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[michaelius]

Actual, good (relative to its current performance) sales figures would convince me.

Ahh so i guess current Wii U figures are hope inspiring?

 

[Father_Brain]

GT & GoW are multi-million sellers on handhelds and are (hopefully) no-brainers for the Vita. If Sony panicked like Nintendo, they might have announced them by now, even if they're a way off. I don't think it'd make any real difference to the overarching narrative though.

Not that recently, hence my qualifier. The handheld market has changed a lot in the past few years, and that GoS only sold around 37% of what CoO sold in 2008 backs that up.

I'll believe that there's still a sizable market for console-style handheld games aimed at that demographic when the sales figures prove it. As is, none of the titles in that category released last year (RE:R, U:GA, R:BS, COD, ACIII:L) support that conclusion.

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

This is great. Nintendo deserves these numbers. Hopefully it forces them to change their strategy.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

What a compelling, fact-based rebuttal. I stand corrected; you have truly convinced me that Vita is well on the way to overcoming its rough start and will surely soon become a genuine mass-market competitor in the handheld market.

What facts? You have already made up your mind and nothing would change it. First you said the Vita was dead, and now it´s only dead outside of Japan. You also said that COD and AC3:L are not system sellers. The games sold systems, and you are still saying that. You already have your mind set up regardless, so why should i bother?

 

[metalslimer]

If vita or the wiiu had the same level of 3rd party support befoe the ps even launched i would be more optimistic.



You know what you're right. You may think the figures are interesting and i apologize for coming off as condesceding. You are wrong about one thin. I dont hate vita at all. I think its a much better desinged system than the 3ds and hoped it would do well as a region free system. Unlike some people I try to separate my personal preference from sales opinion

Quoted for the new page. I'll also say again that what are people expecting from mario kart 8 or 3d mario to change if the reason nsmbu didnt sell systems was the lack of change
nvm

 

[Hattori]

I'm not convinced the Wii U is doomed just yet... maybe when sales stay the same or below the rest of they year

 

[Pie and Beans]

So we are off into the "Wii U is dead/alive and well/we just don't know/I hereby predict x Mio sales" space and have chosen this thread as our plat du jour?
The points were sales of Wii U and Vita in the UK based on some unspecified (?) data with focus on Nintendo declines YOY.
Questions that could be raised/discussed: Is UK representative of a trend or of the actual sales for whole PAL-land? How relevant is UK data? Has the UK lost their "taste" for everything Nintendo or does Nintendo not cater to the UK on purpose?
No?

This seems to be grasping at some pretty thin straws. To be blunt, the more data that comes in from around the world, the further into a ditch the WiiU sinks. Ymmv, but people are getting confident that the time to "call it" is either very soon or just a few months away.

- Yes UK trends often filter through the rest of Europe over the years. An exception is France.
- The UK is either the biggest European videogame market or is now sharing that honour with Germany in the market, so yes, big deal.
- If it was revealed Iwata was "purposely letting the Nintendo market in Europe/UK die" he would be forced out by his shareholders in a bloody coup of "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, IMBECILE?!?!" screams.

 

[GhostOfLawlight]

There is absolutely no way to support this theory as Sony doesn't give out any kind of numbers these days.

Sure there is - the Retro City Rampage dev said the Vita sales are higher than on any other platform. Also Yoshida said that digital sales are stronger on the Vita than the PS3.

 

[Dunlop]

I'm not convinced the Wii U is doomed just yet... maybe when sales stay the same or below the rest of they year

It's not doomed, but the chance of it being relevant in the next gen console wars is small. This early months were when they needed to have an impact as the hype machine for the PS4/Durnago will be all you see on TV,Internet and print in the coming months.

 

[Mpl90]

This seems to be grasping at some pretty thin straws. To be blunt, the more data that comes in from around the world, the further into a ditch the WiiU sinks. Ymmv, but people are getting confident that the time to "call it" is either very soon or just a few months away.

