Wii U News: Nintendo President Blames Gamepad for Console's Failure

Blame for the failure of the Wii U can be placed squarely on the console's gamepad, at least according to the president of Nintendo.

At the company's financial results meeting Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the company believes the controller confuses casual gamers, and makes them see the gamepad as an expensive accessory to the original Wii and not a new console itself.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Iwata said Nintendo has not made it clear that the Wii U is a next-gen console on par with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and in order to succeed the company must communicate that the console is more than just the gamepad and is the future of the company. The president of Nintendo stated that the company is focused on developing games that take advantage of the gamepad that will be revealed at the 2014 E3 event in June, but did not give specifics.

Despite the Wii U's struggle to sell, Iwata denied that a price cut is coming to the console. However, the company revealed several strategies to help make sure that the company is able to succeed in 2014. Nintendo revealed that they will allow new partners to develop games for the Wii U and 3DS using their franchises and characters, but will not allow their characters to be brought to non-Nintendo platforms.

In a similar vein, Iwata announced that the company will be using smartphones and tablets to promote the games coming to the Wii U and 3DS. However, these apps for mobile devices will not feature mini games or demos of games for smartphones or tablets, but instead will be companion apps similar to the Pokedex app released to iOS devices before the release of Pokémon X and Y. The company also announced that the highly anticipated Mario Kart 8 will be launched in May and will begin a strong 2014 game lineup for the Wii U that focuses on the advantages that the gamepad will bring.

If the Wii U is to stay afloat amidst its next-gen competitors, Nintendo desperately needs these strategies to take hold with the gaming public. With Nintendo's rivals setting sales records and rapidly closing in on the Wii U's sales numbers, it's paramount the company ensures they still have a place in the changing console landscape.