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[shinobi602]

Edit: Turnaround meaning significantly more than what it's selling now. It's at what, 50k a month or something? Double, triple, quadruple that a month basically.

Was discussing with a friend earlier about the Wii U's prospects given the coming launch of the Xbox One and PS4 and the topic moved into the upcoming titles coming in the next couple months for the console.

Obviously at the forefront is SM3DW. I'm of the opinion that it's exactly the killer app the Wii U needs, coupled with a recent price drop, and hopefully (keyword) an uptick in marketing. My friend disagreed and that the ship has already sailed. However with SM3DW, it's really the only major, major exclusive that differentiates it from the other 2 this holiday. Most of the other games are also on competitor consoles sans Sonic: Lost World and things like Wii Party U which are only on the Wii U but realistically those won't do a damn thing.

Thoughts?

 

[Mrbob]

Nope. Not enough 3rd party support.

Edit: I should clarify. I think SM3DW will help, but unless 3rd parties hop back on the Wii U train there is no PS3 style turnaround happening.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Mario moves systems.

 

[Silky]

Nope. Not at all. Mario doesn't save consoles anymore.

Not by itself at least. The way DK was set up to be after Mario, Wii-U were going to have a constant string of hit after hit after hit. Now? ....Eh.

Smash Bros will pick things up.

 

[Scrawnton]

Not if the rumored software drought for the beginning of 2014 is true.

 

[EloquentM]

Probably not but it's still a system seller.

Nope. Not at all. Mario doesn't save consoles anymore.

Lol

 

[Courage]

What do you mean by turnaround? It'll definitely boost its sales, but I don't think the WiiU will ever have a successful turnaround where the console won't be considered a failure.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

It will boost it a bit, that's for sure.

I don't care about 3rd party support, Nintendo's magic is enough for me. I know that isn't the same for everyone, but that's why most buy Nintendo consoles.

 

[Guevara]

It's not turning around. Sales might improve but it's never going to look good.

 

[Silky]

Lol

How'd NSMBU and 3D Land work for the Wii-U and 3DS? Or how about NSMLU?

Anyway; Wii-U's destined to be a long term seller. Once things pick up with DK in Feb, we might see some thangs.

 

[BigPickZel]

I would like that to be the case, but I don't think it will be. Instead it'll be us Wii U owners in five years reminiscing about how great the system was, sort of like Dreamcast owners are now.

 

[cafemomo]

Didn't you sell your WiiU?

Saw it in the market place a long while back


OT:

Yes, but it would of have been way much better for Nintendo to release MK8 this November/December

 

[Baleoce]

I think your friend for the most part is right. The killer apps like SM3DW will do a great job of getting everyone who was already interested in a Wii U to finally seal the deal though.

 

[hongcha]

It will cause a brief rise in sales, followed by a steep drop back down to the dumpster it currently resides in sales-wise.

 

[Cess007]

The game will do fine by itself and maybe move a couple of thousands of WiiUs. But i really doubt it will save the console; just as neither Smash, Wind Waker and Sunshine didn't save the GameCube.

 

[Josh7289]

This bears repeating:

 

[histopher]

I am beyond hyped for 3D World and will be getting a U just for it (and Brawl). Will wait for a deal though or if I can pick one up second hand.

 

[Zornack]

What is a "turn around?" Sales equal to GameCube levels? Sure. Wii levels, or even something on par with XB1/PS4? Hell no.

 

[hatchx]

I guess we need to define "turn-around".


It'll never sell Wii levels, and it will most likely never reach 360/Ps3 levels. If that's what you meant by turn-around, then no.

If by turn around you meant sell on par or better than Gamecube, then why yes, it is very possible.


It would be a phenomenon for the WiiU to turn around and sell 50 million unit's in it's lifetime imo.


EDIT - more or less beaten

 

[EloquentM]

How'd NSMBU and 3D Land work for the Wii-U and 3DS? Or how about NSMLU?

Look up the attachment rate for NSMBU. obviously a bundle would help sales. 3D land is one of the 3DS' best selling games, so it obviously aided in turning around the 3DS. NSLU is DLC...so

 

[shinobi602]

Didn't you sell your WiiU?

Saw it in the market place a long while back

Yea, sort of regretting it at the moment but I needed the money at that moment in time. Going to have to repurchase one in the future.

