Mark SchierbeckerStaff Writer
Before it was even announced, Nintendo’s Wii U was on life support. Before the end of the year, it may be dead on arrival.
Wii U is the long overdue successor to the Nintendo Wii launched in 2006. When the original Wii launched it could not stay on the shelves. With the launch of other game consoles, it is now a very expensive bookend.
Nintendo wants to re-capture the same success of its original Wii console with the Wii U. The successor will add all-new IBM processing, 1080p HD graphics and a new touchscreen controller.
“The biggest thing that they introduced was the new Wii U controller,” said senior game club member Juan Johnson. “The idea is that you can do things interactively that make a more immersive gaming experience for certain games.”
It also has a considerable head start over Microsoft and Sony, which have yet to announce their next-generation consoles, and is on track for a launch in late 2012 ahead of the holiday season according to Nintendo.
Despite this overhaul Wii will need more than just a fancy new controller to become a successful must-have device. Wii U cannot expect to win on just motion control in a market with competition from Kinect.
Wii needs to bring a successful ecosystem of games to its platform. It must not fail where its predecessor did.
“There may or may not be a big rush for it but I have a feeling that once Nintendo gets some hype going for it it’ll be pretty close to as successful as the original Wii,” said Johnson.
