Miyamoto: "Nintendo Wii U is okay I guess sort of not really"
 

Is it just me, or does most of the news coming out of Nintendo regarding the Wii U seem obsessed with downplaying it and pointing out is numerous flaws? I guess Nintendo's new marketing strategy is "don't get your hopes up it's kind of cool but not really in the same league as our competitors why don't you look at them instead?" I do suppose on the one hand this is a step-up from how the Wii was touted as the ultimate motion-controlled gaming revolution, but it seems pretty dire for Nintendo that they can't actually seem to come up with much good to say about the thing. It's definitely better for their sales figures if I am lied to and buy it than if they just tell me up front it's not all that great. OR, in the best of scenarios, they make a product I won't be disappointed in and sell it on those strengths?! Eh, maybe they can at least focus on trying to sell the thing instead of listing reasons not to buy it.

Things the Nintendo Wii U will be the same or worse at than XBOX360/Next gen XBOX and PS3/PS4 (as pointed out by its own creators numerous times for some reason):

Online gaming
Playing movies
Graphical power and third party support
Probably isn't going to play Dragon Quest X (this would help it sell consoles)

This is not to say it might not be better than the current competition (this article for example points out that it will probably look better than the XBOX360 and PS3), but it doesn't seem to be attempting to push the envelope graphically at all. AND THE CREATORS CONTINUALLY POINT THIS OUT LIKE IT'S A GOOD THING. Well Miyamoto does, anyway, and since he's basically the public face of Nintendo now I think it is rather telling.

This isn't so much a discussion of the Wii U's merits. Right now as long as it has next-gen Zelda or Mario I think it's probably going to be fairly successful. What I really want to ask is: why is Nintendo's strategy to continually play catch-up with its competition, offering minor monetary savings in exchange for massive deficiencies...and then to point this out all the time like its the most amazing sales strategy ever? No wonder their stock price is taking a hit. They can't even prevaricate about how their new machine is going to be a wondrous and amazing new device to change the face of gaming forever! They just keep pointing out how it's definitely not that and you probably shouldn't really be paying much attention to it.

My advice to Miyamoto and his fellows at Nintendo: research the term "puffery" and then apply it to your statements. Attempt to sell your machine on its strengths (if there are none, make them up) instead of pointing out how its various deficiencies are actually apparently selling points.

This has not been true for awhile. Kinect and PSMove both have lots of wii-esque games, and they both do it much better (Kinect via better control system, and Move through much better sensitivity and control). The only reason Nintendo still has that market is because they hit it first and cheaper.

Annnnd that market doesn't really give a shit about graphical superiority.

Nintendo is at a bit of a dead end- the "hardcore" market is limited and less profitable than other markets, the "casual" market has been saturated for a while so there is only one solution- move into prostitution.
Think about it- you're out on the town, you want a hooker but brothels are a bit seedy and a bit dodgey but then you see the glowing seal of approval hung above a door, and you know you are safe, you are welcome here.

That seemed more like him going "Ehhhh. I dunno. Maybe. Depends on the price."

What will make the Wii U the best thing since the Wii is the fact that it will most likely be hundreds of dollars less than the competitions' consoles. Parent's use "grown-up" devices like actual Blue-ray players and Digital Boxes/DVRs forced on them by their cable/satellite companies to watch things. When they go out to buy a gaming console for their kids, the Wii U will be the cheapest thing on the shelf that doesn't conflict with whatever else they have already got plugged into the back of a TV. And if the Wii U supports Netflix like the Wii does or better for online streaming of movies....it won't even be a contest.

Sony painted itself into a corner trying to compete with itself for the DVD/Blue-Ray market. Microsoft fell into the same trap trying to convince adults that gaming consoles could take the place of more commonly perceived adult technologies.

I do like the idea of my system just doin' games. That's all I buy them for.

Implying consoles aren't 'adult' technologies is pretty ridiculous these days.
 

The average gamer is over 30.

Jus' sayin'.

The Wall Street Journal. Though I originally heard when it was playing on Bloomberg for about five days after the announcement, anyway (yes I watch Bloomberg). Not sure if it's still down because they decided to go back to talking about oil prices. Clearly their priorities are all screwed up. But anyway Nintendo stock dropped 10% in two days after they announced the Wii U.

Kind of my entire point. They seem very uninterested in selling their own product as anything. If they want to go with how it's going to be more fun than the games on other systems while being graphically the same, then they should focus on that, but they don't seem to be very interested in that either. They need to pick a way to market it.