A lot of people single out the Wii U as a spectacular failure, but it really isn't alone.
8th gen, the gen comprising the Wii U, Xboxone, PS4, the upcoming Switch and several other
devices has been the biggest failure and disappointment in gaming yet, but why?
I'd like to share my observations and some opinions from my perspective.
I'm going to try to focus more on actual facts and hard information though, much more than
most people who make videos like this... yet Microsoft is going to force me to make educated
guesses.
Also yes, the Switch is 8th gen, though it's probably going to be 9th too, unless it does
poorly, which I don't think it will when we get done looking at why 8th gen has been such
a mess.
I think it's the only device trying to remedy the mistakes everyone has made.
I suppose the best place to start is the Wii U since it kicked off 8th gen, which I am
confident is a huge reason it struggled.
Nintendo did something really stupid - they tried to get the jump on the competition by
setting the bar relatively low, low enough Sony and Microsoft could easily come in with
something a bit more powerful and yeah, that is exactly what happened; what did Nintendo
expect?
Power is not everything though, the PS2 and the Wii the weakest entries from their generations
were the leaders, but Nintendo made other mistakes.
A popular claim is that the name Wii U confused everybody into thinking it was a redesign
of the Wii and the ending focus of the Wii U reveal positioned the console as a fireworks
simulator.
I doubt both of these claims, the latter is just a joke that a handful of people present
in complete seriousness and the former is a claim I have never seen substantiated apart
from one graph that indicates roughly the same number of people who were preordering
sought clarification of if it was a new console.
Branding was Microsoft's mistake, but I'll get to that soon.
My experience has been more people never even heard of the Wii U period, not that they think
it is something else; they literally have no idea Nintendo released anything besides
the 3DS after releasing the Wii.
Nintendo really didn't market the Wii U; they marketed some games, but didn't have much
highlighting the device or showing a sizzle reel on TV or the internet, just the E3 presentation
only longtime fans and the media made a point to tune into and it impressed very few.
Nintendo had few exclusives beyond Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros U and little
else exclusive announced later on.
Sure there were some eShop exclusives and games like Sing Star, but those hardly justify
buying a 300+ console and a lot of the Wii crowd wasn't aware of the Wii U... then in
the January after release no games released besides 2 indie eshop games.
Many of the consumers who knew passed seeing no hardcore games coming and with few exciting
new games there was little discussion about the Wii U until games like Smash Bros and
Xenoblade were announced, but at that point it was little too late for most and the PS4
was winning.
The claim many make against the Wii U I've found is valid with Microsoft's handling of
the XboxOne, when sony rereleased the Playstation after releasing the PS2, they called it the
PS1.
When I first heard about the name Xbox One for months I thought it was some kind of souped
up rerelease of the Xbox and I know a lot of people who still think it is some awkward
revival that can play Xbox games natively because it has essentially identical hardware,
but can also play new games because the hardware is stronger.
I eventually looked more into it and realized the name Microsoft chose was weird and just
confused people.
It didn't help Microsoft was trying to push things like DRM as great features either,
or that they have continually canceled their big games.
The XboxOne has done so poorly one year Microsoft tried to report large numbers Xboxes sold,
which retailers revealed were overwhelmingly 360s and then they just stopped giving numbers,
instead combining users who logged into online across the 360, Xboxone and Windows 10.
Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure Microsoft wants to get out of consoles this gen and consume the
PC platform.
At least that's what I get from their press conferences focusing on Windows 10 and automatic
Xbox integration and parity.
So the last thing we know, the Wii U was outselling the Xboxone so it's actually very possible
it still is or is just passing the Wii U because Nintendo gave up on it.
So why is the PS4 a "success" with shameful quotes?
You want to know the truth?
The PS3 was actually the dominant console in 7th gen, the Wii sold way more systems,
but lost it's way and that is why few were excited to see only old ports and casual games
announced for the Wii U.
