This is a good point. Especially with the Miiverse plaza thing too.
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Speculating on Nintendo's WiiU software release strategy in 2014
- Thread starter hatchx
- Start date
This is a good point. Especially with the Miiverse plaza thing too.
Nintendo wont go away. They will maintain the handheld hardware. They will quite home console. It doesnt make much businness sense. Too risky for average return. They could sell exclusives for sony/microsoft or other hardware company and make easy money. Microsoft would easily pay so much for a mario game that it would balance the lack of harware income.
I love Nintendo and my wii u, but its unsustainable the way it is today. Mario 3d world looks amazing but it must drive more than 4 millions console by the end of the year to justify the system. Unless wii fit u make a miracle,and I dont see that happening, investors will try to kill game machine.
Investors won't do a thing. If they could, Nintendo would be iOS only by now.
metalslimer
Member
The 3DS had Paper Mario as its holiday title last year. Nintendo has a precedent of having some mediocre holidays and Smash is much bigger than Paper Mario. I'm not saying they won't have an amazing lineup, but with Nintendo they are never bound to do anything especially when they are missing launching MK8 this holiday
SporeCrawler
Member
you do realize that they will have to pay huge royalties to either MS or Sony.
Also who says games like Mario Kart, Mario, Wii Sports will be succesful on PS4 or Xbone? how much did comparable games sell on the respective platforms (Little Big Planet karting, Sports Champions etc.)?
yes and that hurt the system horribly last winter despite Vita being not a very strong contender.
nintendo is aware of this and the competition in the console space is not fierce
only because their position is not very good doesnt mean that they wont even try.
unlike MS or Sony if they loose the gaming business they only have the hanafuda business, which probably isnt very big.
Some Nobody
Junior Member
I'd be so pissed if this were the case. Double up and just do Zelda again Nintendo. People like that shit. Smash needs to come out in the summer.
frankie_baby
Member
while people joke about the complete lack of third party games at the very least we can expect a COD, AssCree whatever, just dance 2015, yet another skylanders and a the third sonic game (though that might as well be considered 1st party) anything else yes is up in the air though I wouldn't be surprised if fifa and madden make a return if only as cash in roster update versions at least
vs. an overpriced system in line with the 8 year old ps3 and 360 but with no games and a shitty screen on controller gimmick that is appealing to literally no one?
metalslimer
Member
I wouldn't expect AC 2014 on Wii U unless this year's version does very well, and the same can be said of CoD. The Wii kept getting versions because they all did well for what they were.
I would be shocked if not Japan next year. Xenoblade completed development in 2010. It only seems like a short dev period since the US version was 2012.
We can't "expect" any 3rd party support at all. Even more so with the rumors about Ubisoft monitoring Wii U sales closely other hand ready to pull the plug.
Will we see a Zelda title in 2014? Seems too soon, only 3 years after SS....
They might and try to push it if Wii U sales don't improve as much as they want but an all new HD Zelda might take longer and given they have Mario Kart and Smash Bros I doubt Zelda would help that much.
But 2014 does seem like a good year on the exclusive front on the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 seems amazing.
They might and try to push it if Wii U sales don't improve as much as they want but an all new HD Zelda might take longer and given they have Mario Kart and Smash Bros I doubt Zelda would help that much.
But 2014 does seem like a good year on the exclusive front on the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 seems amazing.
SporeCrawler
Member
third sonic game yes because it is an exclusive money hat game
Nope on the other ones. Ubi, activision and WB are still supporting the system but they will drop the system fast if it doesnt do well this winter.
Zelda isnt a big seller. Doesnt make sense to push Zelda if they are in a heat.
It's been 2014 on their release schedual for a while.
Yeah Zelda's small fry compared to Kart and Smash, they would be better off making it a Spring 2015 release instead, assuming it's even anyway near ready at the end of 2014.
Some Nobody
Junior Member
All jokes aside Wii U, if its not going to get any third-party support, needs to put out 1st and 2nd party support of at least 15-20 titles a year, so something else from IntiSys would make me happy.
Yeah, I imagine this would be a good way for Nintendo to fill up the slim pickings from 3rd parties.
Though with their own teams tied up as well, I wonder just how much they can do.
metalslimer
Member
That's my plan already and it will be a good time to pick one up as the price will certainly be 250 by then if not a bit cheaper and there will be a vast back catalogue.
Maybe if you include E-shop, but Nintendo can't even get that many out on 3DS let alone Wii U. 10 would be a good result at retail.
The best Zelda of all time came out just two years after OoT.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Vs sinking more money into a sinking ship in order to reengineer the systems OS to work without a gamepad, remove some of the few features people actually like and potentially have to sink more resources into games already in development that use the game pad. Not to mention squandering what little good will they have left with the few people that actually buy their consoles.
