The failure of the Wii U was done on purpose?

Nintendo VR unit is basically that.

The Wii U had excellent titles, but there was too many mistakes with that console.

Not only it looked too similar to the Wii, it also had a name too similar to the Wii, so people basically thought it was an add on.

On top of that it wasn't unique enough to compete with other consoles. Even if it was more powerful than the PS3, or the 360, it wasn't powerful enough for the next gen around the corner.

Power usually doesn't matter as much as long as you can offer something unique enough. The games were unique enough, but the hardware wasn't.

Basically the asymetrical gameplay wasn't a seller simply because it is not a feature people would care for. It didn't even work properly, you couldn't even go far enough unless you live in a tiny house.

Although to be fair to the guy who said that, once they realized of the mistake, which was after a year of release, they did try to keep it on the low, almost as if they just wanted to get over with it as soon as possible.

The proper way to do this is by keeping your loyal costumers happy, but without making enough noise to bring too many new ones until you have a proper response, in this case, the Switch, and that's what they did.

They kept advertising to the minimum, they avoided game expos presentations, they kept important IPs from appearing on the console, and they even cut production early.

A lot of people wouldn't understand that approach because if you have a product it only makes sense to sell more of that.

Yes, that is true, but only when that's your last resource, if you have an ace up your sleeve, you want to be smooth about it.

I was honestly impressed because only a company with that much experience can play like that. Any other company would probably spend all their resources in making it work, until they couldn't anymore.

At the same time there is no much to applaud because they already had Sega as an example of what not to do, so it would have been very shameful if having that example, they would do the same mistakes.

Plus they couldn't afford making those mistakes when their properties have so much cultural value, it just wouldn't make sense financially in the long run because part of the reason they are so valuable is because they can manage them first hand.

Letting go of that would indeed have been a major catastrophe, and I doubt anyone would had liked to see that. They definitely did the right thing, and the right thing was a hard thing to do, not many could had pull it off the way they did.

However they wouldn't have been in that position if they didn't make those mistakes in the first place. They fucked up big time.

In resume:

The Wii U was a transitional console, but in a market that was years ahead of their calendar, similar to what the PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X were.

The Wii U was appropriate for 2009, not for 2012, but they didn't need it in 2009, and by the time they needed it, it was too late for the console to compete.

They simply had to take the hit until they were ready to have something more appropriate with the times.

Ah man, if these idiots were pre-teens then it wouldn't be a problem. But everything you said makes complete sense and is proof that the Wii U was not fill in console. I mean to suggest Nintendo CEO's taking a pay cut when the console failed and the company was possibly in the worst situation they were ever in was done deliberately is pretty stupid.

The thing is I loved the Wii and still do and was really looking forward to the Wii U. Nintendo fanboys still bitch about the Capcom Five that was promised for the gamecube and Derek even made a two part video practically crying about how Capcom betrayed Nintnedo. But for me Nintendo did the same ting with the Wii U. They promised all the third party support and I was really looking forward for a lot of those games such as the Yakuza HD collection and Metal Gear Rising.  But Nintendo just started pulling the plug on all the third party games one by one and pretty much decided to go back to the same position they were in the Wii which also one of the reasons even people who were interested took a step back or not pick one up right away.

As a huge Nintendo fan my self, Nintendo never gave me a reason to own a Wii U at the time so I decided to wait for more game releases so i was spending my money else where.

Of course it was part of their plan, don't you know Nintendo can lose money for 30+ years and still be ok? A guy on the internet told me as much.

Nice expansion on the whole thing. The reason why I said it was for 2009, but they didn't need it then is because exactly that.

In fact, I do believe the console was scheduled around that year, and all of that is just my personal theory, I would doubt you can find this information anywhere else because I made it up, I'm surprised you heard a podcast about it, I guess some people can come to the same conclusions.

The only reason why that theory is my guess is because that was the time when people were switching massively from CRTs to HDTVs.

The PS3 came with the ability to be used with both options, a CRT, and a HDTV, but the Wii was CRT exclusive unless you bought a third party adapter.

Around that time, channels started switching from analog signal to all digital. In United States the government even issued free digital converter boxes in some places, so people can receive the new signal, and cable companies had to invest a lot of money in that technology.

This was a change that had to happen fast going from CRT to HDTV. They already wanted to lay down the ground for the smart TVs, and CRTs were simply not going to cut it for that.

The Wii was not a HD device, and Nintendo was the only one in need of an upgrade, but they didn't jump in it because of the success they had, they didn't feel they need it, so they procrastinated, and that's what end up bitting them in the ass.

The Wii U is probably the most complete console ever made. All my Wii digital library is there too.

Think about that, you have Commodore 64, Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Arcade, Master System, Wii, GameBoy Advance, and Wii U titles, all in the same console, that is capable of two simultaneous screens gameplay, motion controls, and traditional playing with a decent power, and 1080p graphics, even the Switch doesn't do 1080p all the time.

Definitely a very special console indeed.

Yeah, the Switch even outsold the Xbox One before the first two years passed, and the Xbox One has been in the market since 2013.

This whole lost of memory thing happened with the Sega CD, and the Sega 32X too, but us fans haven't forgotten, we will always honor their memory.

Yeah, Wii games were selling insane. All in the millions, Mario Party 8, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Sports Plus, Wii Party, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, no wonder they hold on to release the Wii U.

All of those were monster games in terms of sales. I don't think any console has ever seen so many games hitting 10s of millions in sales, even games like Wii Fit, and Wii Fit Plus sold like crazy.

I remember playing the Wii at almost every house party at the time. Lots of people got laid because of the Wii. It was one of the best excuses to bring girls home after the club. Those were ridiculous party times.