Yasuhiro Wada: Wii’s uncertain future, and the drought of “truly Wii” games

So sayeth Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada: Wii have met the enemy, and he is Wii (and DS).

Do not, by all means, construe this as a negative statement, ye who would jump to conclusions. Wada praises Nintendo’s “disruptive” strategy in an interview with SPOnG, that strategy of not going directly against Sony and Microsoft, of catering to new audiences with unique innovations. That strategy does have its weaknesses, though, one of which is “if you’re not competing with Sony and Microsoft, then who are you really competing against?”

Wada: Wii cannot really compete against PS3 or 360, which is why WiiÂ’s main competitor right now is DS. They are competing on the same level. So, Nintendo has to work harder to make WiiÂ’s own market, as opposed to competing against DSÂ’s market. This would be my first piece of advice to Nintendo.

Nintendo can truly claim that there is no “drought” of Wii games, given the library that’s coming up, but Wada has a different perspective to that.

Wada: Wii Sports is the only game that can be ONLY played on Wii, not on any other console. So future games plans such as Brain Training on Wii or that type of thing – I don’t think this is such a great idea – as these games are already being played and are very popular on DS… they are not specific to the Wii.

To him there’s a difference between a “game on the Wii” and a “truly Wii game.” Anyway, earlier in that SPOnG interview he talks about “bringing together” the DS and Wii in one game (or game set). Although it is a feature Nintendo hints at, the fact is, if we are to take Wada’s perspective as a baseline, this kind of move will make the two Nintendo products more complimentary and supportive of each other.

Of course, that depends on whether developers are willing to take advantage of that feature.

So sayeth Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada: Wii have met the enemy, and he is Wii (and DS).

Do not, by all means, construe this as a negative statement, ye who would jump to conclusions. Wada praises Nintendo’s “disruptive” strategy in an interview with SPOnG, that strategy of not going directly against Sony and Microsoft, of catering to new audiences with unique innovations. That strategy does have its weaknesses, though, one of which is “if you’re not competing with Sony and Microsoft, then who are you really competing against?”

Wada: Wii cannot really compete against PS3 or 360, which is why WiiÂ’s main competitor right now is DS. They are competing on the same level. So, Nintendo has to work harder to make WiiÂ’s own market, as opposed to competing against DSÂ’s market. This would be my first piece of advice to Nintendo.

Nintendo can truly claim that there is no “drought” of Wii games, given the library that’s coming up, but Wada has a different perspective to that.

Wada: Wii Sports is the only game that can be ONLY played on Wii, not on any other console. So future games plans such as Brain Training on Wii or that type of thing – I don’t think this is such a great idea – as these games are already being played and are very popular on DS… they are not specific to the Wii.

To him there’s a difference between a “game on the Wii” and a “truly Wii game.” Anyway, earlier in that SPOnG interview he talks about “bringing together” the DS and Wii in one game (or game set). Although it is a feature Nintendo hints at, the fact is, if we are to take Wada’s perspective as a baseline, this kind of move will make the two Nintendo products more complimentary and supportive of each other.

Of course, that depends on whether developers are willing to take advantage of that feature.