Although often debated, I don’t think there’s any particular formula for console success, particularly when it comes to technology. I think it’s less of a case of inferior/superior technology and more a case of “just good enough” often winning out. While that seems like a minimal distinction, I think it’s an important one. I’m not sure “inferior” can win out under most circumstances, while “just good enough” often does. If something has the minimum feature-set to succeed with all other things being equal (in the case of consoles, good depth and breadth of software, for instance), there’s no reason why something “inferior” to its competitors can’t succeed (and often does).

I don’t think the Wii U quite met the “just good enough” criteria. It was basically on par with what the Xbox 360 and PS3 could do – sometimes a little better and sometimes a little worse – and was designed around the concept, at least partially, of easy ports from those systems. Unfortunately, new game development for those systems was starting to slow down in lieu of stuff for the PS4 and Xbox One, and there was little incentive for Xbox 360 and PS3 users to upgrade to a Wii U, which would have been a lateral move, although some of course always made/make the argument that if you’re a PC gamer, your best option is to get a Nintendo system since you can’t get those games anywhere else. The issue is the Wii U was competing against Xbox 360 and PS3 systems at the peak of their technical powers (being so well understood) and past the apex of new game releases, including massive existing libraries. The Wii U was playing catch up.

The phantom click.

Now, the Switch is substantially similar to the Wii U in many ways, but makes some key improvements that I think make all the difference. First, even though it’s by far the weakest of the three platforms (even versus the base PS4 and Xbox One systems), it can still handle competent ports from the current generation of systems, rather than being limited to the previous generation of systems like its predecessor. The second is that it’s portable in a way that the Wii U never was, justifying the form factor. Third, it does a much better job of natively supporting various controller configurations than the Wii U, which, with its fixed gamepad, never could. It’s genuinely unique among game consoles/portables and has a compelling reason to be and be appealing. In retrospect, it makes the Wii U seem like even more of a half step than it already was.

While personally I wouldn’t be happy with the Switch as a primary console since I want an optimal big screen experience, it can definitely serve that role. And the Switch makes an even better secondary console – perhaps the best ever secondary console – augmenting traditional PC/PS4/Xbox One usage nicely. It was easy for me to let the Wii U go (one of my two went to my oldest daughter). I have no intention of letting the Switch go.

The post Why the Nintendo Switch succeeded where the Wii U didn’t appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

I guess this also means that my original theory was right after all, that it was just a delay tactic to bridge the enthusiasm gap between Wii U and Switch. Now that Switch is a success, they won’t need to release any more “distractions,” including the rumored SNES Classic Edition. So, either all of those rumors and inside information I (and others) received were false, or, again, Nintendo changed their minds after the Switch‘s success. Their inability to re-stock in sufficient numbers even prior to the Switch‘s launch may point more to the former than the latter, despite the reliability of said sources.

While I had no interest in a NES Classic Edition since I have, among many other options, original consoles and a Retro Freak, I can certainly sympathize with those who wanted the real deal. Now, there’s no doubt that the prices on the secondary market for these units will once again go through the roof.

Sadly, this is just the latest in an ongoing series of odd moves from Nintendo. In this case they refuse to give their fan base a product that they clearly desperately want and that would continue to celebrate, rather than detract, from the brand.

(Also, pity the third party NES Classic Edition accessory manufacturers. They’ll probably have sold just about all they’ll sell of those products. That might hurt a few of those companies.)

The post Nintendo discontinues the NES Classic Edition and here’s why! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

This month saw the launch of the latest Nintendo gaming console, the Nintendo Switch, 30 years since the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in the UK.

And while a lot has changed for the company and their consoles in the years since, one things which has remained the same is their trusty mascot, Mario.

We’re going to take a look at how everyone’s favourite Italian plumber has evolved throughout the years. 

