Support NeoGAF

[Bumhead]

Legends has a pretty big amount of hype behind it

Outside of NeoGAF? I don't know. In marketing terms and general brand awareness the Wii U is playing second fiddle to the absolute tidal wave of AAA third party stuff on 360 and PS3 in the early months of 2013, and by extension so are its games. Compared to everything else going on in the industry, I can't agree that Legends has a big amount of hype behind it at all, outside of Wii U owners and enthusiast gaming communities/forums.

Being a Wii U exclusive will dilute numbers purely in terms of hardware adoptation at this point. Being a Wii U exclusive sequel to a game that - while popular amongst those who played it - wasn't a seller until it hit budget price points will lower that number even further. And while there are some of those Origins players who will buy a Wii U for Legends, I think that's a tiny, tiny number in the grand scheme of things.

I don't know. Maybe it'll chart. Maybe by virtue of everything from number 10 down selling marginal numbers. But I can quite easily see a situation where it misses the top 40 entirely, and equally can see a situation where it places no higher than 30 if it does. I'd love to be wrong but I can't see it.

 

[WeylandxYutani]

Hnnngh, Anarchy Reigns, not sure if good or bad... need numbers.

Around 4.5k

 

[fabricated backlash]

In before the WII U hate train retards.

Dude, keep your insults to yourself.

 

[Mpl90]

Around 4.5k

If that's combined, this means

Anarchy Reigns (all formats) Week 2 - 4.500
Anarchy Reigns (360) Week 2 - 2.800 (62%) - 20th
Anarchy Reigns (PS3) Week 2 - 1.700 (38%) - 34th

 

[Wynnebeck]

In before the WII U hate train retards.

Now what made you think this was necessary?

 

[shinra-bansho]

Around 4.5k

That seems pretty terrible.

Also given this puts the PS3 SKU at ~1.7K, I guess that means the bottom of the individual formats charts is around 1-1.5K.

For NintendoLand not to chart... yikes.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

If that's combined, this means

Anarchy Reigns (all formats) Week 2 - 4.500
Anarchy Reigns (360) Week 2 - 2.800 (62%) - 20th
Anarchy Reigns (PS3) Week 2 - 1.700 (38%) - 34th

£17 price point proved wonders.

 

[fabricated backlash]

The WiiU is officially dead in Europe. There is really nothing positive, not even with an industrial centrifuge level of spin.

Nintendo of Europe completely screwed it. I don't agree that it's exclusively the product, but mostly complete incompetence in promoting it.

The amount of fail is evident when you consider that they wanted to focus on the 3DS (lol) and even failed at that.


I'm really looking forward to see them try to work some obscure Voodoo magic to reanimate the deadborne. If they even do that, instead of staying passive and complacent like the NOE I know.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Never go full retard son.

Yeah, kind of ironic coming from someone who says the thing he said.

It seems to be a downward trend with WiiU. I know it's hard to swallow for some, clearly.

 

[WeylandxYutani]

The WiiU is officially dead in Europe. There is really nothing positive, not even with an industrial centrifuge level of spin.

Nintendo of Europe completely screwed it. I don't agree that it's exclusively the product, but mostly complete incompetence in promoting it.

The amount of fail is evident when you consider that they wanted to focus on the 3DS (lol) and even failed at that.


I'm really looking forward to see them try to work some obscure Voodoo magic to reanimate the deadborne. If they even do that, instead of staying passive and complacent like the NOE I know.

This may be a little premature but I'd agree the signs are not that great. I've not jumped for it yet, but to be honest I don't know if a significant price drop would make any difference to me. I'm not sure which is the strongest dictating factor

- I love what Nintendo has produced down the years but the 3DS was the last time I was prepared to go through Nintendo buyers regret. Looks amazing and buy and launch and then realise there's a distinct lack of games beyond a handful of strong first party releases dotted across the schedule. (See also DS, GBA and Gamecube)
- I'm a father to a ten month old so my gaming time is extremely limited as were funds until recently. If I wanted one I could afford it but reason a and b combined just make a Wii U purchase a bit pointless

I do wonder if many others are finally burnt out with too many Nintendo disappointments? As an old fart of 36, a new Mario or Zelda isn't enough reason to make me part with my cash. Especially when I've a SNES and Wii virtual arcade to keep my N-gland satisfied.

