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Media Create Sales: Week 2, 2013 (Jan 07 - Jan 13)

evangd007

Member
Good job Nintendo, 0 for 2 on hardware launches. Maybe if the Wii U's software picture didn't look as bleak as the Vita's this wouldn't have happened.
 

Raist

Banned
That seems like the most likely option.

NINTENDO NEEDS AN EPIC E3 LAUNCH LINEUP, because it's going to be likely going up against the 720 AND the PS4.

So until then, the game releases will be pretty spartan. I expect to see a new Zelda, Monolith's new game, Retro's new game, among others at E3.

If both the 720 and the PS4 are revealed at this year's E3, I don't think anyone will give a flying fuck about WiiU. Unless they have playable demos of a 3D mario, Zelda, and cut the price by 50%.
 

Bumhead

Banned
There's been a lot of covering of ears and stamping of feet by some on here in a rush to deny the Wii U's launch issues so far.

Seems now you can add a steep plummet in Japanese numbers to its complete market irrelevance and non-performance in Europe. So we're just a dissapointing NPD at the end of this month away from calling this a piss poor launch for Nintendo, right?
 

Anth0ny

Member
Oh, come on. Weren't any of you guys around for the N64? All we had was like Mario 64 for the first YEAR. In hindsight, nobody is calling that console a failure. It ended up having some of the best games in the history of the medium.

thing is... that was Mario 64. Arguably the most revolutionary title ever released. If there's ever a game to release with the underlying message of "Yeah, this is all you're getting for a year. Make the best of it!", it's Mario 64!

I know I wouldn't be complaining if EAD Tokyo put out a new 3D Mario at launch. That shit would have kept me busy til Pikmin 3, at least.
 
Some pretty bad numbers for the WiiU. Nintendo needs to do something to turn this around. They really should of had a list of publishers and games like the 3DS.

I hope Nintendo does make some announcements soon, the WiiU really needs more software.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
There's been a lot of covering of ears and stamping of feet by some on here in a rush to deny the Wii U's launch issues so far.

Seems now you can add a steep plummet in Japanese numbers to its complete market irrelevance and non-performance in Europe. So we're just a dissapointing NPD at the end of this month away from calling this a piss poor launch for Nintendo, right?

If you go by Nintendo's own forecasts this has clearly been a disappointing launch.

I am still pretty bullish on Wii U in Japan since they have a year to sort things out...in the U.S I think they might be in trouble.
 

omonimo

Banned
Wow...71.92% of weekly hardware sales and 83.71% of weekly software sales.

NintenDOMINATION continues. Say what you want about the Wii U, but Nintendo has Japan on lock at the moment.

Ok but Wii U sales still sucks, I don't think is something to be happy in Nintendo.
 

Burai

shitonmychest57
In hindsight I do think Nintendo really miscalculated 2D Mario ( as did I). If you just look at the numbers, there is no better software to launch with. Looking beyond the numbers, I don't think it resonated with early adopters.

It's as I said before launch NSMB will sell gangbusters on a console with an already healthy lineup, but it won't do shit on its own.

If you're launching hardware that eschews the stays quo you better have the software to justify your approach or you will sink like a stone. Launching yet another NSMB title, the second in six months no less, just isn't going to cut it.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
So apparently when Nintendo said, "We learned so much from the 3DS launch" that translated as "We learned absolutely nothing."
 

Anth0ny

Member
They'll give us 10 SNES titles, and 10 Gamecube titles, with no intention of selling Gamecube titles to the general public.
 

olimpia84

Member
Who actually watches this though? A handfull of people on the internet? That isn't who Nintendo should be selling this too.

It all depends on the games being featured on the show. The latest one unveiled a new Pokemon game and the buzz it created around the internet/youtube/gaming publications felt like it was pretty significant.
 
Price cut and ambassador program won't do shit unless there's a cornucopia of games announced to go along with it. They also have way less flexibility to drop the price unlike the 3DS.
 
So apparently when Nintendo said, "We learned so much from the 3DS launch" that translated as "We learned absolutely nothing."

I think you're forgetting just how absolutely abysmal the 3DS's launch actually was 1st-party wise:

3DS Nintendogs + Cats 02/26/11 Japan
3DS Pilotwings Resort 04/14/11 Japan
3DS Steel Diver 05/12/11 Japan

vs.

Wii U Nintendo Land 12/08/12 Japan
Wii U Nintendo x Joysound Wii Karaoke U 12/08/12 Japan
Wii U New Super Mario Bros. U 12/08/12 Japan

...Yeah. No comparison here.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
In a certain way this might be good for Wii U.

