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Pachter: Wii U a "mistake Nintendo may never recover from"

It's fine. Let's be honest here--Nintendo's expectations of the market have been off in every respect recently. I've learned to ignore every Nintendo sales "expectation."

We do, however, have sales numbers. Compare the sales numbers to DS, which released in a market with absolutely ZERO iOS/smartphone/tablet market saturation, and it's doing quite well--MUCH better than people thought after it's first 3 months on the market.

Part of the understanding I have with the struggles of the 3DS are that apparently, software sales are struggling. Yes, hardware doesn't look too bad, although year-over-year decline is certainly troubling. But I've gotten the impression that some of the Nintendo software does all right, but many third party offerings that would have done well back in the DS days are struggling.
 
The only reason I brought up the Vita was because you were comparing 1 Sony system (Which you called successful, then backtracked. :p) to 2 'struggling' Nintendo systems, while ignoring the almost dead system Sony have around their neck.

I didn't backtrack, but you're right in pointing out that I'm not all that committed to calling the PS3 a "success". =)
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
The other option that no one talks about is Nintendo going private rather than 3rd party. They could conceivably do so and still make a decent business out of being a 1st party niche business.
 

QaaQer

Member
The other option that no one talks about is Nintendo going private rather than 3rd party. They could conceivably do so and still make a decent business out of being a 1st party niche business.

Whose going to buy them? If you are thinking private equity, that would be a disaster for Nintendo fans.
 

DasMarcos

Banned
The keyword here is "may" guys and girls. Unfortunately none of us actually knows how the future is going to play out. The PS4 and next Xbox could end up in disaster and so could the Wii U, there just has to be more time for this gen to develop.

Things definitely don't look good for the Wii U, it's true. But it is just way too earlier to say anything too damning.
 
Until the marketing improves and the Wii U isn't the most expensive option out on the market, it's going to continue to have issues. Sales may improve with the release of some first party games, but that's just for people like us. John Smith Jr. down the road just wants what he can afford and that matches what his friends own.

The "doomed or not" predictions that we go over every 2 weeks is getting old though.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Part of the understanding I have with the struggles of the 3DS are that apparently, software sales are struggling. Yes, hardware doesn't look too bad, although year-over-year decline is certainly troubling. But I've gotten the impression that some of the Nintendo software does all right, but many third party offerings that would have done well back in the DS days are struggling.

But that's the entire market right now. Software is down across the board.

Well, that and the fact that $40 is way too much for a portable game. The public has clearly rejected that pricing structure.
 
The Gamecube era was propped up by the GBA. I dont think the 3DS is putting up anywhere near GBA revenue.

Nintendo will likely converge the Wii and DS lines into something new. Its about that time, and it'll work out for them, I feel. The Wii U bombing hard worldwide in every territory doesn't take away from Nintendo's potential, just their presence.
 
They can definitely recover from it. I mean they recovered from the horrible bomb that was the Gamecube. It will be difficult though. They ceded the core market to Sony and MS and the casual market has mostly gone to tablets and smartphones. They need to find another market to conquer, as well as hope that they can keep making money off of Mario, Zelda, etc.
 

jstripes

Banned
Agreed. Pikmin isn't going to sell this thing at all.

I believe Mario Kart, on the other hand, clearly will. The Wii version sold gangbusters. If they release a holiday bundle with Mario Kart this holiday along with a price cut I honestly believe it could win the holiday season.

Mario Kart won't do it either. It's an "evergreen" title, but not something that makes a huge public splash.

Wii hooked in a huge install base with Wii Sports and then Wii Fit, which were newish ideas that caught the public imagination. Wii U needs a game that makes the public say "OMG! I need this!", or it'll languish as a new GameCube. (Neither a success nor a failure, but still a disappointment.)
 

Servbot24

Banned
Nintendo really need to go all out on Wii U to get it established before the imminent Ps4/720 launch. At this point it seems like Nintendo doesn't even realize/care that they're coming.

They can definitely recover from it. I mean they recovered from the horrible bomb that was the Gamecube.

Fans loved GameCube though, it had some amazing titles. Wii U is very early, but if they don't release those same types of classics, you have to wonder if they'll wear out the patience of their faithful fans.
 

Coolwhip

Banned
Someone should photoshop Pachter on this:

sp_1411_clip05.jpg
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Mario Kart won't do it either. It's an "evergreen" title, but not something that makes a huge public splash.

Wii hooked in a huge install base with Wii Sports and then Wii Fit, which were newish ideas that caught the public imagination. Wii U needs a game that makes the public say "OMG! I need this!", or it'll languish as a new GameCube. (Neither a success nor a failure, but still a disappointment.)

Mario Kart Wii sold over a million copies in four days. That's not a "big splash?"

Mario Kart 7 sold 3DS, Mario Kart DS sold DS, and Mario Kart Wii sold Wiis. I'm not sure how this evidence points to anything other than it being a popular title that makes people want the system.
 

Kouriozan

Member
Yeah PS3 wasn't a success because they lost too much money, but it didn't kill them.
The "may never recover" is too strong, even from an analyst. Maybe he is just so close to have what he want.
 
"I think they misfired on the Wii U," said Pachter. "It's just not that different from the other two [existing] consoles, and the gameplay isn't as unique as the Wii..."

parents will still buy it (if they're able to afford it). but, yeah, otherwise, this's hard to disagree with: the wii was a unique phenomenon, but the wii u never will be...

but i'm still not seeing 'not a sensation' as necessarily being the same thing as 'doomed' :) ...
 

AZ Greg

Member
I love how you guys call him the drama queen but then assume his "may never recover" line is him saying the WiiU is going the way of the Dramcast and Nintendo the way of Sega!

