Portugeezer
Member
I'll give you that. I could see them dropping it, but only around the holiday.
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34,000 pieces of Wii U software were sold in the UK in January (incl. NintyLand)
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
I'll give you that. I could see them dropping it, but only around the holiday.
This board has went insane. Insane.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I... uhh... are you bitter?
Yeah would have been crazy to release a game for the WiiU now that every WiiU owner is completely starved for new games.
Better to delay it and release it when the software drought is coming to an end and everyone is playing other games.
Seriously, the 3DS did really bad at first too. It was doomed and so on. But it just had a weak launch-lineup and nothing much for the first few months. When we start seeing Mario Kart, 3D Mario, Zelda etc. released for the WiiU it will pick up, the only question is how much.
pieatorium
Member
going by the sales they certainly are not making any money
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Ideally you'd believe they'd learn from the mistake and next round go all out. They could theoretically release a system in 4 years that is more powerful than Orbis/Durango and have 2-3 years by themselves as the most powerful system on the market (which is exactly what I think they should do).
That said, even if they did that, would 3rd parties support them? I don't think they would. We'd probably hear the same story they've been giving Nintendo for years ("Well, the console is so new we don't really know enough about it so we'll just stick with our current console output," or "We really can't put out a game for it unless we really take advantage of the creativity of the console," etc). Nintendo is in huge trouble because of the third party situation.
Portugeezer
Member
I agree, which probably explains how UK retailers can already sell Wii U's for £50 less than at launch, but that was down to retailers not Nintendo.
Visualante2
Member
It's weird because most WiiU software has been pretty heavily discounted too. Seen games like Batman, ZombiU fairly cheap. £10-15 off.
Good thing they've got Animal Crossing coming.
Good thing they've got Animal Crossing coming.
2-3% for some bigger titles, according to John Harker in the shareholder conference thread yesterday.
Can you cite that?
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
I wish.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Because core gamers aren't the majority of people who buy these consoles. Some people on GAF pretend they are, but they really aren't. Most purchases are made by Average Joe Consumer, not enthusiasts. This consumer is most likely just past purchasing a tablet or smartphone. Look at 360/PS3 sales. When did they really pick up? 6 years after launch when prices dropped.
That's why I don't have much faith for Orbis/Durango having hugely successful launches, either.
Does it really? All those numbers look ghastly to me. WiiU is dead. But the market there as a whole looks pretty freaking bad.
Its possible.
I'm just not sure they'll be comfortable with Vita-esque sales levels until then.
You never know. Sony may come up with a new controller this time.
metalslimer
Member
Oh believe me we all know at this point.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
Nintendo going 3rd party would mean Bayonetta 2 and Wonderful 101 for everyone!.
All according to keikaku.
Nintendo will never go third-party; I don't say that they will never go bankrupt, but if the Nintendo ship thinks then all their IPs will go with them - they stated that many times before.
I see no point in wishing them going third party, even though their first party games destroy Tomb Raider with ease I guess which is why I can kind of understand it
I see no point in wishing them going third party, even though their first party games destroy Tomb Raider with ease I guess which is why I can kind of understand it
Father_Brain
Banned
Main Entry: 1joke
Pronunciation: ˈjōk
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin jocus; perhaps akin to Old High German gehan to say, Sanskrit yācati he asks
Date: 1670
1 a : something said or done to provoke laughter ; especially : a brief oral narrative with a climactic humorous twist b (1) : the humorous or ridiculous element in something (2) : an instance of jesting : kidding <can't take a joke> c : practical joke d : laughingstock 2 : something not to be taken seriously : a trifling matter <consider his skiing a joke Harold Callender> often used in negative constructions <it is no joke to be lost in the desert>
The 3DS didnt have any valid competition when those games released.
The WiiU games next fall have to compete with 2 new consoles and some 3rd party titles like GTA and COD plus the sports titles.
Schnozberry
Member
Yikes. Brutal numbers, but I guess without any new software to move the machine and no new ad campaign to speak of, this is somewhat unsurprising. Nintendo needs some new software and and an awareness campaign ASAP.
He's Jeff Bell.
grimshawish
Banned
Pretty much. Nintendo needs to reorganise (exactly what is happening) and become more efficient with their software. End of the day the best explanation for why their currently making losses is not selling WiiU at a loss but having to pay overheads.
Reason for this not enough of their software is going out.
Start fixing that and they'll start doing a bit better.
I am firmly in the Hybrid Handheld next gen camp though. It will allow Nintendo to reduce their overheads, have some third party support, focus on one piece of hardware, deviate even more from Sony/MS; and finally they don't have to jump another gen again.
This is dependent on tech though. Mainly what they can put in a handheld that is efficient enough to go HD.
No one really cares about it being multiplatform. People cared about delaying a game for seven months three weeks from launch
I don't think Nintendo is likely to go third-party any time soon (more chance of Sony or MS bowing out the business first) but thats silly as fuck. Their IPs would be sold to the highest bidder if they went bankrupt. There is a zero percent chance of them taking the IPs to the grave, as it were.
shinra-bansho
Member
I'm well aware the Neogaf enthusiast isn't the bulk of the installed base of the PS3 or 360. They weren't the bulk of the PS2 either. So I don't entirely dispute that launches may be plagued with similar problems.
