Nobody is overreacting. There isn't analysis on the long term sales because we don't know. What we do know is that current sales are absolutely abysmal. And this isn't even trying to compare it to the Wii. On its own, it's bad.
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Nintendo to meet UK retailers after unofficial Wii U price cuts fail
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
Nobody is overreacting. There isn't analysis on the long term sales because we don't know. What we do know is that current sales are absolutely abysmal. And this isn't even trying to compare it to the Wii. On its own, it's bad.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
4 months in? Please.
DragonSworne
Banned
I'm pretty sure Miyamoto has already canceled Retro's game at least twice and they are now working on DLC for pikmin 3.
metalslimer
Member
The one bright spot is the lack of ads meaning few know the system exist which means a relaunch this year is possible
Software sells hardware. You can price the hardware as low as you like, without attractive software it's pointless.
I like Iwata but he has failed to deliver on his promise of more consistent first party software releases. By this stage in it's life the second wave of 3DS software (3D Land, Starfox, Mario Kart, Zelda) was about to arrive. We don't even have Game and Wario yet.
I like Iwata but he has failed to deliver on his promise of more consistent first party software releases. By this stage in it's life the second wave of 3DS software (3D Land, Starfox, Mario Kart, Zelda) was about to arrive. We don't even have Game and Wario yet.
That's the exception though. The NES and SNES were only moderately successful in the UK. Never mind the N64 or Gamecube.
Steve Youngblood
Member
That's fine, but it just seems odd to me that you would enter into the thread, declare others as guilty of kneejerk panic who are basing their analysis on actual warning signs that are showing up, and your rationale for this dismissal is simply your own "gut-level qualitative guess."
That's not to suggest that I think Nintendo fans are mistaken in being optimistic that some of the big Nintendo heavy hitters can do well to right the course of this particular ship. But we're in month five now of having actual indicators we can react to. Sure, Nintendo can react and turn it around, but dismissing current analysis as short-sighted in favor of having faith in Nintendo's ability to turn things around hardly seems like something worth hanging one's hat on in terms of claiming the upper ground in this debate.
Yeah I own one but no one else who i know does or did and I only picked one up a couple months after its launch out of curiosity.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Largest gaming market in Europe, and third largest market in the world for consoles. Second largest in terms of per capita spend on console gaming.
Not a market companies would want to leave.
To put into perspective the problems Nintendo are having, the statistics today said that retail sales are up 2.6% YoY basically down to an increase in technology products, essentially tablets and smartphones. That is an area where Nintendo have zero presence but is up over 5% YoY and responsible for the bulk of UK retail growth.
Sony and MS are both involved in these markets either directly (Xperia) or by proxy (WP8/W8) and Nintendo need to find a way to make that market work for them. I'm not saying Mario in iOS/Android, but they do need to make it work.
Aquamarine
Member
I wonder at this point how much an expensive rebranding strategy (Wii U -> different name + actually effective advertising) would actually impact casual sales.
They'd have to couple it with a slew of new titles, of course.
....Or is it the case that the high-level concepts behind the console are just fundamentally flawed (cf. Virtual Boy), and it can NEVER be successful in any incarnation due to market conditions?
Wow... this post really nailed it, IMO. I never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. They are just back to "Normal" now...
They had a good 5 golden years with the Wii. It had the kind of success that we simply won't see again for a very very long time...
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
The UK is one of the biggest gaming markets behind America
I know it will be a nightmare for my local Game.
Agent Icebeezy
Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
I would vouch for the Vita being cool, as I'm a day one purchaser. However, I can concede that the Vita is a great machine for which there is a market of limited area of opportunity.
I'm still lost at the place of the Wii U. It is a console that is slightly above par with consoles from 2005/2006. I've long thought that publishers and developers mostly look at Nintendo consoles, save for handhelds, with disgust. Their efforts on the Nintendo consoles state as such. We've seen this phenomenon since the Nintendo 64. Why is anyone really surprised at this point?
DashReindeer
Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
Yeah. Sales are truly awful everywhere. Nintendo needs to get incredibly aggressive with each of its markets by actually allowing those branches some autonomy. This monolithic, top-down approach to running the business has driven it into the ground.
