Reggie: Wii U to have more ‘active gamer content’

The Wii U will have more “active gamer content” than the original Wii, according to president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime. The charismatic public face of Nintendo also believes the original Wii will continue to sell to millions of consumers.

Fils-Aime told Forbes that Wii gamers have matured with the console, graduating from Wii Sports, to Mario Kart Wii, then Donkey Kong Country Returns and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

“Well, what we’ve seen is that these new entrants to the market really have broadened their own gaming experiences. They started by playing Wii Sports, but then they graduated to games like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Then they continued on to experiences like Donkey Kong Country Returns or The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. So their gaming tastes have matured,” said Fils-Aime.

This maturity has lead Nintendo to strive for more gamer’s games on the Wii U.

“So we’ll continue to have all the family-friendly fare like Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Brothers U… but in addition, we’re going to have more active gamer content, which was something that was missing other than from Nintendo’s first party titles. Maybe these new entrants will find their first opportunity [to play] something like Call of Duty now that it can be delivered through Wii U.”

With the Wii U arriving this year the original Wii might feel like it’s left out in the cold, but Reggie believes the ageing console has life in it yet.

“The broad marketing for the Wii is not going to change. The Wii is focused against today the late adopter, the consumer who is spending $149 or less to have a gaming experience. And we believe -not only in the U.S. but through all of the Americas- there’s still millions of these types of consumers available. So it’s a sizeable opportunity,” said Fils-Aime. “But that’s a different consumer than who is going to look at the Wii U and get excited by the latest graphical capabilities, all of the services that are included, and new types of games. We see these as two different market opportunities.

“You know, PlayStation has done a phenomenal job driving sales on what is a [twelve] year-old machine. They’ve done a phenomenal job, and they have been able to address different marketing over time, to build an incredibly large install base. We believe that the Wii system, similarly, will keep selling for quite some time. They’re going to be different addressable markets, not only from a U.S. perspective but from a global perspective… [but we’ll] hopefully continue to drive sales at a historic rate.”

The Wii U launches in the US on November 18, followed in Europe on November 30, and Japan on December 8.