 

[shinra-bansho]

If it's pulling low thousands in terms of HW, I'm curious whether the Wii U has reached 100K yet in the UK. (Any LTD hints?)

From what I can surmise the Wii U is selling even worse in the UK than the XBOX 360 did in Japan at launch. Which is something of an achievement I guess...

 

[WeylandxYutani]

If it's pulling low thousands in terms of HW, I'm curious whether the Wii U has reached 100K yet in the UK.

From what I can surmise the Wii U is selling even worse in the UK than the XBOX 360 did in Japan at launch. Which is something of an achievement I guess...

Based on Nintendoland to date, I'd expect not quite. Perhaps 90k ish. I imagine its 100k best case scenario

 

[m.i.s.]

The WiiU is officially dead in Europe. There is really nothing positive, not even with an industrial centrifuge level of spin.

Nintendo of Europe completely screwed it. I don't agree that it's exclusively the product, but mostly complete incompetence in promoting it.

The amount of fail is evident when you consider that they wanted to focus on the 3DS (lol) and even failed at that.


I'm really looking forward to see them try to work some obscure Voodoo magic to reanimate the deadborne. If they even do that, instead of staying passive and complacent like the NOE I know.

What can they [NoE] do at this point? It's all down to NCL bigwigs in kyoto, who call all the shots.

Usually, Nintendo consoles start out strong and then taper off as support from 3rd parties dwindle. Wii U just hasn't had any kind of start to speak of [in Europe].

Btw, I do think Sony and MS will fare no better with their respective next-gen systems in Euro land. The enthusisast's will be there but that's just about it. No general consumer cared about HD let alone any hypothetical shift from 720p to 1080p being envisaged for next-gen.

I used to think that it was just handhelds that would be affected by tablets and smartphones. I'm beginning to realise that I may have to re-evaluate that assessment. It would appear that smartphones and tablets are taking time away from gaming consoles too. And Nintendo is particularly vulnerable because the casual consumer makes up such a big part of it's audience.

 

[Rich!]

Its a real dire situation for the Wii U in the UK. Nintendo brought the 3DS back from the near dead, but the circumstances were totally different to what we have now with the Wii U.

If something drastic isn't done soon, I can easily see retailers completely dropping support for it by the end of the year, especially if the 720/ps4 behemoths launch in Q4.

The vast majority of retail stores seem to only have at the very most one bay of retail space for it, with mixed Wii/Wii U software. A certain retailer has only got Wii U games in their top 150 stores out of 600.

Goddamnit, Nintendo. What the fuck are you doing?

 

[Azuardo]

Is there any one here actually kind of pleased to see the Wii U failing here?

Hear me out.

I've been a lifelong Nintendo gamer. Grew up on the things. Loved my SNES and was pretty much a fanboy through my teens, getting the N64 and GC when they came out.

But I've been completely dissatisfied with the direction they've taken with these Wii consoles and it's simply not what I wanted from a personal standpoint. I've always had other consoles, too, like PS1, PS2 and Dreamcast, but Nintendo was where it was always at for me. But since the release of the Wii, I've become completely dependent on my PS3 for the last 3-4 years. For me, it offers exactly what I want in terms of gaming.

I can't speak for everyone, and I suppose it's also a case of "why should Nintendo do what I want them to do?"... but for a guy that's grown up on Nintendo and was a fanboy for years, to now be in this case where I am sick of the poor direction they have gone with the Wii and Wii U, it's a real shame. I sort of want the Wii U to become a disaster in the hope that it might just give Nintendo a real kick up the bloody arse and get their act together. Again, I can't speak for all Nintendo fans, but I personally wish they would deliver like they used to. As it is, they've turned me, once a huge fan of Nintendo, completely away from them, and instead gets game time from their competitors. It almost feels like they don't give a shit about their older fans who grew up on them these days.