- Yes UK trends often filter through the rest of Europe over the years. An exception is France.
- The UK is either the biggest videogame market or is now sharing that honour with Germany in the market, so yes, big deal.
- If it was revealed Iwata was "purposely letting the Nintendo market in Europe die" he would be forced out by his shareholders in a bloody coup of "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, IMBECILE?!?!" screams.

Surely some trends tend to be seen in other countries, but not so much, otherwise 360 would have been the best selling console in all the other European countries, while it's third behind 3DS and PS3, Inazuma Eleven / majority of anime games wouldn't sell at all, Kingdom Hearts shouldn't sell anything nowhere (no episode broke the 100k barrier in UK, while the first two chapter were at around 700-800k; let's not even talk about US) and so on.

 

[kinggroin]

And are we expecting mario kart to propel the system through the next drought? How big of a chane is mkwiiu goin to be from previous entries when it is probably being rushed to make this year?

Edit: I'm pretty pessimistic about wiiu but its perfectly reasonable to say its in a better position than vita based on time on the market and the level of importance to nintendos business

You're overly pessimistic (understandably though) I feel. I never gave concrete numbers or spoke of how successful this platform will be post-1st party release (which for the record, I predicted before launch to be around GC levels, maybe worse).

I'm merely stating that making an absolute call on the next 4 or 5 years to be completely dead or filled with similar droughts is a bit....much. As are comparisons to Vita, mostly.

Sony as yet to lay out a plan before us where they show a dedication to the revival and fortune turn around of their handheld. The software isn't there from them and we've no clue if or when its coming. So for now, we can say Vita has a grim outlook.

Nintendo has at least given some insight into what support the Wii U will see this year. Support THEY feel is very strong and should help build momentum moving forward. I'm saying, let's wait until those cards are played this year before calling them out on a failure of a strategy or not. Likewise, IF there appears to be drought moving into next year, THEN its logical to assume poor performance going forward.

As an aside, despite whatever software they have lined up and barring a Wii Sports-like phenomenon, the platform itself as of right now, is certainly lacking the mainstream appeal and push the Wii had. I think its reasonable to at least say, they will struggle to reach those heights. In addition, if they can't generate interest for their core titles in a significant way, they may also fail to reach the numbers of their older, less successful platforms as well.

 

[ymmv]

The Wii U has zero momentum. I wouldn't say the system is finished, but it needs to hit a point where it's getting games consistently and is picking up bigger and bigger releases. Since launch there haven't been many compelling games to get more people on board. Perhaps the likes of Lego City, Monster Hunter, and Need for Speed will start up some momentum that the system can actually work off of. If Nintendo can build up the system over the next several months and then somehow peak during the holiday season, they'll have effectively recovered the console. I honestly don't think it will be anything more than a mild success, though.

It's sad that with the Wii U, there was the buzz of the launch and then nearly NOTHING for months. Nintendo needs to get the ball rolling again.

The next few months are going to be critical. Nintendo has to release games that appeal to their core audience in a hurry, because it's already clear they're not going to attract core gamers. That segment will have their eyes set on the PS4 and 720 and are going to be bombarded with information, new game franchises and betrayalthons for the rest of this year until November.

From November onward they'll be in direct competition with Sony's and Microsoft's new consoles. Sony will probably be the more attractive option for core gamers, but Microsoft with Kinect 2.0 will be trying to compete directly for the casual gamers Nintendo wants to lure over. It's going to be a tough battle for Nintendo, even when they have a number of major titles ready for the holidays. Both MS and Sony are going to launch consoles that will have a portfolio of launch games that can easily compete with Nintendo's because Nintendo will have lost almost all of its third party support by then.

 

[metalslimer]

MS is also going to learn the hard way that the customers they got with kinect wont be coming back a 2nd time

 

[Father_Brain]

Ahh so i guess current Wii U figures are hope inspiring?

