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NPD January 2013 Sales Results [Up7: Wii U 57K (CNET), Vita ~35K, PS3 201K]

H

Hero

Member
Amir0x said:
like i said over and over: they've been sitting on hordes of money when what they should have been doing is expanding studios, opening up new corners of development and establishing fresh hardcore IPs with mass marketing budgets and making partnerships. They've started the partnership thing, but it might be too little, too late at this point, and they still have failed to do so in a meaningful fashion to appeal to third party support on Wii U. There's no way they should constantly be bumping into the "all our teams are occupied with game development" at the moment when their output is what it is; they need to grow.

It would have been an investment, it would have driven into their war chest, but that's how you make businesses grow: you take risks. And Nintendo has been a shockingly risk-averse company in recent years, at least as it relates to their software.
Click to expand...

Yep, pretty much this. It's kind of baffling how when they were making money hand over foot with the heyday of the DS/Wii and they were the most valuable company in Japan they didn't bother to invest some of that money into growing the company. And especially more pathetic is how they left the Wii to starve for the past two years so what the hell were they working on?
 
D

DashReindeer

Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
toddhunter said:
Ok try again...

wiiu-dies-in-the-swamxdu1e.gif
Click to expand...

You're gonna make me cry...
 
B

BlackJace

Member
The shocking thing is that it could
probably will
get worse for the next few months.

Would NOT want to be in management's position ATM.
 
S

SolarPowered

Member
Duxxy3 said:
Fire upper management. This is two launches they have completely fucked up after being dominant with their previous attempts. Start at the top and work down. Yamauchi may need to takes the reigns back temporarily.
Click to expand...
Yamauchi's forcefulness may be the end of Nintendo and Yamauchi himself. :(
 
Baki

Baki

Member
Apophis2036 said:
Isn't 20 million consoles sold a success for a video game only company that rely almost entirely on first party content, esp if they are selling every console at a small loss to begin with and then progressing to larger profits later ?.

People have to remember that Nintendo were on the way down with regards to console sales before Wii, that was a temporary sales spike, no one, not even the most hardcore Nintendo fans expected Wii like numbers again did they... did they ?.

If Nintendo can get the console profitable at $250 then they will make a tidy amount of money by the end of the generation, esp when the big first party games start to arrive in winter 2013.

The 3DS sales esp in Japan will ease the pressure on Iwata at least in the short term aswell.
Click to expand...

Investors won't be happy with 20M console sales. Also, the GameCube reached that number after drastic measures ($99 GC etc...). At this point, if trends continue (hopefully not), even 20M will be challenging. The LTD would be 10M at best (if it isn't discontinued) if the current trends continue.

That said, you never know, maybe they will have another Wii Fit. However at this point, investors will be asking serious questions to Iwata. The degradation of the western handheld market is also another pressing issue. At this point, Nintendos hardware presence is at risk.
 
Schnozberry

Schnozberry

Member
Moral Panic said:
The fact that the old consoles are still selling means people still want to play video games. They still buy Halo, they still buy AssCreed, they still buy COD. When the new consoles come out, even if they hit a speed bump out of the gate, they are still guaranteed to get Halo, gears, AssCreed, COD.
Click to expand...

A lot of the launch games for the new consoles will still be available on older hardware. I think it will be difficult to get much more than the hardest of core gamers to run out and drop $400-500.
 
J

javac

Member
Amir0x said:
like i said over and over: they've been sitting on hordes of money when what they should have been doing is expanding studios, opening up new corners of development and establishing fresh hardcore IPs with mass marketing budgets and making partnerships. They've started the partnership thing, but it might be too little, too late at this point, and they still have failed to do so in a meaningful fashion to appeal to third party support on Wii U. There's no way they should constantly be bumping into the "all our teams are occupied with game development" at the moment when their output is what it is; they need to grow.

It would have been an investment, it would have driven into their war chest, but that's how you make businesses grow: you take risks. And Nintendo has been a shockingly risk-averse company in recent years, at least as it relates to their software.
Click to expand...

They have to have something in the bag, no? I mean Nintendo isn't some omnipresent deity that has something ready for each scenario. They could be actually be sitting on nothing. But we know from Nintendo directs that sometimes Nintendo sit on announcements just for the sake of announcing it when they feel like its right.

