This Week's Raw, the Wii U

This Week’s Raw

I think this past week’s Raw was better than last week’s, if only by a little bit. There isn’t much that I would have changed, I suppose, but the controversial finish during the CM Punk vs. Jack Swagger match irked me. Brodus Clay’s debut was very surprising, I mean, we knew he was going to (re)debut, but not like that. We’ll see where things go from there. Again we had Chris Jericho playing with the crowd, but I liked this week’s version better since it wasn’t as time consuming, and seeing him pretending to be crying was amusing. It’s funny how the crowd just keeps eating out of the palms of his hands. I guess that’s what makes Chris Jericho so great.

I was happy to see Edge inducted into the Hall of Fame. At the same time, it does seem rather soon. He definitely deserves it, no one could argue with that, but I think it would have been better if they waited a few more years maybe. The Four Horsemen are finally being inducted as well, but this also complicates things considering that Ric Flair is still working for TNA, and does this make him the first ever 2-time Hall of Famer? Hm. And why the hell haven’t they inducted Macho Man Randy Savage yet?

I’m looking forward to the Royal Rumble. I’m not a betting man, but I’d really like either Christian or Chris Jericho to win it. Though, I don’t think either seems likely. Maybe Kane? I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Some thoughts on the Wii U

Anyone who was expecting Reggie to reveal any new or worthwhile information on the Wii U during his interview with Spike TV earlier today was just setting themselves up for disappointment. It was not all that surprising, really, the fact that Reggie didn’t say anything, other than that the Wii U will be released sometime between E3 and the end of the year (wow, really?). Reggie’s job is to dodge questions, especially when it comes to things that Nintendo hasn’t released yet. Now, I don’t dislike Reggie, but I would never try to ask him a question since I already know its his job to not answer them. Nintendo has always been hush-hush when it came to these kinds of things, whether for better or for worse. One thing that Reggie said that I found interesting was how Nintendo doesn’t care about what their competitors are doing. This has been fairly obvious to me for a while now. Nintendo didn’t care about switching their games to CD format in 1996, and they couldn’t care less for HD graphics in 2006. At the time, these might have seemed like terribly bad choices, but Nintendo has always been successful because they march to the beat of their own drum. I can respect Nintendo for that to an extent, though I may not always agree with their methods or tactics. For example, I don’t agree with them pricing their games at normal price when they have been out for years. Why are games like New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64 DS still $30+? This is why people become pirates.

The Wii U has a lot of potential, but it is also a system that Nintendo has to be very careful with both during and after its launch. As of right now, the 3DS can be considered a fair success, but this is only because of how good the holiday season as been for its sales following the $80 price drop (not to mention the release of Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and Monster Hunter Tri G in Japan).

A dry selection of games is the main reason the 3DS had such a sluggish start. The Wii U will need make sure not to make the same mistake. Also, something that bothers me is what Reggie said before in an earlier interview about the Wii U most likely having a high price point. What are we talking about, $350? $400? $500!? Nintendo will be incredibly stupid if they price it anywhere above $350. Reggie said something along the lines of the Wii being for people with small-normal incomes, whereas the Wii U will be for people who have an excess amount of cash. How is this smart for Nintendo? If the Nintendo wants to be successful with the Wii U, it has to take the future into consideration, and be very wary of what its competitors are doing. I’m not saying Nintendo has to do things the way Apple, Microsoft, or Sony does them, but it certainly has to pay attention to what they are doing. And seriously, all Nintendo has to do is remember what happened with the PS3’s launch as well as its own 3DS before considering a high price point. After what happened with the 3DS, I think most people are going to be hesitant and wary about buying any new video game console as soon as it launches. And from what I can see, the PS Vita doesn’t seem to be doing all that great following its launch in Japan last month. Too early to say? Perhaps. But something that no one can deny is that gaming has changed, and it has to. It’s the natural way of things. Even if Nintendo “doesn’t care,” it certainly has to pay attention. Especially if they don’t want to end up like Sega.