A New Nintendo Console - 6 Keys to Victory

There has been a faint rumble recently about Nintendo already working on a new console. This is like the humming sound before the earthquake, so before more news and speculations start to pop up on the net, let's see what are the keys to victory of such a console.

1) An inspiring name
This was the worst defect that the Wii U had to live with, as most Wii owners thought it was just another version of the same console instead of an entirely new one. This time they need to let go of the family oriented "good guys" approach and focus on making their new console to be seen as something badass. Back when the Wii was still a work in progress, it was pretty popular with its working title that was "Nintendo Revolution". People liked that name a lot, some of them were already calling it "Revo" and other abbreviated versions of the name. Sadly there was a huge sigh of disappointment when Nintendo finally showcased their console and called it Wii, losing part of what made it look like something serious to the public.

2) An equally inspiring merchandising effort
We have to admit that Nintendo is already changing the tone of their marketing campaign right now with the Wii U. They don't look like goobers anymore as they are changing and little by little catering more and more to the hardcore crowds (The Reggie vs Iwata fight video is proof of this). Nintendo is finally realizing who their fans are and how these fans feel and react about their games and decisions. Hopefully they learned their lesson and will keep improving their style when promoting their new console.

3) Powerful hardware / bigger console design
It has been said that the Wii U processing power was capped at some point because it made the console to overheat, meaning that they would had to put a bigger and louder cooling system (fans) which was contradictory to the console's overall design. This time around they should drop the small console approach and make it bigger so it can have a cooling system that can handle a bigger amount of power. I am not implying that the new Nintendo console should be as big as an old VCR player, but they should at least try to find the best of both worlds because they need to give Sony and Microsoft a run for their money in terms of power.  

4) A definitive game at launch
Coming with a console in the middle of a console generation can be the equivalent of trying to stop a running train by stepping in the tracks and extending your arm, but if Nintendo can give the right impression from the beginning they not only re-introduce themselves in the console race, but also could be able to take down at least one of the giants. One way of re-entering the console war with a bang would be to have a definitive title from the very start. Assuming that the console has enough power, we could have a new entry in the Metroid Prime saga that can blow us away with its visuals, story and even more so if it has VR headset support. They could also join the fray with an RPG from the Xenoblade series or even a big surprise like a Mega Man game (thing that could make Nintendo to take the look of a hero in the eyes of millions of players worldwide). This time around bringing a Super Mario Bros game from the start will not work, if they want to succeed they need to beat the other companies at their game.

5) Keep up the cooperative efforts
Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 2 are examples of how well cooperative works are for Nintendo. If they can keep that up with the new console, we can expect tons of exclusives that won't be so expensive to make, but can still become instant hits. It is true that sales figures are not off the charts for the two examples I mentioned, but if these games would had been released at launch, the story would had been very different. This type of cooperative endeavor can do many things from reviving dead franchises to making cool spin off games and interesting crossovers. It is a fresh way of making business that can serve Nintendo well if they know how to use it.

6) Open to a worldwide market
This one is very important as it is one of those things that is already limiting the potential of the Wii U. First, the concept of region blocked games has to be ditched in order for the new console to be a good product on an open market. Censorship has no place in gaming as it only serves as a limitation to gamers and as a hindrance to profit. Another thing Nintendo has to improve is the way they deal with Japanese games. They should stop limiting so many of them to Japanese audiences only and start to bring more of those games to the west. Fatal Frame IV and the new Fatal Frame (which is on Wii U) are big examples of this problem, which is a self-defeating posture that must be changed before the new console is released.

Wrapping it up
Nintendo once again has a good chance here, but it will take a lot of effort to actually make it right. Any mistake will prevent them from turning skeptics into believers so they must be careful, but effective. It's all about precision up to this point, so the big N has to take everything they learned with the Wii U and use it in order to become a real competitor once again.

Nintendo on mobile? They should, but not as you may be thinking.

There has been a lot of comments going on about the Nintendo executives and investors throwing tantrums over if the company should enter the mobile market or not. First of all let me get this out of the way. No, Nintendo should never let their franchises to go mobile because that would be the equivalent of creating a black hole in the middle of the company and it will consume it from the inside bringing a slow and painful death. As they are right now Nintendo is one of the few companies that is still (almost) pristine in their ways and unsullied from any business dirt that comes from selling out... Well, maybe except for the Mercedes-Benz thing in Mario Kart 8, but that's just one separate incident as Nintendo runs most of their business by themselves most of the time and this uniqueness is what keeps them afloat, even on tough times.

A mock picture of how a Nintendo "master app" could look like.

The thing is that Nintendo could make cool stuff for mobile without selling out their souls to mobile platforms just for a couple of extra bucks. Something like this should be no problem for the big N because mobile app development doesn't require big development teams or high budgets as it would only take a handful of resources and a relatively small development cycle. The best thing about this is that with content creators are brilliant as the ones they have, a great deal of interesting mobile applications can be created and unleashed to the public, giving Nintendo products some extra value without losing themselves in the process.

