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[StAidan]

I'm just surprised that the "Nintendo core" is so small.

It doesn't have anything to do with the size of Nintendo's core, but it is a pretty good indicator that Nintendo's core is smarter and more discerning than Nintendo gave them credit for.

Unless by "core" you mean "willing to take it in the shorts at any price."

I'm kind of glad this is happening to Nintendo. This will hopefully mean that Nintendo will be forced to innovate...

Yes. Very much this. Nintendo got cocky with the Wii and decided to follow it up with an off-the-wall "integrated hardware and software" solution that, while is admittedly somewhat nifty, isn't something that their users were asking for or wanted. The Wii U is humbling them, and humble Nintendo is the best Nintendo.

 

[test_account]

Somehow I thought they were succumbing to the high-end market, but hm. I swear their recent public presentations showed that since Samsung/LG/Panasonic dominate the HDTV market (and Vizio for the middle/low-end market).

The Sony TV I bought back in 2007 still works, but I think I will need to look for one soon since this one is notorious for breaking down.

You might be right. I could have misread or misunderstood something, so i cant say 100% sure that he said that. I tried to Google for it, but couldnt find anything. All i found was that at CES 2013, he said that Sony was not going to pump more TVs into the market before they had stopped losing money in the TV business.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/08/the-world-according-to-sony-ceo-kazuo-hirai

I'm almost sure that he said something about competing for the high-end market, but since i cant find any source it, i cant say 100% for sure

 

[BadWolf]

Nintendo needs to drop the price.

Why is this not painfully obvious? Take a hit by incurring losses on the hardware front, but make up for it in the software they move from the increase in userbase resulting from the price drop.

Who will buy their consoles at launch then if they keep dropping the price like a rock soon after? They already did it with the 3DS.

 

[kswiston]

A chart that showed the trend lines for each month would be more illustrative.

Quick and dirty (using NPD Numbers):

 

[Narpas Sword0]

Who will by their consoles at launch then if they keep dropping the price like a rock soon after? They already did it with the 3DS.

Maybe Nintendo should make this console something other than a crater before they worry too much about their next one.

People will buy their next one if they are hyped for it, no one will remember the price cuts. The GameCube was price cut like crazy too, and so was the XBox. People bought the successor consoles because they wanted to own them.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Who will by their consoles at launch then if they keep dropping the price like a rock soon after? They already did it with the 3DS.

What launch? You mean the one 6 years from now when the new consoles come out? You really think Nintendo should worry about future system launches right now?

 

[Saint Gregory]

Nintendo needs to drop the price.

Why is this not painfully obvious? Take a hit by incurring losses on the hardware front, but make up for it in the software they move from the increase in userbase resulting from the price drop.

They need games first. If they dropped the price of the 3DS without the Japanese software they announced at the same time it wouldn't have helped at all. It's also why the 3DS recovered in Japan and it's still hovering above mediocre here since the western library can't compare with the Japanese library.

 

[Chinpoko_Master]

I don't know if dropping the price of the Wii U is going to help them that much. It's not a $600 system like the PS3, I don't think people are holding off on buying it because it's too expensive.

 

[Pie and Beans]

game & wario, wii fit u, and pikmin 3. three games that should have been launch titles and really look like it.

I will never understand the focus on Pikmin 3. That failing franchise from our least supported console ever! Is it the noisy Nintendo fan effect again, the same thing that lead to a Kid Icarus sequel? Countless questions from the obsessed minority leading to Nintendo thinking its a big deal that they let Miyamoto go nuts on it for 3-years instead of a new IP centered around the GamePad. Whoops! And even then its missed launch and managed to be out the launch window and lurking Q2.

I mean whats next, Wii Music U2? Ravi is joined by Bono! SMASH GAMEPAD SCREEN WITH STYLUS LIKE ITS A DRUM.

 

[Duxxy3]

We had far more doom and gloom when the PS3 sold far more than this.



Can you explain the joke to me? I understand it's parodying something, but I don't recognize the source.

Rambo. He modeled a post about the Wii U around the speech at the end of Rambo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfdbcG0BTSk

 

[Jomjom]

I don't know why people keep demanding that Nintendo drop the price. It's just not realistic. They handcuffed themselves by releasing that touchscreen pad controller. There's just no room at the moment to drop price. That's like asking Apple to drop the iPad to $199, it's just not going to happen.

This was always the downside of Nintendo's strategy of going with the peripheral innovation rather than a straight GPU upgrade. The hardware components of the next Sony or MS system will get cheaper much faster than Nintendo's pad.