 

[Log4Girlz]

I think the Wii U is poised to sell gamecube like figures. That system had plenty of great games on it, and that didn't do much. If it can shift systems, we'll see this holiday season. This is Nintendo's last chance.

 

[axisofweevils]

I certainly think that it is the first real must have on the system. (Not saying the other games aren't good. Pikmin 3, Lego City and TW101 are all enjoyable games and will probably make my top 10 best games of 2013 list, but they just lack the "Holy crap! Must get this now to play it!" factor that SM3DW seems to have.)

 

[ASIS]

I think so. It won't "save" the Wii U, but it could be the starting point of it turning around.... That's if it ever gets better.

 

[Amir0x]

There is no way Wii U can "turn it around" if that means dominating the market or even coming in a strong second place. It's simply too far gone, and they didn't drop the price near enough to justify buying when the rest of the downsides remain in place.

They can however happily carve out a little profit and, sure, Mario 3D World would be something that helps those ends.

 

[nhlducks35]

It would have to be one of the greatest turn arounds in history

 

[EloquentM]

What is a "turn around?" Sales equal to GameCube levels? Sure. Wii levels, or even something on par with XB1/PS4? Hell no.

Not that I disagree, but those systems aren't even out. Unless you're from the future of course.

 

[Guevara]

It would have to be one of the greatest turn arounds in history

lol -No Charting Hits- gets me every time.

 

[Poimandres]

How'd NSMBU and 3D Land work for the Wii-U and 3DS? Or how about NSMLU?

Anyway; Wii-U's destined to be a long term seller. Once things pick up with DK in Feb, we might see some thangs.

NSMBU has a ridiculously high attach rate. It's worth noting that the Wii U sold pretty well out of the gate, and NSMBU was most likely a key factor in the launch sales.

The Christmas period when 3D Land launched is when the 3DS really turned around, so it worked well. Mind you, there were other big games that came out around the time.

That said, I can see the Wii U getting a modest bump this holiday but there will be no turnaround. Maybe if this was Mario Kart things would be different, but all of the buzz will be with the new consoles and people looking for a cheap alternative will be more interested in 360/PS3. Several regions have all but dropped the Wii U already, and there's no going back from that.

 

[ThomasAnderson]

It will boost it a bit, that's for sure.

I don't care about 3rd party support, Nintendo's magic is enough for me. I know that isn't the same for everyone, but that's why most buy Nintendo consoles.

I agree. This is the beginning of a HUGE turnaround. A strong holiday followed by DK in Feb, and hopefully Kart and Smash not too far after, looks like they are in position to keep momentum going.

Then again, I'm an optimist when it comes to Nintendo

 

[Glass Joe]

It will be a shot in the arm but I would hesitate to predict a "turn-around." Moving DK to February is probably a good idea to combat a 1Q drought, they need to have a major title each quarter instead of having another momentum killing first half. And when they say Spring for Mario Kart, they'd better meet that deadline. They should be happy if they can right the ship to make the ecosystem resemble "Gamecube level" in overall market penetration.

 

[John Harker]

It's going to take a lot more, honestly. Not all retailers have a lot of faith in the console right now... some aren't even carrying Wii U sku's of games launching this year. If they don't buy, we can't buy.

 

[EloquentM]

I think the Wii U is poised to sell gamecube like figures. That system had plenty of great games on it, and that didn't do much. If it can shift systems, we'll see this holiday season. This is Nintendo's last chance.

Dramatic much?

 

[Prince Vultan]

Depends on what you consider a "turnaround" I guess.

Best case scenario for this console is looking like it's gonna be Gamecube level ltd numbers. It is simply never going to come close to being as popular as the Wii, no matter how many mascots Nintendo throws at the wall to see what sticks.

That single first party game it has so much riding on may give it a minor boost for Christmas, but the fact that it's coming out dead centre of next gen launch season, when Wii U is guaranteed to be buried, is going to have a major effect on what impact it might have otherwise had.

 

[JordanN]

Edit: Ok, now since the meaning is up, I think Wii U would sell better but it wouldn't be something to brag about. There's a whole host of problems Nintendo hasn't addressed with Wii U that Mario can only do so much for it.

 

[UberTag]

Mario Kart + price drop is the last great hope for a Wii U sales jolt.
I say this even though Mario 3D World will be my most anticipated game (apart from X) when I finally pick up a system.

