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Miyamoto Discusses Wii U Failures, Not Actively Participating In NX Development
Nintendo spent most of 2014 rebuilding the Wii U’s (and its own) reputation. Titles like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. reminded gamers that there are some things you can only get on a Nintendo console, with millions of fans returning to Wii U to play them.
The console still has yet to reach the 10 million sales mark, over two years in. In a recent interview with Fortune, famed Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto opened up about the Wii U’s struggles.
“I think the assumption is we were trying to create a game machine and a tablet and really what we were trying to do was create a game system that gave you tablet-like functionality for controlling that system and give you two screens that would allow different people in the living room to play in different ways,” Miyamoto says. “Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it.”
Miyamoto also addressed Nintendo’s next console, code named NX. The project was announced simultaneously with the company’s DeNA partnership to develop unique mobile titles.
While his exact role in the creation of the Wii U isn’t clear, Miyamoto says that he is stepping back. He’s not entirely separated from the creation of whatever this new hardware is, but he says he’s “not actively participating and making decisions.”
Rather, he’s focused on software, including the upcoming Star Fox Zero due this year. For more on that title, you can check out our extensive hands-on preview from E3 and interview with Miyamoto for more on Fox McCloud’s next adventure.
[Source: Fortune]
Our Take
While Nintendo clearly missed the mark with Wii U, Nintendo’s software for has largely been on target. Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, and Super Smash Bros. are all true to delightful form. The gaming landscape would be poorer without these games, and NX needs to put titles like them into more hands. For that to happen, it needs to wipe away the Wii U’s failure as a hardware platform and retain the memory of its software.
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