The Wii U to balance needs of ‘core’ and ‘casual’ gamers better

One of the main criticisms of the Wii in the past was its lack of games for ‘core’ or regular video game players. Iwata seems to have noticed that the Wii may not have been balanced well between casual players of games and ‘core’ game players.

At a recent investor’s meeting he explained the problem’s with the Wii:

[T]he Wii was able to reach a large number of new consumers who had never played games before by bringing hands-on experiences with its “Wii Sports” and “Wii Fit.” However, we could not adequately create the situation that such new consumers played games frequently or for long, consistent periods. As a result, we could not sustain a good level of profit. Moreover, regrettably, what we prioritized in order to reach out to the new audience was a bit too far from what we prioritized for those who play games as their hobby. Consequently, we presume some people felt that the Wii was not a game system for them or they were not willing to play with the Wii even though some compelling games had been released.

He goes on to explain that even though they will still focus on widening the experience of the Wii U, they would not do this at the expense of creating deep experiences for core players.

Once consumers have a notion that “this system is not for us,” we have learned that it is extremely difficult to change their perceptions later. “Therefore, in promoting the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, we have announced that we would like “width” and “depth” to coexist. With the Nintendo DS and the Wii, the approach of “width” was well accepted by many people; however, what we did in terms of “depth” was not satisfactory for some consumers. This time, we would like consumers to be satisfied in both aspects.

Do you think Nintendo will succeed in pleasing both audiences?