The Wii betrayed the fans of the gamecube, which in truth was every bit neck and neck
with Playstation 2 when you subtract those who bought the PS2 almost exclusively as a
DVD player.
Gimmicks may sell units, but it won't automatically make you dominant.
The PS4 had the success of the PS3 to ride on and a majority of the popular RPGs and
3rd party games.
If you look at handhelds, then 8th gen isn't quite a failure, but is disappointing.
While the PS4 has done abysmally, the 3DS is in a good position, not great, just good.
As the 3DS comes to an end, it falls disappointingly short of any other handheld, even the PSP,
yet it is still the 8th gen victor by quite a bit, just like the original DS was the dominant
device looking at home consoles and handhelds.
The 3DS's success is much the same as the PS4.
It is riding off of the titan that was the DS and it has a corner on the RPG market that
the PS4 could never dream of having.
The Vita failed because much like the Wii U, it struggled to receive notable games for
a long time and couldn't get the RPGs even just as much as the PSP.
Apart from the gimmick consoles like the PS2 and Wii, sales have been steadily declining
and I have a guess why this is.
Going from 3rd to 4th gen you got over 10 times the color, parallax and a bunch of new
buttons.
Going to 5th gen, you had polygons and fully scalable visuals and control sticks and rumble.
Going to 6th gen you had much more complex polygons and way more could be done and wireless
controllers appeared Going to 7th gen, polygons were a little smoother,
you had HD resolution and widescreen was mandatory, you could run some better engines and you
got motion controls and online was a real thing that could actually be done in a serious
way.
Then going into 8th gen, you got virtually identical polygons, you could run very slightly
better engines and Nintendo gave you a second screen for consoles so you could get rid of
the HUD and Nintendo offered HD resolution.
8th gen had no reason to actually happen except barely in Nintendo's case and 7th gen could
have been pushed off, even 6th gen could have been postponed another year or two.
There just wasn't enough to get people excited in 8th gen with home consoles, they are just
7th gen consoles that can do slightly more.
Judging from my pool of people, gen X moved heavily to become the PC peasant race and
gen Y just kind of waited to see anything possibly worth playing to be announced with
hopes of being able to wait till 9th gen and in the mean time they moved to handheld where
things could actually be improved.
This explains why the PS4Pro failed; it only allows 4K, which I think you know I hate,
but it doesn't matter to most regardless.
Looking at the Switch, it actually has a reason to exist, something to push video games forward.
Handhelds just jumped from the 3DS to freaking 8th gen or another way to look at it is 8th
gen just became small, sleek, wireless and portable while gaining HD feedback.
Furthermore, the Switch is gimmickless; it doesn't have a DVD player, it isn't pioneering
some unrefined technology; it is just pushing the industry forward.
Sure it may have motion controls, but that's a standard now; the 3DS, Vita, Wii U and PS4
all have standard motion controls and there are 1, maybe 2 games that will use motion
controls in a gimmicky way announced for the Switch unlike with the Wii and Wii U.
Let's look at the Joycon compared to the remote too.
The Wii remote is a mess because it is designed with motion controls as the focus.
The Switch controller can be used like the remote, but has been designed to work as one
half of a standard controller as well as an equivalent controller on it's own and turned
to the side.
You play with the remote on it's side and you have a d-pad with a button next to it,
2 buttons in a normal spot and a single awkward trigger on the bottom.
The remote was designed with motion controls as the priority, the joycons are designed
with being a good controller in two orientations as a priority and a good motion controller
second.
Judging by the excitement over the concept and how many Yooka-Laylee PS4 and PC backers
want to make a switch to the... mmm... the Switch; it may end up dominating this and
next gen, but 8th gen just got interesting.
So do you mostly agree with my perspective or have you seen facts that contradict my
experiences and interpretation?
Be sure to leave a comment if you disagree or even agree and share this video to keep
the discussion going, or respond to my video and leave a link to your response in the comments.
Oh and have a good day today and everyday.
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