Reggie calls Wii U a failure, Iwata didn't want Wii Sports packed in

[kaiju_wars]

So former Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime called the Wii U a failure forward, as it led to the Switch, during his lecture at Cornell University

Quote

During the lecture, Reggie – who is now the university’s inaugural Leader in Residence – spoke about a wide range of topics, including the ill-fated Wii U. The successor to the insanely popular Wii, this system aimed to introduce the concept of asymmetrical gameplay to a whole new generation of players, but consumers didn't respond and it has gone down as one of Nintendo's most costly hardware flops – despite playing host to some stunning games.

The lecture isn't available online at the moment (it's coming, though), but ResetEra user Theorymon has posted up some brief impressions and notes. During one section, Reggie admitted that the Wii U was a bust, but called it a "failure forward", since it led directly to the creation of the Switch. As we all know, Switch is anything but a failure, and has put Nintendo back at the forefront of the games industry.

 

Quote

...During one section, Reggie admitted that the Wii U was a bust, but called it a "failure forward", since it led directly to the creation of the Switch. As we all know, Switch is anything but a failure, and has put Nintendo back at the forefront of the games industry.

 

My thoughts?  I think we all knew this.  We know the Switch is what Nintendo wanted the Wii U to be.  We know that the Wii U was a failure for Nintendo.  But at the same time, it's actually cool to see someone who was actually there and in a high up position of Nintendo at the time actually come out and say it, basically officially confirming it.

Source: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/10/satoru_iwata_initially_didnt_want_wii_sports_bundled_with_wii_in_the_us_says_reggie

 

On top of that, during his lecture, Reggie Fils-Aime said how Iwata didn't want Wii Sports to be a pack-in title for the Wii. 

Quote

One such tidbit to come out of his lecture (according to an attendee who posted details on ResetEra) is the fact that then-Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was actually opposed to the idea of bundling Wii Sports with the Nintendo Wii for its US launch. In a section dedicated to his former 'mentor', Reggie reportedly stated that, at first, Iwata didn't think packing in the software with the console was the best approach.

Remember that Wii Sports wasn't a pack-in title in Japan.

Quote

Although it's arguable that the proposition of the Wii was compelling enough to make people pay for the console and the software, the fact that the killer app came bundled made things even easier for the newly-tempted non-gaming masses who wanted to do some virtual bowling with the family over Holiday season 2006. Indeed, it proved tempting enough that finding a console at all was a challenge for a while after launch.

 

You know what, I agree with Reggie pushing for it to be bundled in.  Could the Wii have sold well if Wii Sports was a separate $40 or $50 game?  Probably.  But the fact that it was bundled in helped push it in NA so much more.  It became a killer app.  So in that way, I'm glad it was bundled in.  It was a sports game sure, a simple one, but also a simple party game that anyone could pick up and play.

 

Source: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/10/satoru_iwata_initially_didnt_want_wii_sports_bundled_with_wii_in_the_us_says_reggie

[PlayStation 2]

See, with Wii Sports, Nintendo wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of the Wiimote, and what better way to demonstrate it with a pack-in game you didn't even have to buy alongside the console? 

That being said, Wii Sports doesn't really take advantage of more intense body movements moreso than it does hand movements

[minibois]

The Wii U was one of the sad failures. Great console, meh library (except for the really good titles), terrible marketing.

The Switch is what I wanted the Wii U to be, mainly the handheld portion. The Wii U was a playing ground for some more 'weird' games like Splatoon, Super Mario Maker (not that weird of a game) and a decent hosting ground for some remakes.. But it was very clear throughout its life Nintendo didn't care much for it.

 

Wii Sports being a bundled game probably was a blessing and a curse. It was a system-seller and quite fun, but at the same time made it so most Wii owners only purchased 2 or 3 games at most for the system. (those probably being Just Dance or shovelware). It made the Wii kind of a laughing stock of the industry at the time..

[kaiju_wars]

3 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

See, with Wii Sports, Nintendo wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of the Wiimote, and what better way to demonstrate it with a pack-in game you didn't even have to buy alongside the console? 

That being said, Wii Sports doesn't really take advantage of more intense body movements moreso than it does hand movements

Oh definitely.  It seems the Japanese market is more receptive to "strange and unusual concepts" over the North American market.  I think Wii Sport helped the unusual aspect of motion controls here.

 

1 minute ago, minibois said:

The Wii U was one of the sad failures. Great console, meh library (except for the really good titles), terrible marketing.

