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[SMT]

I'm thinking a console hardware refresh pretty soon, they'll just toy with the U for now.
Nintendo is fine, but that sleek-looking thing in my living room is feeling under the gross curve.

 

[Nightstick11]

No, it can't.

It's really time to start coming to grips with this. Is there a chance? Sure...I guess. But that chance is so slight as to be completely marginal. To expect the Wii U to turn around at this point is to expect something we have, frankly, never seen before in this industry.

Ultimately, Nintendo will be able to cut and conserve enough to etch out a profit with the Wii U, but it will likely never be seen as a successful venture for the company. The Wii U is a failure in that regard.

Maybe we are talking about two different things and I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but to clarify: your position is that Wii U has zero chance of doing better than selling atrociously?

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I think a company like Sony should go after Nintendo's fanbase. Make quite a few first party titles to entice them. It isn't lke Nintendo is getting their gamers lining up for their console this time around. Now is the time to strike while they are struggling.

 

[Jack Cayman]

I think a company like Sony should go after Nintendo's fanbase. Make quite a few first party titles to entice them. It isn't lke Nintendo is getting their gamers lining up for their console this time around. Now is the time to strike while they are struggling.

What kind of post is that, how sony is going to cater to the nintendo crowd, do they have Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda.

The bold part is hilarious, why would anyone want nintendo out, except some console warriors and fanboys?

 

[royalan]

Maybe we are talking about two different things and I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but to clarify: your position is that Wii U has zero chance of doing better than selling atrociously?

Relative to expectations established by the original Wii, the competition, and the expectation of it being the successor to Nintendo's console line? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

 

[SMT]

What kind of post is that, how sony is going to cater to the nintendo crowd, do they have Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda.

The bold part is hilarious, why would anyone want nintendo out, except some console warriors and fanboys?

Ico + SoC, Crash Bandicoot. Sony is trying to rally the younger audience with Knack. However, the Playstation franchise has been geared more towards 19-22+.

 

[BlackJace]

I think a company like Sony should go after Nintendo's fanbase. Make quite a few first party titles to entice them. It isn't lke Nintendo is getting their gamers lining up for their console this time around. Now is the time to strike while they are struggling.

Lower your sword, warrior.

 

[Game Guru]

Ico + SoC, Crash Bandicoot. Sony is trying to rally the younger audience with Knack. However, the Playstation franchise has been geared more towards 19-22+.

First, Activision owns Crash Bandicoot now, and Team Ico's games aren't exactly that popular. The fact is that Sony has tried getting that family-friendly market with Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Ape Escape, LittleBigPlanet, Modnation Racers, and PlayStation All-Stars, and well EyeToy, Eye, and Move in general. Those games haven't won the Nintendo Loyal over. Those games just don't have the brand power of the major selling Nintendo franchises like Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pokemon, or Zelda.

 

[jim2011]

Seriously I think they just need a significant price cut and their big franchises to come out faster.

I had no intention to buy a Wii U but then was able to score one for 175 last week at cowboom.com used. I think 199 is the sweet spot Nintendo needs to hit. I think a lot of people would buy a game exclusively for nintendo's games alone at that point.

 

[Guevara]

Seriously I think they just need a significant price cut and their big franchises to come out faster.

I had no intention to buy a Wii U but then was able to score one for 175 last week at cowboom.com used. I think 199 is the sweet spot Nintendo needs to hit. I think a lot of people would buy a game exclusively for nintendo's games alone at that point.

I think if the Wii U is nothing but a $199 traditional Nintendo games machine it will probably cap out at about 20M units. (i.e. what the Gamecube ended up selling). And that's not good enough for Nintendo or for Iwata.

 

[jim2011]

I think if the Wii U is nothing but a $199 traditional games machine it will probably cap out at about 20M units. (i.e. what the Gamecube ended up selling).

Fair enough but was the Gamecube considered a failure?

 

[Guevara]

Fair enough but was the Gamecube considered a failure?