Does that make sense to any one? I know it sounds selfish. Just because I don't like the direction they've gone, why should they listen to me? But all I know is that they've turned a once-huge Nintendo fan away from them and will have a very hard time winning me over. There must be other once-Nintendo fans that feels similar?

And apologies if this has slightly gone off-topic. I will edit if I need to. Just wanted to get my frustration out.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

I don't know what to think.

I guess I'm just more interested in how they (Nintendo) respond.
And what this means for the first year of the Xbox 8/PS4.

 

[PaulLFC]

If it's pulling low thousands in terms of HW, I'm curious whether the Wii U has reached 100K yet in the UK. (Any LTD hints?)

From what I can surmise the Wii U is selling even worse in the UK than the XBOX 360 did in Japan at launch. Which is something of an achievement I guess...

I'm guessing it may even be triple digits unless the bottom 20 or so in the chart are doing very similar numbers to each other, given that Nintendoland isn't in the top 40, and number 16 in the top 40 (Anarchy Reigns) was 4,500. I know that doesn't account for Basic/ZombiU bundles, but I guess we'd need to know the approx. number for entry 40/40 to take a more educated guess at what Wii U may have sold.

edit: In terms of this week's sales, I mean.

 

[SmokyDave]

Is there any one here actually kind of pleased to see the Wii U failing here?

How can I put it?...

Main Entry: Ecstatic  [ek-stat-ik]

Part of Speech: adjective

Definition: very happy, blissful

Synonyms: athrill, beatific, crazy, delirious, dreamy, elated, enraptured, enthusiastic, entranced, euphoric, fervent, floating, flying high, frenzied, gone*, high*, in exaltation, in seventh heaven, joyful, joyous, mad, on cloud nine, out, overjoyed, pleased as punch, rapturous, ravished, rhapsodic, sent, sunny, thrilled, tickled pink, tickled to death, transported, turned on, upbeat, wild

Eh, just pick a couple of those.

 

[madmackem]

Its interesting those charts, it shows how strong 360 is in uk but that isnt the case in the rest of europe if the sales charts every week are a reflection of hardware sales. Wonder if that will be the same next gen or if they will flip over to 360 like the uk.

 

[faridmon]

Yeah, Wii U seems a bit on the failiure level. Peple doesn't seem to know its out there. I remember teh Wii had presence, what happend NOE, you used to be master of Marketing?

 

[shinra-bansho]

Based on Nintendoland to date, I'd expect not quite. Perhaps 90k ish. I imagine its 100k best case scenario

Thanks. That's in line with what I thought it would be based on back-of-the-envelope guestimation.

Now if only there were estimates for other European nations.

 

[liger05]

Is there any one here actually kind of pleased to see the Wii U failing here?

Hear me out.

I've been a lifelong Nintendo gamer. Grew up on the things. Loved my SNES and was pretty much a fanboy through my teens, getting the N64 and GC when they came out.

But I've been completely dissatisfied with the direction they've taken with these Wii consoles and it's simply not what I wanted from a personal standpoint. I've always had other consoles, too, like PS1, PS2 and Dreamcast, but Nintendo was where it was always at for me. But since the release of the Wii, I've become completely dependent on my PS3 for the last 3-4 years. For me, it offers exactly what I want in terms of gaming.

I can't speak for everyone, and I suppose it's also a case of "why should Nintendo do what I want them to do?"... but for a guy that's grown up on Nintendo and was a fanboy for years, to now be in this case where I am sick of the poor direction they have gone with the Wii and Wii U, it's a real shame. I sort of want the Wii U to become a disaster in the hope that it might just give Nintendo a real kick up the bloody arse and get their act together. Again, I can't speak for all Nintendo fans, but I personally wish they would deliver like they used to. As it is, they've turned me, once a huge fan of Nintendo, completely away from them, and instead gets game time from their competitors. It almost feels like they don't give a shit about their older fans who grew up on them these days.

