Nintendo failed to wow even the biggest Nintendo fans last week at E3. The conference started out strong with a warm reaction as Nintendo superstar Shigeru Miyamoto unveiled Pikmin 3 for the Wii U. The crowd reacted well to the crisp visuals of the game and the premiere of a new Pikmin type. What happened afterward left a mark on the gaming icon.
Shareholders Wary of Nintendo
Nintendo made a promise to appeal to the core gamer with the Wii U. After the wild success of the Wii for casuals, core gamers felt the company was taking a turn for the worse. Nintendo wanted to erase the doubts with strong 3rd party support (Ubisoft displaying the most support) and a shift from the large casual reputation it received. Nintendo did little to ease the fear of the core gamer during its conference as it spent a good portion of the conference pushing its Nintendoland game, quite the opposite of a hardcore game.
Forbes on falling shareholder support of Nintendo
Some questions remain as to which 3rd party developers are on board with Wii U. It’s quite possible that an unaccounted release date and price is hindering developers on speaking out their support of Wii U, but Nintendo needs to realize that without a strong 3rd party lineup the Wii U may struggle mightily after Sony and Microsoft unveil their new consoles.
It’s far too early to tell how the Wii U will fare as we approach its mystery release date. Will casual gamers shell out more money for a new system? Can the Wii U get enough 3rd party support to attract the core gamer? Will Nintendo have a strong list of 1st party IPs to attract Nintendo fans? So far it doesn’t look so great for Nintendo as far as public perception goes, but then again people felt the same way about the Wii in 2006.
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