Yes unequivocally:

I do not intend to declare how many Wii we will be selling today, but Wii will be a failure if it cannot sell far more than GameCube did. In fact, we shouldn't continue this business if our only target is to outsell GameCube. Naturally, we are making efforts so that Wii will show a far greater result than GameCube.
​

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/kessan/060607qa_e/index.html

 

[Rezae]

By Fall 2014 the Wii U will have a 2d and 3d Mario, Mario Kart, Smash, and probably previews of the next Zelda. I'm not sure what their long-term plans are past those, because if it's anything like the Wii 1st party development, it'll be a whole lot of nothing (as far as system movers go). They either need to stop chasing the casual market and go after more niche but successful franchises (F-Zero, Starfox, Waverace, METROID!) to round out their line-up, come up with great original IPs, or be prepared to get pummeled from Sony/MS as their systems hit their stride with year 2 releases. I don't see Wii Party, Fit, or Sports catching fire again. That audience has likely moved on.

Oh... price drop. Priority #1 really.

 

[jim2011]

From my perspective as a consumer, gamecube was the greatest 2nd system ever. So many great games. Sure Nintendo wants to be first and that makes sense why they consider it a failure. I'm just thinking I would rather have XB1&WiiU or PS4&WiiU than XB1&PS4 which share 90% of the same games. Maybe Nintendo should just go after the hardcore gamers like me and be content with being a 2nd system to many?

 

[Aquamarine]

Yes unequivocally:

I do not intend to declare how many Wii we will be selling today, but Wii will be a failure if it cannot sell far more than GameCube did. In fact, we shouldn't continue this business if our only target is to outsell GameCube. Naturally, we are making efforts so that Wii will show a far greater result than GameCube.
​

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/kessan/060607qa_e/index.html

More evidence of Nintendo's dissatisfaction with the GameCube:

"When we launched GameCube, the initial sales were good, and all the hardware we manufactured at that time were sold through. However, after this period, we could not provide the market with strong software titles in a timely fashion. As a result we could not leverage the initial launch time momentum, and sales of GameCube slowed down. To avoid repeating this with Wii, we have been intensifying the software development, both internally at Nintendo and at developers outside the company, in order to prepare aggressive software lineup for Wii at and after the launch."

"Maybe the reason we were able to make the markdown decision is our lesson from Nintendo GameCube. Therefore, in that sense, it was slightly a personal decision, meaning that the current executives, who are the ones who make the decisions, all experienced, 'there was a chance for the Nintendo GameCube but we were not able to capitalize on it,' and I think that was a large factor, that the executive all shared this sense, not just myself."

 

[Muzy72]

New Super Mario Bros. U is a sequel to a massive game. That should have been a sales driver. The drop off from the very first 2 months shows that people have moved on from Nintendo's core titles.

I don't think NSMBU is a good example because NSMB2 had a big part in the failure of NSMBU. If 2 hadn't come out just 3 months prior, and U wasn't so similar graphically to the other 3 NSMB games it would have probably been a huge system seller.

 

[Guevara]

Wow this is pretty much every Nintendo console in a nutshell:

"When we launched _______________, the initial sales were good, and all the hardware we manufactured at that time were sold through. However, after this period, we could not provide the market with strong software titles in a timely fashion. As a result we could not leverage the initial launch time momentum, and sales of ___________ slowed down. To avoid repeating this with _____________, we have been intensifying the software development, both internally at Nintendo and at developers outside the company, in order to prepare aggressive software lineup for _________ at and after the launch."

 

[VALKYRAY]

French Montana - N**** I ain't worry about nothin'

 

[Omnistalgic]

Don't care too much about sales figures as long as my favorite companies aren't on the verge of going bankrupt and there amazing software will stop being produced. Nintendo isn't going anywhere, if anything, it just makes me a bit pissed at them for not putting more current tech into Wii-U hardware with all the money made from DS/3DS/Wii...

But it was and still will be my 2nd console this generation. This year already looks really good and Nintendo's first party is second to none. I will love my WiiU just like I love vita...eff the haters Ninty ain't worried bout nutin"-)

 

[royalan]

Wow this is pretty much every Nintendo console in a nutshell:

Really does put Nintendo's poor quality of leadership into perspective, don't it?

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

The thing I think IGN is forgetting here is that it isn't a question whether or not Nintendo is going out of business. I don't think anyone, even the biggest of trolls, think that is possible. The real issue is if they will become a third party company like Sega did more than ten years ago. That is a choice that has nothing to do with how much money Nintendo makes or loses, it is completely dependent upon their own decisions and the decisions of their shareholders.