If performance in Japan was stellar, Nintendo might rationalise away any drastic actions.

I think now we will see full 'panic mode' Nintendo. And it'll be interesting to see how that applies to Wii U.
 
Can't actually say that I am terribly surprised by WiiU performance. I thought that it will be either something like Wii (new innovative controller bringing tons of casual to platform from the start) or it will underperform as casuals don't buy the idea and for hardcore it doesn't offer anything new as Nintendo once again went with low specs. It really could be in trouble as with low specs Nintendo practically said goodbye to western third parties (and for some Japanese too).
 

Mato

Member
Nintendo would have been much better off releasing a technically true next-gen system along with a full blown 3D mainline Mario. The Gamecube model seems to be the most viable for them for this time and age. The Gamepad is redudant, it just drives the cost up. They should invest in developing AAA, state of the art games, gimmicks have migrated to tablets.
 
I wonder if Animal Crossing can cross the 3 million unit line. It seems very likely as long as it has long legs and sells well next holiday.

Wii U slowly falling to the wayside even in Japan.

I think the relevant question now is more whether it can cross the 5 million unit line.

And not a single Wii U was given that day.

Going to quickly approach Vita status in Japan.

Hardware-wise? Maybe. But software-wise is already ahead, and its few games are still charting, and selling well.

I'm still surprised Nintendo is letting this happen, especially after their claim of "learning" from the 3DS launch.

They learned. They launched Wii U along with a 2D Mario, supposedly their biggest franchise ever. 3DS was launched with just Nintendogs+cats in Japan, and Pilotwings Resort in the West.

They did not learn how to build a post-launch line-up, though. I mean, they have three potential big sellers in the closet, and still no release date.
 
23?!

Blimey. I knew that Vita support wasn't dead but I hadn't realised there were that many titles in the pipeline.

Yeah, many titles such as Ciel Nosurge RE:Incarnation, Sakura-Sou no Pet na Kanojo and three versions of NextRev. It will be lucky if 4 of those 23 games will sell above 100k.
 

Somnid

Member
If you go by Nintendo's own forecasts this has clearly been a disappointing launch.

I am still pretty bullish on Wii U in Japan since they have a year to sort things out...in the U.S I think they might be in trouble.

It's disappointing for Nintendo, I think they expected a bit more out of Nintendoland.

But realistically going forward what will happen is PS3 and 360 will outsell it for quite some time only because they are mature library systems and cost less. Once resources start shifting to Sony and MS's next gen consoles and those start to decline Nintendo again occupies the bottom (by this time the system will be at least $50 less than it is) and MS and Sony need to sell highly expensive systems. Once Nintendo is entry-level again they will probably be able to post big numbers again. The top of the value chain is just a bad place to be.
 

bluehat9

Member
So is the NSMB art style dead yet? Have to think that if they had at least done something different graphics-wise (sorry, a few backgrounds aren't enough) they could have wowed a few more people/made the system and game look a little better. At least it would look somewhat different from the not-too-great 3DS game that released only a couple months before WiiU (not to mention DS and Wii iterations).

And I say all this thinking that that the WiiU game is the best of the NSMB series. I think it just looks old at this point and think they need to do something else with the 2D games.

And I also know this isn't the full problem with WiiU, but they really seemed to want to hang their hat on Mario at launch as some kind of megaton, but clearly not everyone cared.
 
So is the NSMB art style dead yet? Have to think that if they had at least done something different graphics-wise (sorry, a few backgrounds aren't enough) they could have wowed a few more people/made the system and game look a little better. At least it would look somewhat different from the not-too-great 3DS game that released only a couple months before WiiU (not to mention DS and Wii iterations).

And I say all this thinking that that the WiiU game is the best of the NSMB series. I think it just looks old at this point and think they need to do something else with the 2D games.

And I also know this isn't the full problem with WiiU, but they really seemed to want to hang their hat on Mario at launch as some kind of megaton, but clearly not everyone cared.

I don't see how the idea to launch Wii U with a game in a series that sold over 50 million units with just 2 titles was silly. The problem is not Mario, which is a system seller per se, and it will sell for a long time.
 
So people would start a count down to see when the WiiU will sell sub 10k a week.

Sony was right, there is no need to drop the PS3 price, especially compared to WiiUs price point.

Why would Sony drop the price when they make a big margin on the new very cheap PS3 that they are selling.
 