The Switch is what I wanted the Wii U to be, mainly the handheld portion. The Wii U was a playing ground for some more 'weird' games like Splatoon, Super Mario Maker (not that weird of a game) and a decent hosting ground for some remakes.. But it was very clear throughout its life Nintendo didn't care much for it.

 

Wii Sports being a bundled game probably was a blessing and a curse. It was a system-seller and quite fun, but at the same time made it so most Wii owners only purchased 2 or 3 games at most for the system. (those probably being Just Dance or shovelware). It made the Wii kind of a laughing stock of the industry at the time..

I look at it this way.  The console was okay, the library was decent, and the marketing is worse than people think.  I think the Wii U could have been salvaged if the marketing was better, and we got more original entries into first party IPs (and definitely an actual 3D mario game).

 

As for Wii Sports, I think it was a blessing in terms of sales.  Nintendo fans stuck around for the first party IPs, which is a given.  But the game sure did help sell it.  I don't think Wii Sports itself was the curse as much as just the motion controls were.  Wii Sports is just a byproduct of that.

 

[PlayStation 2]

6 minutes ago, kaiju_wars said:

Oh definitely.  It seems the Japanese market is more receptive to "strange and unusual concepts" over the North American market.  I think Wii Sport helped the unusual aspect of motion controls here.

I think there's a simpler answer to this: having something interesting to sell the console can sell it at launch. The PlayStation 2, for example, had DVD playback out of the box. Its launch titles were largely forgettable (do you remember Smuggler's Run? I bet ya don't!) but it being a fairly cheap DVD player sold it before titles like Gran Turismo 3 and Twisted Metal Black dropped.

The Xbox had Halo: Combat Evolved and Project Gotham Racing, alongside a decent amount of other solid titles (Shrek notwithstanding) to sell it and the same could be said with the GameCube, having Luigi's Mansion and that one Star Wars game to help it.

The Wii didn't have... much, frankly, to sell it at its launch outside of Wii Sports. Neither did the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 (the PS3 really didn't have much outside of Killzone? and the Xbox 360 had PGR3, Marble Blast Ultra, Hexic HD and... not much else) so I bet Nintendo wanted to drum up interest in the console by packing in something that showed us what the Wii could do.

[Taf the Ghost]

1 hour ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

I think there's a simpler answer to this: having something interesting to sell the console can sell it at launch. The PlayStation 2, for example, had DVD playback out of the box. Its launch titles were largely forgettable (do you remember Smuggler's Run? I bet ya don't!) but it being a fairly cheap DVD player sold it before titles like Gran Turismo 3 and Twisted Metal Black dropped.

The Xbox had Halo: Combat Evolved and Project Gotham Racing, alongside a decent amount of other solid titles (Shrek notwithstanding) to sell it and the same could be said with the GameCube, having Luigi's Mansion and that one Star Wars game to help it.

The Wii didn't have... much, frankly, to sell it at its launch outside of Wii Sports. Neither did the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 (the PS3 really didn't have much outside of Killzone? and the Xbox 360 had PGR3, Marble Blast Ultra, Hexic HD and... not much else) so I bet Nintendo wanted to drum up interest in the console by packing in something that showed us what the Wii could do.

PS3 was the cheapest BluRay player available for something like 18 months after launch. It's also what made it too expensive at launch. (But Sony was going to win that format war no matter what.)

 

As for the Wii, including Wii Sports was a brilliant move for the American market. It radically expanded the user base, but it also setup the failure that would be the Wii U. And they really, really should have called it something else. I still remember everyone being confused what the heck it was when it was announced.  From a historical standpoint, it's probably also important to view the Wii as the starting point of the Mobile Gaming revolution, as it actually landed before smartphones.

[Zando_]

1 hour ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

That being said, Wii Sports doesn't really take advantage of more intense body movements moreso than it does hand movements

Single men when it's Wii Sports time:

 

[kaiju_wars]

10 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

 

As for the Wii, including Wii Sports was a brilliant move for the American market. It radically expanded the user base, but it also setup the failure that would be the Wii U. And they really, really should have called it something else. I still remember everyone being confused what the heck it was when it was announced.  From a historical standpoint, it's probably also important to view the Wii as the starting point of the Mobile Gaming revolution, as it actually landed before smartphones.