Does that make sense to any one? I know it sounds selfish. Just because I don't like the direction they've gone, why should they listen to me? But all I know is that they've turned a once-huge Nintendo fan away from them and will have a very hard time winning me over. There must be other once-Nintendo fans that feels similar?

And apologies if this has slightly gone off-topic. I will edit if I need to. Just wanted to get my frustration out.

Even so. If the Wii U fails it doesnt mean there is going to be a change of direction which satisfies yourself.

I do think some of these past glory days are different to what I rememeber. Take the Gamecube. I had one and thought it was great and everyone seems to think it was great however I also remember none of my friends had one. They were no more into nintendo then than they are now.

 

[Monty Mole]

Two new Wii U games out last week:

NBA 2K13
NINJA GAIDEN 3: RAZOR'S EDGE

Only entry is NG3 at #5 in the Wii U chart, so probably about #754 in the All Formats.

I thought we'd see NG3 chart, even if it was at #34 or something.

 

[Striek]

Tbh I'm most interested in seeing the 3DS figures when Nintendo releases their report in a couple weeks. Its most important for them that the 3DS is strong. 3DS titles have been lower on average than last year, but theres now three mario games instead of two. Will be interesting.

We already know that the Wii U is going to be somewhere on the scale of awful to tragic.

 

[Rich!]

For me, the biggest indicator of the Wii U failing, apart from the sales, is the trade in prices.

CEX give around the same for a Wii U as they do for a slim PS3. The PS3 came out almost a decade ago.

Unless im reading into this wrong, anyhow.

 

[Pie and Beans]

WiiU probably isnt too close to 100k. Was 40k in launch week, then 60k total estimates after that, and thats when sales dropped off a cliff and entered into the sub 5k bracket. I could see it around the 85k mark really.

Can anyone here see an apocalyptic future where all WiiU third party games go eShop only? They then dont have to risk retail at all, as the space dwindles in all stores with no presence, and the flat costs attached. Then that means inflated eShop prices only for EU customers due to this region locked system.

NoE are going to have to drop the price substantially before E3, and that alone isnt going to be pretty. Barring some super-software casual capture effect like the 'doomed' DS exerienced, the WiiU is definitely sitting next to the VirtualBoy in the disasters stakes taken purely by its European stillborn status.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Tbh I'm most interested in seeing the 3DS figures when Nintendo releases their report in a couple weeks. Its most important for them that the 3DS is strong. 3DS titles have been lower on average than last year, but theres now three mario games instead of two. Will be interesting.

We already know that the Wii U is going to be somewhere on the scale of awful to tragic.

Depending on how well they stuffed the channel, the shipment figures may not be too bad.

Hopefully they provide their normal sell-through charts though for pixel counting. At this stage, given the underwhelming Dec NPD and the impression we're getting of a European flop, I'm expecting total WW sell-through to come in around 1.9-2M from launch through to Dec 31st.

Can anyone here see an apocalyptic future where all WiiU third party games go eShop only? They then dont have to risk retail at all, as the space dwindles in all stores with no presence, and the flat costs attached. Then that means inflated eShop prices only for EU customers due to this region locked system

Typically stores make more money on software than hardware last I recall. If they can't stock software then I imagine they'd soon stop bothering to stock hardware.

 

[netBuff]

Can anyone here see an apocalyptic future where all WiiU third party games go eShop only? They then dont have to risk retail at all, as the space dwindles in all stores with no presence, and the flat costs attached. Then that means inflated eShop prices only for EU customers due to this region locked system.

At least one game isn't getting a retail release on Wii U, while at the same time seeing a disc version on PS360 in Europe: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=508210

 

[Napalm_Frank]

I'm guessing those include bundles since GT5 academy seems to be heavily bundled with the new PS3 over here (and all other nordic countries I assume).

 

[fabricated backlash]

What can they [NoE] do at this point? It's all down to NCL bigwigs in kyoto, who call all the shots.

