The Nintendo Wii U is not expected until sometime in 2012, and if the console did not have enough attention it has just been given a shot in the arm with news that Valve is to collaborate with the console. This has now made things much more interesting, which means that excitement will now grow due to expectation with the WiiPad
The news was announced at New York’s Games for Change Festival, when Valve’s CEO also discussed a number of other projects that they are working on. The developer was never interested in the Wii, as it was not considered powerful enough for their needs, which is why they expended from the PC to the Xbox 360 and the Sony PS3. All that has now changed now that they know that the Wii U will be the most powerful games console on the market next year.
No other details have been released yet, but as we do not know much the workings of the Wii U it would be careless for us to know what kind of games Valve will be developing for it. So we know that the console will be more powerful than any current games console, Nintendo better hope that rumors of the PS4 or the Xbox 720 —if that’s what they will call it — does not get released in 2012.
We have yet to learn what plans Nintendo has for the Wii U, but one Joystiq reader said that Valve would be able to do something awesome with the upcoming console. If the developer gets it right, then this could be a big boost for the Wii U and could help in the early days. However, we have to wonder if that is really enough in this day and age?
We have seen in the past that just because you have a device that is more powerful, it does not mean that it will still sell enough units to make it a success. There are a number of smartphones on the market that are more powerful than the iPhone 4, but they are still unable to match it on sales.
This comes down to many things, but one is the overall package — which to some the iPhone is — and two the name itself. Many people do not associate Nintendo of being a quality brand, as they are reminded of machines that are always playing catch up in terms of hardware. Well the current Wii has far less powerful graphics than the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but look how sales went to for that in its first few years.
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