Nintendo could have announced all then Luigi games for the 3DS last year, why now? Same with DKCR 3D and monolithsoft title X. And Bayonetta 2. All came out of the blue.

This isn't addressing the whole point your discussing in regards to expanding and partnerships. But in terms of games, I wouldn't be surprised.
 
N

NeoUltima

Member
55k? ummm holy crap. Even with my pessimistic attitude I expected at least 100k. I have a feeling that number is wrong. I just cannot believe it.
 
B

B.O.O.M

Member
Dynopia said:
For comparison, Vita did 73k in its third month, which was April.
Click to expand...

yikes

miladesn said:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...sales-continue-downward-trend-in-january.aspx

Ni No Kuni #11 on the chart.
Click to expand...

miladesn said:
update



http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02...=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+ign/all+(IGN+All)
Click to expand...

Excellent news on Ni No Kuni. I hope the legs hold up a bit and encourages Namco to make a sequel

Verendus said:
Nope. A lot of confidence right now. PS Meeting will set a certain expectation for folks, and E3 will show you what to expect from the first year. Sony Worldwide Studios has geared up for Orbis for a long time now. There will be a steady stream of games from them. This isn't even including third party efforts, of which there will be two very notable exclusives for Sony fans.
Click to expand...

Damn man....you are getting me all hyped now. Could you at least tell if it's Eastern or western (the 3rd party exclusives)? I wanna believe
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
shinra-bansho said:
I don't know, what was the GameCube selling on a monthly basis back in the day?

I think there are very real issues with the core device and who exactly the target market is.

It's not a generational leap. And there's a justified perception of poor third party support going forward.
Ergo: There's no value proposition for the market that built the PS3 or 360 installed bases.

Meanwhile, the hook they've pinned their hopes on is difficult to convey and simply not going to be as compelling as waggle.
Ergo: There's no value proposition for the market that built the Wii.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I thought the GameCube was doing at least that well in 2001-2002: http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Nintendo_GameCube

It's possible it wasn't though.
 
S

Sadist

Member
Oh my. That is some horrible shit right there. Terrible. The real question will be what Nintendo will do in the next few months. I assume Iwata and co. already had some meetings talking about what to do next. What can they do? I suppose no western 3rd party will work with 'em. Oh man.

Kinda scares me about the other two. Jeesh.
 
V

Verendus

Banned
I think people expecting Mario or Zelda or Smash to save Wii U don't really have any perspective. These IPs have never been capable of "saving" Nintendo. They didn't manage it with N64 or the Gamecube, and they're certainly not what made the Wii successful. Wii was brilliant because Wii Sports encapsulated what was different about the console, and it was very accessible. Anyone can move or wave their arms. They basically sold the majority of Wii consoles off that one title.

I know that Nintendos traditional IPs are touted as being really huge (which they're not outside of Mario), but Wii U seems to be heading in the Gamecube direction. I think this coming holiday season will be the deciding factor. If they can get some level of software support which is steady, and a decent price, they can likely remain profitable which is probably the main aim.
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Plinko said:
With the way 360/PS3 keep selling, I'm starting to waver on how I feel. I wonder if the next systems hit with lackluster sales, too.
Click to expand...
They'll be fine unless they lock out their existing communities without cross-generational multiplayer and BC digital libraries.

If they're foolish enough to do that, it's CRASH time.
 
P

Pein

Banned
Should have been expanding studio's and making new ip. How does a company launch their own system and have nothing to support it with? I hope they turn it around I'm gonna be pissed if support completely dries up for this thing and my wii u only ever gets a nintendo release here and there.

Nintendo were foolish to release a new super mario bros game on the 3DS and wii u so close together. The last smash came out ages ago they had ample time to start work on a new game for launch but didn't.
 
S

Somnid

Member
BlackJace said:
The shocking thing is that it could
probably will
get worse for the next few months.

Would NOT want to be in management's position ATM.
Click to expand...

People are going to be SHOCKED in February as if they never saw it coming. We'll also repost the same gifs. Really there's quite literally nothing to see until March at the earliest.
 
P

pargonta

Member
...holy shit

am i even going to have a console to buy when zelda comes out... will zelda even finish getting made!?!?

lol, yes probably. that neverending story gif is amazing.
 
T

TheGreyHulk

Member
Honestly, who is the Wii U targeting?

Hardcore Nintendo fans will buy into the system, but that's a niche group in comparison to the mass market out there.

