I can't help but think that most of the feelings of Nintendo failing come from people that the console isn't targeting. I started wondering this because, the Wii came in first last generation. In most metrics it was the biggest success last generation. But the "core" gaming community calls it a failure. This begs two questions 1) Is that really the "core" gamer or just an aging demographic? 2) Do they just personally not find the system appealing?
I know for me, I'm the second part. I just don't like Nintendo stuff that much anymore. It's not for me. And I have to wonder if the WiiU is suffering the same problem. Nintendo has done pretty well with small numbers of console sales for a while. In one year the WiiU has done approximately 20% of the sales the GameCube has. That's not the worst thing ever.
But the point of tis post is, even if the WiiU sales skyrocket, they won't be considered a success. The Wii proves that. So, I am forced to look at the opposite end of the spectrum, do it's current sales mark it as a failure. I certainly don't think so.
There's a lot of chatter about how Nintendo isn't targeting the same audience, but I think this argument dodges the fact that they desperately need to start. Consoles are just a platform, after all. Framing their failures as just a question of demographics is still indicative of an inability to create one that's compelling for more than bottom-feeding shovelware and first-party titles.
More importantly, the core gaming community largely consists of people who grew up with Nintendo and Sega. We've all gotten older sure, but I think most hardcore gamers tend to be drawn toward the same general types of games they liked when they were younger. I was mostly interested in stuff like RPGs, action-adventure games, fighting games, and beat 'em ups, and that hasn't really changed, and I think most hardocre gamers tend to gravitate toward games that echo what they liked when they were younger.
The fundamental problem is that Nintendo has steadily turned away from those core gamers who maybe weren't so interested in Mario, but loved the same types of games that I did, and that really started with the N64. I was about 16 when that came out, and I remember being enticed by Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, GoldenEye, and Ogre Battle 64. Literally, only 5 games. Looking back on it now, in my 30s, and those are still the only N64 games I have even the slightest interest in.
This is pretty much the exact same problem that many people are running into with the Wii U. Nintendo can target whatever they like, but unless they're expecting millions of people's tastes to be a 1:1 perfect match with what their marketing department has conceived, they're going to be struggling to find an audience... and a lot of those people want a lot more than a tiny handful of games when they're shelling out $250-300.
