...In with the New!

Last week, I looked at the successes and failures of the Wii.  It's time to take off the rose tinted glasses, and look at what Nintendo learn from the Wii to improve the Wii U.  Here's what Nintendo can do to improve their market share and get the Wii U to be a big player in the console arena.

The Wii U got itself off to a bit of a rocky start, especially in the beginning.  Even so, they've come around and have themselves an opportunity to become a juggernaut.

Push for Some Major Third Party Exclusives If Nintendo can get that must-have game from someone besides their own internal studios, they will see their sales improve dramatically.  The Wii had a bunch of good games, but not a really huge Third Party title that screamed "buy the Wii!"  Unlike the other two players, which have some major franchises from third party developers.  Nintendo has, however, done a good job of bringing in talented studios to develop games for them to publish.  Platinum Studios' "The Wonderful 101" was a solid entry early on in the console's life, and the upcoming  "Hyrule Warriors" shows promise.  If Nintendo can court enough external developers, they will do very, very well.

Keep Adding Games to the Virtual Console This is probably one of the biggest things Nintendo had going for it on the Wii, especially for nostalgia fans and children at heart alike.  Nintendo has literally nothing to lose by updating regularly and adding more to its back catalog.  Actually, if they really wanted to take a jab at Microsoft, they'd release the SNES version of Killer Instinct, if they haven't already...

Mother 2 ad in Japan

It should also be noted that adding Earthbound (Mother 2) to the Virtual Console on all regions definitely improved Nintendo's outward appearance.  Earthbound has been a cult hit for years, and one that is all but impossible to buy for its original system.  Managing to get the legal team to approve it for sale in all regions was a huge deal.  EarthboundCentral has a fantastic article on specific instances that would get a lawusuit-happy rights holder firing off Cease and Desist notices left and right.  Note that this article was written in 2009, so it's safe to assume that the current release on the Wii U Virtual Console has remedied the issues listed.

Update NintendoID to Fall in Line with the Competition  This one is probably the biggest, and most important.  Currently, both Sony and Microsoft allow their network IDs to roam.  That is, a user is not confined to one and only one console.  Nintendo currently operates in this fashion.  The plus, however, is that Nintendo has made great strides to make it easier to recover downloaded content.  This was mentioned in Out with the Old... last week.  Nintendo still has a long way to go, but they're making changes.  This is one instance where Nintendo does not want to be the nail that sticks up.

Wouldn't this be great on the Virtual Console?

Bring in more Arcade Shooters One of the things the Wii had going for it were its offerings in light gun arcade shooters.  Sega's release of The House of the Dead 2&3 Return and Capcom's Resident Evil Chronicles series were both major boons to the console.  The House of the Dead 4, Terminator Salvation, and even Time Crisis 4 could see releases on the Wii U and be wildly successful.  Nintendo should try to get some of the classic arcade shooters like Area 51, Lethal Enforcers, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day made into Downloadable titles.  Sega has already worked with Sony to release House of the Dead 4 on the Playstation 3, getting a copy made for the Wii U would not be difficult at all.  There are still fans of these games that would gladly buy them for $10 or $15.  This could turn into a huge money maker for Nintendo.



The Wii U has a lot of potential, even a year and a half after its release.  Nintendo can make the console as successful as its predecessor, but they will need to work at it to make this dream a reality.