Scum

Junior Member
NCL handles themselves quite well when they have shit to sort out. Last time that happened they stole Monster Hunter from Sony. I'll be looking forward to whatever Iwata has planned this time...
 
Weren't certain people predicting just last week that Vita would consistently stay in the 15-20K range for the next few months? Whoops. With no significant exclusives on the way before (or after, for now) Soul Sacrifice, it's not likely to stay in five figures.

The real story, of course, is the Wii U numbers, but how much more is there to say? Nintendo really screwing the pooch here.
 

Jackano

Member
So apparently when Nintendo said, "We learned so much from the 3DS launch" that translated as "We learned absolutely nothing."
That's really this thing who bothers me on the Wii U front.

Numbers are right, I think it's normal in the first few january weeks after launch to drop off this way. Nintendo Directs will do nothing for the numbers, only actual releases will sell hardware. NDs will be good for the gamers/press momentum, but nothing more.

But if they learned from the 3DS launch, they would have more than one first party title per month, or at least one retail title and something digital each month.
Instead of that, january is empty, Wario and Pikmin are late, and the only way to regain some momentum (except by a major price cut in 6 months) is to have a great system-seller in march. I don't think Mario Kart is ready, and I'm fearing they didn't learn fom the 3DS that third party titles are NOT system sellers, and they will try to push Lego City Stories Undercover as one...
 

big_erk

Member
I wonder what Japanese third parties are on board and who is sitting on the fence waiting to see what happens with sales?

On the fence about what? Since we are talking Japan, there are only 2 home consoles worth developing for at this time. They are both in the same ballpark power-wise, so one doesn't necessarily exclude the other. If we are talking exclusives, that's a slightly different picture.

What it boils down to is this, the only developer that is going to save the Wii U is Nintendo. We all know they have the big guns in development. Show a little of what is cooking. It will go a long way toward easing customer's minds. No one cares if Zelda is 2 years away, show us a damn logo, hell show us a sketch Miyamoto made on scrap of toilet paper while taking a dump. Put up a tentative toadmap, damn, I mean roadmap. Throw us a bone and a lot of the doubt will be relieved. But they need to do something, and they need to do it now.
 
NCL handles themselves quite well when they have shit to sort out. Last time that happened they stole Monster Hunter from Sony. I'll be looking forward to whatever Iwata has planned this time...
I dont think anything they'll try to get that will have a huge 180 change, Nintendo should prove to Japan that console gaming is still relevant.
 

watershed

Banned
It won't happen but I would love for Nintendo to abandon the Wii U and announce a new revolution mystery project. Maybe another "3rd pillar"?
 
There are still 23 games coming. That is still more than I thought.

Sales-wise (being this a sales thread), most of them are irrelevant. Last year Vita had 12 retail games from January to March despite having over 20 titles in the launch week. This year Vita comes from an holiday period where it basically had one game.
 
Wii U below PS3 is pretty damning.

I can see it getting uglier, consistent 10k levels in the future?

And imo, Japan was the only place this thing even had a chance.

How bad will this disaster get? Stay tuned.
 

tkscz

Member
So, am I the only one who notices that ALL the consoles on that list dropped significantly in units sold?
 

SmokeMaxX

Member
I think you're forgetting just how absolutely abysmal the 3DS's launch actually was 1st-party wise:

3DS Nintendogs + Cats 02/26/11 Japan
3DS Pilotwings Resort 04/14/11 Japan
3DS Steel Diver 05/12/11 Japan

vs.

Wii U Nintendo Land 12/08/12 Japan
Wii U Nintendo x Joysound Wii Karaoke U 12/08/12 Japan
Wii U New Super Mario Bros. U 12/08/12 Japan

...Yeah. No comparison here.

Yeah but the 3DS had to compete against the Vita, which had at best an even chance of competing with Nintendo. The WiiU is going to be up against the next Xbox/Playstation. The 3DS wasn't an underdog. The WiiU is.

I'm a huge Nintendo fanboy (of sorts). But they have (so far) severely screwed up the WiiU launch. There's so much potential in the machine, but Nintendo can't even get the marketing right. I bet about half of the country STILL has no idea WHAT a WiiU is.
 

nickcv

Member
It won't happen but I would love for Nintendo to abandon the Wii U and announce a new revolution mystery project. Maybe another "3rd pillar"?

usually revolution mystery projects from nintendo are extremely experimental and around a gimmick, so even if they'd do that it won't be the powerhouse many people want from them
 
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