My query is more framed towards the impact of smartphones on home consoles. I'm still curious how you think tablets and smartphones have changed the home console market - as I think this notion is overblown.
Dedicated handhelds are tanking relative to the past that much is evident.
But home console HW sales aimed at traditional gaming demographics have been remarkably stable during the last decade through the rise and fall of the Wii, through the GFC, through the rise of the iPhone and iOS and consequently Android and tablets.
Per JVM's figure:
Even in this thread, the SW market is only down a few percent for the PC/PS360 as tablets continue to rise in consumer mindshare.
grimshawish
Banned
When its finished and has been marketed for just a few weeks away.
I'd love for that to happen (as long as they release their core games on consoles that is).
However, I have a feeling that if Nintendo goes 3rd party their franchises won't be nearly as big as many people seem to think.
They probably wouldn't because Nintendo would just be way too late to the party (kinda like how the Wii U is now).
freezamite
Banned
Of course they are. Here in Europe we pay MUCH MORE taxes than on US or Japan, and there is a 2 year warranty imposed to vendors.
If your WiiU breaks in one year in the USA, you pay. In Europe, Nintendo pays. That's how it works.
Yeah it could be a bit too late to completely turn the ship around when they finally start releasing their big name titles.
But I don't think anyone should count the WiiU out until atleast after E3. We'll see when PS4/NewXbox get released, at what price, what games they'll be showing etc, and what kind of games Nintendo can answer with.
metalslimer
Member
And the worst is yet to come.
Schnozberry
Member
There would be also no reason for them to go bankrupt. They have 10 billion dollars in cash on hand, and will likely be able to turn around their losses later this year. People act like this is ET for the Atari 2600 where they are just burying thousands of Wii U's and Games in a landfill.
They blew the launch with bad advertising and not enough software. They still sold millions of Wii U's and plenty of software. It's far from over.
Oppo
Member
Not to derail your point, but there is actually an Angry Birds mini you can play on Vita.
Jacksonlee
Member
LOL.
That's a myth, isn't it?
I thought that figure was from the height of Wii-Mania and has since been diminished somewhat?
And Angry Birds Trilogy is the best selling third-party 3DS title in the west.
Schnozberry
Member
I believe at it's highest point it was closer to 20. The lastest figure they disclosed that I can find was 10.2 billion last March. Based on this year's losses, it could be down from there.
grimshawish
Banned
Yes. It would be worrying if Nintendo were launching two new products and hoarding cash still.
shinra-bansho
Member
Nintendo currently hold around US$5.5B in cash and deposits.
As yet, I don't think there's been much to suggest that the advent of such devices has had any substantial substitution effect on home consoles.
Noted. But yes, point was, tablet devices and smartphones offer a direct substitute for dedicated handhelds, and their impact on the market has been visible.
As yet, I don't think there's been much to suggest that the advent of such devices has had any substantial substitution effect on home consoles.
The thing here, though, is that in the handheld space their competition was Sony, and they only had a battle with them in terms of sales in Japan, many years into the PSP. The 3DS could get away with anemic sales because not only was it the first platform launched in the eighth generation, it had leeway to bloom because it had an entire marketplace to itself, and had the time to make amends for any shortcomings. The Vita, conversely, has none of those going for it so it's struggling, badly.
The Wii U has already shot its early momentum of being the first eighth generation console out into the ocean. Their battle is to make consumers give a shit about their product when the core PS3 fan already has something to wet their whistle this month with the announcement of a new platform, as will the core 360 fan later on in the year.
The Wii U is in a far more dangerous climate than what the 3DS was in, and it's far more likely that it will not be able to pick itself up so rapidly, or even at all, because the timetable for its competition is so close to this downfalling for the platform in terms of sales and interest. It's looking like many consumers will just look over the platform.
Jawmuncher
Member
Time to que up all the Wii U bomba threads like we saw with the vita.
Raven77
Member
Funny cause when I posted in a Wii U thread about how awful the advertising was, I was immediately beset up on by rabid Nintendo lovers claiming I was an idiot.
Proof is in the pudding, so they say.
Nintendo, you are doomed. Catch up with technology and maybe you'll have a chance. It pains me to say this, it really does, my three favorite systems are N64, SNES, and NES. How far we've fallen.
Proof is in the pudding, so they say.
Nintendo, you are doomed. Catch up with technology and maybe you'll have a chance. It pains me to say this, it really does, my three favorite systems are N64, SNES, and NES. How far we've fallen.
This. It doesn't surprise me Nintendo has given up on this country, although some sort of marketing obviously wouldn't hurt. Seems people just aren't that bothered about what Nintendo has to offer.
PS4 and Xbox are going in a much more traditional route than Wii U. Don't really see how you could compare those prospects to each other. I'm really excited for the nextbox and PS4 while I'm not at all for the Wii U and there's tons for like me out there.
Lovely Salsa
Banned
The official Wii U premium price in my country is 545 USD, you honestly think we pay THAT much more in taxes?
This is pretty much it in a nutshell. Traditional first party game did not sell the Wii. The casual wiimote-oriented games did. Wii Sports, Fit, etc. Just making sequels to these and the other traditional 1st party games will not be enough. The problem is bigger than that, and they certainly won't come anywhere near Wii-levels of hype or success without something to draw in that casual crowd again, most of whom seem content on other platforms. The Wii U controller is not pulling anyone in.