Jaffe: Wii U won't do "anywhere near as well as the Wii"
Twisted Metal and God of War creator David Jaffe has added a dissenting voice to the chorus of Wii U love, citing changes in the market as probable cause for a less stellar performance than the Wii.
"I don't think it will do anywhere near as well as the Wii did," the designer told GamingUnion.
"... I think there's a large enough percentage of people who bought the Wii as something other than a gaming device, and turned it into the fad that it was.
"Most of that percentage is going to go away now. I don't think enough of them have become 'gamers'. They tried [the Wii], now they're onto something like free-to-play MMOs and then they'll move onto something else. How many of them got converted into actual gamers? I don't think a large portion."
Jaffe also feels that in the interim, Apple products have become must-have tech toys for kids, cutting out a slice of Nintendo's market.
"A lot of kids want iPads, iPhones and iPods now. And a large portion of the people who would've been interested in traditional Nintendo stuff, beyond core gamers, are just as happy playing Storm in a Teacup on iPad versus a new 3D Mario," he said.
"Between those two audiences going away and the number of choices core gamers already have on the other systems - which, let's be honest, a lot of them like super-amazing graphics on their 3D TVs and stuff like that - a lot of people are going to be better served going to the competition."
Describing the conditions leading to the Wii's phenomenal uptake as a "perfect storm", Jaffe predicted it won't happen again, although he doesn't think the Wii U will fall flat on its face.
"I think the Wii U is going to be less successful than the Wii, probably 50% less successful," he said.
"I don't think you're going to see the Wii U at number one in the next console generation."