 

[Korigama]

In this, as in all things, context is king.

A DMC5 released for current gen consoles could and probably would sell less.

And why would this be, knowing that DmC has worse sales than every original series installment? Less than DMC4, that's a given, but I'm not seeing the logic behind saying a hypothetical DMC5's performance would be anywhere near this abysmal if it were a current gen release (blaming it on market conditions or weakened brand power were both convenient excuses that I've seen elsewhere to explain away DmC simply being an undesirable product with limited marketing offline).

 

[The Horror the horror]

They need games first. If they dropped the price of the 3DS without the Japanese software they announced at the same time it wouldn't have helped at all. It's also why the 3DS recovered in Japan and it's still hovering above mediocre here since the western library can't compare with the Japanese library.

So they're waiting until E3 before announcing a price drop? They're going to wait until JUNE?

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Anyways, the Wii U numbers for the month are terrible no if and buts about it. But the point is, it's still too early to be declaring its demise. Hell..three months in the GameCube was ahead of the PS2 for pete's sake. Things change and I have no doubt that this debacle has ignited a fire under Nintendo's ass.

No doubt, but sometimes I think there is a naïveté about just what can be done. I don't necessarily think that it's time to call the Wii U dead, but this isn't going to just be some anamolous bad month. When December's hardware numbers were lukewarm and the software numbers were apparently terrible, many surmised that we were in for a rough ride. But I think few suspected it was going to be this bad.

I don't necessarily think its unsalvagable, but if this thing is going to turn into anything but GameCube 2.0 (if that), then they need to do a lot of big things and hope a lot of other things go their way. These numbers are beyond the realm of "just get Mario and Mario Kart out there and everything's fine." I was iffy on that analysis already even before these numbers came in.

 

[Beer Monkey]

Nintendo stock lower than at end of Gamecube life.

 

[The Horror the horror]

I will never understand the focus on Pikmin 3. That failing franchise from our least supported console ever! Is it the noisy Nintendo fan effect again, the same thing that lead to a Kid Icarus sequel? Countless questions from the obsessed minority leading to Nintendo thinking its a big deal that they let Miyamoto go nuts on it for 3-years instead of a new IP centered around the GamePad. Whoops! And even then its missed launch and managed to be out the launch window and lurking Q2.

I mean whats next, Wii Music U2? Ravi is joined by Bono! SMASH GAMEPAD SCREEN WITH STYLUS LIKE ITS A DRUM.

Miyamoto. It's his latest and favorite brain child.

 

[AniHawk]

I will never understand the focus on Pikmin 3. That failing franchise from our least supported console ever! Is it the noisy Nintendo fan effect again, the same thing that lead to a Kid Icarus sequel? Countless questions from the obsessed minority leading to Nintendo thinking its a big deal that they let Miyamoto go nuts on it for 3-years instead of a new IP centered around the GamePad. Whoops! And even then its missed launch and managed to be out the launch window and lurking Q2.

I mean whats next, Wii Music U2? Ravi is joined by Bono! SMASH GAMEPAD SCREEN WITH STYLUS LIKE ITS A DRUM.

pikmin was a more popular franchise than star fox during the gamecube days. it made sense to have it as a launch game as something different and something for the more hardcore nintendo fans.

instead they're putting it out in the summer, like they did with pikmin 2. it wasn't a bad thing for pikmin 2 (400k in the us for a gamecube game isn't bad), but instead of giving it exposure, it just is kind of a thing that fills a gap.

 

[Saint Gregory]

So they're waiting until E3 before announcing a price drop? They're going to wait until JUNE?

I don't think they're considering a price drop at all until there's a more healthy supply of software available to sell. I think it will come next September unless market forces act on their own and firesell the console.

 

[Bruno MB]

Over 3,500 replies, the record is about to be broken (3,563) xD

 

[ShockingAlberto]

And why would this be, knowing that DmC has worse sales than every original series installment? Less than DMC4, that's a given, but I'm not seeing the logic behind saying a hypothetical DMC5's performance would be anywhere near this abysmal if it were a current gen release.

I mean, are we expecting it to come out tomorrow or come out two years from now? My assumption was the latter.

But I am making the assumption that critical backlash against DMC4 would contribute to DMC5 being a wait-and-see sort of thing. Am I incorrect in remembering that DMC3 didn't pick up until the SE?

