Editorial: The Year of Revival

We’ve had a great year dedicated to Luigi with many great games starring and co-starring the man in green coming out in the past year. However, the Year of Luigi is coming to an end. While some people are calling for the Year of Rosalina, I’m more concerned about this year being the Year of Nintendo. Lucky for you guys, I have a few ideas as to how this can happen…

Bad Impressions

More than focusing on a specific character, I think Nintendo needs to focus on a specific goal. Get the Wii U back in the minds of people who have dismissed it. Showing off cool trailers in Nintendo Directs is great, but that reaches a very limited audience. Sure the gaming sites will report on it, but those stories are usually tucked away in a little “Nintendo” section that is consistently overshadowed.

I cannot stress enough that Nintendo needs to get some of these trailers on TV. They’ve started getting back on the right track, but all commercials so far have been decidedly family oriented. This isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s good that they’re trying to get the casuals on board. It worked wonders with the Wii, so why wouldn’t it work with the Wii U?

Let’s do a little comparison. Compare the ad for Wii U with the one from Wii. Sorry about the quality for the Wii trailer.

Alrighty, so what can we take away from these commercials? Well, which one has more variety? The Wii has sports games, first person shooters, Zelda, Wii Sports, and Red Steel. What did the Wii U have? 5 different clips of Nintendo Land, 3 clips of Sing Party, 2 of Lego City, and 2 of Mario Bros U. There is next to no variety in the Wii U commercial. People take one look at it and go “Oh, its a console for if you want to play games with your kids or a group of people.” There is nothing wrong with that. I have Wii U parties all the time. The problem is that they don’t show enough games that can be enjoyed by yourself.

Gaming has a weird image now days. People typically think of something dark, gritty, and chock full of guns. These darker games usually feature some kind of single player mode that tells a story. I think the problem a lot of people have is that they’ve gotten too used to games just giving them content, not unlike a movie. A big part of gaming has become completing objectives to see a new cutscene or advance the story. That movie likeness combined with photo-realistic graphics has come to “define” today’s modern gaming culture. This is why, when viewed by someone who’s view of gaming is so skewed, Nintendo doesn’t seem to offer much for their personal gaming time.

So what am I trying to say with all this? If Nintendo wants to come out on top this year, they need to use this year to rebrand. I don’t want them to stop appealing to casuals and families, but they need to appeal to others as well. So how do they do that? Well, it won’t be easy.

The Year of Zorpix

Let’s talk about the current game lineup. I can think of Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and “X”. I can’t think of any other huge Wii U games off the top of my head. If I had more time, I could probably come up with a few more. So that gives us three heavy hitters for the entirety of 2014, and only one has a solid release date. It leaves someone with a Wii U wondering “when is something new coming out?” and someone without asking “Why buy this now when the games aren’t coming out until later?”. Not to mention there are multiple games that were talked about a bit, but haven’t been mentioned for months now.

Nintendo, I know you like being secretive and waiting on announcements, but now is not the time to wait. They need to come out and say “Hey guys, here’s some games coming out for Wii U, here’s their release dates, here’s why you want them.” Their current strategy seems way too lackluster. They release trailers in directs that mainly focus on the 3DS and say “This game is gonna be cool. Please please please buy it because we made it and we make good things.” It’s not enough to make people who aren’t already Nintendo fans buy a Wii U.

The perfect year according to me goes something like this. First, give things release dates. Even if it’s just a specific month, it sounds miles better than “sometime this year”.

Second, don’t just drop games off the radar. Yarn Yoshi and Fire Emblem/Shin Megami Tensei were announced, and now we haven’t heard anything about them for the past year or so. Do they still exist? Have they been dropped? We as your consumers need to know these things.

Lastly, tell us about games that are still just in the concept stage. Get us excited. Is there a new Metroid in the works? In the talking stage? Is it even being considered? Just knowing it’s at least being thought about is better than just guessing as to whether or not the game will come. Hell, even pitch game ideas to the public and let them vote. What better than letting the people choose between your great ideas so you know it’ll be a hit?

Following those three steps should lead Nintendo to the better image I imagine for it. Maybe you have a different plan though? Let me know in the comments below!

Miiverse and Zorpix

Post Text: Athena Cykes, asking the real questions!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

During one of the investigations, this moment happened and I had to share it. I love the chemistry between Apollo and Athena. I haven’t finished the game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something happened before the game was over… Sometimes I forget this game is rated “M”. You wouldn’t think so from some of the dialogue, but then there’s this kind of dialogue.

Post Text: I AM THE PRETTIEST SHEEP!!!!!!

Skylanders: SWAP Force

At one point in the game, you have to go incognito using a sheep costume. I think it’s a pretty awesome looking costume if I do say so myself. No one will ever be able to tell I’m actually a Skylander! Such a cute little broom tail though. A perfect example of some of the ridiculous humor in the game.

Post Text: This guy tosses half my army off a cliff, then dies in a place where only 3 pikmin can get to it… clever girl…

Pikmin 3

This was during a game of Bingo Battle with my girlfriend. I’m blue, she’s pink. I had just managed to kill this guy who had annihilated my army moments before, and then he dies in a place where I can’t carry him! I think I lost like, 2 or 3 more just trying to carry him away. Pretty sure I lost this round… Pikmin 3 is a perfect example of a game that can play well solo or with a friend. I think the Wii U needs more games like this. I love being able to experience an amazing adventure, then share part of it with someone who may not know as much about the series or story. What are your favorite games to play with your significant other?

Wrapping up

I think that about covers it! Thank you very much for reading this article, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions for next week’s topic, any questions about the content I wrote, or just wanna say hey, feel free to sound off below! If you really feel inclined, you can mosey on over to my Twitter, Facebook, or Miiverse account. Please don’t feel offended if I don’t respond to friend requests on the Wii U, as I reserve that for people I actually know in real life. I’ll gladly follow back though!

Happy non-leap year, and I’ll see you next week!