Usually, Nintendo consoles start out strong and then taper off as support from 3rd parties dwindle. Wii U just hasn't had any kind of start to speak of [in Europe].

Btw, I do think Sony and MS will fare no better with their respective next-gen systems in Euro land. The enthusisast's will be there but that's just about it. No general consumer cared about HD let alone any hypothetical shift from 720p to 1080p being envisaged for next-gen.

NOE has one job and one job only: Distribute and localize games for the european market, and while they do a great job with localizing (IMO) they are absolutely clueless in how to promote their products or the 3rd party library here.
They tried and failed to piggyback off the Wii popularity but were 4 years too late for that.

Instead of marking this as a new beginning, a new era, they basically told people: Hey look, more fun like Wii with WiiU. Not aknowledging their spectacular fall in popularity.
They have to make a clean cut now. Present the WiiU not as a continuation of Wii, but a new product with a new Identity.

It's similar to how Activision ran Tony Hawk into the ground. By the time they tried to revive the franchise they still tried to ride the long gone popularity of the franchise instead of making a clean cut.

The Wii-WiiU, DS-3DS brand transition will make for a prime example on how to mismanage a brand from complete dominance to utter irrelevancy by complacency.
I think people misrepresent the amount of fail here. Nintendo didn't just screw up now, they screwed up years ago by failing to migrate their brands to a new generation.

They're not going to dig themselves out in a year, or 2. There's no game in the world that would get them out of this trainwreck and save the WiiU or 3DS brand. They will undoubtly make money off it, but they aren't going to represent a significant player in the market anymore.

Again, the WiiU will be profitable to them, but I don't expect the company to even play a role this coming gen when it comes to audiences.

Personally I'd put this down to Nintendo being a rigid and slow company, that despite good plans is just too slow to adapt to a changing market.

It's also a great time for all the closet haters to pounce on the chance, after a console they absolutely despised dominated the market for years. Late vengeance is almost as pathethic as Nintendos mismanagement of their brand. I remember the same BS from MS and Nintendo Fans when the PS3 bombed upon launch.

 

[metalslimer]

Is there any one here actually kind of pleased to see the Wii U failing here?

Hear me out.

I've been a lifelong Nintendo gamer. Grew up on the things. Loved my SNES and was pretty much a fanboy through my teens, getting the N64 and GC when they came out.

But I've been completely dissatisfied with the direction they've taken with these Wii consoles and it's simply not what I wanted from a personal standpoint. I've always had other consoles, too, like PS1, PS2 and Dreamcast, but Nintendo was where it was always at for me. But since the release of the Wii, I've become completely dependent on my PS3 for the last 3-4 years. For me, it offers exactly what I want in terms of gaming.

I can't speak for everyone, and I suppose it's also a case of "why should Nintendo do what I want them to do?"... but for a guy that's grown up on Nintendo and was a fanboy for years, to now be in this case where I am sick of the poor direction they have gone with the Wii and Wii U, it's a real shame. I sort of want the Wii U to become a disaster in the hope that it might just give Nintendo a real kick up the bloody arse and get their act together. Again, I can't speak for all Nintendo fans, but I personally wish they would deliver like they used to. As it is, they've turned me, once a huge fan of Nintendo, completely away from them, and instead gets game time from their competitors. It almost feels like they don't give a shit about their older fans who grew up on them these days.

Does that make sense to any one? I know it sounds selfish. Just because I don't like the direction they've gone, why should they listen to me? But all I know is that they've turned a once-huge Nintendo fan away from them and will have a very hard time winning me over. There must be other once-Nintendo fans that feels similar?

And apologies if this has slightly gone off-topic. I will edit if I need to. Just wanted to get my frustration out.

Nintendo is never going to do what people want. If the Wii U fails they'll just assume people didn't want the gamepad. They'll release another low power console with another thing.

 

[Bumhead]

For me, the biggest indicator of the Wii U failing, apart from the sales, is the trade in prices.

CEX give around the same for a Wii U as they do for a slim PS3. The PS3 came out almost a decade ago.

Unless im reading into this wrong, anyhow.

