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Are Nintendo being arrogant with WiiU ?

BocoDragon said:
I didn't say it was "fake".

They made a special version, in limited numbers. It sold out quick. The next day everyone was talking about how crazy Wii U preorders were, generating more frenzy. That wouldn't have happened if there were no limited version.
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From what I'm aware, both the basic and deluxe editions were given equal numbers. They probably had no idea how the general public would react to the two separate editions and this was largely a last-minute test to see how many of each they should be printing for actual release. I think it's a lot less dramatic than you're trying to make it.

edit: don't think of it as a "limited version", either. pretty sure this is more like the core/premium xbox 360s.
 
WonkersTHEWatilla said:
I was too hyped for 3DS. Won't make that mistake again.
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I'm not even talking about gaf, when the Wii was just around the corner you could feel the excitement in the air and so far I see nothing of the sort with regard to the Wii U.

I'm not claiming it's going to bomb but I don't expect it to be as successful as the Wii, especially given that the next-gen consoles from Sony/MS will be unveiled a few months later.
 
Darryl said:
From what I'm aware, both the basic and deluxe editions were given equal numbers.
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I'd be curious to know if that's true.

And even if 50% of the stock were limited.. that still means that people will be talking about "sell outs" when only 50% of units have sold out.

Darryl said:
They probably had no idea how the general public would react to the two separate editions and this was largely a last-minute test to see how many of each they should be printing for actual release. I think it's a lot less dramatic than you're trying to make it.
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Where's the drama? It's very basic marketing. Decisions like this are made for every product you see ever. I'm sure they have other motives for making a premium SKU, but I am right to congratulate them for its hype effect whether they intended it or not.
 
I dont know if it is arrogance or if they know it will be sold out the first few months without much advertising, so they dont have to do much until later. I guess they figure if most will sell out, why put a lot of money into a big ad campaign.

I had a relative ask me about it a couple weeks ago because she was wanting to get it as a Christmas gift for her son. She had no idea it was a new console, she thought it was just a new controller/tablet to go with his old Wii. When I told her it was a brand new system, she understood why they were charging so much. She was thinking it was sort of like a Nintendo ipad. Nintendo needs to do a better job explaining it is a new console and the new features of the console. I think naming it WiiU is going to confuse a lot of people who do not follow game sites, magazines etc. Many of these people bought a Wii, so they are very important if Nintendo hopes to have the same success with the WiiU.
 
Eideka said:
I'm not even talking about gaf, when the Wii was just around the corner you could feel the excitement in the air and so far I see nothing of the sort with regard to the Wii U.

I'm not claiming it's going to bomb but I don't expect it to be as successful as the Wii, especially given that the next-gen consoles from Sony/MS will be unveiled a few months later.
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Actually, I don't think anyone here thinks it'll be as succesful as the Wii. At least not at that level.
 
I would say Nintendo is blowing the launch, not because of information they have given, but because of marketing, I haven't seen a single ad for this system yet in the wild. They need to push harder. Wiiu won't generate the same word of mouth buzz as wii.
 
I don't think so. It doesn't come off as arrogant to me. I mean, for one thing, seeing how they're staying current-gen tech and a affordable price shows that they want to play it cautiously. It seems like they're keeping it modest.

Arrogance to me would be if they brought out a super-powerful next-gen console and priced it at $699.99 and said that people will buy it because they're Nintendo.
 
EloquentM said:
Or maybe since the Wii U is being sold at a loss the premium bundle would be used to recover some of that loss?
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It's that also.

But a limited console functions a lot like a limited edition of a game... it gets the hardcore to buy day one rather than wait.
 
JimFear said:
Fzahd.gif
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That was my reaction as well.
 
Caught the WiiU and NSMB U TV adverts online, and if I didn't know what the WiiU was already that would've been the worst/most confusing advert for a new product ever.

I genuinely would not have understood that it is a new system. Especially since they specifically mentioned the oh so amazing experience "on the new Wii U game pad" (paraphrasing here, ok).
 
TheFLYINGManga_Ka said:
I don't think so. It doesn't come off as arrogant to me. I mean, for one thing, seeing how they're staying current-gen tech and a affordable price shows that they want to play it cautiously.

