Adam Sesslar goes on a rant about Nintendo, do you agree?

Thanks for posting this video series, have to check it out now. What I think Nintendo is struggling with is finding what they will do 10 years from now, their business honestly was built to function in the present, with their technology (3D, motion control) to serve their path to the future. But sadly, the tech of this generation's console seemed muddled, comparing an iPad functionality with actual gaming seems cool, and probably is great if implemented well (something so few games have on the Wii U), that in practice, really to most consumers just see the gamepad as a complicated 360 controller. They no longer have that hook to invite casual players over, it's been discussed to death. But, I think they really need to stop being stubborn with trends, online gaming is a far bigger deal than they give credit for, and mobile is obviously a huge sector. I am not saying mobile directly competes with traditional gaming, I am just saying they need to look to the future a little more than looking at current tablets and trying to be the me too device.

I honestly wish they just made the hardware almost in line with the xbox and ps4, just solely for developers not to make a special version of a current port, it complicates everything for 3rd parties to both build a new thing on worse hardware, and try to find something compelling for the gamepad's screen functionality. Hopefully their plan of making great 1st party games to get people to come over, then give incentive to nervous 3rd parties works, because I can't think of a better way to build install base besides scrapping the whole thing.

Your welcome and I agree..

Sometimes I feel like Nintendo is stuck in the past. Their tech isn't great, most of there games are pretty much the same franchises, and they seem to have no direction on what to do with the Wii U. Nintendo fans want to argue with people saying Nintendo will bring the games, but I haven't seen it yet. Like Adam said Nintendo had a whole year to show people there games, and now not alot of people are interested in there console.

I can see Nintendo being out of business if they keep this up, and having to give their franchises to other companies.

I got to ask this question to anyone feel free to respond.

To any Wii U owners do you regret getting the Wii u?

Firing people who have made the company a success is probably not a good idea, no.

One of the Main problems Nintendo has is this,

Yoshihiro Mori, 68

Masaharu Matsumoto, 71

Eiichi Suzuki, 63

Shigeru Miyamoto, 61

Genyo Takeda, 64

Nobuo Nagai, 68

Kaoru Takemura, 67

Tatsumi Kimishima, 63

Shinji Hatano, 71

This is the leadership or the board of directors. It is really time for a change and new blood.

I regret getting the Wii pretty soon after buying it, I played it for the first couple of months and have not touched it since then really. I don't have a Wii U but I'm pretty sure I would regret buying it as well, I still don't really see the justification for it I guess.

Agreed, its time for Nintendo to make a change. They're not a bad company in anyway, but they do need to set new grounds.

I'm glad I never bought one. After buying the gamecube and being disappointed with the lack of games. I've never bought an Nintendo console sense...

@falserelic: I loved my Wii for the first year or so of its life. Metroid, Zelda, Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy made it worthwhile. It was only a year or so later that I realised that every single one of those games would have been better if they had been produced on the other platforms.

@darji: Judging them by their age doesn't help. It just makes you look prejudiced against older people.

@gunslingerpanda:

Seriously. People are kinda forgetting about the crazy amounts of cash the Wii, the DS and the 3DS made for them. Even if the WiiU ends up being a misstep, you don't gut your senior staff the moment there's trouble.

Even listing Miyamoto in that list is fucking bonkers. Yeah, fire the most loved man in the entire games industry. See how that goes over.

Samething happened to me when I had the gamecube. There was only a few selection of exclusives I found interesting, and those games are...

Giest, Resident Evil Remake, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 0.

After playing those games I didn't have much use for the GameCube. The other games I found interesting was available on the ps2, so I ended up not using my GameCube much at all...

@falserelic: Yeah exactly, the Wii (for me) had a real lack of games and interesting uses. The Wii U looks like it's suffering from the same case, Bayonetta 2 has been the only game so far that even makes me sorta interested in the Wii U but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't buy anything else other than Bayonetta and that doesn't seem worth it to me. I don't really know what Nintendo is thinking or doing anymore.

@falserelic said:

I don't feel regretful, that's too harsh of a word, but each month I get a little more jittery about the future of the console because everything around it just grows increasingly pessimistic. I've considered multiple times selling my Wii U to get as much as I can out of it, not because I don't want to own one, I'm just terrified that there's a few years of hell ahead for Nintendo and I may as well just save money for whatever weird re-launch, re-re-launch, and re-re-re-launch they've got planned, because I'm sure as hell not having much fun at the moment and developers are abandoning the device faster than I could've ever imagined.

I don't even think it's a "fire a few top-men!" problem; Nintendo's entire mindset and structure is so weirdly borked. They don't need to replace the guys in charge, Nintendo just needs a life-altering epiphany. Fast.

