-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NPD Sales Results for November 2013 [Up3: Zelda, Pokemon, Mario, 3DS, Wii U]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I think this is some sort of revisionist history. When the Wii U was unveiled, pretty much ever gamer was like "WTF is this...?" And this continued for months and months.
To this day...
PR spin-nastics
Honey Bunny
Member
Yeh I love zombie movies
Nothing1016
Member
I don't think Nintendo can afford a huge $100 price cut for the Wii U. That's just eating to much money for any gaming company. They are better off cutting the price overtime and releasing the games currently in development to recoup the costs overtime. Double down on the 3DS and crank out the successor for their handheld in 2015/2016. Then release a console or device that we have never seen before whether it's a cloud service, console, tablet, phone, or anything else they can create.
perfectchaos007
Member
Yeah but could Microsoft just as easily release Sony's numbers in their press release, or does Sony "own" the rights to those sales numbers?
The perfect Dark
Banned
Same here. It's a great console and it will be a great console in 2014.
Pristine_Condition
Member
Kev is right. It's worse than you think.
Nintendo, to their credit, did about as much with the 3DS as anyone can expect anyone to do. Software, pricing, even a bargain model.
...and that was all they could do? Nintendo needed better from the 3DS.
I hate to harp on retailers and shelf space, but this is going to be a major problem for Nintendo going forward. The performance of the WiiU was simply abysmal.
Look at it this way: If we take that number, skim a VERY MODEST 10% off the top for online sales (amazon, ect) then take the remainder and divide that number equally among the big retailers' approx. 14,000 brick-and-mortar stores in the US (all the Gamestops, BestBuys, Walmarts, Targets, K-Marts, Sams, Costcos, Toys-r-Us, ect retail locations) that translates into each store moving less than one console every two days...in November, which is your big month when you are supposed to finally become profitable in retail. That means a section manager at a retailer could conceivably talk to his or her sales staff, ask FOUR shifts of employees how the WiiU is doing and get "We haven't sold a single one, boss..." back... That's crazy. It's simply untenable to maintain that such an underperforming product earns shelf/display space when it performs so poorly in what is supposed to be the biggest month to move units, and the product is already a (like all consoles) low-margin item as it is for the retailer.
If 3DS were doing monster numbers, Nintendo would be able to maybe--just maybe--leverage that brand and those sales into pressuring retailers to not eliminate stock and shelf space for the WiiU. It's not working out that way though. 3DS had a good enough month that retailers won't be inclined to shift space away from the 3DS, I'm sure. But it wasn't the great performance Nintendo needed to transfer into leverage for the WiiU.
Now really all Nintendo has left in the toolkit to entice retailers into keeping the WiiU on shelves and in displays is the markup...and I don't think Nintendo really has the room to move that equation more to the retailers' advantage without losing money.
Diehard Nintendo fans standing behind the console (bless their hearts) will say "give Nintendo till the end of next year...it's a marathon, not a sprint," and that sort of thing. But that attitude fails to recognize a couple simple truths about retail: Shelf space is valuable, and the manufacturer isn't the only one who can pull a product from the market. In fact, most of the time, it's retail that is done with the product before the manufacturer, not the other way around. Products come and products go. If they don't earn their shelf space...they go.
We're already seeing WiiU losing store presence in other markets like the UK. I think we'll see it in the US soon.
That's what makes Reggie's ineffectual VGX appearance so infuriating to anybody that wants Nintendo to still have a place in the console landscape. They are acting like they have all the time in the world to turn it around. They act like they've still got time to do business as usual and do ridiculous stuff like tease a Metroid lapel pin, yet announce nothing definitive, like they still have all the time they need to announce something.
Time's running out though, if it hasn't already. Retailers simply aren't going to want to stock a product that doesn't move and takes display space away from products that are moving at record pace.
Well when most people were calling for double his number or more it really isn't that bad. I'm sure Nintendo is happy they sold 70k more than his prediction, but I am not sure they would be happy selling either number.
Perfect Cha0s
Member
People care. The hardware just isn't competitive.
People ask for innovation but it's far safer to put that $60 towards a proven option.
Sorry for keeping the industry alive?
