Nintendo has been having a bit of a tough time communicating just what the Wii U is all about. In particular, the company still seems unable to clearly articulate just why the Wii Uâs gamepadâa combination game-controller and touchscreenâmakes their system worth buying. Perhaps, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggests, itâs time for some new ideas.
In an E3 analyst briefing recently translated and posted to Nintendoâs site, Iwata explains the problems theyâve come across when selling one of the Wii Uâs most important features: Asymmetric gameplay.
Asymmetric gameplay, or the potential for it, is one of the neatest things about the Wii U. You can play local multiplayer games without needing everyone to see the same screen. Therefore, itâs possible to play games like some of the minigames included in Nintendo Land, where, say, one player will control a ghost via the controllerâs screen, invisible on the TV. Meanwhile, four more players will run around on the TV screen trying to find him.
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Iwata says that Nintendo had hoped that Nintendo Land would communicate the benefits of asymmetric gameplay, but that while âwe have received a lot of comments from consumers that the gameplay in âNintendo Landâ is interesting. ⊠we presume that they have not yet come up with the best words to easily explain how interesting it is to other people.â
âI would say that âNintendo Landâ has not fulfilled the same role as âWii Sportsâ did when we bundled it with Wii,â Iwata continues. Wii Sports, of course, being the game that so effortlessly communicated what made the Wiiâs motion controls special, and instantly made the case for owning the system.
Iwata then discusses Nintendoâs plans to right the ship:
Of course, we wonât remain silent and do nothing. We are going to release a variety of Wii U software, and with each title, we would like to show how convenient and delightful it is to have the Wii U GamePad controller, and how it changes the gaming experience.
In addition, we have also learned that the name âasymmetric gameplayâ does not fully explain the GamePadâs value to consumers. As for the software going to be released from now on, we would like to describe the experience that the GamePad provides with a different expression in order to adequately convey its necessity to consumers and increase the number of consumers that think, âIndeed it is good to have a GamePad.â In this sense, starting with âPikmin 3,â we aim to include functions that make good use of the GamePad that consumers can appreciate.
Ha. âIndeed it is good to have a GamePadâ is actually something I think fairly regularly, usually when Iâm playing something using the systemâs nifty off-TV play. But I agree that itâs not very easy to communicate why asymmetrical gameplay is cool, particularly when you donât quite have that one amazing gameâthat Wii Sportsâto help make the case.
I put it to you: If Nintendo drops the term asymmetric gameplay, what term do you think should replace it?
