The Wii U Unveiling Debacle

If Nintendo’s unveiling of the Wii U left you somewhat confused, rest assured that you are not alone. The Wii U unveiling was so underwhelming that Nintendo stock prices dropped to levels never before seen since the original Wii’s launch in 2006. The Wii U unveiling undoubtedly had the biggest splash at this year's E3; it was topic of conversation for everybody who attended E3, and has left the Internet abuzz ever since it was announced. So if the Wii U announcement was successful in getting the new console name out into the public imagination, why did the stockholder exodus occur?

Putting it simply, the Wii U is both too extreme and not extreme enough, and this awkward position means that Nintendo can potentially end up in last place in the home console race. As the core of Nintendo’s strategy to cement their lead in the home gaming console race for the future, Nintendo did not prove that the Wii U and its tablet controller was innovative or advanced enough to keep it at the forefront of the race when the next Xbox or Playstation would eventually come out. Indeed, when compared against Microsoft’s current Kinect controller-less motion capturing technology, to many people the Wii U tablet controller almost looks like a step backwards in terms of pushing the envelope of video gaming.

Whether or not the Wii U tablet controller actually will be a step backwards compared to Kinect remains to be seen when the console is actually finalized, but the very fact that we are asking this question is exactly what the problem. Nintendo did not fully convince anybody that the new touchscreen tablet controller would be the best way to play games, and apart from the new controller Nintendo did not present any real ‘killer’ functionality that would truly separate the Wii U from the current Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3 hardware. Nintendo’s lack of technological ambition with the Wii U undoubtedly makes it easier for Microsoft and Sony to plan out their future home consoles strategy, and any signs of technological stagnation are the last things that anybody really wants to see with the Wii U.

On the other hand, despite not taking any huge risks in functionality and technology, the Wii U still manages to be radically different enough from the current Wii to potentially alienate their current user base. By re-focusing their gaze on HD gaming and focusing more on 'hardcore' games during the Wii U unveiling, Nintendo seemingly has abandoned what has made the Wii wildly popular; the casual gamers. I personally think that it is too early to claim that Nintendo will be abandoning their current user base, but there is no doubt that all of Nintendo’s emphasis on reclaiming the ‘hardcore’ gamer during their E3 press conference has been a bit too extreme for shareholders concerned about the majority of Nintendo’s current customers.

In addition, for all of their focus on winning back 'hardcore' gamers, Nintendo neglected to spend time on the most important aspect of 'hardcore' gaming during the unveiling; online play. There have been precious few details released about the online platform that Nintendo will use, which is worrying considering Nintendo intends to compete with the long-established Xbox Live and Playstation Network online services. Nintendo historically has been horribly inept with online functionality for all of their consoles, and the lack of information has not reassured anyone they they would continue this trend with the Wii U.

Nintendo then rubbed additional salt in the wound by admitting that the game footage for several major third-party games shown during their conference were footage taken from the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game. By admitting that the footage was not taken on the Wii U hardware, now it raises numerous questions about whether the Wii U will be made available to game developers early enough for them to develop polished games in time for launch, and whether or not Nintendo is pushing the Wii U’s development more rapidly than they should at this point. If developers are forced to make shortcuts to make the Wii U launch games, the quality of the launch games will suffer, and it also means that it will take longer for games that fully take advantage of the unique touchscreen tablet controller to be developed and released.

It was great that they came clean with this information, but given Nintendo’s poor track record with software development and sales for the Wii and the Gamecube, this honest confession just might have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. In the end, this confession and the vague unveiling have left unanswered questions about the Wii U buzzing around like flies. Nintendo could not manage the perceived value of the Wii U in comparison to the current generation of home consoles, and what concrete information they did release have done too little to reassure investors that the Wii U is future-proof.

To Nintendo’s credit, they did manage to do some good things during the Wii U announcement, announcing a slew of developers working on games for the console, having working units on the show floor, and affirming that the older Wii remote and Wii Motionplus controllers would be compatible with the new console. It is tough to announce a new console at E3, especially with console hardware that has not been finalized, so it was not surprising that Nintendo was intentionally vague about the features set and hardware specs of the Wii U. But they definitely could have done a better job of getting the deed done, and even Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted as much.

It is definitely too early to tell if the Wii U will be a success, even with all of the negative buzz and the unanswered questions about the Wii U and Nintendo's strategy, since the console features have not been finalized yet. Nintendo still has time to make the necessary changes according to the responses that they have received, so losing faith in them right now is a bit premature. However, time is also working against Nintendo as their projected launch date looms closer and closer, and delaying the launch of the new console will possibly be the final nail in the Wii U's coffin.