Arrogance to me would be if they brought out a super-powerful next-gen console and priced it at $699.99 and said that people will buy it because they're Nintendo.
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define current gen tech and then describe wii u's specs in detail.
 
BocoDragon said:
I'd be curious to know if that's true.

And even if 50% of the stock were limited.. that still means that people will be talking about "sell outs" when only 50% of units have sold out.



Where's the drama? It's very basic marketing. Decisions like this are made for every product you see ever. I'm sure they have other motives for making a premium SKU, but I am right to congratulate them for its hype effect whether they intended it or not.
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I'm just going by what was being passed around in the pre-order thread where people were saying that there were 10 copies each of the models per Gamestop store.

I doubt there was really any chance of the pre-orders not selling out to begin with which is why I think this "limited edition" speculation is excessive. Don't most console pre-orders sell out? I can't think of many that weren't. Pre-orders should sell out by design and if they don't, there was never a real need for them to begin.
 
EloquentM said:
I'm sorry, what's with the ludicrous speculation?
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All I'm saying is that while the Wii made money for every unit sold from day one, the Wii U won't, so they have to make sure the Wii U gets into the hands of people who will buy software for it to offset the cost. While the Wii didn't have a horrible attach rate, the Wii U is going to need a much better one from the get-go. The Wii U is going to sell out, practically everyone can agree, even Pachter. It's who gets those consoles in time for the holidays that I'm talking about.
 
shira said:
It's already sold out. Millions of people don't give a fuck about the above ^^
They trust Miyamoto to deliver.

But yeah, they think they are Apple
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More like - Millions of people have no idea who the hell Miyamoto is and will likely never know. They just like the Nintendo brand.
 
CamHostage said:
Arrogance is coming out and saying that your product is "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'". (Not that I don't love and miss arrogant ol' Kutaragi!) Not having every single nitty-gritty detail of your product launch readily available to the public, that's a market approach. And it's worked for Nintendo before, so...
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Arrogance is also feeling like the console is going to sell so well on the 'Wii' brand name alone that they don't feel like they have to put much effort into informing people on details the average person would have to have to drop $350 on a new console.

I am in no way saying the console will flop, it will be sold out in America well into 2013 imo but that has more to do with hardcore American Nintendo fans buying it whatever it was and an apparent lack of hardware to sell.

Didn't they say at one point in mid 2012 that there would by 8.3 million consoles ready for launch, now they are saying they expect to sell 5.5 million by March / April 2013.

Very strange, could they be holding stock back to generate Wii type levels of hype and massive back orders ?, ( Iwata said there was a 250 000 long waiting list at Gamestop alone).
 
EloquentM said:
define current gen tech and then describe wii u's specs in detail.
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I don't know the specs but I didn't mean it in a negative or system-wars type of way.

I was just saying how Nintendo is choosing to play it safe, which is fine by me, because I'm actually quite excited about seeing my favorite Nintendo franchises in HD graphics.

I'm still fine with what's on the PS3/360, so finally getting a chance to see Zelda and Mario at that level is going to be pretty cool.

EDIT: Finally saw the Wii U in action. NSMBU looks beautiful.
 
My gut feeling is, that Nintendo is stretched to the limit with handling this launch and keeping 3DS on the right track.

Does anyone know the relevant corporate sizes e.g. SCE worldwide compared to Nintendo ditto?
 
T-0800 said:
2006 doesn't start until Nintendo say so.

I can't belive it's only 2 weeks until the Wii U launches. Granted I don't plan on picking one up at launch so that probably explains why it has crept up on me. It will be interesting to watch over the next 2 years. I wish them all the best.
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I've been following it closely since it was revealed in early 2011 and have it pre-ordered.

Even I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away. Never been so unhyped for a Nintendo console. No fanfare at all.
 
Roq12 said:
More like - Millions of people have no idea who the hell Miyamoto is and will likely never know. They just like the Nintendo brand.
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wtf - why would you preorder the wiiU if you didn't know who miyamoto is. The argument is that the general public does not know what the wiiU is. Are you saying those people are blindly pre-ordering wiiU's???

I think most of the pre-orders are from hardcore and resellers.
 
Darryl said:
I'm just going by what was being passed around in the pre-order thread where people were saying that there were 10 copies each of the models per Gamestop store.

