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[cyberheater]

I'm sorry it had to be this way, Iwata. I think you did a good job, but the shareholders won't see it that way.

In what possible way could you describe the botched launch of the 3DS and the WiiU as Iwata doing a good job?

 

[zomgbbqftw]

And what is your attempt with this statement?

That we should've expected a 300% rise of Wii U sales? Did you expect this?


The GCN had a pricedrop in June, Sunshine, as the first major 3D title after Mario 64 came out in July, a spike in June, sales fell and rised on Sunshines release, furthermore, it's easier to achieve higher %ages with lower sales.

People bought the system when the price dropped or when Sunshine came out, this (and the fact that we didn't have that much 3D Marios or Marios in such a short time) led to a higher effect.


Numbers are bad in comparison, but there are reasons for it, did you really believe that 3D World would do wonders?

No, but at least double the hardware sales would have been nice. 3DW did worse than my expectations for sure. I wasn't expecting 270k like Sunshine, but at least 150k with 30-33k hardware sales for the week would be reasonable.

 

[Chindogg]

People are still waiting for it to drop to $99.

Pretty much this.

"Hey we love these games but we're gonna wait til the bottom falls out on the console while we complain that companies are backing out of the platform!"

 

[khaaan]

On the plus side...if it sold 107k that means everyone in Japan with a WiiU bought it, right?

Seriously though, I'm surprised it didn't sell much much better. Anecdotal but I feel like a tonne of people picked a console up over the weekend with this game being the thing that pushed them over.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

I knew the sales were gonna be underwhelming, but I didn’t think this bad.

Nothing is going to ‘save’ the Wii U. Absolutely nothing. What a disaster...

 

[73V3N]

The Wii is not a comparable system and when SMG came out hardware was in short supply.

The Wii U is most comparable to GCN and it has failed, once again, to even live up to that low standard.

Oh so you are one of those "only what helps me prove my point counts" people.

 

[Exile20]

If Japanese thought that it was a good game they would have bought it in droves.

You can't be serious. So only good games sell in droves?

 

[SmokyDave]

• A hardware that is anything but futureproof.
  
• Created around a controller that nobody asked for and that is expensive to manufacture
• Sub par online and social experiences
• Unable to run modern frameworks that most devs will be using.

A console based on an idea nobody feels attracted to, that nobody wants to program to is a bad product.

When nobody wants to play with it, it does not matter wich game(s) you put out for it.

This, man. It's a shame Mario got caught up in this, but I'm glad the Wii U is failing. Such mediocrity should not be rewarded. Try harder Nintendo.

 

[plasmawave]

It might have no sold much, but I'm still excited to play it.

 

[RobFox64tm]

Honestly, I don't know how to respond to this. Mario 3D World is one of the best games of the year, and if that level of polish is ignored by consumers, well, that's a problem for everyone. To all of you reveling in this news; I don't understand why you'd want to see this or any game of its caliber fail. Leave your fucking allegances at the door, because this is bad news for the game industry as a whole, and not just Nintendo. I'm seriously concerned about where gaming goes from here.

 

[Acquiescence]

I see it as a good thing quite honestly. The more ailing Mario becomes as a commercial commodity,the less overly-reliant Nintendo will be on their mascot. The less reliant Nintendo are on Mario, the more adventurous they might be by taking chances on new IPs and revived franchises. Nintendo's output when it comes to all things Mario right now is so frequent and numerous that it's become a down-right farce.

I say, let Mario fail. Nintendo have so much money in the bank that they can survive their mascot losing his relevance and then some. The company can then gain some relevance for itself in the process.

 

[Frillen]

I don't remember the Wii being in short supply in Japan by late 07. Someone refresh my memory.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Said it a million times. When a product is as bad as WiiU, there is no savior software.

Pretty much.

 

[Zornack]

Pretty much this.

"Hey we love these games but we're gonna wait til the bottom falls out on the console while we complain that companies are backing out of the platform!"

Yeah, it's the consumer's fault for the Wii U's failure. They are the ones to blame, for sure.

 

[Hoodbury]

Nintendo better go into panic mode and make a quick Mario game to save the Wii-U. 3rd one will save the system right? Wii-U needs more Mario. Wii U needs more platformers.

I haven't said it yet, I haven't agreed with others who have said it before, but I think maybe now it is time for Iwata to go. If things don't pick up for the holidays it's gotta time for a big change. I like the guy; I like his demeanor, his charm, etc. He just doesn't have the stuff to stay relevant in today's video game market.