I do not really care. It is a big problem and you can clearly see how out of touch Nintendo is right now with the actual market or even the world we live in. And if you want to believe it or not most of it comes always from these kind of people who are sitting way too long in these leadership positions.

I have a WiiU. I am totally disappointed with some of the choices Nintendo is making, I completely agree with Hsu on needing a new, hardcore franchise and I was hoping that was what the Retro reveal would be.

That said, Sessler is talking out of his ass. We all know why there wasn't a crazy huge first party line up at launch, it's because Nintendo wanted to make a more hospitable climate for third parties to release their games so they wouldn't have to go up against some of gaming's most beloved franchises. The 3ds launch was the same way. It fell flat on them the same way as well, but it's kind of a rock and a hard place dilemma. You either release all of your goods, guns blazing and create another Wii environment where the only big sellers are Nintendo games and third parties have to room to make ground with their bigger franchises, or you allow third parties to take control and leave it up to them to create a good launch line up.

With the 360, I remember the exact same scenario. There was nothing at launch but a luke warm Perfect Dark Zero and Geometry Wars. Neither one of them were doing the xbox any favors Fans whined and moaned that it didn't launch with a new Halo but it all worked out when they finally showed off Halo 3.

Kinda looks like the same thing is happening with Smash Bros.

Also, Iwata should go? Why? because he's a name he recognizes? Seems to me like Iwata is kind of doing some good work, especially with the Nintendo Direct. Mini pressers every other month, good way to drum up hype and keep the fans satiated. Really, to fire him would also kind of throw away all the work they'er doing to make Iwata the face of nintendo in the wake of Miyamoto's coming retirement, that would be dumb.

If Nintendo wants to go in a certain direction, it's pick up more studious like Platinum games and make a dreamcast esque library of quirky titles that really set a mood for the hardware. It's a very unique console and that's it's biggest strength and greatest weakness. It can allow for really interesting, engaging gameplay in things like ZombiU or much of the games in Nintendo land, but it's too underpowered to really take that next step and apply it to the multiplatform franchises, and the publishers just don't really want to do it.

The thing will start selling when Smash comes around, but what it does until then is crucial to preparing it for the time when the 360 and Ps3 will no longer be supported and they can't rely on ports.

@darji: You're a sad little man, judging them by their ages.

I said it is one of their main problems not the only one. For example Puppet Reggie is another one or the problem that they basically decide everything only in Japan in ttheir "ivory" Tower. And this is where the first problem I mentioned comes in mind as well. And it is the combination of their age and position.,

Not just the age, notice that they are all Japanese. No offense but at this age and having that Japanese mentality where they are not willing to admit mistakes. Sure they have said they messed up a little but they need a Sony style change where they go with more Western, or not even that, just not Japanese specifically because Asia as a whole is fucking competitive, look at Samsung. Instead Nintendo, wants to lie to themselves that they aren't really competing with Sony and MS but they are. He is right. HOW THE FUCK, do you launch, when you clearly lost all the momentum the Wii had, and not have a NEW Zelda or NEW Mario out with it? Not some crappy NSMB or Zelda Remake. Come on. And the other thing, this console should have been out 3 years ago. 2010. Hard drive included and the e-shop standardized.

They are a hugely frustrating company to watch. I adore Nintendo, but find so many of their decisions incredibly baffling. I have just bought a Wii U as I could get one for £150 so I can play The Wonderful 101, Sonic and Mario.(and Bayonetta next year) I imagine if you bought that thing in November for the full price you would feel pretty shit about your purchase. There is absolutely nothing really worth getting on the system right now and it is ridiculous to think that they launched a new console in 2012 where the best game to get was a 2D platformer... still is. Nintendo have had months to show us that we needed that damn thing, and although reasons are coming it seems like too little too late for most people. Pikmin looks charming as hell, but Sessler is right in that it will not sell consoles, especially with the shiny and new just around the corner. Even the new Mario game will probably have a harder time than usual seeing as it's being released in December, post PS4 and Xbox One.

I bought that console because it has a bunch of things coming that really appeal to my tastes, but if most people asked me to recommend that system as their next main console It would be a huge NO!

The WiiU failing can only mean positive things for Nintendo and gamers. I don't think it will, but I do think it will be enough of a disappointment to shake things up at the company. It's going to have a holiday price cut and if they can get it to $199 I think it can compete with the big boys. The tablet controller, however cool, is looking like a bad idea for cost reasons. They should've made the WiiU a WiiHD instead, further modernizing the Wiimote+ and run with that.

@thehbk: @darji: You both sound like you learned about Japanese corporate culture from Rising Sun and Gung Ho.

I am studying modern Japanese society and culture at my University as my main.

No, I do not regret buying a Wii U because I know I'll play whatever first party stuff they'll put out.

