I’m reaching out to you guys here. Does any of this stuff make any sense? Help me work this out.
First, we have Reggie’s comments on Metroid: Other M. He “… believe(s) that it (Metroid: Other M) could be, should be a million unit title. We’re not going to get there, not through the holiday.” He goes on to say that he and Nintendo of Japan are still trying to puzzle out why Other M didn’t sell better.
Am I missing something here? Is it that hard to understand why turning a minimally narrative 2D platformer into a 3D action game packed with cut scenes and voice acting might not lead to instant profit? Personally, I like the game, but I rarely recommend Other M to other Metroid fans. It fails to play to the strengths of the series in too many ways. Instead of appealing to the retro-loving, 2D platformer devouring audience that the Wii has cultivated, Other M tries to be like one of those “Hollywood-style” movies you see so much on the PS3/360. It doesn’t take a lot of deductive reasoning to figure out why that was a bad idea.
As weird as Reggie’s thoughts on Other M are, his comments on the potential successor to the Wii are even more wonky. He says- “…the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we’ve reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation.” Nearly 15 million more units? That sounds insane to me. Going by the recent downturn in U.S. Wii sales, it may take years before the Wii reaches that number.
Will Nintendo really hold on new home console for that long, or will Reggie be eating these words in the future? Am I missing something here?
