Is it bad that the Wii U looks similar to the Wii?

I'd say it's a pretty big deal. The Xbox 360 has a pretty unique design to it. When people see the XBO, no one will mistake the two.

Bad? Yes. It's also the least of the system's problems. Marketing was probably a worse issue than the design of the thing, though the way it looks doesn't help the perception that this is just a Wii controller.

It's probably a bad thing, yeah. But I guess it does help with brand recognition??? (Wii as a brand I mean)

Wait, it just says Wii on the actual console? There's no way that that promo image will cause any confusions, no sir.

I have no idea either how a proper WiiU looks like. If I didn't know better I would think this is a Wii with a new controller. So that's bad.

If a lot of us can't tell the difference, how will the average member of the public who aren't into games but bought a Wii going to tell? I think the recent sales announcement answers that question unfortunately.

All consoles should look like the original Xbox (also known as the first XBox, not to be confused with the third Xbox or the second Xbox)

Is it actually a Wii U or did they mess up with the photo? Can't see any difference even the label doesn't say Wii U. I think the photo is just messed up.

@colourful_hippie: That promo image was some dipshit's mistake in photoshopping in a Wii, not a Wii U.

Its awful.

People that don't know much about gaming, might confuse it with the regular wii. It doesn't matter Nintendo dug their own grave, and don't you fanboys say wait until next year. I don't want to hear that bullshit no more Nintendo had their chance.

Why does it matter at all? No one is buying a console based on looks. People aren't as dumb as you think. No one is going to look at that flyer and think "I would buy a Wii U but I guess I already have one"

The focus is on their silly controller as it should be.

So you believe many consumers don't actually think that the Wii U is an add-on controller for the Wii? Do you think that you might be overestimating the awareness of people who do not post on video game message boards?

A little. Brand confusion could be contributing to its lack of success.

I'm pretty sure that's happening, even almost a year after it's release I still hear confused parents and kids thinking that their Wii can run the Wii U games, and thinking the Wii U gamepad is just a Wii accessory.

Trying to capitalize on the Wii's "success" was a huge mistake, as by the time E3 2011 rolled around (unveiling of the Wii U), it should've been pretty clear that for the general public, the Wii idea wasn't a success anymore, and was a fad that had pretty much died out by the end of 2010. It didn't convert a generation of people to gaming who were otherwise not interested (the only thing to really do that lately has been smartphones), and I can't fathom how Nintendo's market research didn't make it clear that literally anything with the Wii name in it will just make people think "Oh yeah, that thing with the tennis we played from about 2006-2008 then got bored of".

It was a mistake for the followup to have anything at all to do with the Wii, from looks to name to how you play it. The fact that it still uses Wii remotes is a huge mistake, as even with the gamepad, the Wii remotes make people think "Oh yeah, that thing with the tennis we played from about 2006-2008 then got bored of". They should've completely ditched Wii remotes, allowing it to only support the gamepad and pro controllers, and it should've had a completely different name, and it should've looked totally different compared to the Wii.

They'd still have the pretty serious shortage of quality games, but at least there would be a slightly better chance that the public would even realize it's a new console and not a Wii add-on.

Changing the look of a console isn't going to do anything. I wouldn't use the word many to categorize the people that think the Wii U is an addon. Those are the kinds of people that thought ps3 games would work in their ps2s because playstation. Would you rather they completely changed the look and name of every console every generation because a few people who probably don't buy games anyway might get confused?

@bisonhero: The problem is that they only tried to capitalize on the Wii's success in name only. They would have been much better off promoting it as a casual console. Instead they tried to say they were targeting the core gaming audience by entering the current generation six years too late and then not releasing any games. They forgot to pick a target audience and actually cater the system to them.

I think the biggest issue is that they didn't use a number in the system name. Nothing about Wii U says it's a new system, something "Wii II" would've left no room for confusion with. New Super Wii would've worked as well, I guess.

Having the Wii name associated with it is it's downfall, Alot of people that bought the 1st Wii will ever buy a "Wii" thing again.

@hunkulese: I think the opposite, in that I really doubt the market is there for them to push a casual console. It worked once with the Wii, as even old people could figure out how to play Wii Sports, and already know the rule sets of tennis and bowling so they weren't intimidated by the whole thing. But now that that fad has run out, I think it'll be a while before you could have a weird runaway casual success like the Wii was. Plus, the Kinect has inexplicably eaten up some of that market share. Even if Nintendo were to push the Wii U as a casual console, so far it doesn't seem like they have nearly as many party game ideas for the Wii U, which is integral to pushing it as a casual console.

