-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
UK Retailer: Mario Kart 8 Last Chance for WiiU
- Thread starter Poetic.Injustice
- Start date
H_Prestige
Banned
It's got to be something new that people don't have already.
34 million people have MK Wii. That's great. Why should those people bust out $300 just to play a slightly shinier version instead of just dusting off their Wii? It's the same reason 30 million people didn't "upgrade" to NSMBU.
It's blowing my mind that I actually have to explain this when NSMBU already happened. Are you guys not paying attention?
You've got this backwards. If people wanted to play 3D World, if the game were actually compelling outside of a small internet fanbase, then people would buy the hardware. The simple explanation is that the game just doesn't offer much new experiences. You can already get 4 player platforming mayhem in NSMBU, which in turn was already available in NSMBWii, a game which 1/3 of the Wii user base already bought and played.
COD? This is emergent online competitive gameplay. You can pretend that all these games offer the same exact experience, but they don't. If you think every COD game, every COD match is the same, then I guess every single Melee game played out the same right?
Sports games? Come on man. Should people still be playing with 15 year old graphics and team rosters? There is a compelling reason to buy a new sports title every year. What's the reason to buy NSMBU when you have it on Wii? HD backgrounds? What is MK8 offering that you just can't get with MKWii?
peanutbutterlatte
Member
If launching with a NSMB game didn't help, this won't either. Just a prediction.
illmatic22
Banned
None of these franchises saved Gamecube either
, although Gamecube tier sales numbers would be a good thing now
by your logic, every game in a serie is just a shinier version of the one that preceded it. Which is totally wrong and if anything MK8 is looking drastically different from MKWii already
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Relatively. Of course I strongly doubt it would do worse than an average Wii U title, but compared to Mario Kart Wii? Yeah.
Really, the only reason Mario Kart Wii was such a huge success because Nintendo hit a gold mine concept with motion control for Wii. Being able to use an actual, friendly designed wheel and play with your friends on a couch was fairly new at the time, and it's perfect for casual and families.
The two target audience had moved on now. I don't see them coming back to Nintendo just for another Mario Kart that essentially only provide prettier graphics and new stages.
SargerusBR
I love Pokken!
B-but Zelda WiiU...
Jaded Alyx
Member
It's not that simple. Why was MKWii a system seller then? (it caused the Wii to jump to over 700,000 units in it's launch month in the US, an unprecedented figure for a console in a non-launch, non-holiday month. Also GTAIV launch month, incidentally) What was so different about it, a plastic wheel attachment?
My thoughts too. No amount of quality Nintendo titles is going to hook the boat back - UK has an affinity towards Sony, and now the Xbox. 'Simple and fun' titles can just gotten on the iPad/Phone. Everyone wants bigger and better, not neat and different.
It's still great how I've seen the average bloke wince up and mention kiddy in regards to having a crack at the Wii U. UK is returning to its roots.
H_Prestige
Banned
It actually is that simple.
Wii audience loved this kind of stuff. The game wouldn't have sold what it if it had regular controls.
Anyway, I'm done with this discussion. Always a waste of time.
Jaded Alyx
Member
Um..ok, what is your problem exactly? I'm having a discussion with you here, and trying to understand your thinking.
Starwolf_UK
Member
I got my Wii shortly after MKWii came out (just before WiiWare launched...to think that was a reason for buying the Wii, having a 2001 PC made me not notice the PC indie movement, though I guess world of goo made it boom) and the shortages felt like they had just come to an end.
So maybe it was a case that Wii could have moved those units but the production was not yet at the level to do so.
The thing about that chalkboard is that the only items that really should have been on it where Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart, Zelda Wii U, and Smash Bros. They were and are the only games that were even capable of moving the needle as they say. A lot of the other stuff was just silly.
How well Mario Kart 8 does will be interesting to see. If they don't go all out on advertising for it, presenting it as a reason to own a Wii U, I don't see it doing much of anything. It has to be a showpiece and make the case for the system not the gamepad but the system.
Chezzymann
Member
What? sure, the "New" mario games sold over 25 million, but the galaxy games were still big. Super Mario Galaxy sold 10 million copies.
its time was 2010.
This!
And WiiU 1st party titles will probably be released on the next console as well...
Sectorseven
Member
What are the odds MK8 sees a release date in the first half of this year?
3D World should have turned it around. It will ultimately turn out to be a far superior game than Mario Kart.