This is part of the reason why I got rid now. GAME gave me £198 for my Premium. Between that and getting cash at CEX for all my games (which I bought with trade credit at HMV), I sold on the system without losing any money before the bottom falls out of the market.

My local CEX is packed with Wii U's. Absolutely packed with them.

I genuinely believe this situation is irreversible in the UK unless they slash the price to sell and throw millions into a widespread marketing push before the public catches wind of a new Xbox and PS4. So in the next 3 months.

Not happening. The system is done in Europe.

 

[Mpl90]

NOE has one job and one job only: Distribute and localize games for the european market, and while they do a great job with localizing (IMO) they are absolutely clueless in how to promote their products or the 3rd party library here.
They tried and failed to piggyback off the Wii popularity but were 4 years too late for that.

Instead of marking this as a new beginning, a new era, they basically told people: Hey look, more fun like Wii with WiiU. Not aknowledging their spectacular fall in popularity.
They have to make a clean cut now. Present the WiiU not as a continuation of Wii, but a new product with a new Identity.

It's similar to how Activision ran Tony Hawk into the ground. By the time they tried to revive the franchise they still tried to ride the long gone popularity of the franchise instead of making a clean cut.

The Wii-WiiU, DS-3DS brand transition will make for a prime example on how to mismanage a brand from complete dominance to utter irrelevancy by complacency.
I think people misrepresent the amount of fail here. Nintendo didn't just screw up now, they screwed up years ago by failing to migrate their brands to a new generation.

They're not going to dig themselves out in a year, or 2. There's no game in the world that would get them out of this trainwreck and save the WiiU or 3DS brand. They will undoubtly make money off it, but they aren't going to represent a significant player in the market anymore.

Again, the WiiU will be profitable to them, but I don't expect the company to even play a role this coming gen when it comes to audiences.

Personally I'd put this down to Nintendo being a rigid and slow company, that despite good plans is just too slow to adapt to a changing market.

I don't know if 3DS needs to be "saved". Improvements are needed, but to be "saved"? Nintendo title / titles were very high in all the most important European charts and not only there, with just UK being the exception. And this trend seem to continue, looking at NSMB2 fourth in France during Week 1. Wii U, on the other hand...its situation is really complicated right now. And I'm not seeing how there can be a PS3/3DS-like resurgeance soon.

 

[Pie and Beans]

At least one game isn't getting a retail release on Wii U, while at the same time seeing a disc version on PS360 in Europe: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=508210

Yeah, I'm using that as a start to a trend. Nintendo arent exactly cutting deals with UK retailers at the moment to give this new console space in stores. Dont think I ever saw demo units, theyve pissed the few retailer supporters like Zavvi off... I can see the system just not existing on the high street by the end of this year really.

Mario games still sell though, so maybe that'll keep in in stores, but then it really will just be the Mario console in the public eye and everything else sold via eShop.

A Nintendo digital only console. Can you imagine, and not even by explicit planning or choice; simply because it failed at retail so hard.

 

[Frillen]

Wii U games. Where are thy?

I think it's harder for the WiiU to impact software sales charts now compared to when the Wii/360/PS3 came out. The reason as to why this is, is because this generation has lasted longer than the average generation, which means more people owns a 360/PS3/Wii now compared to how many owned a PS2/GCN/Xbox when the 360/PS3/Wii came out. The userbases for the mentioned trio of consoles are so huge now that it's basically impossible for a new console to impact the charts.

 

[metalslimer]

This is part of the reason why I got rid now. GAME gave me £198 for my Premium. Between that and getting cash at CEX for all my games (which I bought with trade credit at HMV), I sold on the system without losing any money before the bottom falls out of the market.

My local CEX is packed with Wii U's. Absolutely packed with them.

I genuinely believe this situation is irreversible in the UK unless they slash the price to sell and throw millions into a widespread marketing push before the public catches wind of a new Xbox and PS4. So in the next 3 months.

Not happening. The system is done in Europe.

Probably too early to be saying this, but I'm not seeing a rosy solution because Nintendo is going to have lose a lot of money to save it there.

