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INTO A NEW WORLD
So the Wii U offers gamers of all ages a very new experience. Whether the Wii U reaches the incredible heights of its predecessor remains to be seen, however. The Nintendo Wii had a clear target (casual players) and a game in "Wii Sports" that was fun to play and easy to enjoy. The Wii U needs a similar kind of experience to sell players on a console with two screens.
But the Wii U arrives in a new world. Video game console sales have been falling, largely because it's been so long since a new system was launched. Most people who wanted an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or a Wii already have one. But there is also another reason: People in the broad 5-to-95 age range have shifted their attention to games on Facebook, tablet computers and mobile phones.
The Wii U did very well abroad during the holiday shopping season. But the surge could peter out in 2013. The Wii U is not expected to be the juggernaut that the Wii was in its heyday, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. The Wii outsold its competitors, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, in its first four years on sale, selling some 79 million units by the end of 2010. By comparison, IHS expects the Wii U to sell 56.7 million units in its first four years.
In this age of a million gadgets and lean wallets, the storied game company faces a new challenge: convincing people that they need a new video game system rather than, say, a new iPad.
The Wii U isn't lacking in appeal. Nintendo has introduced a revamped online hub, called Nintendo Network, for the Wii U, which players navigate via the GamePad. There's an eShop for purchasing games and Nintendo TVii, which will allow users to watch TV and use apps such as YouTube.
Even so, it's a "very, very crowded space in consumer electronics," noted Ben Bajarin, an industry analyst for firm Creative Strategies. Gaming has changed significantly in the past six years, especially when it comes to the type of large audience of all ages that serves as Nintendo's bread and butter. Zynga Inc., the online game company behind Facebook games such as "FarmVille," was founded in 2007. The first "Angry Birds" game — that addictive, quirky distraction that has players flinging cartoon birds at structures hiding smug green pigs — launched in late 2009. The first iPad, of course, came out in 2010 — three years after the first iPhone.
Nintendo's loyal — some would say, fanatical — fan base has been placing advance orders and will likely keep the systems flying off store shelves well into 2013. Classic characters such as Mario are a huge part of the appeal, since they can't be played on any gaming system but Nintendo's.
But an initial sellout doesn't mean the Wii U will be successful over the long term, IHS noted, citing its estimate that the Wii U won't match the Wii's sales over time. Bajarin believes it's going to take "a little bit of time" for the Wii U's dual-screen gaming concept to sink in with people. And if it proves popular, Nintendo could have even more competition on its hands. "Technologically, this is something that Apple, Google and Microsoft could easily recreate," he said.
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