The Wii U has been a disappointing console for Nintendo, seeing it become the least popular of this generation despite having over a year lead in on its two main competitors. While lots of talking heads have discussed the reasoning for such a drop off from the Wii's monumental success, Shigeru Miyamoto believes he knows just why it didn't work out.
"Unfortunately with our latest system, the Wii U, the price point was one that ended up getting a little higher than we wanted," he said during an interview with NPR.
"I don’t think it’s just price, because if the system is appealing enough, people will buy it even if the price is a little bit high. I think with Wii U, our challenge was that perhaps people didn’t understand the system."
Another reason he said, was that while when Nintendo first began developing the Wii U, the idea of a tablet was quite a unique one, but by the time the console was released, the iPad and other aesthetically pleasing consumer tablets had arrived and were evolving very quickly. This meant that the Wii U's gamepad, one of its biggest selling points, looked outdated before long.
Miyamoto did however praise the device, suggesting that its touch interface, fast-boot system and the ability to play without the TV were big features that the other console makers still hadn't emulated.
It just seems a shame more developers didn't utilise it. Mario Chase and the Luigi's Mansion minigames are some of the most fun I've had on the system, simply because one person could have a different perspective to the other players.
