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[EDarkness]

I still think Christmas and the week after will see some nice sales for the WiiU. People are actually talking about it now (not just us talking about how dead it is).

I teach Japanese kids. Kids want it. They will buy it with their New Years money. That and 3DS games.

Now those sales could generate good word of mouth and bring about other sales... or it could fall back off a cliff come the second week of January.

But I remain cautiously (stupidly?) optimistic. The WiiU is being talked about in a positive light for the first time since launch. I do Christmas lessons every year and we have kids write letters to santa. In these letters it is the second most requested item (3DS game in first place and smartphones a close 3rd).

I could be delusional. But I think while the hardcore gamer at this point has shunned the system, the kids and families will pick one up over the holidays.

Mario 3D World.. that is sadly another story. Only a few kids wanted this from Santa. Far more wanted the 2D one. Yeah. That game that came out LAST Christmas. I have no idea on this one, that game seemed to be custom made for Japan. Cute cat suits, lots of colors, non vomit inducing 3D.. I have lived here for 10 years but sometimes (read: most of the time) I just don't get Japan.

Same here. Heh, heh. My students think I'm crazy as hell. Still, none of them were talking about Mario World. I teach jr. high and high school students and they talk to me about games all the time, yet they have never talked about that game. No idea where the hype was, but I didn't see it on my end. Maybe that will change next week when I get back to school and have a chance to chat with them about some games.

 

[maabus1999]

FFXV, MGSV, KH3.
PS3 software sales haven't fallen off a cliff I don't think.

FF is not that strong anymore, as seen by this weeks sales. I wouldn't count that to sell units long term in Japan.

KH3 is what....being released on PS4 right after PS5 launches? We have multiple years before we worry about that title.

MGSV I honestly don't know if it will sell or not in Japan, with the more "open world" designs being implemented. Dark horse for me.

 

[Ricky 7]

Mario, One Piece and Taiko all flopped. I guess the Wii U will be Nintendo's worst selling console.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

So the only data I can find of how many Gamecube's sold by the time Sunshine launched in Japan back in July 2002 was 658,855 LTD and it sold 27,500 the week of Mario Sunshine.

http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/j...ales-ps2-95300-cube-27400-xbox-2400.25062657/

So even though the Wii U is nearly at 2x the GCN numbers then (though WiiU has been on the market longer), Mario could only muster just over a third of the sales. Very disappointing.

Says 1.45M LTD on garaph for the week that Sunshine released, so it had a slightly bigger installed base to work with (1.24x) but the game sold like 2.6x as much as 3DW.

For a somewhat off-kilter comparison, Hot Shots Golf sold 175K on the PS3's 1M installed base.

Ah well mine must be wrong then. Thanks! Maybe the IGN ones were just YTD or something??

 

[braves01]

Damn. From winning last gen to this. Just let me get a few more solid games before you pull the Nintendo.

 

[Magicpaint]

Vita would finally be King and we'd finally have a proper MH game and more games in general tbh

But it's nice to dream sometimes I guess

MH4 isn't a "proper" MH game?

 

[Metallix87]

Are we now playing that game where we project WiiU's abysmal sales as representative of the entire console industry?

It might hint at the conditions of the Japanese console market, but we should wait until the PS4 launches and has a few months on the market before we say for sure. Vita TV bombing this hard, as I and others predicted, speaks to the situation at hand.

 

[Glass Rebel]

I think the biggest damage inflicted on the WiiU is that there is no reason for anyone to really get a WiiU, even if you're a Nintendo fan. The 3DS library is sufficient for most people, and we talk about the biggest mainstream titles on the WiiU - 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers.... guess what? Nintendo is offering all those experiences on the 3DS too, sometimes before it even hits the WiiU. It's really hard to build any sort of audience on a home console when everything people would want to play with it are available elsewhere on a system with more support from other developments, and there's nothing really unique or outstanding on the system itself.

And this is, among others, the reason why I believe that the next Nintendo generation will be a iOS-like platform across two (or more lol) devices.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

LOL. Wii U literally bumping into a low-rise ceiling. Can't even beat Vita despite having one of its biggest title yet.

Let's update the blackboard:

where is

Spoiler

X

?

 

[Aquamarine]

Wii U Top 15 Debuts:

1) New Super Mario Bros. U - 170,563
2) Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - 110,149
3) Super Mario 3D World - 106,967
4) Pikmin 3 - 102,188
5) Wii Party U - 79,715
6) Nintendo Land - 78,461
7) Dragon Quest X Online - 36,454
8) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 31,154
9) New Super Luigi U - 27,312
10) Game & Wario - 23,995
11) LEGO City Undercover - 18,077
12) Taiko no Tatsujin: Wii U Version - 17,518
13) ZombiU - 11,226
14) Resident Evil: Revelations - 8,179
15) The Wonderful 101 - 6,663

 

[Owwari]

Maybe they are also fed up of being continually served high priced low performance gimmicky hardware coupled with the special Nintendo slow slow drip of delayed games and HD remakes at full price.

