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Is Wii U still sold out ?

metalslimer said:
This is kind of scary to think about because what does Nintendo have that's bigger than 2d Mario? Mario Kart probably won't be out for at least another year and half. Last time Nintendo relied on the Wii ____ series to pretty much carry the system for years. If people aren't biting with Nintendoland and NSMBU, I don't know what Nintendo has to offer that's much bigger. Sure 3D Mario and Smash will be good for the more core gamers.
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Oh I mean like how DS launch was kind of 'whats the touch screen/stylus for' then Nintendo showed them. Platinum seem to be about to do that with 101 though; and ZombiU does it well to an extent.

I just mean the WiiU will probably do 'alright' for a while until the console starts to own itself a bit more. Wii got that off the bat with Wii Sports.
 
KageMaru said:
Are you saying that's what MS and nintendo did this gen?
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No, not at all.

What I am saying is we have numbers that show the Wii U selling better than 360 at launch. Yet, 360 could not be found on store shelves and Wii U can.

That doesn't equate to there being less demand for Wii U, it's that there are more units in the supply chain.

This also covers some eBay/Craigslist fail. It's not that people aren't buying Wii U, it's that they can go to the store and buy one for MSRP instead of inflated scalper prices.

I would be willing to bet had there not been this availability, we would see people paying scalpers for them.
 
BearPawB said:
What were the sales of xbox's the month the 360 came out?
Did 360 sell more than the OG xbox or less?

just curious
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I think the 360 sold less due to production problems.

I bought the Xbox day 1 without a preorder, or without having to stand in line.

I preordered the 360 from GameStop a good 6 months before launch, and didn't get my system untill Christmas Eve.

:edit: Now that i'm thinking about it. More often than not I've been able to get a console around launch without much effort. I got a Dreamcast day after launch from GameStop, no preorder needed. I got a Gamecube from Walmart a week after launch without a preorder. I got a 60 gig PS3 from Toys R Us a few days after launch, just by walking in. I got a PSP without a preorder from a old local video game chain called Rhinos on launch day.

I had the most issue with the PS2 and 360. Both took me a good month to get in-spite of having a preorder.
 
Also, there may have been shortage issues at the 360 launch, but people are acting like the thing was impossible to find and that was not my experience at all.
 
It would be like me saying MS sold 750k 360's Black Friday week (which is a shit ton) but then going back and saying there is no demand because I went to Walmart last night and they had about 30 of them stacked in a pyramid.

(True story)
 
liger05 said:
To call the wii U or 3DS failures if they dont beat there predecessors lifetime sales is crazy!!

No console or handheld will hit those numbers.
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GBA outsold the Gameboy and the DS outsold the GBA. Nintendo has always outsold their older handheld when the new one came out.
 
Even if the smartphone thing hadn't happened and hype for dedicated handhelds was still huge, I don't think any system could ever reach 150 million again. That was lightning in a bottle that won't happen again.
 
metalslimer said:
Also, there may have been shortage issues at the 360 launch, but people are acting like the thing was impossible to find and that was not my experience at all.
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I've bought just about every console/handheld at/around launch for the past 15 years. Only two I had issues getting was the Xbox 360 and PS2. I tried hard to get a 360 too, and didn't get one untill a day before Christmas. So in my case, they were impossible to find.

On the other hand, I just preordered a Deluxe Wii U last night on GameStop.com, and have seen multiple systems at retail.
 
metalslimer said:
And it's just as stupid to use hypotheticals like what if MS shipped 3 million consoles to try and downplay the launch. Of course there was no real hype. Nintendo didn't start an ad campaign until 1 week before the thing even launched.
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At the end of the day, all we really have are the numbers. If Wii U had shipped as little as 360, it would be extremely supply constrained at this point and we'd likely have a different "frenzy" narrative feeding itself.

Wii: 476k (1 week)
Wii U: ~400k (1 week)
360: 326k (1 week)
PS3: 197k (2 weeks)
 
One thing I will say is this:

I'm not sure average folk even are 100% aware that this thing exists.

I posted on my FB when I bought my Wii U and half the people that replied either didn't know what it was or were only vaguely aware, that a new system was even launched by Nintendo, or were confusing it with a regular Wii.
 
Clockwork said:
One thing I will say is this:

I'm not sure average folk even are 100% aware that this thing exists.