Adam's comments are right on the money, and exactly how I feel about the Wii U currently. There needs to be some sort of change to spark some new game ideas because right now Nintendo is playing to just to the hardcore fans that will gobble up anything at this point. What their console lacks at the moment is that one freshly new game that convinces people they should buy a Wii U. I mean people are pre-ordering consoles just to try out new games like Titan Fall and Destiny, but what new IP does Nintendo have up their sleeve?

August will mark the beginning of particular Wii U games to be released like Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, etc. I'm hoping with the sales of these games coming out that they'll eventually lead into the announcement of a game that'll be new and exciting.

So yeah I'm cautiously optimistic about this.

They had a year to do something amazing and they squandered it. They need to have sold a large number of consoles before the next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft come out, and they just haven't been able to do it. Come November they will either need to massively drop the price (to like $150-$199) or just accept that only hardcore Nintendo fans will ever buy their console. I just can't see a $350 WiiU competing with a $399 PS4 or even a $499 Xbox One. It's fine that they might eventually release games people care about, but they should already be there.

@darji: Then you need practice in constructing arguments. What you've presented so far is discriminatory and based on your own personal conjecture rather than any facts.

@falserelic: Not even a little.

@hailinel: @darji: I'm not trying to butt into you'll argument, but try to keep it civil. I really don't want to see a random mod come out of nowhere, and go thread-locking happy all the sudden...

I am not at University so I don't have to prove anything at all. A message Boards is a collection of opinions and emotions and I am not willing to accurate show you how the world functions with quoting thesis, reports and so on. Either you believe me, or accept my opinion or you do not. Either way it is totally fine by me.

@falserelic: sorry about that.

I agree with most of what he said, except I honestly would like Nintendo to disown the Wii U and create a new piece of hardware completely disassociated from the Wii brand. That is impossible, I know, but I think it would be a step in the right direction.

"I feel like a parent who has paid for their child's college education and their child goes into porn" - Adam Sessler, quote of the fucking year.

What's going on in here?

Throwing out workers because they are old isn't exactly optimal or desirable. Throwing out people because they are doing a bad job makes sense. Now make the argument that Nintendo is being managed poorly.

Besides dismissing upper management only makes sense if the board has a replacement or a plan going forward.

I was just reading an article where Miyamoto was surprised at the cost and number of people needed to make games in HD. The 360 has been around for almost 8 years and those early games were in development even longer than that. How isolated and clueless are they, that for a decade they didn't even have a clue about these things? You would have thought that they would have at least talked to someone about their game development at some point. Welcome to 2005, Nintendo; it's too little, too late.

I don't fully agree because Adam been picking on Nintendo for awhile now. I also don't think you really need to fire all of top management or any of them really. Yes, Nintendo really could use some new blood to make them get into gear with catching up with the times with online, online stores, ID profiles, and data management.

Nintendo is just in a hard spot that they should have predicted, that third party support is really weak on Nintendo console platforms. Nintendo really can't depend on third parties without throwing them a bone or being progressive and getting some unique games made for the system. bringing older games just won't cut it for most gamers.

This mistake is all on Nintendo and yet again most will have to wait a full year until games will start firing on the system. I believe just like with the 3ds and how everyone was saying it was dead, Nintendo can turn it around. Nintendo just has to bite the bullet and make the case the wii made when ps3 and xbox 360 was out there. Drop the price because it needs to be at least a 100 bucks cheaper than a ps4 and work on being the anti-paying for online system that has awesome unique games with no strings attached.

Of course they are doing a bad job. Look at the sales, look at the marketing efforts, look at the bad press they are getting each day. Look how Iwata seems totally clueless how the world and today's market is functioning when he is answering stuff to shareholders and the press. It is their old thinking and no change policy that has brought them into this mess and as long they do not see it they are gone in like 5 years if they keep Iwata, the board of directors and even Miyamoto in such a high position.

people who doubt that should really listening to the stuff Cerny is saying right now and how Sony was in the same dilemma with only letting japanese people decide, and only at their Headquarters. This has drastically changed with Cerny, Yoshida and CO and without these new people they would have been done.

@mcghee there was an interview a while ago in which some programmer or graphic guy had to tell Miyamoto that he can not use these old assets anymore. For him it looked totally fine because he was so out of touch with modern games and techniques.

As for the 3DS. It is selling only really well in Japan in the west it is below Nintendo's expectations.

There's some irony, here, in you being as hard-set in your ideas as the old Nintendo board.

To actually post something on-topic - yeah, I agree with Adam Sessler, the Wii U could be doing much, much better. If the Wii proved anything, it's that a console doesn't necessarily need to be powerful to succeed and have good games (though power absolutely helps with that in more ways than just prettier graphics). Nintendo has this console, they just have to have something for it, and they don't. They have a handful of games that are interesting to the "hardcore", if you want to use that horrible term, but what do they really have that a wide variety of people care about?

