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[Delusibeta]

So WiiU LTD is 1.1m roughly.

PS3 was 1.3m at that point.

I suppose that underlines my concerns at the new gen. If both consoles fail to blast out of the blocks, then we'll have a bunch of consoles that's not worth supporting, and publishers has a choice of either bailing out and becoming tablet/smartphone/PC exclusive or taking a risk and praying that the market recovers.

 

[LuchaShaq]

Still think songs biggest mistake wasn't have a vita that was phone capable.

I would love to just carry my vita and ditch my phone.

 

[randomkid]

Any numbers for Soul Hackers creamsugar?

This is the portable game with Soul in the title that people should actually care about this month!

Mainly I just wanna know if it beat Etrian Odyssey. 15K, gotta be better than that right?

 

[ThisWreckage]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

 

[Razdek]

Some consumers are generally ignorant of PS+. I don't think it will exactly shift many units but its better than having nothing besides a CoD and AC bundle right now.

I personally would prefer a Killzone bundle, as its the newer game.

People who buy the Vita are usually the hardcore and aware of PS+ and all the free games. Bundling a game that's already free to download is not an incentive for them. It's pretty obvious the Vita isn't selling to the casual gamer.

 

[Speevy]

Uncharted won't always be free on PS+.

Well I doubt anyone cares what PS+ is anyway. It's great for us, but if a giant poster in the middle of Gamestop isn't doing it, nothing will.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

just to defeat any sense of mystery, here is what is going to happen.

the wii u will fold after the next holiday season. nintendo may fizzle the 3ds out and they focus on one piece of hardware to merge the two businesses into one. i suspect the next console zelda will just get moved to this new machine, and might serve as a launch title.

after that, you can get all your nintendo games in one place. it'll be sorta like the dreamcast with sega focused on one machine. just lots of games. that's the good news. the bad news: it won't be the games you want. it will be past franchises all day every day, and only the ones that sell a lot. no pikmin, no sin & punishment, no f-zero.

I'm for this.

 

[MikeE21286]

gears J sold bad,glad since it wasn't that great.

I'm glad since it was such an obvious gap-filler and cash in.

Probably hurt the franchise.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I suppose that underlines my concerns at the new gen. If both consoles fail to blast out of the blocks, then we'll have a bunch of consoles that's not worth supporting, and publishers has a choice of either bailing out and becoming tablet/smartphone/PC exclusive or taking a risk and praying that the market recovers.

The chances of that happening are extremely low.

 

[TheUnknownForce]

I'm at least glad Nintendo waited until AFTER the NPD to do a Nintendo Direct.

The chances of that happening are extremely low.

I wonder how much the cross-gen support of third party games will slow the transition to new consoles, especially if they are going to be $400-$500.

Things have gotten crazy in this generational transition.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Noooo! Someone convince me this is all a horrible dream and this system is not going to pile drive Bayonetta AND Pikmin into an early grave at the same time! Oh the humanity!

SHHHHH!!!! It's all a dream. Now lay your head down on your pillow and go to sleep. And remember: Nintendo didn't just come in your room and steal your wallet to help finance the Wii U.

 

[Keyouta]

Don't worry. There's still a chance that they release something like Mario's Space Trip. Mario crashes with his space ship on some planet. The player needs to collect the different parts of his space ship in the game and uses a bunch of small Toads to carry them and to fight against Goombas and Koopas.

Also possible: Wii Strategy, where you play as your Mii.

Please no, please.

 

[mothball]

the bad news: it won't be the games you want. it will be past franchises all day every day, and only the ones that sell a lot. no pikmin, no sin & punishment, no f-zero.

Good to know they won't be changing.

 

[metalslimer]

Still think songs biggest mistake wasn't have a vita that was phone capable.

I would love to just carry my vita and ditch my phone.

It would have bombed even harder as a phone. At this point, phones have surpassed Vita in specs and by next year there will be a huge gulf. Vita wouldn't even be a mid end phone by then. A handheld cannot function as both a phone and same quality game player. Unless they started releasing Vita phones every year but no one wants a clunky Vita besides the people who already own it which is few.

 

[Amir0x]

I'm for this.

Yup. I said for a while they should have just got full handheld/console combo with the Wii U. Would have solved so many problems and might have then actually been a genuine strategic advantage over its competitors.

 

[jj984jj]

I wonder what XSEED expected for Pandora's Tower.

~20k is probably not a bad result for them.

 

[Freki]

So WiiU LTD is 1.1m roughly.

PS3 was 1.3m at that point.

Add 599$ for even more perspective...

 

[shinra-bansho]

I've just used 37K for Wii U as the midpoint between 33K and 40K.

Monthly, launch-aligned.

LTD, launch-aligned.

Against Vita, weekly average in post-launch months.

Vita launched in Feb, Wii U in Nov.

 

[MikeE21286]

Still think songs biggest mistake wasn't have a vita that was phone capable.

