured Edition
2. Mass Effect 3
3. Aliens Marines
4. Tekken Tag 2
5,Tank Tank Tank
6.Trine 2 Directors Cut
7.Ninja Garden 3 Razors Edge
8.Darksiders 2
9.ZombiU,
10.Rayman Legend

I really don’t want to sound like I am bashing nintendo but for me being a “Mature Core Gamer” that has been playing and buying nintendo products since NES I really want to see something that is fresh, something that has that wow factor, something that takes me back to that first cart i stuck in the nes all those years ago and the enjoyment it gave me for hours if not years on end.

Maybe the problem is i’m getting old and don’t get what Nintendo is trying to do anymore, Maybe I have been spoilt by high end pc’s,xbox 360’s and PS3’s, or just maybe Nintendo have got it all wrong.

If Nintendo did really want to wow the “Core Gamers” and get them on board their press conference was definitely the wrong way of going about it.

I re watched the Nintendo E3 2012 Conference with my wife (a casual gamer and a fan of the wii when it first came out) and my 3yr old daughter to judge their response and see if it was just me that had lost the plot. My 3yr old loved it, it was bright and colourful with lovable pikmin and mario flashing up on the screen, as for my wife the casual gamer her response was I would rather play my ipad. So this leads to a second question has nintendo now lost the casual gamers to the mobile market?

When Nintendo released the Wii it was aimed at the family, a console that was even cool for grandma to play, but now all these casual gamers including my grandmother have touch screen phones and ipads with angry birds, where games and apps cost just 69p or even free and have full web browsers on them. So my question is who is Nintendo aiming the wii u at?

To end my views are my views and time will tell, I really do want the console to do well and i’m looking forward to trying out the games and maybe my opinions will change. But with Microsoft announcing SmartGlass the day before Nintendo’s Wii U conference in what can only be described as a big F**K You Nintendo where does the Wii U fit into the market? yes my 3yr old will love it the same way she loves my ipad, her coloring book and her dolls.