Having gotten a Wii-U recently for Christmas, I don't think they should count out Zelda. This was the main reason, along with X that I wanted the console. The main complaint I have with Nintendo however is they never lower the price of their first party titles.... and some are not worth the MSRP.
Jaded Alyx
Member
I doubt there will be. They'd want to focus on how you can use the Gamepad as a wheel.
Extremely high? It has always been 'Spring 2014'.
michaelius
Banned
Mario Kart WAS Wii U last chance - if they released it together with 3D world before Christmas 2013 and coupled with much bigger price cut than they did.
In 2014 it's too little to late.
In 2014 it's too little to late.
Calamari41
41 > 38
I'm as big a Wii U fan as anybody, but the reality of the situation is that the system has only one shot at healthy sales figures going forward. It's not Smash, it's not Mario Kart, and it's not anything that we could point to right now. The only chance the Wii U has is if Nintendo discovers or creates the next Skylanders or Minecraft and secures it exclusively.
That's their only shot. Since the chances of Nintendo accomplishing this are so low, the best they can do is ride out the Wii U and try again next time.
That's their only shot. Since the chances of Nintendo accomplishing this are so low, the best they can do is ride out the Wii U and try again next time.
Katana_Strikes
Member
I doubt that would have caused much more than the ripple Mario 3D did on it's own. Xmas was about the 2 new systems. Mario Kart and Mario 3D may have made the WiiU slightly more desirable but in the end it would have done little to it's overall performance. It would have also meant that the WiiU would have lost all the momentum in one go and left 2014 looking even worse than it does now.
I think it's too late for the system to truly turn itself around after 1 year of zero hype and momentum. It has a failed stigma surrounding it with no excitement. It's not getting any wealth of games any time soon. Even if 3rd parties pubs suddenly wanted to release games on the system, they aren't going to come any time soon or would be full price port jobbies that wouldn't sell anyways. The Wii audience is gone. It's left to Nintendo fans and soaking up some other core gamers for stuff like X or Bayo2 as the people to sell it to and that's a limited audience (see Gamecube). Unless Nintendo can come out and really push some amazing idea for the GamePad that catches fire, then it's simply going to just plod along at the snails pace it is now. They could try and slash the price/rebrand it/new marketing push... but what will that really achieve with it's rather limited games library that hasn't already attracted the core to begin with. If you have a PS3/4/360/XBone than that's where you'll be buying your muliplats and online focused games. It's going to fall down to exclusives. And while the WiiU has some nice exclusives now and in the future; is it enough for the masses to want to buy another system just so they can play just those titles? I don't think it is.
Nintendo is stuck with a system this gen that is going nowhere fast and they are just going to have to ride it out the best they can, hoping they can achieve some decent profit in the end. But consumer, developers/publishers and retailer confidence in it is dangerously low. There's no quick easy fix for it all.
Neff
Member
Brick and mortar chains issuing ultimatums while their business bleeds toward online retailers is quite something.
What with it being online and, y'know, probably not shit like Double Dash was, it should be a much better result.
What with it being online and, y'know, probably not shit like Double Dash was, it should be a much better result.
Apophis2036
Banned
They need to price cut WiiU to the launch price of the original Wii for MK8 to have any effect. A $249/£179 32GB WiiU with NSMB U & MK8 as digital downloads would do really well if marketed right.
Double Dash was not shit.
While Mario Kart might be more popular now, it's just more of the same, whereas DD was vastly different compared to DD (both in gameplay, features, and visuals). MK8 is just more of the same; as with their other Wii U titles I don't think it will be nearly as popular as MK Wii. Franchise fatigue has become a thing with their safe sequels.
Their last chance is bundling this with the Wii U and selling it for €150. Even at €200 it won't make a real change.
Wolfgang Jr
Banned
It will be renamed before release:
Mario Kart (console sales) U-Turn!
DD was vastly different to the other Mario Kart's by being the SHITTEST Mario Kart.
It was their first step into creating the "modern" Mario Kart. All MK games that followed played (e.g. physics) and looked similar. MK64 and SMK differed quite a lot both in gameplay and items.
Outtrigger888
Member
They get paid, either way. Kamiya would of never got to make a game he seems very passionate about, w101.
Bayo2 probably would of never seen the light of day. So im happy for PG.
I feel sorry for anyone who misses these two games.
Also, some quotes...
KennyLinder
Member
Price cuts might help but anyone who thinks about it for a minute knows that the pricing isn't the issue. Some examples (UK):
- Apple products sell well here
- Xbox One is doing great
- House prices and sales are up
- New car sales are at a record high including companies like BMW and Audi (leased or otherwise)
My point is people in the UK are happy to spend money - lots in some cases - and that perhaps cost is a factor as a Wii U would be a secondary console for many, but ultimately nobody is interested in a Nintendo home system. They just aren't.