So if anything, I think they should be pushing it even harder to basically just the core gaming audience because at least they have a small chance of getting that audience's attention. The casual audience is basically inoculated to consoles for a while, especially when the Wii U's ideas are not nearly as immediately approachable as the kind of simplified motion controls that the Wii offered. But this is proving difficult, as the last time Nintendo showed much console game ingenuity was with Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, and Wind Waker, and since then much of their creative talent has been wasted on Wii Sports/Fit/Music etc. (which is functionally a dead series of games, or should be now that the casual market is gone), and making some fairly safe sequels.

No they might go out thinking they need to get a new controller for their Wii called the WiiU.. Also quote from an actual person in a game store: "I am getting a xbox 360 because I wand to be able to use Word." Yes, they actually thought that the xbox 360 ran Windows and that they could use Office on it. I corrected them, they didn't believe me and asked someone that worked there. I saw them later on at the laptop section with the same employee. So don't overestimate people either.

Holy shit that is very bad indeed. Nintendo needs to get their ass out their and focus their marketing efforts on eliminating brand confusion.

@bisonhero: That was my entire point. They're not catering the system to anyone. I disagree that the casual market has dried up. Of course it had no chance of matching the success of the Wii but it still would have sold much better if they had released some good party games and pushed for the audience that wants something at their cottage for when it's raining. If you market it as an amazing family/party console people will buy it. They also aren't going to attract the core audience by releasing a system that's going to be outclassed in a year and is filled with inferior versions of games that they've already played. To top it off their current "system seller" in an incredibly unimaginative Mario game.

The Wii U is failing for numerous reasons but it's not because of the name or the look of the console.

It sure doesn't help the uniformed masses differentiate both products.

Hm, well I can't say I agree. When I see pictures like this:

I can only imagine how confusing that might be for people who are not into video games. "Wii U" sounds like an add-on to the "Wii", especially when one takes into account the deluge of peripherals it already had, including ones with "Wii" prefixes such as "Wii Sports", "Wii Fit", "Wii Play" and "Wii Music."

At E3 2011, when the Wii U was unveiled, Nintendo made a conscious decision to not utter the word "console" on stage and that resulted in confusion from people who are even into video games thinking that this might be an upgrade of some sort to the Wii until Nintendo clarified after the fact.

Never before in Nintendo's home console history have two distinctly different consoles bared such a resemblance and that goes for the design of the console as well as the name. I truly believe this is leading to significant market confusion and their terrible marketing has exacerbated this, leading to the dismal sales of the console we've known from recent news.

I think the issue is both the look and the name. I have had multiple family members ask if they should get the wii u controller for their kids. They asked because they thought it was just an accessory for the Wii. This isn't a conversation I had once, it happened about 3 times with separate people.

@ssully: @fluxwavez: Sure there may be parents out there who are confused but it's not like they'd have purchased it if it was called Nintendo's Doom Machine and was designed to mimic a live Sea Urchin. People who buy games and kids who ask their parents for games know what it is and they just don't want it no matter what it's called or looks like. If Nintendo had released a plethora of good or even decent games or they had a console that was significantly more powerful than the 360 and PS3 we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Oh man, that's some shitty photo editing skills.

The name and appearance definitely make it confusing as shit for the uninformed consumer.

All they had to do was call it the Wii 2 and no one would have been confused.

Why does it just say "Wii" on the console? That's a really dumb move, Nintendo.

That's the front of the Wii U for those wondering. It is so similar that I had to go look up a picture. It can't be helping Nintendo when even informed video gamists are confused. I new name and a new shape would not have saved the Wii U from it's low sales, but it probably would help. I wonder how many Wii U games have been to returned at retail stores because they didn't work with their regular Wii. Even something like Wii NEXT™, would clear up this nonsense. The similarities between the Wii and Wii U body are closer than most standard console revisions (360 to 360 S). If I was an uninformed consumer I might think the Wii U shown above is a remodeled Wii that came bundled with the controller, and not a new system entirely.

A couple of friends came over thinking my Wii U was just a regular Wii since I hid my Wii U controller in the ottoman. The only way they knew it was a Wii U was when I actually turned the thing on (which doesn't happen a lot).

I worked retail and A LOT of parents thought the Wii U was an add-on for the Wii. Another misconception was that the Wii U gamepad was a tablet so, you could take it anywhere similar to a handheld device.