Will Lightning Strike Twice with Nintendo's Wii U?

In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii, ushering in a new age of motion-controlled gaming and inviting an entirely new audience into the industry. Nintendo dubbed that new audience the "Blue Ocean."

Now, Nintendo is hoping to repeat their success with the Wii U. But will their "Blue Ocean" follow?

Remember the Wii?

I would be lying if I said I wasn't skeptical. While in the beginning the Wii and its novel use of motion control was exciting, over time it became clear that the only games to truly harness its potential would be created by Nintendo themselves, furthering the pattern of poor third-party support that has plagued the company's consoles for years.

Even in first-party games, however, motion controls often felt tacked on; was shaking the Wii-mote to make Mario spin in Super Mario Galaxy really that much better or more intuitive than simply pushing a button?

Other games, such as Wii Sports Resort and Metroid Prime 3,did actually fulfill the promise of fully-integrated, intuitive motion control, and the release of the Wii Motion Plus peripheral in 2009 added a true 1:1 motion experience.

Ultimately, however, for a system that promised a revolution, much of its potential was squandered. And despite the fact that the Wii has been extraordinarily successful financially, its popularity, even among the "Blue Ocean," has steadily declined.

I truly wonder if the casual market that Nintendo has catered to for the past five years will follow them into the next generation.

Enter the Wii U

Promising high-definition video and graphics on par with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the Wii U will feature neither a traditional gamepad nor a Wii-mote as its primary controller. Instead, it will use a rectangular touchpad.

Players will be able to easily switch between playing games on their television to viewing them through the touchscreen itself, and during Nintendo's 2011 E3 conference, they highlighted some of its other uses, such as swiping through photos or using the touchscreen as a sort of window when pointed at the television.

All of this sounds great, but Nintendo has a knack for creating new peripherals and innovations that, again, never seem to meet their true potential.

The other problem they may face this time around is the fact that touchscreen technology is no longer innovative. Its use on a home video game console is certainly novel, but for the past several years gamers and tech consumers alike have grown accustomed to such devices, with the Nintendo DS and Apple iPad being the most obvious examples.

Apple has also certainly captured the hearts and minds of casual gamers with countless iOS games (Angry Birds, anyone?).

What, then, is Nintendo bringing to the table that is truly new? There will be Mario. There will be Zelda. All of the original Wii's peripherals will be compatible with the new console, and though the Wii U will output in high definition, it is reported to be only slightly more powerful than the currently available HD consoles.

All of this begs the question: How well will Nintendo be able to compete once Microsoft and Sony decide to move forward with their next consoles, which will most probably be more powerful and contain integrated motion controls of their own?

Perhaps lightning will strike twice, and they'll succeed beyond anyone's wildest expectations. Perhaps they're hoping that the casual, mobile touchscreen market will translate seamlessly into the living room.

Whatever the case, it's nearly impossible to predict what Nintendo is planning these days, so we'll just have to wait until late next year to see just how well the Wii U performs.