If you were in charge of greenlights...

[Hogge]

I believe that we all can agree that the Wii U lineup from first and second parties is questionable at best. I don't really see a software drought, I see more of a problem that Nintendo have greenlit the wrong games.

So this thread is about what you think Nintendo should have done.

 

Now I'm not 100% sure of how much resources went in to each of Nintendos games, but I'm going to give my best shot to be as fair and realistic as possible.

 

Nintendoland - Replaced by Wave Race

The Wii U needed a game to show what the gamepad could do. But did that game really need so much resources, with Wario Inc only a few months away? No, the resources would have been better spent on creating a graphically astonishing, deep and modern sequel to Wave Race. A game that could have proven that the Wii U is indeed more powerful than the XB360 and PS3.

 

New New New Mario Bros - Replaced by Mario 3D World

Yes, it could have missed launch, but let's face it: 3D world feels a bit cheap, with its obviously tile based worlds, zoomed out camera etc. Putting it simply: had Nintendo not invested resources into making NSMBU, they could've released a souped up version of Mario 3D Land, with extra levels and features. It wouldn't have been as good as the Mario 3D world we got in the end, but by christmas 2013, they could have made a truly proper 3D Mario.

Wario Inc - Replaced by Nintendoland

Warioware is a bit of a niche title, and I think these developers should have created a much more appealing game. Colourful 2D HD graphics, creative utilities of the gamepad and then pack it in with every sold Wii U.

 

Wind Waker HD - Replaced by Majora's Mask

This is a bit of a toughie. The main reason I think that WW was wrong is because of its graphical style. Firstly, the graphical style does not appeal to the Dragonage/Skyrim crowd. Secondly, everyone whom I've spoken to who likes Wind Waker, has stated that one great thing about the graphics is that they've aged very well. Hence, what's the bleeding point in remaking it? I was initially going to write that they should have remade Ocarina of Time again, but the thing is that it's already been remade.

A proper remakeof Majora's Mask could however appeal to the core, mature gamer very well.

 

Pikmin 3- Left as is

That's right, I acknoledged that Nintendo did something right for once.

 

Yarn Yoshi - Left as is

This is the one and only 2D platformer Nintendo should have announced for the Wii U within the first year after launch.

 

Wii Sports somethingorother - Left as is

 

Incredible 101 - Delayed for at least one year, replaced by Starfox

The team wants to do Starfox, and noone bought I101. To be honest, I could see I101 bombing from a mile away. My initial impression of this game was that it was a mix between Viewtiful Joe and Pikmin. Which isn't a good thing if you're launching your game nearly at the same time as the long awaited sequel to Pikmin. I acknowledge that it's a good game and that it should have come out, but the timing was all wrong. Platinum should have made that Starfox game they wanted to do first and THEN started making W101.

 

Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - Replaced x 2

Retro could have released an HD Version of DKCR for the launch of the Wii U, but I think that having released nothing but YET ANOTHER 2D scroller after a year and a half of the console being on the market is a bit of a joke. DKCR HD at launch, and then a secret project by now.

Since Retro are good at FPS style games, I'd say they should've made a spiritual successor to Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

 

Wii Party U - Replaced by Mario 64 HD

WPU is yet another minigame compilation. What if the same developers could have instead used their resources to turn Mario 64 in to drop-dead gorgeous HD iteration of the grand daddy of all 3D platformers?

 

Wii Fit U - Replaced by new IP

To be honest, I have no idea of what type of compelling game that could be done with the resources used on the bombshell that is Wii Fit U. Thus I specify no more than stating it could have been a new IP.

 

 

So, that's my lineup for the Wii U. I feel that with this lineup, the Wii U could have actually sold way better. There's variety in genres, more beloved IP's and more titles that will be remembered in ten years. I can say that I most certainly would have given my Wii U more attention if this was the case. Do you agree? Or do you have your own suggestions?

[Grazza]

Before I say anything else, I'll just remind everyone of this:

 

I only mention it because that type of game is all I've ever wanted from the Wii U. From the moment I saw it in 2011 I thought "Yes, that's what the Wii U needs. Nintendo understands." Nothing since has conjured up the same feeling, though, and the Wii U has been painted as a machine that only plays a very different type of game.

