Nintendo has come under a lot of criticism for its abysmal follow-up to the Wii U launch. The system was plagued with technical issues, and its game line-up has seemingly shriveled up and died since the holiday season. But even though the Wii U is undoubtedly pulling in very concerning numbers, it could actually be even worse for Nintendo to simply start releasing game after game as soon as possible.
How can that be, when the biggest criticism being leveled at the Wii U is that it simply doesn't have any interesting titles? Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 were allegedly "launch window" titles, and both ended up being delayed (Pikmin 3 until August). The Wii U desperately needs an infusion of quality titles, but releasing those games "on time" even if they weren't quite ready would've been even worse than the current situation.
The State of the Wii U was summed up quite well by Rob Fahey over at GamesIndustry International.
"Nintendo's management understands where the value of its company lies," Fahey wrote. "The 'Wii U' brand, or even the 'Wii' brand, has only been around for half a decade and probably won't be around for much more than another half-decade, at best. This console generation will only last five years, if things go well. The company's character and franchise IP, though, is an extraordinary long-term treasure trove."
"Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid and the huge range of smaller but much beloved IPs ... are things of exceptional value - but their value lies not in the character art or the trademarks or any of the tangible assets associated with those IPs," he continued. "Their value lies in goodwill and adoration from consumers, all of which is predicated on the fundamental assumption that when Nintendo puts one of these names on a game box, the game inside is, almost without exception, going to be excellent."
Although I could potentially derail this discussion by questioning the excellence and creativity of Nintendo's output over the last few years, Fahey's overall point still stands. I may not think all of Nintendo's games are as good as they're supposed to be, but they're generally all still well-designed, quality titles that bring joy to millions of gamers. And they continue to hold a grip on the imaginations of many. That's very important, and as Fahey notes, Nintendo's long-term success hinges more on the continued quality of its software than on the success of any one console. Nintendo survived disappointing performances from the GameCube and Nintendo 64, and it won't be killed off by disappointing Wii U results.
Before the original Wii came out, and even after the supposed "failure" of GameCube, Fahey asked Nintendo President Satoru Iwata what the company would do should the motion-controlled Wii bomb at retail.
"His answer was blunt - Nintendo has a lot of money in the bank (it still does, the scale of its financial assets being something of a bugbear among investors), and if the Wii had failed, it would just come up with a new idea and make a new console," he wrote. "The unspoken but implicit subtext was this; 'even if the Wii fails, we'll still have Mario, Zelda, Pokemon and all the other things that make us 'Nintendo'. That remains every bit as true today as it was six years ago."
It's very true that the Wii U is starved for quality experiences, but Nintendo's main goal needs to be that when it finally does release its games, they actually are quality experiences. Even if that means agonizing dry spells in between. Every Nintendo console in modern memory has gone through the same awful experience. Maybe people are just catching on; I know I won't buy a Wii U until there are titles (yup, multiple) I care about and want to play. And whenever they come out, they better be good.