Let me sum it up: Nintendo has several first-party IP that have proven that they can be worldwide multimillion sellers even on a fairly unsuccessful system like GC, and are proven to move hardware to some extent. This is not the case for Vita, where Sony's most popular first-party IP have only been demonstrably successful on consoles since around 2009 (see: U:GA's sales, the huge gulf in sales between Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta).

That I see Wii U's future as considerably healthier than Vita's does not mean that I actually see it as healthy. I don't think projecting N64 numbers as a best-case scenario is particularly optimistic.

What facts? You have already made up your mind and nothing would change it. First you said the Vita was dead, and now it´s only dead outside of Japan. You also said that COD and AC3:L are not system sellers. The games sold systems, and you are still saying that. You already have your mind set up regardless, so why should i bother?

Dem system sellers.

But Vita presumably sold more units than would have been the case had those games not existed, so I suppose they could be called system-sellers in the strictly literal sense.

As for Japan: I haven't changed my mind at all. My point is that, while extraordinarily unlikely to happen, there are games that hypothetically could be announced for Japan that would be almost certain to move hardware if they actually existed (an exclusive MH/DQ/GE/FF), where as there are no such games in the west, given the demographics of the dedicated handheld market here. There's just no evidence that Killzone or a hypothetical GoW/GTA/Bioshock/Borderlands would do significantly better than Uncharted/AC/CoD.

 

[Wickerbasket]

MS is also going to learn the hard way that the customers they got with kinect wont be coming back a 2nd time

All ten of them.

Spoiler

I'm joking, I know it sold well.

 

[kinggroin]

The next few months are going to be critical. Nintendo has to release games that appeal to their core audience in a hurry, because it's already clear they're not going to attract core gamers. That segment will have their eyes set on the PS4 and 720 and are going to be bombarded with information, new game franchises and betrayalthons for the rest of this year until November.

From November onward they'll be in direct competition with Sony's and Microsoft's new consoles. Sony will probably be the more attractive option for core gamers, but Microsoft with Kinect 2.0 will be trying to compete directly for the casual gamers Nintendo wants to lure over. It's going to be a tough battle for Nintendo, even when they have a number of major titles ready for the holidays. Both MS and Sony are going to launch consoles that will have a portfolio of launch games that can easily compete with Nintendo's because Nintendo will have lost almost all of its third party support by then.

I actually believe Nintendo's best bet with the Wii U are the same gamers that will be dead set on the PS4 and 720. The hardware/software lacks an intrinsic quality that speaks to the casual gamer the way Wii did, but even that system became the "other console" many many core gamers owned thanks to core franchises that are compelling to them (Zelda/Smash/3D Mario/MK). These same franchises will most likely show up here as well, not to mention any other core aimed software made through collaborations and lesser known studios (X and Bayonetta spring to mind).

It'll be interesting to see if there are any software gaps for PS4/720 where owners look to a more established Wii U library for filler gaming

 

[AranhaHunter]

GT & GoW are multi-million sellers on handhelds and are (hopefully) no-brainers for the Vita. If Sony panicked like Nintendo, they might have announced them by now, even if they're a way off. I don't think it'd make any real difference to the overarching narrative though.

Still, people used to say the same about the PS3 and that ended up bouncing back. Nothing is certain at this stage in the game.

The fact that Sony hasn't panicked suggest that they are either letting the console die or are planning a big relaunch with a price drop, 64-128GB MC and MC price drops, attractive OS/browser/store upgrades and AAA SW, and HW revisions.

I'm inclined to think the former, given all we have heard lately are new indie games, which are welcome, but not nearly close to enough. Vita IS Kaz' baby though and Kaz did say that the PS OS is near and dear to him and that he believes Vita has a future, he said this in January this year. We'll see.

Not that recently, hence my qualifier. The handheld market has changed a lot in the past few years, and that GoS only sold around 37% of what CoO sold in 2008 backs that up.

I'll believe that there's still a sizable market for console-style handheld games aimed at that demographic when the sales figures prove it. As is, none of the titles in that category released last year (RE:R, U:GA, R:BS, COD, ACIII:L) support that conclusion.