The Evolution Of Mario – An infographic by the team at Twizzle.co.uk

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I predicted this very same thing in early 2011 when the Nintendo 3DS was first introduced. I remember being ridiculed by a certain segment of the gaming population for me stating that, “The Nintendo 3DS will sell well, but nowhere near as well as its predecessor.” I explained that that was based on the move to smartphones, and, to a lesser degree, tablets, by whole generations of consumers who previously had no other alternative for on-the-go entertainment. This incredulous segment of the gaming population believed that no real gamers would prefer touchscreens to real controls. I argued that convenience and being “good enough” trumps any advantages physical controls offer.

Even as successful as the 3DS was and is, it was still Nintendo’s worst selling portable series by far. As evidenced by simply observing what children are using when you’re out and about, and even my own three daughters, ages 12, 10, and 2, it’s clear kids these days would rather spend time on their smartphones or tablets than on something like a Nintendo 3DS (which my two oldest also have and haven’t touched in ages). This trend will only continue, which is why there won’t be a direct 3DS successor, but instead a hybrid in the form on the NX (final name still to be determined, of course), which may help simultaneously revive Nintendo’s still-born console business and declining handheld business. It’s clear that changing the business model is the most realistic path to success now.

There’s a definite niche market for gaming handhelds, and I doubt that will ever change, but Nintendo and Sony don’t play in niches. The mainstream is perfectly happy on smartphones, and, to a lesser degree, tablets. Why carry multiple devices when your smartphone does literally everything, including games?

On a side note, the PlayStation Vita was and is an amazing portable, with perhaps the only real negative against it being its limited and expensive proprietary storage. Of course, with all of the other market forces at play, even fixing that very real issue would have done little to change its fate.

It’s time we looked to and supported the niche handheld gaming providers for those of us still with an interest in gaming-on-the-go with physical controls. And perhaps Nintendo’s risky, but potentially innovative hybrid approach with the NX, will still provide a good major maker solution despite the split personality. Although we know little about the NX at this point, as I’ve discussed before, if Nintendo is able to rally around a single platform and no longer have to split development resources between multiple systems, perhaps it can increase its first party software output without a drop in quality, as well as keep more third parties interested. As always, it will be a fun ride.

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NES Classic Edition and optional second gamepad

I admit that while I always said this would be a way for Nintendo to make easy money, I didn’t expect them to actually go through with it because it would cannibalize sales on their Virtual Console digital store for their modern platforms. Unfortunately for Nintendo, the Wii U hasn’t sold and the 3DS is in its inevitable decline, so this holiday season was looking pretty bleak outside of external initiatives like Pokémon GO. With the NX not coming out until at least March 2017, this is the perfect product to help with the continued rehabilitation of the Nintendo name leading up to that new system’s release.

Outside of the so-called Nintendo faithful, who are passionate about Nintendo’s first party games, there hasn’t been a lot for other gamers with more diversified tastes to feel good about the brand in recent years. The NES Classic Edition is a brilliant nostalgia play that should sell millions this holiday season and create good vibes all around until Nintendo launches the NX. That’s wonderful momentum and something I’m not sure Nintendo could have gotten any other way.

While there are obviously a plethora of ways to play classic NES games, from emulation to excellent clone systems and everything in-between, there’s something special about a Nintendo-led product. I mean, just look at it! And for $60, and no doubt slightly less during holiday sales and specials, it goes near impulse buy territory.

Perhaps the best part about this upcoming release is that it points to TV game versions of the SNES and other Nintendo consoles, and perhaps even a dedicated portable version of the classic Game Boy, just with a modern screen that’s actually enjoyable to use. This to me is the Nintendo that everyone – not just the Nintendo faithful – can feel good about. The prospects for a successful NX launch increased dramatically in the past week.