Sure, the Wii U might make a small profit, whatever. However, the console is in such shambles everywhere else...next to no third party support, a complete lack of software, seemingly no movement in the online front, and not one single killer app - that there's far more issues that stockholders face than "how much money does it make." Nintendo's shareholders sure as hell don't work for Nintendo, they work for themselves, and they want to know how to maximize their investment. If they decide going third party is the best route for the company, they have the right to vote for that. And if Iwata blocks it, they can remove him as well. The fact is there's little point for the company to continue to make home gaming consoles if the only audience they can sell to is Nintendo fanboys.

 

[Freezie KO]

Wow this is pretty much every Nintendo console in a nutshell:

"When we launched _______________, the initial sales were good, and all the hardware we manufactured at that time were sold through. However, after this period, we could not provide the market with strong software titles in a timely fashion. As a result we could not leverage the initial launch time momentum, and sales of ___________ slowed down. To avoid repeating this with _____________, we have been intensifying the software development, both internally at Nintendo and at developers outside the company, in order to prepare aggressive software lineup for _________ at and after the launch."

"We also have a new unprecedented partnership with _____________*, leading to a great rise in third-party support. This will help us fill the gaps in our software schedule."



*Capcom, Ubisoft, EA, etc.

 

[jmls1121]

I also take issue with the idea that every first time Nintendo buyer with the Wii (i.e the casuals) will not buy the WiiU. Of course they will lose a ton of them, but I think at least some will buy in if Nintendo is able to do some effective marketing. Big "if" on that last point.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

What kind of post is that, how sony is going to cater to the nintendo crowd, do they have Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda.

The bold part is hilarious, why would anyone want nintendo out, except some console warriors and fanboys?

Its always nice to see a junior member spinning something as pure fanboyism. Go get your street cred elsewhere as I'm not getting into a flame war.

 

[shinra-bansho]

The thing I think IGN is forgetting here is that it isn't a question whether or not Nintendo is going out of business. I don't think anyone, even the biggest of trolls, think that is possible.

The "doomed" mantra is really propagated more by people looking to dismiss legitimate criticism.

With no debt and a large amount of cash and equivalents, Nintendo is financially very healthy. But it's a publicly traded company and investors presumably expect that cash to be put to better use.

This idea that Nintendo could subsist on a series of failed business ventures because they have large cash reserves is bizarre. There are ramifications of the Wii U failing as badly as it has, and continuing to fail as such going forward beyond pure impact on their cash pile.

I also don't really understand why Nintendo hold so much in cash, it's at something like 60% of their market value. In the Nintendo earnings thread it was mentioned that Nintendo declares changes in value of foreign currency holdings quarterly and pays tax on that change in value, so it's not to avoid any repatriation taxes. I've also seen it mentioned that it's a precautionary measure against potential buyouts.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Are some of you actually arguing that the WiiU's first 9 months is comparable to the Gamecube from a software perspective?

Rightfully or not, NSMBU is looked upon as more of the same, and released 3 months after a handheld iteration. GameCube had great games right off the bat.

Never forget, software sells hardware. That's how the gamecube got to 20 million.

 

[Spinluck]

Smash Bros. will save Wii U, believe.

Spoiler

As long as it has a price cut by the time Smash is out, which I'm 100% sure it will.

 

[Gucci Messiah]

Its always nice to see a junior member spinning something as pure fanboyism. Go get your street cred elsewhere as I'm not getting into a flame war.

Being a junior member has nothing to do with the quality of an individuals posts in most cases. That's pretty condescending of you to say.

 

[Arc Christelle]

Its always nice to see a junior member spinning something as pure fanboyism. Go get your street cred elsewhere as I'm not getting into a flame war.

I guess humility doesn't come with full Membership. He may be a junior but what he said is no where near the level of this post.
----------------------------------

Anyway. I believe or atleast "hope" the Wii U can make a comeback, time is passing and the available games are building up, while limited they are strong in both variety and quality. But I think it's up to marketing to make that presence known.

Even with the PS4/XBO around the corner, the strongest line-up around release would still be the Wii U. XBO is coming out with some decent and interesting titles but their current reputation with the public is working against them plus $599. (Who knows we might be surprised).

And the PS4 line-up honestly looks kinda weak (although they have the $399 pricetag, consumers just may buy it on a whim. Especially if a Wii U price drop doesn't happen.)

Looks interesting, but after 1 year and no comp to display how bad the situation is outside of handhelds and products that are already established, I'd say it's still too early to count them out.

Honestly, I'm hoping that Nintendo makes a habit of coming to the rescue of unique and talented developers with the hopes to fund them for exclusives.