Honestly, I still wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo ended up not posting a loss for 2013. It returned to profitability for 2012, and people tend to ignore the effect of exchange rates on Nintendo's earnings, which is potentially as big as that of its actual sales.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
You're dreaming if you think those are the solutions to nintendos problem with the wii u
creamsugar
Member
A story of Lorule ~ 11% digital without bundle.
Yeah let's not act like Microsoft is the first company to spin numbers in a positive light. Did everyone forget the 40+ months of Sony pr that came out when 360 outsold PS3? Remember "playstation family"?
CouldBeWorse
Member
What???
Spin doesn't prove that they're lying about sales numbers. Put away the tin foil.
It wasn't a spin, the Wii U is doing dreadful. Just giving you some added pricing details about the Dreamcast that you may not have considered.
JetBlackPanda
Member
Sorry I should edit my post.. I was taking about the hype before the actual reveal at E3. We knew hardware was coming and people were exited of a new system no waggle.. Etc etc..
Then we got the Wii U and everyone was just like FUCK is this??
Heyyyyyyyy
Yes! He has arrived.
Calamari41
41 > 38
He's talking about the lead-up to the reveal, back when it was Project Café. Back when it wasn't a question that it would be way more powerful than the PS360, and there was going to be a DS sized screen on the controllers.
They sure aren't helping.
How will they respond now though, fire iwata?
To be fair in a real statistics study or in any statistics class they would probably point to an average sold over time as the real number versus an obvious outlier. Saying that the PS4 was fastest selling at 1 mil/day sets up the idea that the PS4 sold around that much each day when in reality it sold around 90-100k per day. Same with the Xbox One or any console for that matter.
Chuck Norris
Banned
Microsoft never had complete dominance, in fact they finished the gen in third place
It's happening!
Opinionatedfish
Member
We won't be. It'll be mini-tablets and such.
Soon, we'll have tablets with customizable docks that allow them to be "screens" for high end "PCs." You'll just pop it into the dock and play. Tablets will eventually eat so far into the PC market that we'll see Play and iOS store numbers competing directly with Steam/Origin. Dedicated handhelds will be a novelty toy, but they will still exist. It's the PC market that has to be worried by Tablets/iOS.
(But don't tell them yet. It's a few years away. When I told people that they would be playing games mostly on handhelds and cell phones in the future all the way back in 1998.. I was mocked horribly. But I'm not wrong. The PC "master race" won't see it coming though.... Don't spoil the surprise for them.)
(But don't tell them yet. It's a few years away. When I told people that they would be playing games mostly on handhelds and cell phones in the future all the way back in 1998.. I was mocked horribly. But I'm not wrong. The PC "master race" won't see it coming though.... Don't spoil the surprise for them.)
outunderthestars
Banned
What makes everyone think another handheld will solve their problem? Their current one is trending well behind the DS. While it would likely sell, it wouldn't be enough to sustain the entire company.
This is about all I agree with in your post I mean look at the top Ten they are all multiplat games. First party games across platforms are failing hard and that brand confusion with the Wii was and still is a serious issue. Again the Mario fatigue is not that important when the majority of game buyers are dudebros.
The top 10 has been pretty much the same for several years. Nothing too dramatic there.
Warm Machine
Member
I look at this more positively. It puts Nintendo in a position where they have to react and plan. Get their ducks in a row and execute against a high quality bar that was set by their competition. Nintendo isn't dead but they have a huge hole to dig themselves out of and they have a ton of cash to spend to make it reality. The WiiU was a directionless, technologically lazy design. Now they have to step up and deliver at a competitive level. That is what is so exciting about their position.
TheBaronOfNA
Banned
But you don't see?... they so interested in the Vita that are passive agressive about it.
Oh wow.
When did I say this was unique?
Edit:
When the time period is less than one month, the average per day is really irrelevant. Especially when demand exceeds supply.
Xbox One Sold / Xbox One Days > PS4 Sold / PS4 Days
It's better than what they've been doing. No one claimed it was the solution. There's no single solution to their problems.
I was agreeing with you.
theprodigy
Member
what is there to "wow" about
OUR SAVIOR
249.2 for Zelda ALBW retail.
Portugeezer
Member
I understand their average, but it doesn't magically make it the fastest selling.
Made more sense when they stuck to their "Xbox history" line.
If they want to compete releasing a new console that actually has decent hardware and stop trying to rely on gimmicks would be a start.
Gentleman Jack
Member
'hyrule' joke