So a fan had to come and do what Nintendon't.

There are many possibilities about the mobile software they could make in order to support their consoles instead of attempting to replace them. For example, they could develop a support app for Mario Kart 8, sort of like the one someone actually made and was featured in Kotaku a couple days ago. They could also make official apps that give help in some games with mini guides and/or tips or even some sort of Nintendo World App (or something like that) that syncs with the Wii U and lets the user do all sorts of things like buying games, enter the Miiverse, add friends and that kind of stuff while on the go.

Imagine yourself using a smart phone to help a friend in the upcoming Star Fox game for the Wii U.

Other way of seen this is to go a little farther than plain game support apps. Good imaginative things like apps that lets you help or attack somebody within a game (sort of like the Watchdogs app) could make up for really fun situations if they do it with the right games. They could also make an app that features augmented reality games for the Amiibos that can generate coins or some kind of reward to be used on games or even the e-shop itself. The possibilities are endless if they take mobile approach from the sidelines and come up with interesting and fun materials that add up to the overall experience.

If they are planning to go "pay to win", they better reconsider before they spoil the whole thing.

Even though all this mobile approach looks interesting, there are many ways it can backfire if they do the wrong things. For example if they get too greedy with their services it will not work. If they turn their mobile environment into a "pay to win" they also run the risk of botching the whole operation. They would have to be quite sensible about the users because this is something they had never tried before so it can go bad if they give the wrong impression. This is especially true on this day and age, where the simplest of complaints spreads like wildfire through the net and can have devastating consequences for a product (ask Microsoft).

Relax Mario, you don't have to jump to mobile devices to be good.

Wrapping it up

Nintendo can definitely go mobile, but they have to do it in a way that adds up to what they already have without having to replace anything. What they have been doing in these past months have been great and there should be no reason to make any drastic decisions, so all they need to do is to keep on building up until they reach a point where they can convince the non-believers and become an industry powerhouse once again. If that is what their higher ups are thinking then the mobile environment is a great untapped place for them to continue their efforts.

Legend of the 7 Stars: Nintendo keys to victory

This time, we will have a little change of mood, I think you had enough about industry criticism so let's go with something a little more optimistic. This week, we have all heard/read a lot about Nintendo and how they are trying to take the Wii U away from the edge of the precipice and turn it into a force to be reckoned with. Right now they had their first step in the right direction with the success they are having with Mario Kart 8, a game that has put the Wii U back in the gaming community as a cool thing to have. Now been things as they are, many people are still skeptic about Nintendo's machine and  those are the gamers that Nintendo has to get back in order to return into the console race at full strength.

Nintendo can still pack a punch, we all know that.

Most probably you people have seen how in some  pay per view boxing bouts, before the fight starts, they show what are the "keys to victory" for each of the boxers. These "keys" are the things that they should do to maximize the possibilities of winning. Now, we are going to do the same thing and Nintendo will be our "boxer", so let's begin:

Nintendo keys to victory

If you remember this box art, you live through Nintendo's best moments.

1) Revival of dead (or snoozing) important Nintendo franchises.

This is something that has been talked about many times and expressed by gamers all around the world through various forums and media channels. Nintendo has basically forgotten about some of the games that actually made them what they are. Sure, we have our fair share of Mario with the occasional appearance of a Kirby game, but we need some more of that quality content that Nintendo is capable of. It would be very good to see a new Metroid game (possibly of the prime series), a Star Fox game with an emphasis of fighting enemies in the skies or even an F-Zero game with good customization features, lots of unlockables and an online multiplayer mode. There are ways on each of these franchises to make them look fresh, while keeping the good stuff from previous games. It is just a matter of creativity and we all know that Nintendo has that and more.

Project X is one of the most anticipated games on the Wii U.

2) Tap into the JRPG gamer niche

JRPG games are a niche, but a very powerful one. Role playing game enthusiasts are the type of gamer that is very loyal to the games they like and although they have been receiving some love in the form of some few new games, it is not nearly enough. For instance PS4 owners are still waiting for a definitive JRPG to come to their machine while the people behind the Xbox One haven't shown much interest for the genre. This is a great chance for the Wii U to become "the jrpg gamers machine of choice" just like the PS ONE did in the 90's. The Wii already started this trend with games like The Last Story, Arc Rise Phantasia and Xenoblade Chronicles, so it wouldn't be that hard to continue that effort on the Wii U, specially knowing that Nintendo has bought some good rpg game studios that they haven't been using at all. A good start for this would be to present a little more about X and the Shin Megami Tensei / Fire Emblem crossover because these games even with a moderate success can very easily open the door on the Wii U for this kind of genre.