I posted on my FB when I bought my Wii U and half the people that replied either didn't know what it was or were only vaguely aware, that a new system was even launched by Nintendo, or were confusing it with a regular Wii.
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Maybe they just have to shut off their tvs when those horrible commercials come on. I was knocking Nintendo for a lack of commercials, but now I can't avoid that horrible music.
 
OldJadedGamer said:
GBA outsold the Gameboy and the DS outsold the GBA. Nintendo has always outsold their older handheld when the new one came out.
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Nope. GB did 118m, GBA did 82m iirc. Also GBA had a significantly better launch than DS did, GBA actually had the best selling launch of any platform ever iirc.
 
lunchwithyuzo said:
Nope. GB did 118m, GBA did 82m iirc. Also GBA had a significantly better launch than DS did, GBA actually had the best selling launch of any platform ever iirc.
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To be fair with GB, you're counting the GBC. And yeah the GBA was a bit of a monster. The only reason it didn't end up being the best-selling system of all time was because of it's extremely protracted life cycle (The system hadn't even been out for 3 years in North America when the DS was announced).
 
Clockwork said:
It would be like me saying MS sold 750k 360's Black Friday week (which is a shit ton) but then going back and saying there is no demand because I went to Walmart last night and they had about 30 of them stacked in a pyramid.

(True story)
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Is the Wii U a seven year old console that hasn't just launched and isn't the successor to the most popular console of the seventh console generation?
 
metalslimer said:
And it's just as stupid to use hypotheticals like what if MS shipped 3 million consoles to try and downplay the launch. Of course there was no real hype. Nintendo didn't start an ad campaign until 1 week before the thing even launched.
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Who's fault is that?
 
metalslimer said:
Maybe they just have to shut off their tvs when those horrible commercials come on. I was knocking Nintendo for a lack of commercials, but now I can't avoid that horrible music.
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I don't know who Nintendo thought would like that drek. It's certainly not a single one of the adults who bought the Wii for Wii Fit and Wii Sports. I know I have seen my parents frantically try to skip that commercial a dozen times now.

I love my Wii U (like a lot), but I think Nintendo never really figured out how to market the thing. I am a little worried what this means for the future, but we'll just have to wait and see.
 
airmangataosenai said:
To be fair with GB, you're counting the GBC. And yeah the GBA was a bit of a monster. The only reason it didn't end up being the best-selling system of all time was because of it's extremely protracted life cycle (The system hadn't even been out for 3 years in North America when the DS was announced).
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Separating GBC and GB makes sense, but then so does separating DS from DSi for much the same reasons (branding, spec, software). If we did that we'd have roughly:

GB: 70m
GBC: 49m
GBA: 82m
DS: 111m
DSi: 41m
3DS: 23m so far
 
Clockwork said:
It would be like me saying MS sold 750k 360's Black Friday week (which is a shit ton) but then going back and saying there is no demand because I went to Walmart last night and they had about 30 of them stacked in a pyramid.

(True story)
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Best put.

fluffydelusions said:
The gamestop I JUST walked in had the deluxe models only
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Wonder if they decided to mainly restock with the Deluxe version then.

thirty said:
Who's fault is that?
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Obamas. Seriously though; the US election stopped NoA advertising earlier than they'd have liked. Reggie has said this.
 
Clockwork said:
I bought the basic at launch because I wanted it in white (less of a fingerprint magnet), I didn't want Nintendoland, and I don't download much. If I need more storage it makes more sense to me to plug in a hdd.
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I bought it for the same reason. The storage is not worth it and anyone who claims it is, is just hypnotized by Apple and their bullshit marketing. Flash is dirt cheap when added to a system. It never warrants 100 bucks more like Apple, Google Microsoft and even fucking Lytro would like you to believe. Also is absolutely worthless if you plan to use it on a stationary system that can add storage via an HDD which you will have to do anyway if you go all digital and buy more than a handful of games. And the "it's faster" reason is also bullshit. It will take you way longer to move games off and on to the tiny internal storage than any loading time you will ever save compared to loading the disk and playing.

The value of the black is that it allows Nintendo to force you to buy Nintendoland for about 40 bucks after paying something under $10 for some worthless plastic and a small increase in storage.
 
grimshawish said:
/sigh
To be out of stock someone had to buy it first.
Either the 360 was in stock at times or it had no supply for months.