Here’s the full game list:

• Balloon Fight
• BUBBLE BOBBLE
• Castlevania
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
• Dr. Mario
• Excitebike
• FINAL FANTASY^®
• Galaga
• GHOSTS’N GOBLINS^®
• GRADIUS
• Ice Climber
• Kid Icarus
• Kirby’s Adventure
• Mario Bros.
• MEGA MAN^® 2
• Metroid
• NINJA GAIDEN
• PAC-MAN
• Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
• StarTropics
• SUPER C
• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• TECMO BOWL
• The Legend of Zelda
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

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While it’s true that almost every Nintendo system post Super NES has not featured the most technologically competitive overall hardware on the market, it was really only with the release of the Wii that Nintendo got downright aggressive with bucking competitive technological trends. While the Wii was fortunate to tap into an unprecedented response from casual buyers to go on to sell more than 100 million units, the Wii’s follow-up, the Wii U, will go down in history (for now) as Nintendo’s second worst-selling platform after the Virtual Boy, whose lifespan was counted in months, rather than years.

We all of course know the myriad reasons why the Wii U failed to sell, so I won’t repeat them here. It’s nevertheless important for Nintendo not to repeat many of those same mistakes with the NX, and there were certainly signs that the company was in fact on the right path. The “specs” comment certainly doesn’t instill confidence, however. While it’s 100% true that specs aren’t the end-all, be-all, they do matter, particularly after your competition announced their own updates to their existing strong selling platforms and you’re starting over from scratch (and rightly so; and I still say the NX is going to replace the 3DS as well, which is aging out of its natural commercial lifespan).

In any case, one of the factors in the Wii U’s demise was timing, which was related to Nintendo gambling on the Xbox 360 and PS3 being well supported for longer than it turned out they were. This was because the Wii U was, if programmed properly, slightly more powerful than the Xbox 360 and PS3. However, with the release of the PS4 and Xbox One, its power was definitively eclipsed. With the quick success/traction of both the PS4 and Xbox One, the software markets for the Xbox 360 and PS3 slowed sooner than expected, and with sluggish sales of the Wii U it suddenly became unappealing for third parties to develop new properties for anything other than PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Now, Nintendo is in a similar situation with the NX, which is set to release in March 2017, as they were with the Wii U, with both Sony and Microsoft announcing a new PC-like console upgrade cycle for their present platforms, where all games will run on all models, but some models will perform better than others, e.g., higher resolution, higher frame rate, VR support, etc. [see Xbox One S and Scorpio, and PS4 Neo]

Nintendo’s timing certainly may hurt them again with the NX, although if they create a platform that’s at least a little more powerful than the present PS4 (which is this generation’s best-seller, by far), then they should have no issues receiving third party support with all other things being equal (market reason to do so, etc.). After all, more or less in Microsoft’s and Sony’s own words, the present Xbox One and PS4 will be the minimum spec for all new platform games going forward to target. While there will be one or two more powerful models on each platform to worry about within the next few years, if they indeed follow the PC model, those games will still be playable, albeit with a reduced experience (lower resolution and maybe 30fps versus 60fps, as just two key examples) compared to their mid- or upper-tier options. Even if the NX falls somewhere between a low- and mid-tier option on the competing platforms in terms of power, that will still make it a viable base for third party support targeted to the various (technological) models of PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

With its incremental improvements, Microsoft’s Xbox One S is the first release in a new way of doing console business.

Again, though, that’s obviously with all other factors being equal. If the NX fails to gain sufficient market traction like the Wii U, then the third party support won’t really be there anyway. It goes without saying that the NX needs to gain as much traction as possible prior to the release of the PS4 Neo and Xbox One Scorpio (both almost certainly being code names). The Wii U failed to do that in the year prior to the release of the PS4 and Xbox One, and we know how that turned out.

Regardless, with the NX, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One Scorpio, PS4, and PS4 Neo (and likely even another PS4 model since the PS4 Neo may hit as early as this year) all in play by the end of 2017 (and of course the ever present PC and mobile), it’s going to be a heck of a year. Hopefully Nintendo does indeed offer a new (and compelling) way to play via the NX and we have a healthy three-horse console race.

The post Editorial: Is the Nintendo NX already doomed? appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

2016 is officially the Wii U’s final year as Nintendo’s primary console.