3) Aggressive advertising like the Nintendo of old.

Ever since the Wii released, back in 2006, Nintendo has taken an all too passive stance on advertising. Their adverts look too white and clean and there is no "over the top" factor to make gamers feel like they really want to buy their product (you know...Something called hype?). Right now they are relying mostly on relaxed talking and corny sitcom-like jokes to give a more "mature and family oriented" image, but what they really need to do is to go back to the style they had with the Super Nintendo. At that time, their advertising was radical. It was like they were shoving the message to our faces, a message that said "we are the best, our machine will make your head spin with great gaming experiences, you will have so much fun that you will not be able to turn it off". That sort of thing was a hype machine that made people line up to buy the SNES and made Nintendo look bad-ass and cool which is one thing they need, because skeptic gamers still believe in the nonsensical old notion that Nintendo is for kids (Yeah, go give a toddler some Mario Kart 8 and see how "kiddy" Nintendo is).

Any one who plays zombie you for more than an hour knows that the game grows on you.

4) Shoot down the criticism over the Wii U game pad.

The Wii U tablet styled game pad is something that many gamers have shunned since the Wii U was released, but none of that criticism has any facts to back it up. The game pad, is not as big and clunky as people believe it to be, it is very comfortable to play with and the touch screen is very useful when developers actually use it, so there is no reason for it to be a let down. Nintendo must look for a way to make those skeptics know that the game pad is good and not just a gimmick. One of the ways that Nintendo can do that is by enforcing the use of it on games. For example, on Mario Kart 8, while you are having a race, you can see all sorts of helpful things on the touch screen, things that would be otherwise taking unnecessary space on the big screen. Another example is Zombie U, which is a very good game that makes use of the game pad in very efficient and fun ways that add up to the overall experience and even Pikmin 3 has an excellent menu on the touch screen, full with tools that work wonders when playing the game. In a sense, the Wii U game pad doesn't have to become the next big thing, it just has to be accepted.

It cool and all, but be smart, work it separately.

5) Keep "quality of life" far away from the Wii U.

As Mr. Iwata once said, Nintendo can do other things beside been focused on gaming and he is totally right, because Nintendo has done a lot of other things like trading card games and mini (tiger electronics like) handhelds. So, in Nintendo's search for a next big thing the phrase "quality of life" is one that has been mentioned a lot of times and it can bring a whole new audience to the Nintendo platform... Just not on the Wii U. This is because the Wii U even on its limited marketing, was presented as a hardcore gamer console, sort of like a resurrection of the Game Cube concept in terms of games and mixing it with another concept that is not about gaming, may make things worse for the console, as skeptics will have even less respect than they already have. Let's face it. The machine needs to build a better reputation and that will not happen with balance boards and vital sign peripherals. Don't take me wrong, it is a good idea to tap into the quality of life trend, but it will be best to do it on a separate platform.

Here we hope that the Wii U Zelda game still looks this good.

6) Show the Legend of Zelda game for the Wii U on this year E3.

From rumors to shy announcements and short interviews on the most known gaming websites, The Wii U Legend of Zelda game is something that has been present all along and something that everybody is waiting for since the tech demo they showed when they presented the Wii U for the first time. Right now, the game has built up so much hype that many gamers believe that Nintendo would easily win the E3 battle this year if they just show it. Now with the momentum that Mario Kart 8 has given to the console, it would be perfect to top it off with a killer app and by killer app is the Legend of Zelda console game that Nintendo fans have dreamed about since Ocarina of time and Majora's Mask. There is absolutely no reason to pass on this, because it is in all its right, a golden opportunity. Sort of like been backed to a corner in the heat of battle and suddenly finding a fully loaded rocket launcher just lying beside you, waiting for you to blast away your path and even the odds.

A mystery game that could be anything at all. That would spark our curiosity.

7) Show a new mysterious new IP as work in progress.

One thing that Nintendo can do to keep our minds wondering is to show us a new IP (intellectual property or also known as a completely new game). This would keep faith and interest in the console from suddenly dropping as it has happened before and still gives us a reason to believe that the Wii U is far from out. It would be even better if they could get a respected developer to do it, like Mr. Miyamoto if it is a first party game or any other like Kojima or even one of the developers that has gone independent like Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil, The Evil Within) or Koji Igarashi (Castlevania). This new game has to be barely shown, in a kind of secretive fashion so it looks so mysterious that our curiosity as gamers is poked and the hype train begins to move.

To wrap things up

The momentum is there, Nintendo has a great chance here and those 7 keys to victory are part of what can make the magic happen. There have been a lot of rumors about games and concepts, but in the end what will matter is if Nintendo is capable of changing their image of a defeated old company into a winner in the eyes of those who still don't believe and that can only be done with good content and smart company decisions. Now only one question remains.Will Nintendo deliver the goods? Let's just wait and see.