The userbases for the mentioned trio of consoles are so huge now that it's basically impossible for a new console to impact the charts.

The Vita, as shit as it was selling was able to get a couple of games in the top 40 when they came out. Getting into the bottom of the top 40 is not hard

 

[CrunchinJelly]

This is part of the reason why I got rid now. GAME gave me £198 for my Premium. Between that and getting cash at CEX for all my games (which I bought with trade credit at HMV), I sold on the system without losing any money before the bottom falls out of the market.

My local CEX is packed with Wii U's. Absolutely packed with them.

I genuinely believe this situation is irreversible in the UK unless they slash the price to sell and throw millions into a widespread marketing push before the public catches wind of a new Xbox and PS4. So in the next 3 months.

Not happening. The system is done in Europe.

Well they have waved goodbye to the busiest time of year with not much more than a whimper. They're basically going to be coasting along for another nine months regardless of price or software.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Been nice knowing you, Satoru Shibata. You've overstayed your welcome.

 

[dragonflys545]

LOL Nintendo...

 

[PaulLFC]

Wii U games. Where are thy?

I think it's harder for the WiiU to impact software sales charts now compared to when the Wii/360/PS3 came out. The reason as to why this is, is because this generation has lasted longer than the average generation, which means more people owns a 360/PS3/Wii now compared to how many owned a PS2/GCN/Xbox when the 360/PS3/Wii came out. The userbases for the mentioned trio of consoles are so huge now that it's basically impossible for a new console to impact the charts.

I seriously doubt that it's difficult for Wii U games to enter the charts if they were selling respectably. It was posted above that Anarchy Reigns (16/40 in the chart) sold 4,500 copies. That's not much, and when you consider there's 24 chart places below that... it shouldn't be difficult for Wii U games to chart. They just aren't selling.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

Wii U games. Where are thy?

I think it's harder for the WiiU to impact software sales charts now compared to when the Wii/360/PS3 came out. The reason as to why this is, is because this generation has lasted longer than the average generation, which means more people owns a 360/PS3/Wii now compared to how many owned a PS2/GCN/Xbox when the 360/PS3/Wii came out. The userbases for the mentioned trio of consoles are so huge now that it's basically impossible for a new console to impact the charts.

I also wouldn't be surprised if a substantial number of people were feeling burned by the Wii's lack of third party and then first-party drought. It was seriously dead for so long that anyone with a bit of sense (not me, sadly ) would avoid buying its successor until they knew it would be different. You don't just abandon a gaming system like that, imo, if you want good faith in your new one. Goes back to the arrogance people were talking about earlier.

 

[Rich!]

This is part of the reason why I got rid now. GAME gave me £198 for my Premium. Between that and getting cash at CEX for all my games (which I bought with trade credit at HMV), I sold on the system without losing any money before the bottom falls out of the market.

My local CEX is packed with Wii U's. Absolutely packed with them.

I genuinely believe this situation is irreversible in the UK unless they slash the price to sell and throw millions into a widespread marketing push before the public catches wind of a new Xbox and PS4. So in the next 3 months.

Not happening. The system is done in Europe.

...are they still giving £198? I have a Premium.


That could easily pay towards a new i7. I'm tempted to just go PC only this gen, with handhelds.

 

[Striek]

Depending on how well they stuffed the channel, the shipment figures may not be too bad.

Hopefully they provide their normal sell-through charts though for pixel counting. At this stage, given the underwhelming Dec NPD and the impression we're getting of a European flop, I'm expecting total WW sell-through to come in around 1.9-2M from launch through to Dec 31st.

Well I'm working under the assumption they'll continue to have an indepth briefing with Iwata that'll include graphs. It would be a notable and obvious absence if they don't.

Edit: I don't know how people can write off the Wii U completely. Killer software, price drops, marketing boost etc. are at the least all on the table for the future. A horrid start wont doom the thing if Nintendo plays it cool afterwards.