 

To be fair to Nintendo, I agree with a lot of the games they decided upon: New Super Mario Bros U? Come on, the gameplay to these is great and they'd have been crazy not to have had at least one 2D platformer like that. Pikmin 3 was a fine choice, as was Super Mario 3D World, even if its form was rather a surprise. Wind Waker HD was, to me, the most exciting of all. Mario Kart 8 looks 100% right, and that's coming from someone who doesn't like the series.

 

Now they are a bit more used to HD, they need to work on games that will excite people like that Zelda E3 2011 demo:

 

Metroid Prime 4 - Retro Studios, obviously. This game would let us explore 3D worlds and see what the Wii U can really do. It would eliminate arguments about 1st-person vs. 3rd-person, as you'd be able to switch between either at will. Forget about modern gaming trends too - whilst I wouldn't like it to be frustrating, it should at least have Metroid's signature spookiness and loneliness.

 

Metroid V/Metroid Dread - This would be for 3DS, but it's still something Nintendo should greenlight. Put simply, Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission are 2D gaming perfection - two of the best games Nintendo (or anyone else) has ever made. If V is not on the way, it darn well should be.

 

F-Zero - Sumo Digital. Nuff said.

 

Zelda Wii U - Which obviously they're working on anyway.

 

...And that's about it. I haven't gone mad with suggestions; I just think Nintendo needs to understand the style of game that will attract another type of gamer. Of course, I'd love to see an Ice Climber or Kid Icarus that was done in the same style as Metroid or Zelda, but I've kept to the known quantities for now. There's still plenty of time for the Wii U to be a great machine, but it needs those titles.

[Fused King]

All I think is necessary is that they lay low when it comes to platformers for a while.

Both on the 3DS and WiiU.

1 or 2 a year is fine.

 

Now we've had Kirby 3DS, Yoshi 3DS is coming and Yoshi's Yarn is underway.

The only and I MEAN ONLY other sidescrollers I would like to see added to this list are a 2D Metroid game and a Takamura's Castle game by Vanillaware. I still very much hope NINTENDO will partner up with Vanillaware for one of its platformers some day.

Ah, forgot Wario. Well, I guess we'll still be getting another platformer then....BUT AFTER THAT!

 

So yeah, instead of having teams work on platformers, have them work on something else.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Fused King

[Hogge]

I only mention it because that type of game is all I've ever wanted from the Wii U. From the moment I saw it in 2011 I thought "Yes, that's what the Wii U needs. Nintendo understands." Nothing since has conjured up the same feeling, though, and the Wii U has been painted as a machine that only plays a very different type of game.

Agreedl. Everything we've seen from Nintendo has been cutesey sidescrollers and minigame compilations. Fat chance that that's what will attract the people who usually are early adaptors of new hardware.

To be fair to Nintendo, I agree with a lot of the games they decided upon: New Super Mario Bros U? Come on, the gameplay to these is great and they'd have been crazy not to have had at least one 2D platformer like that. Pikmin 3 was a fine choice, as was Super Mario 3D World, even if its form was rather a surprise. Wind Waker HD was, to me, the most exciting of all. Mario Kart 8 looks 100% right, and that's coming from someone who doesn't like the series.

Did they really need to have a 2D scroller like that AT LAUNCH? Was it right to prioritise it over a full-blown 3D platformer? Espescially with Yarn Yoshi and Tropical Freeze on the horizon?

But yes, Pikmin and Mario Kart were great decisions, as was Smash Bros. And I'll maintain that 3D World was a bit of a cheap cop-out.

 

There's still plenty of time for the Wii U to be a great machine, but it needs those titles.

You're right that it may become a console that will be fondly remembered. But to make it sell on-par with the competing machine, well that chance is gone. For over a year, Nintendo had the most powerful console in the world, yet they didn't make a single game to show for it. Now that time is up, the mainstream conception is that it's weaker than the PS3 and XB360, let alone the BBONE and PS4, third parties have jumped ship.

 

Nintendo should at this point abort all work on 2D games and minigame compilations and shift focus towards providing the experiences that third parties were supposed to deliver. BUT, if Nintendo do that, the Wii U might have a roster as amazing as the Dreamcast.

