News - Nintendo's latest marketing initiative: the "Why Wii U?" poster

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The top feature differentiating the Wii U - it “plays Wii U games”.

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Agree with the writer, badly conceived and executed. If they want to drive interest they need to do better than showing their console as being a worth while upgrade from the older version.

Trying to continue the Wii 'brand' seems to have backfired on them enormously. They simply didn't do enough at the start to differentiate it as a new console; similar name to the Wii, similar hardware design, same crap marketing and advertising. Their adverts plainly stating "It's a new console!" and now this, it smacks of Nintendo desperately trying to make people realise it's not just an upgraded Wii, but doing a comparison like the above almost has the opposite effect for me. The console can't do enough on its own to stand out so Nintendo has to point out the differences for you.

Advertising student here, trying not to kill myself.

FAIL.

Just die already Nintendo. You have used up all your lives. Game over.

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Originally Posted by OilSheikh

FAIL.

Just die already Nintendo. You have used up all your lives. Game over.

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What have their 5000+ employees done to hurt you?? You want them to lose their jobs?? Really now?? How would you like if someone wished the company you worked for, or a business you started would go bankrupt,so you could be left unemployed??

Oh dear marketing department failure right there.

Tis a big fail, rather like the console it appear :-(

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Originally Posted by TheVoice

heir adverts plainly stating "It's a new console!" and now this, it smacks of Nintendo desperately trying to make people realise it's not just an upgraded Wii, but doing a comparison like the above almost has the opposite effect for me

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Erm, I thought (and still think) that the Wii U really is nothing more than "Wii+" (or "WiiS" for the Apple fans <grin>). As such what they should have done is quietly replaced the old Wii with the new model and forget about the daft DS-style crossover controllers.

I was a big fan of the DS, Wii, etc when they came out, but the Wii U just left me cold.

Oh, and I would have thought it more sensible for Nintendo to try and pitch the Wii U against the PS3 and XBox360 rather than the Wii - in effect fighting themselves. :(

I think the problem Nintendo are suffering from here is quite simple really. The Wii wasn't a compelling main console for your average gamer. It lacked the third-party titles, stunning visuals, and compelling online and multimedia features of its competitors. A massive swathe of Nintendo fan base jumped ship, purchasing a Wii when they were cheap solely for the purpose of playing Nintendo great 1st and 2nd party games.

Fast forward to the WiiU. Nintendo have talked about focusing somewhat on their former fan base, trying to win back the hearts of those who grew up with their older consoles. Problem is, the online and multimedia features still aren't there, the visuals are merely adequate, there's better third-party support - though it's not yet on par with the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and the titles are more expensive). Nintendo haven't really given anyone a reason to dump their Xbox 360 or PS3, and with the dearth of big-name 1st and 2nd party titles, there's little reason to buy one as a second console. The price is the final nail in the coffin. The WiiU is a toy for the extravagant gamer - the one who must have everything.

Mainstream, it's mostly down to price I suspect. People are cutting back and only spending on important stuff. The PS4 and next Xbox will suffer a similar problem - it's difficult to justify spending £300 on a new console if you're content with the existing one(s).