 

[BlackJace]

Vita would finally be King and we'd finally have a proper MH game and more games in general tbh

But it's nice to dream sometimes I guess

Well, in my opinion having an outright king clearly isn't all that healthy for the market considering every other platform outside of the PS3(sometimes) has to fight for table scraps.

 

[Maedhros]

MH4 isn't a "proper" MH game?

He said proper as in advancing the series graphics and scope. MH4 looks attrocious at places.

But let's not argue here.

 

[Glass Rebel]

where is

Spoiler

X

?

I see it four times on that pic

 

[cyberheater]

HD Remakes? All the one of them?

Not all of them but too many of them. There's a reason why it's tanking hard and I believe it's because despite what Nintendo fans think, the majority of games on WiiU are failing to capture the imagination of the gaming public.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Profit is pointless to really discuss since a) no one knows, b) it doesn't matter in the long run because it's a short term goal.

What we should look at is growth and decline in IPs. That is the most valuable thing to publishers and the core of their long term business. The FFXIII series going through straight huge declines is a sign that it is not popular and continuing to tap into it is foolish. BD has more potential in audience growth and has a sequel coming which they expect to sell more of, so it's a more positive IP for the company right now.

I agree. Profit in this situation is not the biggest deal. FF loses market share, mind share, which will even cost them more in next iterations of FF. The decline of the FF franchise seems almost irreversible in Japan.

 

[BriBri]

Mario, One Piece and Taiko all flopped. I guess the Wii U will be Nintendo's worst selling console.

How did One Piece flop exactly?

 

[EDarkness]

It was hyped. It's being marketed a lot and you know it. It's just bad sales. Doesn't mean it's not going to sell in the holidays, but for now, it's bad.

What? They advertise all kinds of crap here in Japan. Just because they were advertising doesn't mean anyone was hyped. To be hyped requires...well...hype.

 

[SmokyDave]

Can't tell if you're happy for the Vita, or if you're happy that the Wii U is doing so bad.

Happy for the Vita. For a dead platform, it's doing fine. Having an even deader platform around is a nice change.

Either way, it's a dumb position to hold. Vita isn't doing so hot, and a blatant hatred for a company is such a waste of negative energy.

Don't worry about it, man.

 

[Kyon]

He said proper as in advancing the series graphics and scope. MH4 looks attrocious at places.

But let's not argue here.

this

but this is a sales thread so we can talk somewhere else

 

[allan-bh]

At this point an overcome for Wii U would be unprecedented on video game history ?

 

[braves01]

Not all of them but too many of them. There's a reason why it's tanking hard and I believe it's because despite what Nintendo fans think, the majority of games on WiiU are failing to capture the imagination of the gaming public.

Edit just remembered monster hunter too.
What is there besides Wind Waker?

 

[Aostia]

Now you know how Vita fans feel. This thread used to be the official 3DS thread of celebrating poor Vita sales. What goes around....

I was upfront on foreseeing possible relaunch for Vita, honestly. And I've never bithced that product neither

And, on the contrary, after the Pikmin3 spike (that was just up to 20k) I was already seeing GC sales as the best possible target for this dreadful console too

I still wonder if N will continue supporting it for 3-4 year until 2016 at least.

 

[Metallix87]

I think the biggest damage inflicted on the WiiU is that there is no reason for anyone to really get a WiiU, even if you're a Nintendo fan. The 3DS library is sufficient for most people, and we talk about the biggest mainstream titles on the WiiU - 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers.... guess what? Nintendo is offering all those experiences on the 3DS too, sometimes before it even hits the WiiU. It's really hard to build any sort of audience on a home console when everything people would want to play with it are available elsewhere on a system with more support from other developments, and there's nothing really unique or outstanding on the system itself.

I agree with this logic. Nintendo used to be a lot better at dividing up their franchises and genres between their consoles and handhelds. Perhaps they should figure out which franchises work best on consoles, which work best on handhelds, and act accordingly.

 

[Jucksalbe]

So, what's the next big game for WiiU? Is there even anything important before Mario Kart? How does Donkey Kong usually do in Japan? I don't really see anything in the next few months that could improve sales.

 

[JoeM86]

He said proper as in advancing the series graphics and scope. MH4 looks attrocious at places.

But let's not argue here.