I agree with this. The dedicated handheld market is very close to being dead IMO. It has hit Sony big time this generation, had the psp had the design, security measures, and input options that the vita has, it would have been a lot more successful, possibly challenging the DS IMO; but that was pre iphone and pre android. Vita is a great piece of HW that will fail due to the market change. It has also hit Nintendo, though the 3DS will still succeed based on Nintendo's 1st party games and demographics. However, it will hit Nintendo big time next generation unless they go where the market is going. IIRC Iwata said they have no intentions of releasing a tablet and smartphone ever. IMO, that is a mistake and Nintendo should reconsider it.

I hope Sony has seen the writing on the wall, their xperia tablets and smartphones are fantastic and sales for them have been picking up. They already have a game, movie, tv show, music, ebook store, just need to integrate them all and release it ww. If Amazon and Nook can have their own ecosystem and do it on their own, so can Sony IMO.

 

[Dunlop]

MS is also going to learn the hard way that the customers they got with kinect wont be coming back a 2nd time

Please stop thinking Gaf is a realistic sample of the market.

I have young kids and between the endless sports I have them in I speak to a lot of parents who LOVE playing Kinect games with them and how easy it is for them to play on-line against other people (something sorely missing in the Wii).

I have no doubt that MS's "entertainment box" will be far more appealing that the PS4 to a whole lot of people. The question is if MS can uncover a gimmick to make the Durango a must have item

 

[metalslimer]

Please stop thinking Gaf is a realistic sample of the market.

I have young kids and between the endless sports I have them in I speak to a lot of parents who LOVE playing Kinect games with them and how easy it is for them to play on-line against other people (something sorely missing in the Wii).

I have no doubt that MS's "entertainment box" will be far more appealing that the PS4 to a whole lot of people. The question is if MS can uncover a gimmick to make the Durango a must have item

Oh believe me I dont think gaf or the ps4 have anything to do with it. People are sorely undeestimating the effect smartphones and tablets have had on that market. Kinect sales fell off a cliff last year and the software lineup was worse than the wii. Unless MS has a gaechanger to show off Kinect 2 interest in it wont be that high especially coupled with a 400 dollar system. Apple has already beat MS in the living room race

So Vita does have system sellers and could potentially have more?

Ive said before i think there is a difference between a killer app and systme seller so yes vita does have system sellers it just has no killer apps

 

[zomgbbqftw]

But Vita presumably sold more units than would have been the case had those games not existed, so I suppose they could be called system-sellers in the strictly literal sense.

So Vita does have system sellers and could potentially have more?

 

[AranhaHunter]

MS is also going to learn the hard way that the customers they got with kinect wont be coming back a 2nd time

Maybe, but Kinect still has a lot of room to improve and Nintendo didn't really go after the same market if you think about it. They didn't release WiiU with an improved Wii Mote + camera. They misread the market and thought everyone wanted a giant controller with a touchscreen pad because of the ipad and tablets.

Anecdotal and doesn't mean anything, but my friend, who is a big Sony fanboy, was actually on the verge of buying a 360 just for Kinect until he saw that the new pseye looks just like kinect and will do the same thing. I think the dance/fitness crowd will still be there and if the new consoles can provide more accurate exercises and dance routines, as well as the ability to play simultaneously with friends while maintaining high accuracy from the camera, they will get a good percentage of the casual market IMO.

 

[JordanN]

Nintendo only have themselves to blame for this. If Iwata didn't selfishly choose going the anti-gamer route with their hardware and arrogantly touted it with a $350 pricepoint and half baked marketing strategy, they might have been going places. Now he's paying for it.

Lest hope this is the last time Nintendo ever considers making weak hardware ever again. Unfortunately, my voice may not be heeded by them.

 

[Father_Brain]

So Vita does have system sellers and could potentially have more?

Well, that's one way to look at it.

