With this year’s financials out for Nintendo, it has been plain to see that the company is in a bit of a lull. Iwata has said so himself stating “As we learned a bitter lesson with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, we are trying to take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch.” Popular conjecture would say that this is because of a lack of quality titles on either platform, or more specifically, a huge gap in-between quality releases. Iwata addressed this as well saying, “In the current fiscal year, there have been some big intervals between the launches of expected titles. We are now making preparations to ensure that we will be able to provide a variety of consumers with a broad range of software options to choose from so that we can maintain the momentum for the platform.”
While what Nintendo had on display at this year’s E3 was pretty remarkable in its own right, it turns out that what was shown may not be the final version that hits retail shelves later next year. “We are also planning to launch the Wii U, which is the successor to the Wii, during the next fiscal year. We would like to show the final format of the Wii U at the E3 show next year,” Iwata says.
As long as Nintendo can sustain a steady flow of games to Wii U at launch and in the months and years following, I feel that the system will sell itself. But only if Nintendo and third-parties can bring the games, because honestly that’s what this medium has always been about. It doesn’t so much matter how many polygons and HD graphics the system can push, but what type of experiences can be found on that said system that matters most to gamers.
Hopefully Nintendo can address a few of the issues of Wii U before the system goes final, such as adding analog triggers perhaps multitouch support for the touch screen, but those may just be a pipe dream. I have a feeling that what was shown at E3 is pretty close to what we will see in the final product. I suppose we will just have to wait and see what happens at E3 2012. Color me optimistic for the future.