Yeah nothing there translates as "way less characters" Plus that's a very old quote that kept getting used out of context.
Coffee Dog
Banned
Why is it that nintendo threads always turn into gamefaqs level carnivals of stupid
Why cant we ever just have a reasonable discussion
well it used the same engine and some of the same assets so cant really include majora's mask.
I also thing oot was the best Zelda
frankie_baby
Member
porting AssCree 3 cost less than a million euros to do, its fair to assume that 4 cost less still (with a lot of the hard work having been done last time), 3 was profitable, 4 should sell more (higher install base + more appealing setting)
similar situation with COD, the port wont have cost much
I don't expect it to happen, but I would really love it if they started using the Wii U as a DS/3DS HD Port machine. I would love to get a remastered Golden Sun series in HD... actually, I'd be happy for them to acknowledge that series exists in some official capacity. They's are worse that Disney with Kingdom Hearts. I'm afraid the series is heading for a MegaMan on the Moon unfinished conclusion.
Also, I think that Wii U worries are premature. If Smash comes out and fails to most systems, then I'll be worried, but as of now, they isn't a super valid reason to have to have one. Ironic, as it's the system I currently enjoy playing games on the most.
Also, I think that Wii U worries are premature. If Smash comes out and fails to most systems, then I'll be worried, but as of now, they isn't a super valid reason to have to have one. Ironic, as it's the system I currently enjoy playing games on the most.
yeah I think the wiiu will get ports of these type games for as long as the company's release ps3/360 versions as it is cheap to convert and they should easily make a profit.
But didn't they reuse most of the assets from Oot? At least the engine was the same.
This time they will probably have to build something completely new since is an HD game and they change art-style from game to game.
I expect the gap to be as big as TP --> SS.
I would have hoped that in Q1 of this year, when WiiU sales started floundering and EA stopped ordering dev kits, Iwata or someone at Nintendo would have braced themselves for something in 2014.
I find it hard to believe DK and Mario Kart will be all we get in the first half of the year from Nintendo.
Also I can see Zelda U coming along sooner than expected. They've been working on since E3 2011.
I really hope 2014 isn't as dire as many here believe. If they can get Mario Kart, Smash, and Bayonetta 2 in the first half of the year, there's actually a chance WiiU can put up a decently respectable fight against the competition.
I find it hard to believe DK and Mario Kart will be all we get in the first half of the year from Nintendo.
Also I can see Zelda U coming along sooner than expected. They've been working on since E3 2011.
I really hope 2014 isn't as dire as many here believe. If they can get Mario Kart, Smash, and Bayonetta 2 in the first half of the year, there's actually a chance WiiU can put up a decently respectable fight against the competition.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
...Prepare for massive disappointment, friend.
Yes.
A $199 Wii U with no gamepad turning a profit on every unit sold sounds FAR more attractive than the current product. Any money they'd sink on reengineering the OS to work without a gamepad (which I REALLY don't think is as difficult as everyone seems to think it is, it's not a complicated OS) they'd make back due to the price drop and actually making a profit on the thing.
It's not like they're doing huge, ambitious gamepad things with their new games anyways. 3D World, as far as I can tell, doesn't use it. Mario Kart uses it as a horn. Smash doesn't use it.
And you have to admit... anyone who actually bought this system is most likely a fanboy that would defend Nintendo to the death no matter what decision they make. They've lost their good will by dropping out of the power race with Playstation and Xbox, appealing to "teh casuals", and having no third party support. Dropping the gamepad won't mean shit at this point. The Wii U is already a fucking disaster at this point.
Also, not including the Gamepad with every system doesn't mean not supporting the gamepad at all. They can still sell it separately, possibly with Nintendoland packed with it like they did with Wii Play + Wiimote. Advertise it as a thing that "enhances" gameplay, like the Vita with PS4 or even Kinect with 360.
metalslimer
Member
It's not about financial cost. It's about opportunity cost. Just because these ports make some money doesn't mean it's an automatic they will come especially because if so Wii U would be getting many other games. The dev staff can be used in other ways especially for Ubisoft with their huge teams.
Don't know why you are putting B2 in there it;s pretty much guaranteed to bomb. Any of Nintendo's other games would be more useful to get out early.
There is no other franchise. Their biggest non Wii ___ franchises on console are 2d Mario, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash, and I guess maybe Animal Crossing might be considered bigger than Zelda now even on console
they will need to keep smash back for holiday 2014 or they will need to have another big franchise ready (Zelda wont sell enough even if they could get it out in time).
A Wii U without the gamepad would probably sell at the same rate while making Nintendo even less profit from each console sold.