So when will we know more about the NX, including it’s final name? Maybe Nintendo will have a one-off event holiday 2016 to maybe try and divert some Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Microsoft Xbox One sales (and possible minor updates to both, which we’ll no doubt hear about at this year’s E3), because we know the Wii U won’t be diverting anything at this point. I guess we’ll see.

UPDATE: According to a Kotaku report, the reason for the delay was indeed behind-schedule launch titles. This was also the first official mention of the NX as the successor for both Wii U and 3DS, something I was quite adamant about previously.

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As you may know, I’ve been following the sales trends in this area for some time, and it was clear that even before this announcement that the Wii U’s days were numbered and that the upcoming NX is meant as a replacement for both the failed Wii U and aging 3DS. If this unconfirmed report holds, then the Wii U will be Nintendo’s worst selling platform by far and likely won’t quite reach 15 million units (compare that to Sony’s PlayStation 4 at about 36 million units and counting, and Microsoft’s Xbox One at about 25 million units and counting, both of which came out a year later than the Wii U).

The previous worst seller for Nintendo was the GameCube at just over 21 million units. Of course, that’s discounting the tabletop console, Virtual Boy, which Nintendo themselves doesn’t even include in their list of platforms for which they provide historical sales data. That was discontinued shortly after it launched and ended up selling just a little over 750,000 units.

The challenge for Nintendo with what I expect to be their announcement at E3 of the NX for a holiday release is to have that system launch with positive buzz and good momentum. That’s something the Wii U lacked, and it was one of many reasons that that platform ultimately failed.

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Nintendo DSi

According to Nintendo of Japan’s own data, as of December 31, 2015, the Nintendo DS series, now discontinued of course, had sold over 154.01 million units. From that same data, the 3DS series, which is in its inevitable declining years (and the sales trends clearly indicate that), has sold 57.9 million units.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance

For comparison, the Game Boy series (includes Game Boy Color) sold 118.69 million units, and the Game Boy Advance series sold 81.51 million units. So yes, the 3DS is definitely a success, but, when all is said and done, it’s going to be the worst selling Nintendo handheld series ever. That can be attributed mostly to the changing competitive climate. And again, those previous platforms never had to compete with anything like tablets or smartphones.

Sony PSP 3000

Interestingly, if you predict what the 3DS series will ultimately sell once Nintendo finally pulls the plug, say some time in 2017 or even 2018 (a nice 6+ year run), its roughly 70 million units sold won’t even reach the sales of Sony’s PSP series, which hit roughly 85 million units when all was said and done. That of course was seen as a relative failure against the DS, falling short by roughly 70 million units (or a whole 3DS series), but it was nevertheless Nintendo’s only significant challenge to its 25+ year gaming handheld dominance before the rise of tablets and smartphones started to chip away from a completely different angle.

Sony PlayStation Vita

Sony’s Vita won’t even sell half as many 3DS’s when all is said and done, maybe at best just a quarter as many. The Vita series is presently around 13 million unit sold, and it will definitely settle well under 20 by the time it’s discontinued, and will probably even struggle to hit 15 million units sold. It’s a shame too, because like the 3DS, the Vita is also a really fantastic system, but, like with the sales ceiling hit by the 3DS, none of that matters when your competition includes a powerful touchscreen device that most men, women, and children have easy access to and that gets replaced regularly (on average, at least every two years) with something newer and “better.”

Nintendo Wii U

Naturally, the inevitable decline of 3DS sales and the never-there sales of the Wii U (which will be lucky to outsell the Vita when it’s eventually discontinued, likely some time in 2017) make the NX’s role in changing Nintendo’s momentum particularly critical. That’s also why it’s important to note even classically stubborn Nintendo’s forays into others areas, like Amiibos and mobile. That trend will only accelerate if the NX platform doesn’t properly resonate. As always, it’s going to be fascinating to keep an eye on it all.

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