DAILY MANIFESTO

The Wii U’s Lack Of DLC Support Has Me Worried

Posted on Thursday, December 6 @ 15:31:50 Eastern by Jonathan_Leack

Before the Wii U came out last month things were looking good for Nintendo, maybe even too good. Nintendo promised to appeal to casual and core gamers alike and even set up a model for developers to publish games on the eShop at no cost. Both were bold moves, but the issue with DLC support still remains.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a prime example of Nintendo’s failure to be aggressive in the hardcore market, or quite frankly even care. Nuketown 2025 is the most played map on every other platform because of its intense, high-reward structure. However, the map isn’t available to Wii U players, and that isn’t going to change. Made worse, it's an important glimpse at the bigger picture, because the map packs that do such a great job of keeping online communities alive are also skipping over Wii U and going straight to the other platforms.

The same can be said for Mass Effect III which has already had two major DLC packages ship on other platforms, with another currently in development. However, EA has no plans to bring any of the three to Nintendo's latest console.

Nintendo has been known for marching to the beat of its own drum, and truthfully the strategy has worked for years now. However, the market in 2012 isn’t what it was five years ago. Releasing a motion-controller based console would be a disaster waiting to happen, and ignoring industry standards is equally as risky. Completely ignoring platform-wide achievements is one thing, but DLC is as commonplace as it is lucrative.

The Wii U is supposed to appeal to both core and casual gamers, but it seems that Nintendo won’t be able to cater to both without compromise. From a financial standpoint it might make sense (keyword: might), but from a gamer perspective it’s facepalm material. Sure, a few years ago we were all raging at the growing prevalence of DLC, but it’s become a good thing in many cases. It’s a reason to keep playing the games we enjoy most. It's an incentive to go back and play games like Mass Effect III long after we've completed them.

Nintendo isn’t exactly known for failure, so I don't expect it to always be this way. However, the question is a matter of when. When will Nintendo finally catch-up to last-gen standards? Until then, I’ll think twice about purchasing third-party games for my new "next-gen" console.

Tags: Wii U, Nintendo, DLC

Comments

sandineyes
Joined: May 2008

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Man, Jonathan, I think you buying the WiiU was a mistake, considering the amount of existential angst it has so clearly caused you. DLC is an issue though, yeah, but I wonder if the problem is the way Nintendo handles it, or just lack of interest on the publisher's end.

Hopefully the issue will resolve itself as the Wii U moves away from older games that were released primarily for other consoles. Or third party support for the Wii U could simply dry up; who can say at this point?

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Good points, but have you read my other articles? I'm infatuated with the Wii U. I just know it isn't perfect and wanted to share this flaw. :)

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Noritama
Joined: Feb 2012

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
That Ninja Gaiden game is getting a free dlc that gives you few new missions. I think the fact that Nintendo is not charging for updates will give way to "DLC"s or better yet expansions to games when devs start warming up to them. I don't think buying the WiiU was a mistake but I don't; expect it to be a dominating system right off teh bat.

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213EDD
Joined: Sep 2007

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Never buy a ninja gaiden, unless you know a sequel is in the works. They're already making NG3 Sigma.

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xDUMPWEEDx
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
At this point it is hard to say whether third party devs accept the Wii U or completely ignore it. Only time will tell. However, the Wii U not getting Far Cry 3 and possibly not getting Grand Theft Auto V is a bad sign of things to come.

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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
The front page bumper is telling me that this article has 18 comments. That seems a bit odd.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
What you're referring to is the heat. Hits, comments, and thumbs all factor into that number.

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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Dec 7th, 2012 at 10:39 am
Fair enough, I guess. It just seems a bit confusing that the direct link to the comments doesn't have the actual number of comments.

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wildmario
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Nintendo is allowing developers to patch games at their own pace and for free too boot, yet if the 3rd parties don't take advantage of that, then I think people need to voice their complaints directly to the 3rd parties.

That or there's some unspoken stigma in the gaming industry when it comes to developing on a Nintendo console...

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LawnGnome
Joined: Apr 2007

Posted: Dec 6th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
DLC is just another missed opportunity for Nintendo. I don't think it's in of itself a deal breaker for 3rd parties or consumers though. The deal breaker will come next year (and the year after) when Microsoft & Sony announce their new consoles. That's when everyone will really start to shun the Wii U.

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