Herein lies a problem. As evidenced by Mario's less than stellar sales, people are really caring more about graphics than gameplay. Mario is, according to nearly everyone who played it, one of the greatest games they have played in a long while, yet it will be shunned. Why? It's a great game...it's just not the current cinematic stuff that floods the industry.

 

[Magicpaint]

I think the biggest damage inflicted on the WiiU is that there is no reason for anyone to really get a WiiU, even if you're a Nintendo fan. The 3DS library is sufficient for most people, and we talk about the biggest mainstream titles on the WiiU - 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers.... guess what? Nintendo is offering all those experiences on the 3DS too, sometimes before it even hits the WiiU. It's really hard to build any sort of audience on a home console when everything people would want to play with it are available elsewhere on a system with more support from other developments, and there's nothing really unique or outstanding on the system itself.

Agreed. Nintendo have failed to come up with defining WiiU software and have had to fall back mostly on the safety of their premier franchises. Problem is that isn't enough. The Wii series gave the Wii an identity aside from what the DS offered. Nintendo haven't found that equivalent on WiiU.

He said proper as in advancing the series graphics and scope. MH4 looks attrocious at places.

But let's not argue here.

So it's a "proper" MH game then and sales seem to support its case. Glad we've cleared that up.

 

[BitStyle]

Oh wow, what a depressing week. Mario sold a disappointing amount, leading me to question: what are WiiU owners even buying? Are they waiting for some other game? I mean, it's Mario for crying out loud! Nintendo better hope that Mario Kart can salvage this, or the next investors meeting won't be pretty.

VitaTV cratered its second week. Maybe it might experience higher sales as the winter progresses, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Final Fantasy XIII-3 continuing the tradition of low Final Fantasy sales since XIII-2, not much else to say other than that I thought the game looked bad anyway; maybe japan did too.

Somehow, I get the feeling that Sony was smart in deciding to launch the PS4 later. Considering its line-up, I can't think of any titles that would really push the Japanese audiences to buy one. The industry really doesn't need all home consoles cratering in Japan; it would just cement the mindset that mobile/handheld is the only way to go for large profit.

 

[gloriousd]

I expect the Wii U to sell 16 million in it's lifetime now.

4 in Japan
4 in Europe
8 in NA

Sadly, I think it's impossible. At least in Europe. The big boys have arrived (well, the second will arrive on the 29th) and Nintendo have had negative shipments last quarter... and literally no momentum, no advertising and in some cases (like in Poland) not even an official reseller. It's like they don't care and think that 3D Mario will fix everything by itself.

And it seems that Japan is turning its back on home consoles, Sony has made the right choice to stagger the PS4's launch and to move those consoles to the West. I love my Wii U, but the resemblance to the Dreamcast is almost uncanny.

And the chalkboard is really depressing.

 

[evilromero]

The weekly Nintendo is doomed thread.

Proof is in the pudding. You also have to realize a lot of us who are critical of Nintendo are some of their biggest fans. You can't just keep your head in the sand and pretend everything is just peachy. The company has lost touch. Now, with that said, I think it's a week or two too early to call 3D World a failure. Word-of-mouth could help a lot since consumers have clearly lost faith and interest in Nintendo products.

 

[Mpl90]

I agree with this logic. Nintendo used to be a lot better at dividing up their franchises and genres between their consoles and handhelds. Perhaps they should figure out which franchises work best on consoles, which work best on handhelds, and act accordingly.

Right now, it looks like basically every Nintendo franchise sells better on portable consoles. :lol

 

[duckroll]

Herein lies a problem. As evidenced by Mario's less than stellar sales, people are really caring more about graphics than gameplay. Mario is, according to nearly everyone who played it, one of the greatest games they have played in a long while, yet it will be shunned. Why? It's a great game...it's just not the current cinematic stuff that floods the industry.

I think this is a very poor conclusion. There are many factors as to why Mario is bombing here, and I think graphics is really far from even a reasonably valid factor.

 

[JoeM86]

Not all of them but too many of them. There's a reason why it's tanking hard and I believe it's because despite what Nintendo fans think, the majority of games on WiiU are failing to capture the imagination of the gaming public.

There's one HD remake...Zelda. The rest are new iterations of existing franchises, and new franchises.

Come on, hate the Wii U if you must, but don't diminish the quality of their work. Their games are still almost entirely top notch, ahead of the competition...just look at Mario for that.