I doubt there was really any chance of the pre-orders not selling out to begin with which is why I think this "limited edition" speculation is excessive. Don't most console pre-orders sell out? I can't think of many that weren't. Pre-orders should sell out by design and if they don't, there was never a real need for them to begin.
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Not everything is a calculated move, but you can be sure that Nintendo liked the "it's sold out already??"* buzz. There is a perception difference between that and having a leisurely march towards filling all the preorders. When coming off Wii, Nintendo will value impressions that it was just as highly sought after.

(*meaning just the premium SKU)
 
That this is the only major video game console launching in this time frame, I don't think they need to worry too much. They should probably be advertising it as a competitor to the iPad, though. I see Apple ads all the time, and Nintendo would be smart to capitalize on the Wii U pad's online, tv connectivity, and gaming functions.
 
mr_toa said:
My gut feeling is, that Nintendo is stretched to the limit with handling this launch and keeping 3DS on the right track.
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Yeah, I think they learned from their mistakes.

I'm glad the 3DS is becoming more successful and I love the system. But I do admit, I think Nintendo was slightly puffed up during its launch.

They changed that quickly though and righted the ship the best they can. I kind of wish I waited for a 3DSXL though...still waiting for better colors. :(
 
ElTopo said:
Wouldn't a much better attach rate than Wii require Wii U to sell significantly more software per console than the PS3 ? Anyway the whole "deliberately reducing stock" is conspiracy bullshit that makes no sense.
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It should at least be on par, if not better. [Side-note: do PS3/360 attach rates take all the broken consoles into account? Is it per-user?] I hope Nintendo's eShop business does well in this regard. The indies and smaller studios seem to be pleased with it, much more so than WiiWare. The fact that you can get (some) day one retail titles on it should help as well.
 
wii u is like the least hype next gen debut ever

the hardware itself is far from "blow your socks off" and the novelty controller is a novelty people in this day and age know like the back of their hand. it's no where near as unexplored as motion controllers were in 2006.
 
Despera said:
That was my reaction as well.
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To what ?, people wanting to know if there was an Achievement / Trophy like system in place, i myself could not give a toss but there are a great many people who will not play a game unless there is such a 'reward' system in place.

Sounds like there is anyway with the 'Accomplishments' but it would be nice to know if it's official and if they will be account wide.

Again a case of people not knowing because Nintendo won't talk.
 
Freezie KO said:
I tried to preorder one today. They're sold out everywhere. So maybe they want to wait to advertise until they actually have consoles to sell.
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That might be the case, actually. Back with the Wii's launch in UK, remember people being pissed off that while it was being advertised on TV they were met with a preorder-blockade once being encouraged to actually buy one.
 
shira said:
Of those million pre-orders I think almost all of those people know who miyamoto is.
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What would peoples guess be on pre order numbers ?, if there are 5.5 million consoles ready by the end of March 2013, then let's say there are 3 million ready for launch day.

I would assume America is getting the lions share of those, so i would hazard a guess that by Mon 26th of Nov 2012 there will be at least 2 million consoles sold.
 
Arrogance come with a wealth of boasting and showing off what you have and making claims. Staying silent does not seem to match it very well.

My reaction to this thread at first was to ignore it and I've been beaten by others to the reasons that the claims of the OP makes little sense. Wrong use of words to define Nintendo's lack of information. The information we get from Nintendo is not always the ones we want. The problem really rest at our feet.

We are spoiled mofos, be real.
KuGsj.gif
 
Uh oh we are back in 2006. 6 years later...wow.

Once again Nintendo is out to hold back stock to make sure they loss as much money as possible, keep the userbase as small as possible, and sell as little software as possible. They really don't benefit at all holding back stock.

Wii hype had far more to do with the new controller and software, not like the system only sold for that one holiday season.
 
Linkup said:
Uh oh we are back in 2006. 6 years later...wow.

Once again Nintendo is out to hold back stock to make sure they loss as much money as possible, keep the userbase as small as possible, and sell as little software as possible. They really don't benefit at all holding back stock.

Wii hype had far more to do with the new controller and software, not like the system only sold for that one holiday season.
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If you read this thread you won't find a single poster making an "artificial scarcity" claim.
 
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