With the Wii, it was, "Wii (we) would like to play" a console for everyone.  Wii U was supposed to expand on that, "Wii (we) would like to play, also U (you) would like to play."  It was supposed to be the console for both the casuals and hardcore gamers (much what the Switch has become).

But coupled with bad marketing, instead of trying to be cute, Nintendo should have just called it the Wii 2.

[Taf the Ghost]

2 minutes ago, kaiju_wars said:

With the Wii, it was, "Wii (we) would like to play" a console for everyone.  Wii U was supposed to expand on that, "Wii (we) would like to play, also U (you) would like to play."  It was supposed to be the console for both the casuals and hardcore gamers (much what the Switch has become).

But coupled with bad marketing, instead of trying to be cute, Nintendo should have just called it the Wii 2.

I think it was G4's coverage where the entire panel was completely confused about what the Wii U was supposed to be, and they got the press briefings on it. If the Switch hadn't hit like it did, the Wii U would be a case study in brand self-immolation without actually offending your customers. 

 

And, yeah, it really should have been the Wii 2. 

[S w a t s o n]

I remember how disappointed I was when I saw the Wii U unveiled even though I did end up purchasing one and using it for a short time, but much later in the life cycle. It was trying to be too many things at once and didn't do any of them well other than wii-style games with wiimote and nunchuck.

[jiyeon]

When the Wii U first came out, I was wondering "Isn't this just a Wii with an extra tablet as the main console?" which is why I remained with a Wii, and actually I now own an original Nintendo Switch. The tablet as the main controller was a super confusing concept to me at the time especially since the Wii U came off the coattails of the original Wii.

[kaiju_wars]

7 minutes ago, sowon said:

When the Wii U first came out, I was wondering "Isn't this just a Wii with an extra tablet as the main console?" which is why I remained with a Wii, and actually I now own an original Nintendo Switch. The tablet as the main controller was a super confusing concept to me at the time especially since the Wii U came off the coattails of the original Wii.

I got the Wii U when it first came out.  I was promised both Nintendo IPs and "hardcore IPs".

 

We had those crazy launch titles, mostly older AAA titles.  Then a year of nothing.  We finally got a Nintendo IP people wanted (Pikmin 3 goes without saying, but after that not much) till New Super Mario Bros U.  

Keep in mind NSMB Wii and NSMB2 hadn't been out that long by this point.  

We had our first HD Nintendo console, people were excited about a new Zelda, Metroid, and 3D Mario, hell, even Kirby.  Our first big exclusive after Pikmin 3 was a 2D Mario game.

[bcredeur97]

my parents have a Wii U. It's gathering dust behind their wall mounted TV... I wonder if they remember it's there...

 

not joking we did have some fun family/friends time with it a few times. The Wii (and U) was always funner with other people... and kinda boring on your own.

[kaiju_wars]

15 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

my parents have a Wii U. It's gathering dust behind their wall mounted TV... I wonder if they remember it's there...

 

not joking we did have some fun family/friends time with it a few times. The Wii (and U) was always funner with other people... and kinda boring on your own.

I enjoy Nintendo's exclusives, so I can easily have fun on my own with the Wii and Wii U.  But there was a small library on the Wii U

 

164 total physical releases on the Wii U in North America, 61 of those being exclusives to the system, not necessarily just Nintendo.  
 

[williamcll]

Hopefully The Ring fit adventure will be as popular as wii sports.

[kaiju_wars]

15 minutes ago, williamcll said:

Hopefully The Ring fit adventure will be as popular as wii sports.

See, I don't know if it will.  The one review I checked out about it, Wulff Den, it's more towards actual exercise, over how Wii Fit was.

I'm interested in getting it, but idk if most people will want to pay $60+ for "just another fitness game."

[Gegger]

honestly, I actually liked the Wii U, but not as much as the Wii

 

the amount of games released for it just wasn't enough for me to get one

[kaiju_wars]

1 minute ago, Gegger said:

honestly, I actually liked the Wii U, but not as much as the Wii

 

the amount of games released for it just wasn't enough for me to get one

It was released senior year of high school for me.  It was the first console I bought with my own money.  It holds a special place in my heart as a result.  But I'm also realistic of what it is and how it was treated.  

[Curufinwe_wins]

My main disappointment with the Wii U was that as soon as it launched, all games were for it only and the old wii didnt get the split 360/xb1 treatment for a number of years instead. 

 

Which was particularly annoying given how tiny the differences in hardware were.

[John_Trollinski]

I only have a wiiu to play wii games on it. I collect those.