Co'mon.
I have no idea how this thing is doing outside of launch excitment.
Personally I feel it'll do alright, but needs that second wave of software like the DS did.

But to say something being available to purchase is somehow bad is fucking ridiculous.
Anyway since Wii U already outsold 360's launch - I think we can say that being IN STOCK is the better option.
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My point is I don't think it's good that it looks like demand is lower than expected for a hot new item. Especially considering the season we're in, they should be selling out of every console they ship.

When sales results come in, this tells me the system isn't supply constrained like I previously thought. It's hard to accurately measure without solid shipping and sell in numbers, but it's not a good sign when people are picking 6-7 old consoles over your similarly priced new system.

Clockwork said:
No, not at all.

What I am saying is we have numbers that show the Wii U selling better than 360 at launch. Yet, 360 could not be found on store shelves and Wii U can.

That doesn't equate to there being less demand for Wii U, it's that there are more units in the supply chain.

This also covers some eBay/Craigslist fail. It's not that people aren't buying Wii U, it's that they can go to the store and buy one for MSRP instead of inflated scalper prices.

I would be willing to bet had there not been this availability, we would see people paying scalpers for them.
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Fair points. =)
 
yon61 said:
Is the Wii U a seven year old console that hasn't just launched and isn't the successor to the most popular console of the seventh console generation?
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Launch numbers appear to be strong, so I am missing your point.

I think to say because Wii was so successful that Wii U should be just as successful or more is a bit daft.

Although people would like to think that's the case, I just don't see the same audience (some who never played anything but Wii Sports or Wii Fit) being into this thing.

The fact is it has had a launch that surpassed 360 and PS3.
 
Dinzy said:
The value of the black is that it allows Nintendo to force you to buy Nintendoland for about 40 bucks after paying something under $10 for some worthless plastic and a small increase in storage.
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After 3DS, I have to have my charging cradles. I bought one for my XL and I would've bought one for my Gamepad if the Deluxe didn't come with it. Worthless is in the eye of the beholder...
 
KageMaru said:
When sales results come in, this tells me the system isn't supply constrained like I previously thought. It's hard to accurately measure without solid shipping and sell in numbers, but it's not a good sign when people are picking 6-7 old consoles over your similarly priced new system.
Click to expand...

This has always happened at this time of year. Generations are transitions.
If it launched in a random month, sure - it'd be a big big worry. Its not; its in Black Friday and Christmas time.

Wii U is doing what all other systems did.
360 got outsold by PS2 in 2005/2006 at this time of year.
 
yon61 said:
Assuming Nintendo are targeting the same crowd that bought the Wii to buy a Wii U, it is concerning.

I'm feeling the 3DS vibes very strongly.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that the Wii U couldn't be another 3DS. What i'm saying is that what we've seen for this launch does not at all indicate a "lukewarm launch" or foretell a dip in sales.

Wii U is outpacing the PS3's 360's and Wii's first month. Not sure what's so lukewarm about that, unless of course i'm evaluating my analysis on seeing Wii U in the Wild.
 
Clockwork said:
Launch numbers appear to be strong, so I am missing your point.

I think to say because Wii was so successful that Wii U should be just as successful or more is a bit daft.

Although people would like to think that's the case, I just don't see the same audience (some who never played anything but Wii Sports or Wii Fit) being into this thing.

The fact is it has had a launch that surpassed 360 and PS3.
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The point you yourself made by comparing the 360, a console on its last legs to a brand new one.

When are launch numbers for consoles not strong relatively speaking? When are they not in the hundreds of thousands, especially during the November-December period?

I never said that, but the facts are there. This is the Wii's successor, like it or not. I am speaking from the point of view of Nintendo here. Have they convinced themselves that everyone who bought a Wii will want to get a Wii U? Have they convinced themselves that the core audience that disliked the Wii will be persuaded to get a Wii U?

The PS3 bombed while the 360 was supply constrained, just a couple of facts to go along with that. Beating the PS3's and 360's launch sales is the least Nintendo should expect.
 
metalslimer said:
Success depends on how much money you make on a product compared to the previous one. If Nintendo could have fostered a much better 3rd party support system, the royalties they brought in from software sales could have been great. Unfortuantely, that doesn't seem likely.