 

[silver.tongue]

Wii U Top 10 Debuts:

1) New Super Mario Bros. U - 170,563
2) Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - 110,149
3) Super Mario 3D World - 106,967
4) Pikmin 3 - 102,188
5) Wii Party U - 79,715
6) Nintendo Land - 78,461
7) Dragon Quest X Online - 36,454
8) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 31,154
9) New Super Luigi U - 27,312
10) Game & Wario - 23,995
11) LEGO City Undercover - 18,077
12) Taiko no Tatsujin: Wii U Version - 17,518
13) ZombiU - 11,226
14) Resident Evil: Revelations - 8,179
15) The Wonderful 101 - 6,663

That Wonderfull 101 number still blows my mind. Holy shit.

 

[NeonZ]

There was this idea being brought up that 3D Mario's are more "hardcore" than 2D ones, thus 3D World would do better than NSMB U because of that reason. A fun theory but i question its validity

The main issue there is that 3d Land (and World) were deliberately made to go after the audience that liked 2d Mario.

I think 3d World ended up as a great game that can appeal to people who didn't care about the NSMB series, but the marketing clearly wasn't really focused on that and wanted to sell it like "NSMB... in 3d!" or "3d Land... for consoles!" (like the disastrous initial reveal showed). It was a mistake to go in this direction for a 3d game, especially coming after NSMBU's failure.

Would the game have done better if it did not look like a sequel to a game many played just a year or 2 game in 3D Land? Not trying to rile Nintendo fans up, but the game does look a lot like 3D Land.

I think that's exactly the problem with a lot of Nintendo's strategy lately. They seemed to think that making their franchises uniform across systems is somehow a selling point. And they also believed that they could get a casual audience before focusing on titles for their core audience, which was yet another mistake.

 

[ffdgh]

Well...umm...wow.

 

[jakncoke]

600k for PS3 GTA5 next week

 

[NotLiquid]

 

[JoeM86]

I think this is a very poor conclusion. There are many factors as to why Mario is bombing here, and I think graphics is really far from even a reasonably valid factor.

I'm more talking presentation than graphical capability

 

[Maedhros]

Herein lies a problem. As evidenced by Mario's less than stellar sales, people are really caring more about graphics than gameplay. Mario is, according to nearly everyone who played it, one of the greatest games they have played in a long while, yet it will be shunned. Why? It's a great game...it's just not the current cinematic stuff that floods the industry.

Different problems. This Mario was realeased on a platform that no one wants. There's your problem.

If they released 3D World on 3DS, you could bet your ass that it would be a huge success.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

It might hint at the conditions of the Japanese console market, but we should wait until the PS4 launches and has a few months on the market before we say for sure. Vita TV bombing this hard, as I and others predicted, speaks to the situation at hand.

It only proves the irrelevance of the WiiU as a system. Whether PS4 sells good or bad we will have ti wait when it launches.

FF is not that strong anymore, as seen by this weeks sales. I wouldn't count that to sell units long term in Japan.

KH3 is what....being released on PS4 right after PS5 launches? We have multiple years before we worry about that title.

MGSV I honestly don't know if it will sell or not in Japan, with the more "open world" designs being implemented. Dark horse for me.

1) FF 13 LR bombed because people hate FF13 and Lightning.
2) MGS is one of those franchises that has been selling steadily over numerous generations. 900k seems a safe bet.

 

[Tarsul]

sorry if i missed it:

what are the first week numbers for ffxiii and ffxiii-2?

 

[Buzzman]

Come on guys, don't worry, we still have Super Smash Brothers: Melee coming, Mario Kart: Double Dash and I hear Monolith Soft is making an RPG!

 

[DragonSworne]

First Sonic, now Mario. Wii U is crippling franchises.


I wonder how many people still own their Wii U system in Japan, because the userbase seems a lot smaller than 1.19 million.

 

[Roshin]

I don't think it matters much what game you roll out for the Wii U. At some point you have to admit that people just don't want the console.

 

[Maedhros]

So it's a "proper" MH game then and sales seem to support its case. Glad we've cleared that up.

I don't think so. At all. There's much room for improvement that could be achieved on a better hardware, not only graphically, but to the gameplay and IA refinements too. The stages could be even better.

And MH would sell well regardless of graphics.

 

[Glass Rebel]

The worst thing to come out of this is that Nintendo will have to delay X to put it on their next handheld. I don't think they can put it on 3DS as is.

 

[Scum]

More than the 50k that I was expecting.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Historically, 2D Mario has always been more popular. But we're talking about multiple hardware platforms(Wii U, PS3, Vita). Japan is not healthy at all.

Japan is still healthy, the WiiU is just doing like shit.

 

[LordOcidax]

SMG boosted the Wii by 10k units, SMG2 did nothing at all. Like, how is this such a fucking surprise for Nintendo?

DYou have those numbers? I actually think, that Mario is more about legs.... And i think that those numbers don't count digital sales.... I really want to know the Wii user base in Japan, when SMG 1 was launched. Please somebody...