 

[AniHawk]

No doubt, but sometimes I think there is a naïveté about just what can be done. I don't necessarily think that it's time to call the Wii U dead, but this isn't going to just be some anamolous bad month. When December's hardware numbers were lukewarm and the software numbers were apparently terrible, many surmised that we were in for a rough ride. But I think few suspected it was going to be this bad.

I don't necessarily think its unsalvagable, but if this thing is going to turn into anything but GameCube 2.0 (if that), then they need to do a lot of big things and hope a lot of other things go their way. These numbers are beyond the realm of "just get Mario and Mario Kart out there and everything's fine." I was iffy on that analysis already even before these numbers came in.

they were able to get away with "just put franchise games out and that'll about do it" on the 3ds because it wasn't doing abysmal and people were still okay with such a thing.

you can't do that with the wii u because no one knows what it is. nintendo still needs to make a piece of software like what zombi u apparently is, that shows off the system's capabilities, but in clear, easy to understand way. once they do that, they can pave the way for the big franchises. animal crossing and mario kart were big games on the ds, but it was nintendogs that saved the ds in every region.

 

[Nekofrog]

pikmin was a more popular franchise than star fox during the gamecube days. it made sense to have it as a launch game as something different and something for the more hardcore nintendo fans.

i think a lot of that can also be contributed to the absolute nosedive in quality that the starfox series had seen over the years.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Over 3,500 replies, the record is about to be broken (3,563) xD

Wowsers, and much faster too!

 

[ascii42]

Nintendo stock lower than at end of Gamecube life.

Not surprising, but ouch.

 

[Korigama]

I mean, are we expecting it to come out tomorrow or come out two years from now? My assumption was the latter.

But I am making the assumption that critical backlash against DMC4 would contribute to DMC5 being a wait-and-see sort of thing. Am I incorrect in remembering that DMC3 didn't pick up until the SE?

DMC4's critical evaluation was only one to two points less than DmC's, though (with DmC's Metascore still being lower than both DMC1 and 3:SE alike). There was no backlash, with gaming journalists (and Capcom themselves) not going on the warpath against it and the original series as a whole until DmC was being played up as something that would be so much better than what it was replacing. The SE only made up a small portion of DMC3's sales, the bulk of them coming from the original release.

Either way, expecting a DMC5 to come out at all seems idealistic (I'm still expecting Capcom to just end the franchise altogether if indeed salvaging it isn't important to them after all). If it were to release two years from now, numbers would probably be closer to the combined sales for DMC3 and 3:SE, which were less than 2 million IIRC.

 

[Pie and Beans]

i think a lot of that can also be contributed to the absolute nosedive in quality that the starfox series had seen over the years.

Yeah, and even then Starfox Adventures sold more I believe (but no sequel obviously). Pikmin's just not really ever meant much of a big deal to people beyond that tight Nintendo obsessed core. For it to have been the big "BUT LOOK, _____ IS COMING!" game for WiiU so long is madness. Its still largely based on Wiimote controls even, what with being a holdover.

I mean Wii Music was a Miyamoto disaster, and I can only assume when Pikmin 3 craters theres going to be some shifty looks around and maybe Nintendo will start truly elevating one of the EAD Tokyo design fellahs to NU-NINTENDO MESSIAH status, even though he'll be stuck making Mario games for the rest of his life (maybe need to freeze Aonuma in carbonite to stop him ever becoming in charge of everything, please)

 

[Jomjom]

Not surprising, but ouch.

Definitely not surprising because at least the Gamecube was never sold at a loss.

 

[AniHawk]

Yeah, and even then Starfox Adventures sold more I believe (but no sequel obviously). Pikmin's just not really ever meant much of a big deal to people beyond that tight Nintendo obsessed core. For it to have been the big "BUT LOOK, _____ IS COMING!" game for WiiU so long is madness. Its still largely based on Wiimote controls even, what with being a holdover.

pikmin 1 outsold star fox adventures worldwide. pikmin 2 outsold star fox assault worldwide. i went over this recently when someone suggested f-zero and star fox would be good franchises to revive versus pikmin (they wouldn't).

Definitely not surprising because at least the Gamecube was never sold at a loss.

it was after they dropped it to $99.99

 

[The Horror the horror]

pikmin 1 outsold star fox adventures worldwide. pikmin 2 outsold star fox assault worldwide. i went over this recently when someone suggested f-zero and star fox would be good franchises to revive versus pikmin (they wouldn't).



it was after they dropped it to $99.99

Just the original Pikmin releases, or do the numbers include the Wii-control versions, as well?