I would love to just carry my vita and ditch my phone.

I totally agree.

If they were interested in "saving" the Vita they would have transferred it to a mobile platform.

 

[Razdek]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

Doesn't that make it worse for Sony when they're trying so hard to gain customers and Microsoft is pretty much just coasting along?

 

[Delusibeta]

The chances of that happening are extremely low.

It's happening now for the WiiU at least. I fear its failure is not solely due to Nintendo fucking up.

 

[Gadirok]

People who buy the Vita are usually the hardcore and aware of PS+ and all the free games. Bundling a game that's already free to download is not an incentive for them. It's pretty obvious the Vita isn't selling to the casual gamer.

Tell that to one of the best selling games on the Vita. Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified.


Hell, I remember seeing people picking up the Vita Call of Duty bundle simply out of hype along with a bunch of games and accessories back in November. It was the weirdest thing ever.

I was just picking up a Pulse headset at the time, but it was just funny to watch.

 

[Shard]

Until no one releases any games for it for an entire month?

That happened in Winter and it was two months.

 

[Speevy]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

Microsoft has been winning with third party games for two years now. It's just a more popular console.

 

[Ridley327]

I'm at least glad Nintendo waited until AFTER the NPD to do a Nintendo Direct.

They must be really confident in what they're showing tomorrow!

Spoiler

I don't actually believe this.

 

[BlackJace]

I'm at least glad Nintendo waited until AFTER the NPD to do a Nintendo Direct.

I was just thinking this.

 

[ohlawd]

This is the portable game with Soul in the title that people should actually care about this month!

Mainly I just wanna know if it beat Etrian Odyssey. 15K, gotta be better than that right?

Truth. I'd like to know SH numbers as well.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

WiiU has its NSMBU and ZombiU. 2 decent games. It also got Monster Hunter.

Things are bad now but I expect next year around the same period that the hardware sales will be significantly higher for the wiiU given Mario kart, 3D mario, and hype of bayonetta 2, zelda, etc will be rolling.

I'm more concerned of the Vita's long term future given the lack of forward software support hasn't been announced yet.

If anyone needs a relaunch its the Vita.

Wii U having at least the potential for a future is why it needs a relaunch. Time it this summer with a key title (Pikmin 3?), chop $100 off the price, throw in NSMBU and launch a bunch of games in succession leading to the big holiday games. It's really the only way.

Relaunching Vita wouldn't matter, it fucked either way. Sony may as well ride it out and lose as little as they can in the process.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Noooo! Someone convince me this is all a horrible dream and this system is not going to pile drive Bayonetta AND Pikmin into an early grave at the same time! Oh the humanity!

To be fair, Bayonetta was already dead.

 

[Raist]

Uncharted is not a big deal. In the thread where Ubisoft listed the top 20 franchises of the Wii/Ps3/360 generation, Uncharted was nowhere to be seen.

17m as of April 2012. Yeah, not a big deal.

 

[DragonSworne]

Nintendo has single-handedly destroyed the US video game market.

The collapse of Wii will be studied for generations.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

The Xbox 360 sold 130K.

PS3 sold above 100K.

In what world is this getting your "ass handed to you" in NA and seemingly "in trouble?"

This gen is long in the tooth, and it's starting to become apparent right now, just in time for new consoles.

 

[Gadirok]

I've just used 37K for Wii U as the midpoint between 33K and 40K.

Monthly, launch-aligned.

LTD, launch-aligned.

Against Vita, weekly average in post-launch months.

Vita launched in Feb, Wii U in Nov.

Woah WiiU outsold the PS3 and 360 in its first month? That's pretty good.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Okay seriously question here (really need to lay off the energy drinks):

So let's say that the Wii U doesn't pick up in sales like Nintendo is praying to every deity they can think that it will. What exactly does that mean for Nintendo for the next few years? Sure, they got the finances right now to float by... but can they really relaunch with an HD title over half way through next gen?

 

[AniHawk]

The chances of that happening are extremely low.

i can see a situation next year at this time where the best-selling console is also around 150k. that might even be the 360 again if it gets a price drop. if the systems are $500, it'll be more like how the ps3 took off.

that's not to say they won't eventually say a lot, just that it'll be growing slowly.

 

[Gadirok]

To be fair, Bayonetta was already dead.

on PS3.

 

[Loudninja]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

Most of those games did not come out yet.

GOWA and Sly Cooper are the only ones I think.

 

[Colonel Nasty]

Sony is in some real trouble in NA. The PS3 still isn't below two hundred dollars and even though they're having a fantastic software year they're still getting their ass handed to them by Microsoft (who has seemingly bailed on the 360).

I think people (the general public) don't about exclusive first party software thats not Halo/GT level. Xbox is getting every big game this year outside GT6.

 

[UberTag]

It's mostly just the Wii U and VITA that are fucked.