Good lord, I could go on all day about how outdated Nintendo's business model is, but pretending that things aren't changing doesn't mean it's true, it just means you get left behind as more progressive companies steamroll over you. I know it's a scary prospect around here, but if there is any company that needs to dive headfirst into the F2P model, it's fucking Nintendo. 5 million concurrent LoL players doesn't lie. Neither do the massive revenues top F2P companies are pulling in.
August 2007, so 21 months in both US and UK: http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Price_cuts
off topic, but it is pretty ridiculous that 360 price is still $199/$299 so it has only been cut $100 in its (US) lifetime
DragonSworne
Banned
Again, Marketing is a huge mess.
Fire Emblem can easily be a multi million seller worldwide, hell in could be one in the US alone.
But Nintendo wastes marketing dollars on titles that are sure to hit and the games that need it get left to hang dry.
Since the death of Benny Hill you are the only englishman I trust to be informed by.
...They marketed Fire Emblem: Awakening, the hell are you talking about.
SolsticeZero
Banned
But they only shipped about eight copies. =/
NeonZ
Member
People are assuming that by then Nintendo will have been able to start releasing and announcing games. If they still have nothing to show, then, yeah, they won't be able to compete.
What kind of message would it send out to competitors and what would it say about their ability to compete globally if they can't operate in one of the major component parts of the EU market?
Lets not get crazy now and they honestly did more to promote the game than I was expecting. As for the Wii U it looks like Nintendo just stopped airing the launch ads and haven't put out a new HW ad yet. This is probably because of the reception the first one got so it'll be interesting to see what they air around the time their big games come out.
All of these threads are based on news that is derivative of the same exact data and its manifestation in the marketplace. And if you look at all the related threads, the same exact points are being brought up over and over for discussion. That's fine. But just like you find my statement "odd," I find it odd people repeat the same arguments nonstop when the data hasn't changed much.
And all I've ever done was post in two threads (maybe three) about people being "proven wrong" about the viability of this console platform. Why? Because they are mixing the bad launch data with forecasting for the future. I can't control people quoting me. I've never claimed any upper ground. And I've never dismissed the sales data.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Sixth months for PS3 in the UK. £425 in March to £349 in October. 40GB introduced as well for £299.
It is possible for Nintendo to cut the price in April/May without going all ambassadorial on us.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
From the outside it looks like they thought they just needed to slap Wii on the box to replicate the success.
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
The best thing Nintendo has going for them are the possible anti-consumer features of the PS4 and 720. For me, the only reason I would consider a WiiU is if the PS4 and 720 are simply too anti-consumer for me to buy.
Threads like these aren't even that long any more because none of this comes as a surprise and a lot of the things here have been said before. Not that I intend to devalue or disagree with the general sentiment.
Nintendo needs to act and I am strongly interested in seeing their plans during the annual results briefing.
Generally I don't really disagree but Fire Emblem is a poor example. Not only do I doubt its multi million selling potential, the marketing wasn't the problem - the launch logistics were.
This. It was a major logistics failure. One I hope does not repeat in Europe.
Nintendo needs to act and I am strongly interested in seeing their plans during the annual results briefing.
Generally I don't really disagree but Fire Emblem is a poor example. Not only do I doubt its multi million selling potential, the marketing wasn't the problem - the launch logistics were.
This. It was a major logistics failure. One I hope does not repeat in Europe.
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
Exactly my point, people not as involved with gaming do not understand why they should a few hundred pounds to buy a second Wii.
With a different name things might have been different. Not vastly so, Nintendos time as a gimmicky fad is clearly over.
I dont understand all the personal feelings regarding Vita/Wii u. Both are tanking, why get upset when people point it out?
Unless of course you have substantial shares in both companies, otherwise shut up.
The Hermit
Member
Relaunch the system basically. Everything about the post launch is so pathetic it almost feels on purpose...
I suspect they learned pretty much immediately that it had absolutely zero appeal with the "casual" Wii audience... parents/grandparents/etc who purchased it for the novelty of the motion control and fitness aspects.
That's why:
- There is still no release of a "sports" or "fit" title for WiiU
- They gripped hard onto the "core gamer" from the beginning announcement
But I feel they still knew that the "core" appeal was very lacking, even before launch. They invested so much into the platform, that in the end they couldn't NOT launch it... now they are just trying to make as many pennies as they can from the thing as possible.
