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[jeffers]

The fact that there is only one third-party Wii U game is more worrying than the fact that it's a tiny display.

dont think retailers have any interest in stocking any 3rd party. Wonder what solution nintendo can provide? maybe DL codes for 3rd party games? (would take up a lot less shelf space). Ninty needs to force competitive DL prices generally maybe, maybe subsidize, but cant see third partys liking having a price visibly cheaper to end users.

 

[ChimpanzeeThat]

I work distribution for the guys who stock Tesco (Oakwood), a lot of the smaller Extra stores aren't able to implement the shelf space because they don't have it. It's largely down to store manager discretion and a lot of the merchandisers i know are having to put up with a lot of crap from reps over it. I've mentioned it previously but Nintendo are the worst for hassling merchandisers, who are only there to tick boxes and do things in their best judgement, they don't make decisions for stores. Them and Paramount people are like dealing with monsters who don't understand the word no.

I wouldn't mind either but other than the launch, we aren't asked about the Wii U as much as any other hardware. People really don't care.

The picture Chopper posted is very typical in all though, the majority of managers i've worked with have dedicated 3-5 times more shelf space to both Xbox and PlayStation and even give equal measures to Skylander and now Disney Infinity. With the exception of the 3DS, Nintendo stuff is at the bottom of the totem pole alongside PC games (with the exception then of Football Manager, The Sims and the occasional World Of Warcraft expansions) but then again since i've been doing the job, the software sales rate hasn't been amazingly high anyway.

From a retail point of view, the Wii U is a damp squib.

 

[ozfunghi]

How do they know those people didn't buy a new console or how will they know their addresses?

Look outside... See that guy waving? That's right.

 

[RaikuHebi]

Nothing is happening.

How do they know those people didn't buy a new console or how will they know their addresses?

Kinect.

 

[Christopher]

...shelf space isn't going to help the Wii U...


Everyone should own 3DS who likes Nintendo games

 

[flippedb]

And if we're talking about Tesco, and not meaning to be a snob here, it's a demographic thing, the majority of their customer's 5 yo children are playing COD.

Get real now.

 

[Metallix87]

Get real now.

Probably more real than you'd think.

 

[Taker666]

so the fight back was a fail

tesco dropping wii u support in the next few months

There was no attempt at fightback (beyond a handful of leaflets) from what I've seen.

On the flipside there's a dedicated Xbox One section on the end of the aisle in my tesco's with games running on a tv in the display. Microsoft obviosuly paid for that (as there's no similar PS4 display)..if Nintendo wants to sell units then they have to pay to do the same.

My new, recently opened local Sainsburys... didn't have a Nintendo section at all. Just a couple of Pokemon 2DS bundles on a stand along with some value PS3/360 bundles...no games. You'd think 3DS /2DS was dead as well.

 

[stuminus3]

This is meaningless. You can't just say "the problem with Wii U is that nobody gives a fuck." What's the reason they don't give a fuck?

They don't give a fuck because they don't want to buy the console for the games it offers. The problem is software.

But the Wii U has Mario, the biggest videogame franchise there ever was. It has Wii Fit. It has Call of Duty. It has Assassin's Creed. It has Lego. It has Skylanders. There is no lack of quality software in some of the most well known franchises ever.

I can't tell you why nobody cares, but they don't.

 

[TreasureHunterG]

Had to bump this thread, as we are a couple of weeks from Christmas and I popped into a Tesco for the first time in ages. It's a massive Tesco Extra. A major, major supermarket in our area. Probably the biggest in a 30-odd mile radius. And this is the extent of their Nintendo display. Wii, Wii U, DS, 3DS all compiled into one convenient, easy-to-navigate shelf space:




Pathetic. Great work Shelly.

It's no surprise why Wii U games (especially third-parties) aren't selling at all. You can't blame costumers for not knowing what Wii U is or for lacklusters sales when you have shelf spaces like these in the retailers. It's not that nobody cares about it, nobody knows what it is in the first place, it's like a ghost.

Nintendo needs to play hardball to change this.

 

[ChimpanzeeThat]

Illuminating stuff, thank you.
I expect supermarkets to reduce games displays, apart from the core big sellers, over the next couple of years as online sales (both Amazon cheapness, and on-console instant convenience) take their sales.
WiiU will be gone in 6 months.

No problem.

If our sales are anything to by though, Tesco would rather increase their space if possible. Games sales have increased time and time again over the last several years (second only to our DVD/Blu-Ray sales in terms of everything we supply). Tesco make very little money from games i believe anyway, but if they sell games at cost or for little profit they believe people will spend money they've saved on groceries.

With the FIFA 14 launch for instance, we had a midnight launch and only a handful of the 50+ people who turned up didn't buy anything else. Guys in the 18-30 age range were the ones who turned up largely and bought drinks and snacks, but that's largely because Tesco are now trying to put grocery baskets full of stuff near their Tesco Direct desks. Very sneaky but it does actually work.

 

[Log4Girlz]

This is meaningless. You can't just say "the problem with Wii U is that nobody gives a fuck." What's the reason they don't give a fuck?

They don't give a fuck because they don't want to buy the console for the games it offers. The problem is software.

People don't want old looking games...which relates to hardware. Its like an ecosystem.