If they're targeting the "dudebro" crowd, it's not going to appeal to them because they can get an xbox or ps3 for cheaper and has all the games they want on it already while offering visuals that are in the same playing field as the wii u as of right now

If they're targeting the casuals with the touch screen, it's not going to work because it's not even a full tablet and it costs as much as one to boot.

If they're targeting the same group that flocked to the Wii, I don't see it working because they don't even know that the Wii U is it's own console in itself and that demographic has moved on to smartphones and tablet for their gaming needs.

We know they targeted the family with the Wii and it's innovative motion control scheme. It was a risk that paid off big time in regards to selling to the family crowd, but they started hot and ended ice cold for the core gamer.

so... with that said, who is nintendo targeting with the Wii U that will magically bring sales back up?

The name Wii U also doesn't do anything to say it's different than the Wii. The console itself looks dead on like a Wii until you look at it more closely. Nintendo seriously dropped the ball with the Wii U. It costs a lot to make while still being under powered thanks to the tablet controller so it has a high price of entry, it has a horrible name that doesnt immediately let you know it's a new console, and the 1st party support was horrible @ launch.

keep in mind that i own a wii u myself. i bought it because i'm a nintendo fan and already knew what i was getting into. im part of that niche crowd i mentioned
 
Portugeezer

Portugeezer

Member
GitarooMan said:
Nintendo really fucked up between 2010 and 2012 in their failure to ramp up HD development and it's biting them in the ass. Additionally it's clear that the Wii U was basically conceived as a console DS during the height of the DS craze, but they failed to realize that the dual screen had little to nothing to do with DS's success and that it may not be a great idea for people to be constantly looking down away from their TV while playing a game. DS was huge because of the attractive price and metric ton of compelling software.
Click to expand...

DS was successful because it was innovative. The 2 screens was cool, but it was also one of the first touch devices, it had compelling software for the masses (Brain Age, Nintendogs, Mario), and Nintendo had good marketing.

As we know though, the casuals are fickle and will move on to other things in no time, and also, what compelling software is there on Wii U that they will get one over a 360 with Kinect for example? Not much at all. Third 2D Mario in about 3 years also doesn't do much. Wii U has had some terrible marketing too. To this day people think it's a controller addon for Wii U... hhnngg!!
 
S

serplux

Member
Shaanyboi said:
With February's release calendar being as dry as it is, I'd expect next month to look even worse.

I don't disbelieve that things can turn around for them. I'm not so dismissive as to declare "BOMBA!" and just walk away. But man, the months up to E3 are going to be ROUGH. Maybe they'll get some glimmers of hope in March, but E3 is going to have to be AMAZING for them, and simultaneously, it'll have to be pretty bad for Sony and Microsoft.
Click to expand...

Let's see at what's confirmed to be shown at E3:
3D Mario
Mario Kart 8
Super Smash Bros Next

Those three titles will sell the system, and at least one of them are coming out this year. they have yet to announce Retro's new game(s?). They have yet to announce all of their supporting titles iterations (Kirby, Metroid, Donkey Kong). All of these titles will sell monstrously more than any of the titles on currently on the Vita, the most floundering system on the market. This is not a Vita situation.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Rash said:
To be honest, I still don't see the logic of that. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You take games away from a platform in a period of drought, you're just making that platform look even less attractive. Thus, it won't sell to fans, new customers, or anyone.

Ubi "waiting for a bigger install base" is silly because the system isn't going to just magically get a bigger install base without having decent software. Rayman was one of the most attractive developments for Wii U and was heavily promoted to the point of being used at kiosks. Delaying the game was just screwing the Wii U over even more.
Click to expand...

Let me float this as a hypothetical without having any of my numbers nitpicked.

Imagine you're Ubisoft and you wanted 200,000 sales from Rayman Legends. Your new projection, based on abysmal hardware and software sales, is that you'll get maybe 60,000-70,000. This is bad.

You delay until September, and the extra resources used on the ports make you shift your projection to 300,000. If things go well, the Wii U is back to where you wanted it to be, you get your 200,000 there, plus all the sales from the ports. If things go poorly, your Wii U figure is still around 60,000-70,000, and as long as you do at least 100,000 elsewhere, you've paid for the cost of the ports--and you have to figure that's going to happen, even if the other platforms are a very poor fit for the game. If you do 200,000 elsewhere, you've salvaged a bomb back to your original projected numbers.