Doctor Decimate
Member
Zelda's probably 2015
prag16
Banned
Yeah... people keep going around saying "the late 2013 lineup is good, but 2014 is where Wii U will REALLY shine".
Unless there are numerous unannounced titles (both first and third party)... I just can't help but scratch my head at that assertion...
Are there ANY 3rd party titles announced for 2014 yet? Anything at all? Besides maybe that Young Justice Legacy garbage?
Do you really think, looking at the sales figures, that the Gamepad is a selling point for the Wii U?
Either the gimmick catches on (Wii Remote!) or it doesn't. Gamepad hasn't caught on, and looking at Nintendo's upcoming lineup, they have no great, mindblowing ideas for it either. The game that makes people say "Wow! I can only do that with the Wii U Gamepad! I have to spend $300 on this system to play this game with that controller!" does not exist and will never exist. There is no Wii Sports killer app for Wii U. At this point, people just want games.
I say drop the gamepad, drop the price, and drop Mario, Smash and Kart on our candy asses. I know it's not a popular opinion around here and it will NEVER happen (Nintendo is too proud), but whatevs I'm just throwing ideas around.
frankie_baby
Member
that's why i'm suggesting we should only expect the very biggest as the opportunity cost/benefit ratio is still pretty damn huge with them, a million dollar/euro port breaks even at less than 50k copies so shipping 300k (AC & COD Wii U would not struggle doing that) worldwide would provide a 6 to 1 ratio, that's worth it to any publisher
Amin_and_Azizah
Neo Member
Great opening post Hatchx. I believe you are spot on but obviously Nintendo will have more hidden surprises next year than just those games considering how secretive Nintendo can be sometimes. This is how I see things shaping up:
Feb - Donkey Kong
March - More Wii Sports on eshop + retail release
April - Mario Kart
May - Yoshi
June - Smash Bros.
August - Bayonetta 2
September - X
Holiday -FExSMT
Honestly, I doubt Zelda or the Mario galaxy follow up will release in 2014.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Meesh
Member
Anyone expect a Mon Hun 4 Wiiu announcement sometime near the end of 014? It's selling strong and the demand seems to be there, I think it makes good sense to at least reassure fans and throw NA a direct down the road, by that time I'm sure 3U will have had plenty of breathing room.
It's not stopping people from buying the Wii U either and neither is the price. If the Wii U had compelling software people would buy it, people bought Wiis because Wii Sports was compelling at the time. The software was working in tandem with the Wii remote but people don't just buy a system because of the control, the software has to be there and it just wasn't there for the Wii U's launch.
So they drop the gamepad, drop the price and the system is still selling like shit because there's nothing about it that sets it apart from it's competitors (other than all the games it won't be getting) and Nintendo is making even less money from it. Then what?
cosmicblizzard
Banned
Investors aren't going to try to completely kill Nintendo's home console market a generation after the Wii. You'll have to wait for more fuckups to get to that point.
Given that recent zelda's have released in the holiday season, I'm curious whether nintendo would be willing to release Zelda U before holiday 2015 if it misses a holiday 2014 date (that's if they announce it for then in the first place). It's happened before with other titles, though these were under different circumstances which by this time next year, things could be different.
Hypothetically, If the Wii U lineup for the first half of 2015 is lacking, then I could see them aiming for that release window, that's if development goes smoothly which it never usually does and assuming miyamoto doesn't come in during the final months to up end tea tables.
Still, it's wishful thinking on my part. Late 2015 is still most likely, realistically speaking. I will surprised if they release holiday 2014, and it ends up having the level of polish and quality as prior zelda's. A bad game is forever, a delayed game will always be good as miyamoto says. I think nintendo will stick by that despite whatever Wii U's situation will be.
Hypothetically, If the Wii U lineup for the first half of 2015 is lacking, then I could see them aiming for that release window, that's if development goes smoothly which it never usually does and assuming miyamoto doesn't come in during the final months to up end tea tables.
Still, it's wishful thinking on my part. Late 2015 is still most likely, realistically speaking. I will surprised if they release holiday 2014, and it ends up having the level of polish and quality as prior zelda's. A bad game is forever, a delayed game will always be good as miyamoto says. I think nintendo will stick by that despite whatever Wii U's situation will be.
frankie_baby
Member
I kind of wouldn't expect it til mon hun 4g happens, perhaps early 2015 as a worldwide release
Muchi Muchi Pink
Member
Are you sure Bayo 2 is so close? I really expect it in the end of 2014. I'm sure they're going for as much polish as possible. It's a very important prestige title. It's not going to sell Mario numbers but it draws attention of people previously not interested in Nintendo.