Many are still not convinced that the Wii U will be a successful gaming console, but Nintendo isn’t worried. In fact, Nintendo knows that the Wii had a similar reception back in 2006. That was before people got a chance to play the console and figure out what it could do. The Wii has since gone to dominate the current generation of home gaming consoles, outselling the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined.
“For the Wii, before its launch and after its announcement, the feedback was similar to that of the Wii U”, says Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata in a Q&A session with investors in Japan. He added that the skepticism of the Wii U from the media is similar to last time, when the media questioned how the Wii would compete with the much more powerful Sony and Microsoft consoles. As we all know, the Wii won out by offering something new and unique, and it looks like the Wii U will do the same.
Iwata remembers the reception of the Wii back in day, recollecting what reporters were asking him at E3. “Almost every one of the reporters asked, ‘How in the world are you going to compete with Sony or Microsoft with a product like this?’”, Iwata said, adding that Nintendo eventually won by offering a new gaming experience.
It’s only natural for people to question when something new and unique comes around. It happened to the Wii, and it’s definitely happening to the Wii U. While Nintendo doesn’t appear to be affected by the criticism of the Wii U, it doesn’t mean the company hasn’t learned from the mistakes it made with the Wii. For one, they’re courting third party developers much more seriously this time around, and are already building trusting relationships with third party Wii U developers.