[Mr_Master_X2]

I don't know what they should have green-lighted, but what I think they should green-light now...

 

SUPER MARIO U/UNIVERSES. This I would classify as the Wii U's main Mario game. It's unique feature is that each world transports Mario to a parallel Universe. One world has the style of 64, another like Galaxy, Paper Mario world etc. Alternatives would be a fusion of past game styles with a new one.

 

Say, 8 big map worlds (like 3D World), the centre of each is a giant 64/Sunshine type of exploration stage with 8 stars to find, the level layout/enemies/obstacles changed around for each star. You know the type. At least 6-8 of the 3D World type micro stages. A Boss Castle stage. Multiple mini boss stages. Several bonus game stages etc. There WILL be a space world Galaxy physics, and the centre world will be some humongous planetoid the likes you've never seen.

 

STAR FOX U. Like the N64 game. Loads of single flightpath/free roamer levels. Light/dark sides with different stories, Light with Fox and the team, Dark with Wolf and his team. Lylat Missions. Objective missions separate from the main story where you get quests from the General, lots and lots of them (think of them as Starfox's version of 3D World's micro-stages). Lylat Missions DLC pack at later date. Lylat Missions are used to unlock various things like new characters/costumes/stamps etc. Online/offline multiplayer story/missions/battles.

 

METROID U (prime style) for Wii U, METROID 3DS (Metroidvania style) for 3DS. Like the above Star Fox, I think an optional mission set Bounty Hunter Missions would be good. Also, the 3DS/Wii U stories should maybe linked up.

 

Nintendo needs to do an shooter game. Even if it's just Mii's in a 1st person setting with various combatised items/weapons from Nintendo games in various maps based on Nintendo games. Multiplayer online/offline a must. Nintendo items have many unique effects, and the chaos of having them in a 1st person arena shooter would be...unique.

[Ronnie]

I don't understand how a Twilight Princess style Zelda game in HD is what the Wii U needs. It was just a tech demo to show off the console's hardware. If anything that sort of game is the last thing Zelda needs right now.

[Retro_Link]

I don't understand how a Twilight Princess style Zelda game in HD is what the Wii U needs. It was just a tech demo to show off the console's hardware. If anything that sort of game is the last thing Zelda needs right now.

It's not necessarily the type of Zelda I'd want to see (although I prefer the softer style infinitely more than TP), but perhaps a graphical show stopper might attract some people to the console

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I like this topic... as it emphazises a feeling of 'hope' for the console.

 

I'm not going to be an armchair expert and pretend I know the ins and outs to everything in the gaming world.

But beyond the obvious - releasing games - Nintendo need to step up its online capacity, particularly in games like Pikmin 3. Competition keeps people (or me) playing, this is an insanely massive draw for Pokemon - What would Pokemon X & Y be without online play in this day and age?

 

If Pikmin 3 had online I would probably be playing to this date and any droughts will be quenched by this continuos play.

 

I'd greenlight an update for online play in Pikmin 3 through the current drought.

 

I would also be green lighting some sort of Pokemon Stadium 3, with online battles and mini games off the back of the handhelds success. With the models already created for X&Y, this can be a fairly easy and cost-effective game to make for big returns.

Edited February 26, 2014 by King_V

[Mr_Master_X2]

I like this topic... as it emphazises a feeling of 'hope' for the console.

 

I'm not going to be an armchair expert and pretend I know the ins and outs to everything in the gaming world.

But beyond the obvious - releasing games - Nintendo need to step up its online capacity, particularly in games like Pikmin 3. Competition keeps people (or me) playing, this is an insanely massive draw for Pokemon - What would Pokemon X & Y be without online play in this day and age?

 

If Pikmin 3 had online I would probably be playing to this date and any droughts will be quenched by this continuos play.

 

I'd greenlight an update for online play in Pikmin 3 through the current drought.

 

I would also be green lighting some sort of Pokemon Stadium 3, with online battles and mini games off the back of the handhelds success. With the models already created for X&Y, this can be a fairly easy and cost-effective game to make for big returns.

