I recall when the original Wii console was released. I was exceedingly eager to get my hands on one but it was sold out everywhere - and I mean everywhere.
The chap behind the counter at the HMV near my work told me to come by every day because there was a small chance that a pre-ordered console might be available if the person failed to collect it after a certain period. So I went there every day and was disappointed day after day to be told none was available. Then one lunchtime he said, yes, we had one. I bought it and I was happy.
This tells a great deal about the level of anticipation for the console. Never mind that it's gathered dust for most of its life (I'm a PC gamer at heart). At the time there was genuine excitement about the launch and I was one of millions across the world who couldn't wait to get their hands on the new console.
So what of the Wii U, its HD successor. I find it hard to believe that it's being released at the end of this month. Maybe things will ramp up, maybe a lot, but right now I don't see a great deal of anticipation in the general masses.
Perhaps most concerning is some evidence below taken from our
Harris Heroes market research report. This looked at the best tech of 2012 and the most anticipated tech and entertainment releases coming up this and next year, all according to the GB general public. In this study we asked gamers about the most anticipated next-gen gaming console or device. See the candidates on the left.
Let's see what gamers said. Just look where Wii U ranks below and remember it's being released in just a couple of weeks...
While the Xbox 360 has done exceptionally well to make up ground and sustain its momentum through things like Kinect, there is no doubt that the Wii was the winner of the last gen launches.
But look where it ranks for the next gen, a clear and rather lowly third place.
And it needs to be pointed out again that it is being released in a couple of weeks whereas Sony's and Microsoft's successors are next year (and perhaps even later for the PS4).
This is concerning for Wii U. It doesn't seem to have a solid bedrock (and remember this question was polled to gamers only). The one glimmer of hope is that when we break down these results we see that female gamers are more inclined to rank the Wii U more highly - see the
full report for more details - but this is only a glimmer.
Predicting the success or otherwise of tech products is a fool's game. Remember the launch of the iPhone and the iPad - for every expert predicting domination there was one predicting abject failure. When the Wii was first revealed, there was great uncertainty as to its success, mainly driven by uncertainty over its remote motion control style gameplay.
But the time leading up to its launch, people saw the gameplay, they saw Wii Sports and they got excited. Anticipation was created. And it seems this is what is missing in the last few days prior to the launch of Wii U.
We shouldn't underestimate Nintendo. While there seems to be a distinct lack of anticipation for the launch of Wii U, it really only takes a small handful of killer, exclusive, must-have titles to turn this around, to create that urgency to go out and buy.
We'll see...