The only real risk is that you do less than the marginal cost of the ports elsewhere, or the Wii U declines even further in that period of time. I guess a third possible risk is that the Wii U version sells near-nothing either due to further decline or due to angry Nintendo fans boycotting you. But it's impossible to hedge against everything, and hedging against the most immediate and pressing problem seems the wisest. Hedging is about minimizing your downside risk, not maximizing your upside benefit. So for them, the best hedge is to assume the Wii U is a disaster and try to recover their dev cost in the mean time.

Now, I'm not intending to say that any of these numbers are realistic. Ignore them entirely. Please don't quote or respond to the numbers--just the general idea of what they were thinking. I'm sure they expect more copies globally, I'm sure the port costs less, I'm sure they had options or strategies to boost the Wii U figure even with everything right now, it's entirely possible their decision is wrong, etc etc. As a few strikes against their decision, I do think there's some risk of competition in September, and I also think there's a risk that the 360 and PS3 decline faster than they're expecting. I also think there's a very real chance Nintendo can work towards righting the ship.

But keep in mind that if you launch Rayman Legends U now and the Wii U recovers later, your product will already be used and off most store shelves and its effective life will be over. The rising tide won't lift Rayman if you launch now. Nintendo can revive some of their old games through reprints and promotion and stuff, but this is already a relatively small title for Ubisoft and I think they want to release it and market it and then move on, right?

If you worked for Ubisoft and the job handed to you was "Projections say Rayman Wii U is going to absolutely, positively tank. We're talking 10,000 sales US-wide. How do we salvage our money?", what would you do?

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that poor hardware/software sales leads to poor support which leads to poor sales, etc. That's absolutely true. But who do you think should shoulder the risk or investment to break the cycle? It's not going to be Ubisoft. Ubisoft will survive just fine if Nintendo disappears overnight. They like having as many sources of revenue as possible, of course. And I really even get the impression that they appreciate Nintendo on a creative level. But survival of their own business comes first, and that means they need to think about their own products, even if it seems a little myopic.
 
T

TheDrowningMan

Member
dreamer3kx said:
I recently picked up a WiiU and love it, it really is sad to see it sell like this, can they drop this thing to $200 and 250 for deluxe or is that to costly for them, this is pretty pathetic.
Click to expand...

They need to advertise too, and properly at that. The efforts have been so half-hearted that you have to suspect they're keeping the powder dry for games + advertising (that CLEARLY markets it as a new console - people outside the gaming community who know that A) that it exists and B) isn't a $300+ U-Draw type thing bundled with a Wii are a minority in my experience) and a price cut, despite Iwata's obvious lie to the contrary. The alternative would be one of the most remarkable instances of corporate incompetence in recent history.

I think it's a soft launch insofar as Nintendo, guilty of hubris, thought 5 million or so would sell by default. Marketing and so forth was always to be saved for the 'real' push, along with Mario Kart, Zelda, Sports(?) and so forth. Unfortunately, they've found that there are substantially fewer than 5 million automatic buyers.
 
A

airmangataosenai

Member
PS3:
November 06: 197k
December 06: 490k
January 07: 244k
Total: 931k
Click to expand...

Wii U:
November 12: 425k
December 12: 460k
January 13: 55k
Total: 940k
Click to expand...

Next month it will almost certainly happen: Wii U will begin tracking behind 599 US DOLLAR PS3.... at a price point the system didn't reach until over 3 years into it's life cycle.
 
K

kpjolee

Member
Nintendo took a major risk with the origin Wii and paid off. Nintendo took another major risk with the Wii U and did not work....simple.
I have no doubt Wii U will survive this whole generation, but want to also see Nintendo dig out of this mess.
 
S

serplux

Member
Baki said:
Investors won't be happy with 20M console sales. Also, the GameCube reached that number after drastic measures ($99 GC etc...). At this point, if trends continue (hopefully not), even 20M will be challenging. The LTD would be 10M at best (if it isn't discontinued) if the current trends continue.

That said, you never know, maybe they will have another Wii Fit. However at this point, investors will be asking serious questions to Iwata. The degradation of the western handheld market is also another pressing issue. At this point, Nintendos hardware presence is at risk.
Click to expand...

'Cause, you know, Nintendo will never release a title again for their system.
 
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