 

Been saying it needs a Pokemon game for ages. Do you know what would truly make the Wii U fly off the shelfs? A Pokemon Stadium/Coliseum...with one or two NEW Pokemon from the upcoming gen. You know they'll have many designed/move sets already. Can you imagine the millions of Pokemon fans buying Wii Us just to get this game and a new mon? It'd be unreal. It's such a simple, easily doable idea, and would zoooooooooom sales right up, but NOBODY at nintendo has thought of this? <_< Heck, a direct patch to the 3DS from the Gamepad sync-up (to stop people just downlind patch off 3DS Eshop and receiving clones if they didn't buy the game) to use it on 3DS.

 

Nintendo does need to attract casual's like it did with the Wii U, and every update from them they state they know they need to do that and what to do...and then DON'T DO IT.

 

They know they need to get more games from other developers, more none-Nintendo exclusives, and even stated interest in buying other developers to help with the game...but then DON'T DO IT (or maybe they are, but they've left it really late. It should have happened a year before Wii U's release).

 

They say they need to up virtual releases and such, and guess what? THEY DON'T DO IT. And then when they do do some of it, they put the wrong things on the wrong console, DS on Wii U. Don't they realise how horrid Wii games look upscaled, even DS games on 3DS look meh. What the hell do they think DS games on Wii U will look like? What happened to the promised N64/CUBE/GBA games? What happened to what looked like the start of a heap of translation projects for VC games that we never got, which we got a few of? There's still big chunks of good games missing from Snes/Nes library, too.

 

They know they need to increase the flow of games...and they DON'T DO IT. Instead they delay games to pad things out further.

 

They say they need to advertise more/better...and THEY DON'T DO IT.

 

We hear from them over and over about what they need to do...but guess what? Yeah, you know the line.

 

I'm a lifelong Nintendo fan but my confidence in them is almost lost. At this point Nintendo should just quit trying to gather attention from your typical hardcore/casual and try and instil actual confidence in core Nintendo fans, since a load of them can't fathom WTF Nintendo is up to.

 

What do you call a company who knows what they need to do, knows for a long time and still doesn't do what they need to do?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure post E3 there will be a flood of games... then back to the trickle. Which would be acceptable if it had actual 3rd party support, but it doesn't. By the time sales pick up from Nintendo's TRUE AAA releases, 3rd parties will care even less. The 3DS is suffering too, because of Nintendo's shifted focus, which is to be expected, but the 3DS is Nintendo's ACTUAL SELLER with software selling potential. Remember when Nintendo used top ensure they released their very best effort on launch day? Which maximised sales, which attracted 3rd parties? They now refrain from releasing their best effort to give 3rd parties a chance, but that results in less console sales so less 3rd parties taking a chance. They listened to the "nobody buys our games because they want yours" crap, shot themselves in the foot and made things worse.

 

A true Nintendo fan wants the TRUE AAA version (not the "filler" version) of one of Nintendo's 1st party IPs on launch day to maximise sales. I mean most buy multiple games on release, right? All they have to insure is one 1st party system seller on release date. Yes, other companies consoles have similar poor launch games, but Nintendo relies on core Nintendo fans to boost sales, to like I said attract 3rd parties to a big install base, so if they can't attract core fans then that's a problem.

 

Yes, I'm a misery gut.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Mr_Master_X2

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Been saying it needs a Pokemon game for ages. Do you know what would truly make the Wii U fly off the shelfs? A Pokemon Stadium/Coliseum...with one or two NEW Pokemon from the upcoming gen. You know they'll have many designed/move sets already. Can you imagine the millions of Pokemon fans buying Wii Us just to get this game and a new mon? It'd be unreal. It's such a simple, easily doable idea, and would zoooooooooom sales right up, but NOBODY at nintendo has thought of this? <_< Heck, a direct patch to the 3DS from the Gamepad sync-up (to stop people just downlind patch off 3DS Eshop and receiving clones if they didn't buy the game) to use it on 3DS.

 

Its beyond belief actually. Why the hell aren't they doing this lol?

 

They were pretty good at releasing a console Pokemon right after the success of the handheld version in the past. Even a crappy title like Battle Revolution at full price had people, including myself, buying it.

 

A Pokemon Stadium 3 - with rental Pokemon for the newbies, numerous online battle and mini game modes, Gamepad PokeDex etc... In a nice little Wii U bundle will SALE.

 

A face palm just isn't enough.