Sure, 100,000 people want new Mario's but 10 million people want new shooters or new open world games.

anyhoo, I'm rambling now. Just a little upset at the way things are going. Been playing Nintendo consoles and Nintendo consoles only since 1987. It's time I move on I think.

 

[maxiell]

And what is your attempt with this statement?

That we should've expected a 300% rise of Wii U sales? Did you expect this?

Most people expected it to outsell the Vita this week, considering Vita had no major releases.

 

[Goodlife]

It shows that 3D mario games sell very well in Japan which the poster was disagreeing with. yes it also shows it has impressive legs but so far every game on WiiU has had terrible legs.

NSMB and Pikmin are series that also have great legs yet the WiiU counterparts showed significantly fewer sales after the first week than previous entries.

That graph wasn't Japan only sales, was it?

 

[Interceptor]

No joy, but a bit of a relief. Never has a first year been so bad for a Nintendo console, even though the predecessor was already dead for 2 years on top of that. Then it culminates in some standard Mario sequel that's nowhere near the legacy of a Galaxy or 64 and others, regardless of good reviews.
So Nintendo getting constant slapping for their abysmal WiiU efforts can only be a good thing, at one point they might just finally learn their lesson - especially when now comparing it to what made the 3DS work again (Although the WiiU is a lost cause, but they should now try to get their shit together for the next console)
If this shitty console strategy (copy everything that worked on other platforms in the past couple of years without major changes) succeeded however... god help us all

ITT: Lots of reliefed people. I am glad i can still enjoy games for what they are. I am out.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Oh so you are one of those "only what helps me prove my point counts" people.

So it's fine to compare it to a title launch when there was short supply of hardware (SMG), or when the buyers had already bought in (SMG2)? But not fine to compare it to a system which had demand problems and a poor software lineup receiving its first 3D Mario title (GCN).

Funny world you live in.

 

[metalslimer]

This, man. It's a shame Mario got caught up in this, but I'm glad the Wii U is failing. Such mediocrity should not be rewarded. Try harder Nintendo.

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW. Nintendo and their shitty attempt at launching a system can go fuck themselves if they really expected to launch a console and take a year off and have no effect whatsoever. Iwata's ass will be out the door by the end of the FY

 

[Conor 419]

Mario 64 launched on the N64? Not a handheld? There's no way to spin this I'm afraid. Why are you so adamant to defend their failure? It happens. Not everything has a Hollywood ending.

The first 3D Mario game.

Failure? Talk to me about lifetime sales, or its response in western Markets. I refuse to believe people are stupid enough to write off the Wii U at this stage because a 3D Mario game sold pretty decently in its first week in a market that favours handhelds.

 

[axisofweevils]

What bombed for One Piece, a new volume?

Also, this is unsurprising given the userbase of the Wii U. Nintendo's gonna have a weird holiday.

It only sold 20-40% of their allocation, which is relatively bad considering the success that series had in the past.

 

[BRocknRolla]

That's really unfortunate. If The Wii U can't claw it's way into relevance with great software, there's really no hope for it. That's a real shame.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

That's unfortunate because the game is brilliant. People should be playing it.

 

[Tesseract]

nintendo's hardware team failed miserably, that piece of garbage pico scrub tablet was a really terrible idea.

 

[Zornack]

That graph wasn't Japan only sales, was it?

The orange/blue one? That's just Japan.

 

[Josh7289]

In what possible way could you describe the botched launch of the 3DS and the WiiU as Iwata doing a good job?

I didn't say everything Nintendo did under Iwata was handled well, but overall I think the man did a good job.

 

[crinale]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW

Well if cboat is right then they already made a deal with Microsoft, right?
My memory be wrong so someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

The WiiMote was a vastly superior selling point than anything the WiiU will ever have.

Nobody brought Nintendo's consoles for online or third party games? Sounds like a problem for Nintendo, because there is clearly a market for that. That market only Nintendo is not part of.

Sometimes I'm amazed how the development process within Nintendo and their approach to the market is still so '90s.

 

[Zoc]

They had years of advantage thanks to the unexpected Wii success, and they decided to throw it by releasing an old hardware worth nothing more than the first party titles, which is exactly what the Wii was after the initial boom. No game can "save" this console because there's nothing to save. If people buy it they will do it to play the first party exclusives and put it on the shelf, and the amount of these people won't exceed the 5m. Nobody with a PS3 or a 360 can possibly desire a Wii U for anything else than their few first party games, and that's no reason to spend +200$, especially with the PS4 and Xbox One out there, and the casuals have already forgotten the gimmicks and have moved to smartphones and tablets. It's that simple.