Uh..no. Nintendo never wanted to compete with apple. If they did they would have made their own tablet to begin with. The Wii U Gamepad is not a tablet. It's a controller with a touchscreen.
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They've said several times that apple is their new target. Their heads got too big. Now they're realizing they're just a regular console maker and nowhere near apples league
 
grimshawish said:
This has always happened at this time of year. Generations are transitions.
If it launched in a random month, sure - it'd be a big big worry. Its not; its in Black Friday and Christmas
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Indeed.

I mean it's only logical. These systems are now relatively inexpensive, they have massive libraries of games (some available for cheap), and they just happen to be what little Timmy's friends have.

If I didn't have all the current systems a new PS3 or 360 would be quite the value proposition right now.

A new console with a limited number of games at a noticeable price difference isn't going to fly with the average crowd. That's not to say there won't be good numbers (as has been shown) but sales are going to fairly different demographics imo. This isn't anything new though, as was stated.
 
Clockwork said:
Indeed.

I mean it's only logical. These systems are now relatively inexpensive, they have massive libraries of games (some available for cheap), and they just happen to be what little Timmy's friends have.

If I didn't have all the current systems a new PS3 or 360 would be quite the value proposition right now.

A new console with a limited number of games at a noticeable price difference isn't going to fly with the average crowd.
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This right here. Gimmie some Nintendo games Nintendo. I don't want ports of old games!
 
grimshawish said:
This has always happened at this time of year. Generations are transitions.
If it launched in a random month, sure - it'd be a big big worry. Its not; its in Black Friday and Christmas time.

Wii U is doing what all other systems did.
360 got outsold by PS2 in 2005/2006 at this time of year.
Click to expand...

Either I'm explaining it poorly or you're not understanding my point.

Yes historically, the prior gen consoles sold more than the new gen system that just launched. One of the reasons is due to the new console being supply constrained, but that doesn't look to be the case here. So when looking at the sales gap between the PS360 and the Wii-U, we can't point at supply issues but instead demand issues. You think this is a good thing?
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
I'm not saying that the Wii U couldn't be another 3DS. What i'm saying is that what we've seen for this launch does not at all indicate a "lukewarm launch" or foretell a dip in sales.

Wii U is outpacing the PS3's 360's and Wii's first month. Not sure what's so lukewarm about that, unless of course i'm evaluating my analysis on seeing Wii U in the Wild.
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PS3 bombed, 360 and Wii had supply problems, particularly the latter which of course is the predecessor to the Wii U. Beating all three of those launches should be what we expect.

Unless Nintendo has shipped a huge amount of units, I don't see how this could not be seen as lukewarm.
 
KageMaru said:
Yes historically, the prior gen consoles sold more than the new gen system that just launched. One of the reasons is due to the new console being supply constrained, but that doesn't look to be the case here. So when looking at the sales gap between the PS360 and the Wii-U, we can't point at supply issues but instead demand issues. You think this is a good thing?
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This is not the reason they get outsold.
I never said it was a good or bad thing. It is however a fact that it has precedent...well not so much precedent as a 'fact of the market'.

So I'd suggest it is a non-thing; unimportant to anything; more important are launch sales comparisons. To which WiiU did healthily. Nothing mind blowing but healthy.
 
yon61 said:
PS3 bombed, 360 and Wii had supply problems, particularly the latter which of course is the predecessor to the Wii U. Beating all three of those launches should be what we expect.

Unless Nintendo has shipped a huge amount of units, I don't see how this could not be seen as lukewarm.
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I think 400k during Black Friday week was pretty good seeing as during that time they were sold out everywhere and going for crazy prices on ebay. Not the case now but still.
 
KageMaru said:
So when looking at the sales gap between the PS360 and the Wii-U, we can't point at supply issues but instead demand issues. You think this is a good thing?
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I think my post addresses this.

Launch consoles (the original Wii being the exception with even grandmas buying it to play some Wii Bowling) are not purchased for the same reasons that the established consoles are.

For that reason, it's best to compare launch numbers to launch numbers as stated above.

grimshawish said:
So I'd suggest it is a non-thing; unimportant to anything; more important are launch sales comparisons. To which WiiU did healthily. Nothing mind blowing but healthy.
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This.
 
Clockwork said:
I think my post addresses this.

Launch consoles (the original Wii being the exception with even grandmas buying it to play some Wii Bowling) are not purchased for the same reasons that the established consoles are.

For that reason, it's best to compare launch numbers to launch numbers as stated above.
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It is the same reason. Games
 
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