The Wii U's going to be too overshadowed by next-gen systems and Pokemon to derive any sort of momentum from Mario 3D World's release this fall.

 

[Mileena]

I doubt it, Mario will do good for Wii U but the problem is that's it. Nothing else in 2013 is going to boost the sales and I don't think this is the kind of Mario game that could carry a console on it's back like SM64 did for a while.

 

[-Eddman-]

Don't think so. Nintendo insists to use their Directs as their main source of marketing, and those are virtually unknown to people outside the gaming community. For example the latest 3D Mario trailer. It was great and showed many new and exciting mechanics. Why the hell didn't they show that at E3?

Nintendo's marketing is beyond abysmal these days and that, in my opinion, will prevent the Wii U (that name, damn) from becoming a success. Even if it looks kind of complicated at first, I think Wonderful 101 shouldn't have sold as horribly as it did with a decent ad campaign.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Wait for mario kart

 

[MrSaturn99]

Not really. If NSMBU didn't turn things around, what will?

 

[Baleoce]

It would have to be one of the greatest turn arounds in history

Well if this pattern is anything to go by, it does indicate that there'll be a sales increase for an extended period later on in the year + into next year, but it also seems to show that it will be far less potent of a turnaround than with any of the previous consoles. Then you take into account there's 2 systems launching this fall.

 

[UNCMark]

Nope. Not by a longshot. When it releases it will be completely overshadowed by the release of two new consoles. The thing that will continue to haunt Nintendo is their inability to garner support from the likes of companies such as Bethesda. When the new Fallout comes and inevitably it isn't on the Wii U, that's huge. And the entire generation will just be one endless parade of multiplatform games not also available on the WIi U. That's 100 percent the fault of Nintendo. When the gimmick becomes the key selling point, you risk failing badly if the gimmick isn't attractive, and off-tv support just isnt attractive.

 

[Carpe Libertatem]

How'd NSMBU and 3D Land work for the Wii-U and 3DS? Or how about NSMLU?

Anyway; Wii-U's destined to be a long term seller. Once things pick up with DK in Feb, we might see some thangs.

3D Land is the fastest selling 3D Mario game and has sold almost 9 million copies in a little over a year. It worked pretty well for the 3DS.

 

[Derrick01]

Mario moves systems.

NSMB U has been out since launch and the system has been selling 40k for almost all of those months. Not much of a system seller, unless we're counting like 1 million consoles a huge seller.

 

[73V3N]

I was going to get one by the end of 2014.

after that SM3DW trailer, I'm thinking about getting one this christmas.

so.. that's +1 at least

 

[Baleoce]

Nintendo insists to use their Directs as their main source of marketing, and those are virtually unknown to people outside the gaming community. For example the latest 3D Mario trailer. It was great and showed many new and exciting mechanics. Why the hell didn't they show that at E3?

I agree with you. I've never understood this about Nintendo Directs marketing. Surely it's only useful for people who were already interested in the system in the first place. I thought the whole idea of marketing was to reach out to anyone and make them potential consumers.

 

[ascii42]

Well if this pattern is anything to go by, it does indicate that there'll be a sales increase for an extended period later on in the year + into next year, but it also seems to show that it will be far less potent of a turnaround than with any of the previous consoles. Then you take into account there's 2 systems launching this fall.

Yeah. None of those other systems had any systems launch the next year, so that'll be interesting.

 

[BlackJace]

NSMB U has been out since launch and the system has been selling 40k for almost all of those months. Not much of a system seller, unless we're counting like 1 million consoles a huge seller.

It has an insane attach rate of 80-something percent, so I don't think it's a stretch to say that people that bought the thing got it for NSMBU.

 

[EloquentM]

Don't think so. Nintendo insists to use their Directs as their main source of marketing, and those are virtually unknown to people outside the gaming community. For example the latest 3D Mario trailer. It was great and showed many new and exciting mechanics. Why the hell didn't they show that at E3?

Nintendo's marketing is beyond abysmal these days and that, in my opinion, will prevent the Wii U (that name, damn) from becoming a success. Even if it looks kind of complicated at first, I think Wonderful 101 shouldn't have sold as horribly as it did with a decent ad campaign.

This is incorrect.

 

[Talamius]

It'll be interesting to see, but i think Mario Kart is the title Wii U had to have for the holidays.