This is actually the most concise description of the Wii U's troubles I've seen so far.

There is, indeed, no reason for anyone to buy a Wii U for anything other than first party titles. Multiplatform titles will look worse than PS4/X1, and the second screen will not be put to good use. Exclusive third-party games will not exist. It doesn't play Blu-rays, its version of Hulu etc. sucks.

Nintendo should have put a little more thought into making the Wii U useful for things other than Nintendo's own software.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

To be honest mario itself will do fine. It will have legs greater than most WiiU titles of late, hitting at least 500k by next year.

However, the impact of this In terms of third party development cannot be overstated. If a Mainline 3D Mario cannot do more than 110k in Japan of all places, nothing can.

Id personally cancel anything id have planned for the system right there and then.

Sega will probably not put out X. If they do, it will be at the least Cross platform with the 3DS. EDit: Ignore this part I was being stupid.

Square are probably done with the console, Konami never started, Temco bailed a long time ago, as did Namco and Capcom dont give a shit.

WiiU is going to be the first True Nintendo box in Japan. Nobody else is going to make games for it, outside of indies.

 

[Jonboy]

The major problem with the Wii U involves two things: 1) the gamepad 2) the marketing. The gamepad was a difficult sell from the start. We've yet to see the "Wii Sports," definitive title showcasing the gamepad to consumers. In my personal opinion, the gamepad wasn't a great idea to start with, but that's another the discussion.

The second issue is the marketing. They had an uphill climb the moment they named it the Wii U. The name, and poor marketing of said name, are an absolute nightmare for Nintendo's primary core demographic consisting of families and children.

I honestly don't know what can "save" the Wii U, but I never expected it to be a 3D Mario (at least not instantly). As others have suggested, it will have to be more of a slow burn with Mario. Oddly enough, I don't even think a consistent stream of quality titles will turn around sales...until they fix the two core issues I mentioned: the gamepad and the marketing.

 

[evilromero]

The first 3D Mario game.

Failure? Talk to me about lifetime sales, or its response in western Markets. I refuse to believe people are stupid enough to write off the Wii U at this stage because a 3D Mario game sold pretty decently in its first week in a market that favours handhelds.

Ok. We'll talk then.

 

[prwxv3]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW

Seriously. It's going to feel horrible to see their only successful IP bomba on WiiU. I'm glad it's still exists though.

 

[Bomber Bob]

nintendo's hardware marketing team failed miserably, that piece of garbage pico scrub tablet was a really terrible idea.

fixed for you

 

[Exile20]

Pretty much this.

"Hey we love these games but we're gonna wait til the bottom falls out on the console while we complain that companies are backing out of the platform!"

Whether you know it or not every gamer invest in the system which allows us to play these games.

What is the sense waiting till $99 which will probably be close to the death of the system then to buy it and no more games in the pipeline, especially when the system has at least 5 games you want for it already.

I see post where people are saying they are waiting for 10 games before they buy the console or that they want 5 games that are out already but only if it is $150 or $100. By then the console will be close to dead and no more games for you to buy after. What is the sense?

I am not saying everyone should buy the console but if you see games on it you like, why not buy it? Buying the console and games is the only way you will get more awesome games.

I am obviously excluding people with money issue.

 

[SmokyDave]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW. Nintendo and their shitty attempt at launching a system can go fuck themselves if they really expected to launch a console and take a year off and have no effect whatsoever. Iwata's ass will be out the door by the end of the FY

At this point 30K WW wouldn't surprise me.

I have my fingers crossed that they'll bounce back from this gen with a powerful handheld (dual sticks, no gimmicks), a proper account system and a fully fleshed out Virtual Console. They might as well knock consoles on the head.

 

[cyberheater]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW.

But aren't Nintendo basically paying their salaries.

Iwata's ass will be out the door by the end of the FY

As much as I hope that would be case. Nintendo is too much a risk adverse company to do that. Which is why they fail.

 

[HolyBaikal]

This. I just don´t get it.

I understand it, though it saddens me, too. There's often such a lack of empathy and wishing for people and companies. Wish for people to suffer and lose their jobs isn't something that is going to help anything. Particular people who haven't hurt anybody. And is quite mean.