I wonder if Sony are going to give up on handhelds after VITA.

In the rest of the world? Probably.
In Japan it's going to be the #2 dedicated gaming platform this year.

 

[Shard]

Okay seriously question here (really need to lay off the energy drinks):

So let's say that the Wii U doesn't pick up in sales like Nintendo is praying to every deity they can think that it will. What exactly does that mean for Nintendo for the next few years? Sure, they got the finances right now to float by... but can they really relaunch with an HD title over half way through next gen?

I don't think anybody knows what Nintendo post-U plans are, even Nintendo.

 

[Gadirok]

Okay seriously question here (really need to lay off the energy drinks):

So let's say that the Wii U doesn't pick up in sales like Nintendo is praying to every deity they can think that it will. What exactly does that mean for Nintendo for the next few years? Sure, they got the finances right now to float by... but can they really relaunch with an HD title over half way through next gen?

They won't give up without a fight. Maybe relaunch the system if worst comes to worst but I would wait for the release of Mario 3D, Zelda, Mario kart etc before digging the coffin.

 

[Delusibeta]

The Xbox 360 sold 130K.

PS3 sold above 100K.

In what world is this getting your "ass handed to you" in NA and seemingly "in trouble?"

If the new consoles were doing those kinds of numbers, people will call them dead on arrival.

 

[marc^o^]

Uncharted is not a big deal. In the thread where Ubisoft listed the top 20 franchises of the Wii/Ps3/360 generation, Uncharted was nowhere to be seen.

Well it's still second best selling 1st party title, isn't it?

As you mention Nintendo best seling games from this top 20 list are releasing in the next few months = Nintendo has the material to save Wii U. They will also NEED to absorb a big loss -$75 to 100 more on each console. And voila.

 

[Freki]

Woah WiiU outsold the PS3 and 360 in its first month? That's pretty good.

360 was completely supply constrained and PS3 in some place if memory serves correctly so the implications are minimal.
I wouldn't be surprised if WiiU outsold 720 and PS4 launch alligned because I expect both to be supply constrained.

 

[Visualante2]

I'm glad since it was such an obvious gap-filler and cash in.

Probably hurt the franchise.

Beats Bulletstorm 2 though... right? Anyone?

 

[legend166]

They didn't let them walk away. They went to iOS/Android/Facebook/etc. If anything Nintendo pretty much abandoning that audience on the Wii was the biggest mistake they've made in the last decade. They wanted to get in the core gaming dollars and have failed miserably.

How did they not let them walk away? I'm not excluding Nintendo from the blame, their complete lack of support for the Wii post 2010 was horrible and I think plays some part in their troubles now.

No one made any real effort to cultivate the audience. The industry as a whole seemed to be offended that these people would dare play console games instead of trying to build games that appealed to them (which is something I think was actually done on the PS2 really well).

Now we're looking at pretty significant contraction. Costs are continuing to rise much faster than the audience. $70 games and ridiculous DLC for everyone!

 

[Four_Chamber]

Vita and Wii U both totally misjudged the market. We could all see this coming a mile away.

Not true, there were some who thought that the Vita would be a successful handheld. I remember the orgasms when the price was announced. I have no idea who these 15k that buy the Vita in the US are, but I'd love to meet them and tell them that they fought the good fight. As a guy who bought both the Saturn and Dreamcast, I know how bad it feels to watch a console that you enjoy just crash and burn.

 

[teh_pwn]

The Wii U is fine, no need to worry.












What? I said it's fine. Plenty of good games will come out and save it.





IT'S FINE! WE'VE GOT PIKMIN 3 AND A DISNEY GAME I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF COMING OUT IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS! SALES WILL SKY ROCKET!




PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE ROTTING CARCASS CURRENTLY SITTING BEHIND ME! THE WII U IS FINE!

Promote this Junior.

LOL at everyone who thinks Pikmin 3 will sell systems.

Seriously, it's nuts. Pikmin is a niche franchise that adds appeal to a platform. In a vacuum, it's not going to do much. I'm not going to buy a Wii U for Pikmin. But if you have Pikmin, Smash Bros, a Retro title, and a top tier Mario game, maybe.

It's almost like a joke at this point because Pikmin was supposed to be "launch window". When it slipped, I said it might be a Q3/Q4 thing and people mocked me. Look at Nintendo's history...they have a long history of delaying titles for several quarters to years. Especially when Miyamoto is involved.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

i've been going over it in my head again and again. this is clearly the darkest and most terrible timeline.

I sure hope the alternate universe Anihawks live in a more successful Wii-U universe with actual games

 

[metalslimer]

In the rest of the world? Probably.
In Japan it's going to be the #2 dedicated gaming platform this year.

Number 2 in Japan right now is still terrible because PSP is dying, PS3 is dying, Wii is dead, and 360 has always been dead. There is nothing to beat and with FF13-3. MGS, a price drop I wouldn't count PS3 out