I take it as never recover enough to become market leader ala last generation or never recover enough to get solid 3rd party support.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
What does he mean by recover? GameCube only sold 21 million and Nintendo still made big profits from it.

Truthfully I am getting tired of Pachter, I wish I can have his job though, get payed for saying randomness.

I think GC levels are about all we can expect unless something drastic changes. It will either take Microsoft and Sony making colossal f-ups or somehow Nintendo reaches out to third parties. Basically, it will take a miracle.

The trend is that you buy a Nintendo machine for Nintendo games. This dates back to the N64 and I see no sign of that changing ever.
 

Hero

Member
What a flip-flopper. He said it was going to bomb, then he said it would be sold out until March, now he's saying Nintendo will never recover from it. Come on, Pach.
 

giggas

Member
The other option that no one talks about is Nintendo going private rather than 3rd party. They could conceivably do so and still make a decent business out of being a 1st party niche business.

Do you mean like how they initially launched the NES and didn't allow third parties to develop for them? If so, it's funny because I was actually thinking along the same lines earlier. I wonder if something like that is possible in this day and age?
 

KarmaCow

Member
Bonus Round 2012: "Wii U is fine, 3DS is dead"



Now we are guaranteed that Wii U will make a comeback.

It's pretty amazing how he's been consistently wrong. It can't even be chance at this point, he must be trolling for hits (for a show he doesn't get paid forapparently?)
 
Part of the understanding I have with the struggles of the 3DS are that apparently, software sales are struggling. Yes, hardware doesn't look too bad, although year-over-year decline is certainly troubling. But I've gotten the impression that some of the Nintendo software does all right, but many third party offerings that would have done well back in the DS days are struggling.

The 40$ pricepoint is definitely screwing with them when you can get smartphone games for 99c or free. Lowering it to 30$ for "premium" software might do the trick but that would require games with less content, cutting manufacturing costs, having strong alternate revenue streams like digital and DLC, or even Nintendo taking a hit with royalties. It's not an easy position in the West.
 
Half price in 4 months, tells you something.

That's true, I have 6 3DS games, and have paid no more then $20 for any of them (except KH which I paid $30), all of them being Nintendo titles


for the DS, I don't remember Nintendo title ever going on sale, even years after release With the 3DS it's not quite common
 

jstripes

Banned
Mario Kart Wii sold over a million copies in four days. That's not a "big splash?"

Mario Kart 7 sold 3DS, Mario Kart DS sold DS, and Mario Kart Wii sold Wiis. I'm not sure how this evidence points to anything other than it being a popular title that makes people want the system.

Mario Kart is a big game, I never said it wasn't, but it doesn't sell systems. Not in the way Nintendo needs, anyway. (Brain Age sold DS, not Mario Kart. I don't know what the 3DS' killer app is, I think it just steadily crept upward in sales after its price drop.)

Mario Kart is one of those titles that sells in big numbers to people who typically already own the system, or in a bundle after the system is established.
 

Boss Man

Member
So, does this mean it's a mistake Nintendo will recover from, or it wasn't a mistake?

I'm not sure how to apply the "Opposite of Pachter" rule in this case.
It's not a mistake that they will recover from.

So still doomed I think.
 

Vinci

Danish
I still have faith that Nintendo know what they're doing.

This could simply be part of the plan.

Can't find a blue ocean every generation. No one can. Nintendo may or may not recover, but that's going to depend very heavily on how they approach their future hardware. The value of traditional console hardware may be waning to a point where the company needs to reevaluate its stance in the market.

BTW, I am in no way suggesting they should go 3rd party. That would change the company in a huge number of ways that may prove destructive.
 
It's fine. Let's be honest here--Nintendo's expectations of the market have been off in every respect recently. I've learned to ignore every Nintendo sales "expectation."

We do, however, have sales numbers. Compare the sales numbers to DS, which released in a market with absolutely ZERO iOS/smartphone/tablet market saturation, and it's doing quite well--MUCH better than people thought after it's first 3 months on the market.

It´s not fine, and it´s not up to you to decide that. The machine is not living up to Nintendo´s expectations, which means that their share price is going to suffer. In my post i did not compare it to the DS. I compared it to last year´s 3DS result. The 3DS had 5 weeks in January´s NPD, and yet it sold less than last year even though the 3DS in January 2012 NPD and it had 4 weeks to count. And lol, it does not matter one bit that you think it´s fine as long as the 3DS is under performing it´s failing to meet Nintendo´s expectations, it means it´s failing and the share price of the company will fall because of it, and their finance will suffer as well.
 

Schnozberry

Member
He is clearly barking at the moon. Nintendo may struggle for some months to get the Wii U established, but I think the second analyst is closer to reality.

It needs games and a new marketing strategy. A price drop for the holidays will help as well. But to say they will never recover is to make the case that Nintendo's IP won't sell the system, which is nonsense. It may not be the market leader when all is said and done, but I think Nintendo will make money on it.
 
I love how you guys call him the drama queen but then assume his "may never recover" line is him saying the WiiU is going the way of the Dramcast and Nintendo the way of Sega!

I take it as never recover enough to become market leader ala last generation or never recover enough to get solid 3rd party support.

Yep, some people will read doom-and-gloom into anything. I read it the way you did. He's basically saying that whatever chance they had to catch lightning in a bottle again is dead and gone.
 
While I think it's way too early to call, this console has the ability to really hurt nintendo

sales are going to be very bad till that next Mario game launches. Luckily I only paid $285 for my Wii U deluxe, which softens the blow of buying it day1
 
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