Either the Wii U takes a turn similar to the 3DS's or Nintendo gets in trouble. I don't think the company will go away this generation, or maybe not even next one, but at some point they absolutely have to do something or the company will become a software company, or maybe just stop existing at all. Nobody wants that.

@mcghee said:

Seriously good point. And I'm sure they would be astonished at what a AAA game is costing developers for the next generation. The asset generation for such huge and detailed worlds is mind numbing. I grew up on Nintendo and I am frustrated too. They seem so far behind the learning curve; if they wanted to try another lifelike Zelda experience it would look stilted and cartoonish by comparison. The advancements in animation, motion capture, simulated lighting, and audio are something that was learned over the last several years and something their hardware will struggle to deliver.

Sometimes I feel that all that's left of Nintendo is IP, and other developers could do great things with it. They have heart in the right place but we're getting tired of the rehashed experiences.

Nope. I've mostly been using it to play Wii games I missed like Metroid: Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Mario Galaxy. Also I am really looking forward to the other stuff they have coming out.

That said I do agree with some of the points that Sesslar makes. Somebody should definitely be fired for even thinking about not allowing Smash Bros to be streamed during Evo.

If the Wii U can start showing off more interesting games, maybe I might invest my time in it, but so far they got along way to go.

Seems weird to me that the youngest member of their board is also responsible for some of their earliest successes in the video game industry. Seriously the fact that someone as ancient (relative to gaming) as Shigeru Miyamoto isn't the most senior person on that board is very telling. Nintendo is run a little TOO traditionally to really thrive these days. Sony made some smart choices by listening more to their American and European divisions and Nintendo should do the same. A company like that just shouldn't be run from the top-down.

I was in a weird position with the Wii, I actually sold and bought it again 3 times, I sold it in late 07 because there were NO games I liked that much, waiting a while, and I think in 2010 I bought a black one, played donkey kong, waited for the kirby's and played those too. Then found out, wow, I made the mistake again, I thought games were picking up again, but nope, those three games, donkey kong and both kirbys were it for my tastes, no ressurections of fzero, waveracer or anything else, Nintendo didn't care. So we sold it for cheap to a family friend, and he ended up giving it back for the same reasons. I will not make that mistake again with the Wii U.

@hailinel: Dude you have to find a way to look past your Nintendo fanboyism and also calling @darji a 'sad little man' doesn't help you prove a point. Using personal insults never does.

The point he was making wasn't "these guys are old get rid of them" as much as it was these guys are stuck in an old way of thinking and yes part of that is due to their age. I don't think Nintendo needs to sweep and clear everyone over a certain age, I love Iwata, he's adorable but the management is doing a terrible job. They need to get new blood in making the decisions, people who understand how to operate in the current state of the industry.

I have a small shred of hope considering the 180 they pulled with the whole EVO debacle but it doesn't change the fact that they're struggling with the WiiU no matter how loudly you yell at everyone who says so.

@thesoutherndandy: I never said anything about the console or company as a whole here. That comment was in response to Darji's bilious attitude toward the board because of their age.

@hailinel: Well if I'm off about being a Nintendo fanboy I apologize it just seems like every time there's a thread about something dumb Nintendo's doing you're playing defence pretty hard.

The same shit's been going on with Nintendo since the late 90s with the N64. You think game droughts are bad with the Wii U? It's fucking nothing compared to what the N64 had, but at least it had a good launch line up. Nintendo hasn't had any real 3rd party support for home consoles since the SNES. Capcom was the last company that took a chance and gave em some great exclusives(some of them timed) for the Gamecube and that bombed pretty hard financially.

I hate it when people say "Oh they need something cool and sharp, like Titanfall or FPS#264232." The guy next to Sessler even says he hates to use that statement but says it anyways.

Nintendo is fine in their niche status, they don't need to compete head to head against Microsoft or Sony and it would be dumb of them to. That's why they went with a blue ocean strategy with the Wii and it worked. They also don't need to be a 3rd party developer/publisher since they make all their money by making games on their own consoles.

Next year I hope they bring some heavy hitters. Nintendo existing franchises are good and all, but eventually people will grow tired of them and get less excited. Hopefully they start bringing interesting Ip's for the platform that can be system sellers. If Nintendo manages to screw up there lineup for next year.

Then Its pretty much a done deal for Nintendo for me. Like Adam said if they use the same excuses it'll just look pathetic. Now I'm sure there's alot of GB users that will disagree, and its fine its subjectable. I know I sound like I'm hating on Nintendo, but in my eyes their just disappointing. I really do hope the best for Nintendo I just want to see it shine, shine brighter then the sun that's all.

@darji: Firing Miyamoto? I don't know about that man...

Thinking about it more mature games would be nice..