Wii was a 100m fad which will probably never be repeated.
- Apple products sell well here
- Xbox One is doing great
- House prices and sales are up
- New car sales are at a record high including companies like BMW and Audi (leased or otherwise)
My point is people in the UK are happy to spend money - lots in some cases - and that perhaps cost is a factor as a Wii U would be a secondary console for many, but ultimately nobody is interested in a Nintendo home system. They just aren't.
Wii was a 100m fad which will probably never be repeated.
wind_steaker
Member
So accepting that the console is never going to do amazing numbers, could it still be worthwhile for Nintendo to continue development? Assuming they get decent (comparatively) sales of their key games, is that enough for them to more or less break even for the generation? If so they could just continue and see their game development as investment in future HD collections for whatever comes next. If the next console does better numbers then games like Zelda might get sales they deserve then, while giving Nintendo enough reason to not abandon the Wii u.
Neff
Member
I'm not sure about that. The DS game was as significant a re-invention as any of them (and is the best imo), and the Wii game again changed its feel quite a bit.
7 went back to MKDS' style, sans snaking, but we'll have to see what 8 does differently, besides the obvious gravity gimmick.
No one game can save it by itself, but one game can certainly tip the console's purchase incentive past the point of "oh well, it has this other stuff I want to play on it besides this game, so why not?"
TruckDriver
Neo Member
And who's fault is that? The parents? Heck no, that's Nintendo's fault.
A lack of advertising has led to confusion on the consumer side. That's Nintendo's problem, which they have yet to solve.
schaft0620
Member
Thank you for making my day
DragonSworne
Banned
Millions of Wii owners nostaglic over Mario Kart. That nostaglia won't help Wii U as Nintendo has been abusing the Mario Kart franchise.
Screamapillar
Member
I don't agree. Mario Kart 64 is ubiquitous for "Mario Kart" nowadays with people in my age group. We're talking 22-28ish. People keep their N64 around from when they got it in 5th or 6th grade, and they have their drinking buddies over to play. Can't tell you how many people come into the party store I work at within walking distance from the local university and talking about playing Mario Kart.
Huh? Nintendo makes one Mario Kart per system. Same as they've always done. What are you talking about?
Corronchilejano
Member
Apparently having two Mario games for the Wii U is too much.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Yep 7 potentially fantastic games there
Of all the items on the chalkboard Mario Kart is the only one which I ever thought actually had a chance to 'save' the Wii U due it's insane popularity on the Wii and DS. It is ridiculous that it has taken them so long to get it out though. They should have moved heaven and earth to get it out in november, even if it meant delaying 3D world. I'm not sure what kind of impact it will have now, feels like it might be too late and the systems price is still too high.
Neff
Member
While Wii U's still relatively limp, the discrepancy between what's selling online and what's selling in stores is significant. If those comments are coming from stores (and I'm positive they are), they at least represent the tough situation they face. From an online retailer, "last chance" simply sounds alarmist, sensationalist, or a poor reflection of their own business.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
It actually is that simple.
Wii audience loved this kind of stuff. The game wouldn't have sold what it if it had regular controls.
Anyway, I'm done with this discussion. Always a waste of time.
Really it's that. It was an actual realistic, easy to understand, and functional motion control scheme and it released at the perfect time while people were still hungry for motion controls but were getting tired of Wii Sports.
I think Mario Kart DS felt like a huge leap as well representing a leap from the terrible SNES style graphics and physics of the GBA all the way to something that you could almost see being on the Gamecube, but on a portable system.
The only thing to make Mario Kart 8 really stand out is that the tracks sometimes go sideways or upside-down, which is certainly not something that will get the average person super excited.
3D World was never going to save the Wii U, but Nintendo really really really needed it to at least set the wii u up into a slightly better position so that Mario Kart can have something to build off of. Now it seems Mario Kart basically needs to work with launching the system off the very same ground floor the system was at this time last year, and to hold those sales until whenever Smash comes out.
I know what that post was saying. What I'm saying is that the Wii U wasn't following that same blue ocean strategy. Its almost the complete opposite of what the Wii was aiming for.
I don't know if Nintendo would have fared any better if all they did was make a better Wiimote and a new HD console. Capturing a new audience is a very risky move, because holding on to them is difficult. So yeah its hard to pull off long term success.