Is the Wii U this generation's Dreamcast?

[Oltobaz1]

One thing's for sure, the Dreamcast has reached cult status a long time ago, due to SEGA being perceived as a cool brand, at least to some degree. The system failed, but there's no denying it catered to gamers, ultimately. At least, that's how it's perceived by most. As cool as Nintendo actually is, they're widely perceived as mainstream, largely due to their family friendly communication. Sad, considering how different, and ultimately true to their gaming roots they actually aim to be:

I'm sure the Wii U will have a terrific library when it's all said and done by the end of next gen, yet I doubt it will reach that 'cult status'.

The previous Wii didn't reach it either, despite its massive initial success.

Also, the DC had one thing going for it, sheer power when compared to the competition (up until the PS2 came out). Soul Calibur reproduced that wow factor many had experienced in 1995 with Ridge Racer on PSONE, it just looked that good. I doubt the Wii U can convey that same impression, especially in light to what's coming in a few months..
It's a good console, worth owning yes, but it won't be remembered as Nintendo's Dreamcast, if only because it will actually be succesful, though competition is gonna be harsh..

[ActRaiser1]

Let's keep the 3DS / Vita arguments out of this thread and squarely on the Wii U.  You guys are welcome to start another thread if you want to continue that discussion.

Thank you

[ActRaiser1]

[QUOTE=Leo]

There's no way that the Wii U will be scrapped. Barring catastrophe like Sega experienced, it will live out a normal lifespan even if it never becomes a hit. I'm sure Nintendo's strategist realize that releasing new hardware and then quickly giving up on it and releasing something new isn't the recipe for long-term success. 

And Nintendo really isn't profitable. They recently had their first annual loss and it was a very large amount as I recall. And they've experienced quite a few quarterly losses recently. And 2013 was barely in the black and that only happened thanks to a weak yen that offset some of the damage by helping their export sales that represent the bulk of their business. And even then, their operating income remained negative.

They're not making money and that's a huge change from the Nintendo 64 and GameCube years.

[/QUOTE]

Oh, I agree, it won't be scrapped and I doubt it will be Nintendo's last console.  My only thought was that if fewer people buy it, we'll get the same high quality titles from Nintendo with a few other high quality titles from other publishers.  The dreck gets made for the PS4, Xbox One, Wii, 360, and PS3.

I think someone wrote or it was published by Nintendo that the Wii U currently has a 4 game attach rate, which isn't bad considering the few number of owners compared to what was expected.

[ActRaiser1]

[QUOTE=Oltobaz]
One thing's for sure, the Dreamcast has reached cult status a long time ago, due to SEGA being perceived as a cool brand, at least to some degree. The system failed, but there's no denying it catered to gamers, ultimately. At least, that's how it's perceived by most. As cool as Nintendo actually is, they're widely perceived as mainstream, largely due to their family friendly communication. Sad, considering how different, and ultimately true to their gaming roots they actually aim to be:

I'm sure the Wii U will have a terrific library when it's all said and done by the end of next gen, yet I doubt it will reach that 'cult status'.

The previous Wii didn't reach it either, despite its massive initial success.

Also, the DC had one thing going for it, sheer power when compared to the competition (up until the PS2 came out). Soul Calibur reproduced that wow factor many had experienced in 1995 with Ridge Racer on PSONE, it just looked that good. I doubt the Wii U can convey that same impression, especially in light to what's coming in a few months..
It's a good console, worth owning yes, but it won't be remembered as Nintendo's Dreamcast, if only because it will actually be succesful, though competition is gonna be harsh..[/QUOTE]

You bring up some great points.  Especially the power side of things.  The DC came out and had the best graphics compared to what was available at the time Playstation / N64.  The Wii U comes out and at best matches the graphics of the 360/PS3.

Excellent point.  The same goes for the cool/cult status side of things.  Interesting

[darkrage61]

Whether the stuff that gets made for other consoles like the 360 is "dreck" is a matter of opinion and some would argue the Wii U line-up has too much "dreck" and not enough stand-out titles.

[Oltobaz1]

At the present time, there aren't that many Wii U games out there for the system, it could use more stand out titles, but, overall, games are mostly good. I'm sure it will have dreck as well eventually, whether it will be by the same ratio of this gen consoles remains to be seen.

Actraiser, thanks for the kind word, you gave me some food for thought :)

[Irenicus1]

As is right now I can see it. Nintendo has a few options to still make the Wii U profitable. The question of whether they'll use those options, however, remains to be seen.  

[feilong801]

Basically my take on this is that the U is going to be fine when/if Nintendo sustains enough quality releases to build the install base. Really, these things are very simple- you have games, you sell units, you don't, and you... don't.

The real time to panic is if the system doesn't gain significant traction by summer of 2014. You will have had several major Mario titles, the Zelda remake, Bayonetta 2, and most importantly, Mario Kart.

One missing link from a lot of people's discussions is the 3DS link here- when the 3DS struggled, nintendo put more resources for that development, thus short circuiting the U in the early going.