Let’s face facts here: The Wii U’s life so far has been an unmitigated disaster. Nintendo has struggled to sell the thing to consumers, third-party developers are hesitant to commit, and to top it all off, they seem to have had a time time convincing the public that their new system is even a system at all.

Tons of negative buzz, an apparent feud with Amazon, third-party abandonment and first-party inaction has led to a once-promising new console now holding down a dangerously meager install base with bleak prospects for the future. A future made none too brighter by a recent ploy to appeal to Wii owners to upgrade, seen by many as reeking of desperation.

What’s even worse is Nintendo’s complete failure to address these issues. Heads up, Reggie: When there are more games for your platform being cancelled than being released, you’ve got a serious problem on your hands.

Luckily, all is far from lost. Pseudo-next-gen status aside, the Wii U still has plenty going for it, and can still serve as a viable money-printing platform for Nintendo. So long as they take 3 simple steps to shore up support and re-capture the world’s attention, as they managed to do with the Wii.

 

Step 1: Change up the Names

This would be a simple yet seismic change that Nintendo could affect right now and instantly catapult their system back into the headlines. Yes, changing the name of a console post-launch sounds ridiculous, but hear me out on this.  Categorically speaking, the name Wii U just isn’t a wise choice for a separate console. Let’s put aside the fact that the console itself is strikingly similar to the original Wii at first glance, leaving most consumers to the mistaken onclusion that the Wii U is actually a tablet add-on for their old Wii.

Beyond that problem, the Wii U moniker itself is a dud, at least in the US, because the use of the capital ‘U’ has always been associated with the word University. America is world-renowned for our colleges, and the NCAA has made sure that the use of the abbreviated U is firnly cemented in our lexicon as being associated with higher education (and higher athletics). Since the Wii U has absolutely nothing to do with college, this naming convention creates confusion among consumers.

[pullquote align=”right”]If the public is so convinced that ‘Wii U’ simply refers to the giant tablet add-on, let them keep thinking that.[/pullquote]However, changing the name entirely would only create more confusion (not to mention cost Nintendo a ton in re-branding their existing units). So here’s the thing: if the public is so convinced that ‘Wii U’ simply refers to the giant tablet add-on, let them keep thinking that. Start referring to the blandly-named GamePad as the Wii U itself, and let the actual system take on a meaningless title, like ‘Power Base’ or ‘Base Unit’.

Stay clear of even referring to the platform as a successor to the Wii- the system does play Wii games, so all a customer needs to know is that their new Wii U comes with an upgraded box to replace their dusty old Wii. It’s the tablet that sells the platform, and it’s tablets that are eating into the 3DS’ market share, so why not shine a spotlight on the piece of the Wii U hardware that the consumer actually cares about?

It may seem odd then, to charge $300 for just a tablet and throw in a free ‘upgraded’ Wii box as a pack-in. But think about it this way: Apple charges several hundred more for their iPad, and if you want to play it on your big-screen, you’ll have to shell out an additional $100 for an Apple TV, and even then not all games support AirPlay mirroring. Which leads us to the next step:

 

Step 2: Build out a Wii U/3DS Ecosystem

It’s a tactic that Nintendo has tried several times over the years with GameCube-Game Boy Advance and N64-Game Boy Color crossover features, and Sony has finally scratched the surface with PS3/PS4 and Vita CrossPlay, but it’s an area in which Apple still utterly dominates. When you buy a game in the App Store, that game will play on any iOS device: iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

Plus, games that support AirPlay mirroring can also be played on a TV if you own an Apple TV. Whereas Sony and Nintendo’s solutions have traditionally required you to purchase the full game for your home system, and then a typically scaled-back portable version.

[pullquote align=”left”]People will stop buying titles if they think their collection could end up chained to a broken box for all eternity.[/pullquote]While this was necessary in the past because of the enormous gulf in power between the two platforms, that gap has been all but closed in recent years. Case in point, Apple’s ecosystem. Developers only need to port a game to one set of hardware standards, and gamers get a game that plays on the equivalent of three to four different systems.

Obviously, the Wii U and 3DS are very different platforms, and not it’s just not feasible to expect Wii U games to be playable on 3DS. But it is reasonable for a 3DS game to play on a big TV screen or on a giant tablet screen via the Wii U. 3D TV support may or may not be realistic, but that’s basically a moot point as 3D can be disabled in any 3DS game anyway.

What’s more, the rich back catalog of classic titles on the Virtual Console can, and absolutely should, all be available to play across the 3DS and Wii U with a single purchase. That feature alone would be enough of a selling point; can you guess what the first apps are that people install when they jailbreak their phones? If you guessed old-school video game emulators, you’d be correct.

So for the love of god, merge the Wii/Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console libraries together already. And while you’re at it, loosen up on the transfer restrictions. People will stop buying titles if they think their collection could end up chained to a broken box for all eternity.

And while this quite a bit more of a stretch, if Nintendo were to figure out how to get 3DS games to run on a Wii U through the same streaming tech they use to beam games to the GamePad, that would be a boon to 3DS developers, who would instantly see their games’ potential install base increase (assuming the Wii U starts selling).

[pullquote align=”right”]The quality of games may be improving every day on mobile platforms, but the AAA market is still firmly entrenched on consoles.[/pullquote]Of course, this destroys the old PSP software model of launching on handheld and then re-releasing later on PS2/PS3, but if the game doesn’t sell enough on the 3DS to break even, a re-release on Wii U wouldn’t get greenlit in the first place. And most third-party 3DS games aren’t selling well, period.

This tactic would give Nintendo an edge in the one market Apple has yet to establish a foothold: the living room set-top box. The Apple TV allows for iOS games to be mirrored onto the TV screen, but requires both a separate purchase and support from individual games. A streaming 3DS solution would mean that every 3DS game could be ‘mirrored’ to the Wii U or the Wii U GamePad. Of course, that’s assuming Nintendo is willing to adhere to Step 3….

 

Step 3: Market a 3DS/Wii U Combo Directly Against Apple

Like I said, in order to play your Apple games on a tablet, handheld, and on your TV, you need to spend several hundred dollars on an iPhone/iPod, several hundred more on an iPad, and another hundo on an Apple TV. That buys you 100% compatibility across the iPhone and iPad, but only marginal support for AirPlay. What’s more, the quality of games may be improving every day on mobile platforms, but the AAA market is still firmly entrenched on consoles. This where Nintendo can win over consumers.

By investing $300 in a Wii U tablet and its set-top box, as well as $170 on a 3DS, you’ve bought yourself a handheld, a tablet, a Wii and a set-top box all for less than the cost of an iPad alone. Yes, the Wii U tablet isn’t actually portable and yes, Nintendo insofar lacks a full-fledged app ecosystem, and, yes, neither of Nintendo’s devices is a phone. But if you’re a parent looking to buy a device for your young kids to play games on both at home and on the go, but don’t want to drop close to a grand for devices that are not only feature-set overkill but far less durable, the Nintendo kid-friendly solution is a no-brainer.

 

This approach may piss off the core gamers in much the same way as the original Wii’s casual-first marketing strategy, but it’s a market that Nintendo can’t afford to lose if it wants to keep making the games core gamers care about. Whatever blowback Nintendo receives can’t possibly be as bad as the heat Microsoft’s currently taking for the Xbox One.

In fact, now’s the perfect time for Nintendo to start making an aggressive push for the Wii U, since none of the issues gamers are up in arms with Microsoft and Sony about- used game prevention, DRM, always-on requirements, potentially invasive tech– apply to the Wii U. All Nintendo needs to do is take three simple steps forward, and they could be right back in front of the console race.