I think that most people who have positive feelings about this, are people who have long wished that Nintendo would go third party. And are seeing personal benefits of being able to buy Nintendo games on other hardware. And are imagining a sort of wonderful rebirth out of all of this.

However, out of things like Nintendo suffering, a lot of people will probably lose their jobs. There are more feelings to consider other than my own and my desire to see Nintendo games on non-Nintendo hardware.

 

[Glass Rebel]

To be honest mario itself will do fine. It will have legs greater than most WiiU titles of late, hitting at least 500k by next year.

However, the impact of this In terms of third party development cannot be overstated. If a Mainline 3D Mario cannot do more than 110k in Japan of all places, nothing can.

Id personally cancel anything id have planned for the system right there and then.

Sega will probably not put out X. If they do, it will be at the least Cross platform with the 3DS.

Square are probably done with the console, Konami never started, Temco bailed a long time ago, as did Namco and Capcom dont give a shit.

WiiU is going to be the first True Nintendo box in Japan. Nobody else is going to make games for it, outside of indies.

SEGA... X...? wut?

 

[noah111]

Damn, i'm sad for Nintendo, i want them to do good.

I'm sorry but I don't understand this mentality. If you don't put in the effort to speak to a certain market then the consequence is on you.

The aura surrounding the Wii U in general right now reminds me a lot of the PS3 at launch, actually. 'out of touch'


That said, Super Mario 3D World does look excellent.

 

[cyberheater]

I didn't say everything Nintendo did under Iwata was handled well, but overall I think the man did a good job.

Those two statements contradict each other.

 

[Baby Milo]

time to throw the WiiU in the bushes

 

[metalslimer]

Whether you know it or not every gamer invest in the system which allows us to play these games.

What is the sense waiting till $99 which will probably be close to the death of the system then to buy it and no more games in the pipeline, especially when the system has at least 5 games you want for it already.

I see post where people are saying they are waiting for 10 games before they buy the console or that they want 5 games that are out already but only if it is $150 or $100. By then the console will be close to dead and no more games for you to buy after. What is the sense?

I am not saying everyone should buy the console but if you see games on it you like, why not buy it? Buying the console and games is the only way you will get more awesome games.

I am obviously excluding people with money issue.

Why in the world should I care that this system has awesome games? There will be plenty of other awesome games on the billion other systems. It;s not my job to help Nintendo

 

[zomgbbqftw]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW. Nintendo and their shitty attempt at launching a system can go fuck themselves if they really expected to launch a console and take a year off and have no effect whatsoever. Iwata's ass will be out the door by the end of the FY

That's why I hope CBOAT's rumour is true and they have signed a deal with Microsoft for a couple of games. It keeps them open which is better than them closing down. At least some people get to play their games and the Bone will be a better global seller than the Wii U for sure.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Sucks, but 3D World has at least justified the Wii U's existence for me personally, so I'm not upset (games like Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 were pretty great as well, but Mario has completely blown me away). I'm sure the game will end up selling quite well when all is said and done anyway. Pretty much anyone interested in the Wii U during the next few years is going to pick this game up alongside it, so it'll have legs.

 

[Father_Brain]

Time to burn a certain building in Kyoto to the fucking ground... figuratively speaking, of course.

 

[Captain Smoker]

No, but at least double the hardware sales would have been nice. 3DW did worse than my expectations for sure. I wasn't expecting 270k like Sunshine, but at least 150k with 30-33k hardware sales for the week would be reasonable.

Then we estimated it in the same ballpark.

My point is that 3D World isn't a game like Monster Hunter which will cause >60.000 sales in the release week or significant long-time effects (in Japan).

It doesn't matter if 3D World would've pushed the Wii U by 10.000 or 25.000 units, in the end, 3D Mario hasn't any greater effect (in Japan).


Anyway, even if we consider this all, numbers are bad.

 

[Nozem]

Wii U still 100% doomed.

Nintendo only 50% doomed.

 

[Pociask]

The only people I feel bad here for are platinum. Bayonetta 2 won't even sell 300k WW. Nintendo and their shitty attempt at launching a system can go fuck themselves if they really expected to launch a console and take a year off and have no effect whatsoever. Iwata's ass will be out the door by the end of the FY

At this point it will be surprising if Bayonetta 2 breaks 100k worldwide. Happy to be wrong, of course.

Quick edit: What do you think they're thinking at NCL about these sales? Panic, or nervously assuring themselves that it's a long tail ever-green product that will continue selling at full price for years?