 

[Jomjom]

it was after they dropped it to $99.99

Ah I didn't know that. I always hear people everywhere say it never sold at a loss. I stand corrected if true.

 

[Hero]

Their spring and summer lineups need to be amazing if they want to survive. Their holiday lineup needs to be even better than that if they want to compete.

game & wario, wii fit u, and pikmin 3. three games that should have been launch titles and really look like it.

I agree with you Alberto, I was just going under the premise that the titles Anihawk mentioned would be able to let Wii U do at least six-digits during NPD months.

Pikmin 3 really should've been pushed to launch or at least January/February.

 

[AniHawk]

Just the original Pikmin releases, or do the numbers include the Wii-control versions, as well?

pikmin 1 on the gamecube outsold star fox adventure on the gamecube.

 

[ascii42]

it was after they dropped it to $99.99

Though at that point the GBA was selling like crazy, which balanced things out.

Ah I didn't know that. I always hear people everywhere say it never sold at a loss. I stand corrected if true.

Nintendo was highly profitable during the GameCube lifespan, and people often ignore the GBA.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I had no idea the Vita even sold in the tens of thousands range...

That's much better than I thought! I see a faint glimmer of hope...

 

[Projectjustice]

Dropping the price at this point would be sucide.

 

[ascii42]

I had no idea the Vita even sold in the tens of thousands range...

That's much better than I thought! I see a faint glimmer of hope...

I guess 35k >0... but I wouldn't exactly call that a glimmer of hope.

 

[UberTag]

Over 3,500 replies, the record is about to be broken (3,563) xD

Clearly the secret to getting mammoth-sized NPD threads is for the NPD to provide us with little to no data whatsoever and for us to speculate as to what it might be. We've cracked the code!

 

[Jhriad]

Dropping the price at this point would be sucide.

How so?

 

[Tobor]

Dropping the price at this point would be sucide.

There aren't many scenarios left that aren't suicide.

 

[airmangataosenai]

Clearly the secret to getting mammoth-sized NPD threads is for the NPD to provide us with little to no data whatsoever and for us to speculate as to what it might be. We've cracked the code!

It's like a puzzle!

 

[Duxxy3]

Dropping the price at this point would be sucide.

Sad but true. Sales are not going up until Pikmin 3 at the earliest, even then sales may not going up much. Safer to drop the price around august or september.

 

[Valkyria]

Over 3,500 replies, the record is about to be broken (3,563) xD

Cuenta con mi espada Bruno!

Spoiler

You have my sword

 

[A Human Becoming]

We need more numbers. 3DS is what I'm most interested in learning.

 

[Projectjustice]

Sad but true. Sales are not going up until Pikmin 3 at the earliest, even then sales may not going up much. Safer to drop the price around august or september.

Exactly, all those that think this is a good idea dont have any experience with how products should be handle. Nintendo lowers the price now and Wii U is finished.

 

[Hero]

Pikmin is also a pretty relevant franchise in Japan. I don't think Star Fox is anymore.

 

[sflufan]

Can you explain the joke to me? I understand it's parodying something, but I don't recognize the source.

It's BRILLIANTLY parodying this bit of Stallone's dialogue from First Blood:

Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about.

We were in this bar in Saigon and this kid comes up, this kid carrying a shoe-shine box. And he says "Shine, please, shine!" I said no. He kept askin', yeah, and Joey said "Yeah." And I went to get a couple of beers, and the box was wired, and he opened up the box, fucking blew his body all over the place. And he's laying there, he's fucking screaming. There's pieces of him all over me, just...like this, and I'm tryin' to pull him off, you know, my friend that's all over me! I've got blood and everything and I'm tryin' to hold him together! I'm puttin'...the guy's fuckin' insides keep coming out! And nobody would help! Nobody would help! He's saying, sayin' "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" He keeps calling my name! "I wanna go home, Johnny! I wanna drive my Chevy!" I said "With what? I can't find your fuckin' legs! I can't find your legs!"

 

[JaxJag]

I'm I right by thinking that because of the Wii U's controller, it will be incredibly hard to Nintendo to cut costs as time goes on like your typical consoles?

 

[airmangataosenai]

It is amazing how quickly this thread climbed to the all-time size charts. Less than a day to number one? Damn!

 

[ascii42]

I'm I right by thinking that because of the Wii U's controller, it will be incredibly hard to Nintendo to cut costs as time goes on like your typical consoles?

Most likely, yes.

 

[Majmun]

Nintendo stock lower than at end of Gamecube life.

Damnnn

Nintendo back to earth again