 

[Azuardo]

I actually find it pretty insulting that Nintendo have released this console here with eff all marketing, expecting people to just buy it, and ride off the success of the Wii. Especially when they say things like they expect it to be the console of choice for COD players, and that they'd be getting all these third party games, etc. How much more ignorant could they be?

 

[Pie and Beans]

...are they still giving £198? I have a Premium.

CEX: Wii U 32GB Premium Black No Game, Boxed, We buy for : £162.00, Give exchange : £180.00.

Only going to get worse during drought season and people panic with nothing on the horizon and having put sizeable money down trying to claw at least some back.

Honestly, the situation is so fucked they shouldn't have released this console at all over here. Thats how badly the market has reacted to it. There is literally nothing Nintendo can do that will reverse fortunes, since its not like theyre going to be able to push out a 3D Mario, Smash, and a Zelda this year to even stem the tide, let alone what they do after that. Not even sure a Mario Kart is going to have an effect because people are surely getting bored of that being wheeled out over and over.

 

[FreeMufasa]

Is there any one here actually kind of pleased to see the Wii U failing here?

Hear me out.

I've been a lifelong Nintendo gamer. Grew up on the things. Loved my SNES and was pretty much a fanboy through my teens, getting the N64 and GC when they came out.

But I've been completely dissatisfied with the direction they've taken with these Wii consoles and it's simply not what I wanted from a personal standpoint. I've always had other consoles, too, like PS1, PS2 and Dreamcast, but Nintendo was where it was always at for me. But since the release of the Wii, I've become completely dependent on my PS3 for the last 3-4 years. For me, it offers exactly what I want in terms of gaming.

I can't speak for everyone, and I suppose it's also a case of "why should Nintendo do what I want them to do?"... but for a guy that's grown up on Nintendo and was a fanboy for years, to now be in this case where I am sick of the poor direction they have gone with the Wii and Wii U, it's a real shame. I sort of want the Wii U to become a disaster in the hope that it might just give Nintendo a real kick up the bloody arse and get their act together. Again, I can't speak for all Nintendo fans, but I personally wish they would deliver like they used to. As it is, they've turned me, once a huge fan of Nintendo, completely away from them, and instead gets game time from their competitors. It almost feels like they don't give a shit about their older fans who grew up on them these days.

Does that make sense to any one? I know it sounds selfish. Just because I don't like the direction they've gone, why should they listen to me? But all I know is that they've turned a once-huge Nintendo fan away from them and will have a very hard time winning me over. There must be other once-Nintendo fans that feels similar?

And apologies if this has slightly gone off-topic. I will edit if I need to. Just wanted to get my frustration out.

I agree but I liked and understood what they were doing with the Wii. One of my favourite consoles. But they just seem so.....clueless now. Shit.

 

[JDSN]

Nintendo asked for this, coupled with horrible marketing, they essentially spent the last two years almost actively hurting the Wii brand with their bad release schedule and uninteresting casual games sequels. So yeah, big fan of them, but also big fan of this situation, and its only gonna get worse since they will try to do the same old shit to see if the console gains momentum, probably fast track Wii fit's release and sell it for an absurd amount.

 

[Bumhead]

...are they still giving £198? I have a Premium.


That could easily pay towards a new i7. I'm tempted to just go PC only this gen, with handhelds.

I sold mine to them just over a week ago so not sure about now.

That's what im doing. The money I got for selling my Wii U stuff to GAME and CEX paid for the GTX 670 for my new rig. Made too much sense for me to pass on.

 

[michaelius]

...are they still giving £198? I have a Premium.


That could easily pay towards a new i7. I'm tempted to just go PC only this gen, with handhelds.

OT- i7 has no benefits for gaming, get i5.

 

[UberTag]

DAT GRAN TURISMO 5! Almost if not more popular than Fifa over there in Europe. lol

Both series have their fans but GT5 has been effectively the only full game fans of that series can pick up (I don't count Prologue) whereas Forza's sales have been effectively diluted between 4 full installments.
Makes sense to me that GT5 would continue to sell more units on that basis.