The Wii launched 5 years after Gamecube. I expect Nintendo's next console to come even sooner.
Or simply been 100% clear as to what the damn Wii U was. The advertising they have done never fully explain what it was in simple terms. The spent to much time on just getting the name out there and trying to make it seem cool which was beyond stupid. The damn system needs an infomercial to undo the damage that was done. Clear marketing material explaining the difference between the Wii and Wii U. That's not complicated at all.
The general lack of interest in the system I think can be solved by games. Not ports but new games. Games that are properly advertised and backed. Some games have to take Nintendo out of their comfortable zone because they will not be supplied by anyone else. It sucks but this is why whatever is coming from Retro Studios is so damn important. Why Monolith Soft's X must deliver as well. Why those companies must be capable of developing more then one major game at a time.
I've been hoping that E3 will be treated as a relaunch of the system. Whatever they need to do they must do it around that time.
Unlike Nintendo's account system, which is pro-consumer, or their insistance on region locking their mobile console? More pro-consumerism.
Majmun
Member
Ok, so Mario Kart and Smash 4 are released. Then what?
I'm expecting massive droughs between the big releases. The Wii could handle it because of the hype surrounding Wii Sports and WiiFit. But the U will remain to struggle, considering 3rd parties are focusing on Sony's and MS' consoles again and the U just isn't generating any hype with its tab@et controler.
I'm just not seeing the U competing with the new consoles.
CoffeeJanitor
Member
I don't know why people keep saying this. This is worse than the Cube right now.
A F2P based console from "Nintendo" is one revelation that I could honestly see being as successful as the Wii...
Heck... don't release a new console for it... Convert WiiU into a 100% F2P platform.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
A lot of people here are saying marketing price cut and software will solve the problem. NSMBWiiU is out and it was huge seller on the Wii, yet it´s not selling on the WiiU as well as the Wii. Yeah the Wii had a much bigger user base, but that does not mean a huge Mario seller from previous gen cannot sustain its sales and push the console. Price does not matter if the product is unappealing. I mean really this shows when the WiiU´s price is reduced by £50 pounds and still getting outsold by the Vita. While tablets and smart phones sell at great at a much higher price.
test_account
XP-39C²
The pricetag is one thing, but what matters the most is the value proposition. It depends a lot on how people in general sees what they get for their money.
This console is looking more and more like a clusterfuck.
As time passes it becomes more apparent that Nintendo really don't have a strategy apart from hoping for the best. It is incredibly poor.
I own a Wii U, and while I won't cry over the spilt milk of spending 300 quid so far it is a complete waste outside Zombi U, and to a lesser extent Monster Hunter. I know many will say but they will release a new Mario, a new Zelda and maybe a new Metroid! But when? In the next 6-12 months when they need to release software? Highly doubtful. Nintendo still haven't managed to supply a launch date, let alone ship Pikmin 3.
As time passes it becomes more apparent that Nintendo really don't have a strategy apart from hoping for the best. It is incredibly poor.
I own a Wii U, and while I won't cry over the spilt milk of spending 300 quid so far it is a complete waste outside Zombi U, and to a lesser extent Monster Hunter. I know many will say but they will release a new Mario, a new Zelda and maybe a new Metroid! But when? In the next 6-12 months when they need to release software? Highly doubtful. Nintendo still haven't managed to supply a launch date, let alone ship Pikmin 3.
DragonSworne
Banned
SolsticeZero
Banned
Gamecube 0.5?
The console doesn't need to sell like the other consoles as long as Nintendo can make it profitable for themselves. At least one exclusive a month would be good once they get it together.
Also, if Miyamoto's project is what I think it is it could have pretty big potential if handled correctly.
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
I never said they were completely pro-consumer, I would never say that about Nintendo.
Anyway, I think they will discontinue the Basic model soon.
Gonzo The Great
Banned
What do you think it is?
Fire Emblem could be a million seller in the US? Are you serious? You really believe A niche, anime SRPG could pull those numbers?
What makes you think that?
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
Yeah, why be massively successful and have ambition to be number one when you can settle for just being barely profitable...
DragonSworne
Banned
Qaulity