 

[ymmv]

I actually believe Nintendo's best bet with the Wii U are the same gamers that will be dead set on the PS4 and 720. The hardware/software lacks an intrinsic quality that speaks to the casual gamer the way Wii did, but even that system became the "other console" many many core gamers owned thanks to core franchises that are compelling to them (Zelda/Smash/3D Mario/MK). These same franchises will most likely show up here as well, not to mention any other core aimed software made through collaborations and lesser known studios (X and Bayonetta spring to mind).

It'll be interesting to see if there are any software gaps for PS4/720 where owners look to a more established Wii U library for filler gaming

I just don't see it happening. Where are all those core gamers who are going to buy a Wii U in 2013/14 going to come from? Current PS3/360/PC gamers? It's not going to happen when they can choose between either a small visual upgrade compared to the consoles they've been playing for the last 7 or 8 years, or a huge visual upgrade. I think PS360 owners would rather enjoy a real next gen boost for their dollars than the experience of playing classic Nintendo franchises either in 720p or on a tablet controller. No core gamer with a PS3/360 is going to buy a Wii U with a current gen Watch Dogs in 720p if they could get the real next gen version for the PS4 and 720.

Nintendo could buy up more titles from Japanese devs like they did with Bayonetta, but I doubt it's going to make much of a difference when western gamers in general have lost most of their interest in typical Japanese games. Just compare the success of Monster Hunter/Dragon's Dogma with Skyrim. Besides that, the games library of the PS4/720 will expand much faster since it's clear third parties have been gearing up for a new console generation for a while now. They'll hit the ground running, since development is streamlined and the new consoles are so like PCs. Core gamers are going to be swamped this Christmas and there's not much Nintendo can do to fight that tide.

All Nintendo can do is to release games like Zelda, Smash Bros, Metroid, etc to keep their core audience happy. That's the easy part. The difficult part is trying to recapture the attention of the casual gamers who bought a Wii during the Wii Sports/Wii Fit craze. That's going to be enormously difficult.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

A 2D Mario isn't a "big hitter"?

It's one of Nintendo main guns.

The equivalent of Nintendo's launch for Sony and MS would be launching with GT6 or Halo 5 that were simply HD/60fps upgrades of GT5/Halo 4, one Kinect/Move game each, up ports of CoD/Madden/BF/AC that added nothing over the PS360 versions, then nothing for 5 months. They would certainly struggle with that kind of software support.

 

[Dunlop]

Oh believe me I dont think gaf or the ps4 have anything to do with it. People are sorely undeestimating the effect smartphones and tablets have had on that market.

Makes sense, of the 3 I still think MS is in a better position to integrate phones/tablets/console...or completely screw the pooch and try and force their window OS platforms on us

 

[kinggroin]

Oh believe me I dont think gaf or the ps4 have anything to do with it. People are sorely undeestimating the effect smartphones and tablets have had on that market. Kinect sales fell off a cliff last year and the software lineup was worse than the wii. Unless MS has a gaechanger to show off Kinect 2 interest in it wont be that high especially coupled with a 400 dollar system. Apple has already beat MS in the living room race



Ive said before i think there is a difference between a killer app and systme seller so yes vita does have system sellers it just has no killer apps

I just don't see it happening. Where are all those core gamers who are going to buy a Wii U in 2013/14 going to come from? Current PS3/360/PC gamers? It's not going to happen when they can choose between either a small visual upgrade compared to the consoles they've been playing for the last 7 or 8 years, or a huge visual upgrade. I think PS360 owners would rather enjoy a real next gen boost for their dollars than the experience of playing classic Nintendo franchises either in 720p or on a tablet controller. No core gamer with a PS3/360 is going to buy a Wii U with a current gen Watch Dogs in 720p if they could get the real next gen version for the PS4 and 720.

Nintendo could buy up more titles from Japanese devs like they did with Bayonetta, but I doubt it's going to make much of a difference when western gamers in general have lost most of their interest in typical Japanese games. Just compare the success of Monster Hunter/Dragon's Dogma with Skyrim. Besides that, the games library of the PS4/720 will expand much faster since it's clear third parties have been gearing up for a new console generation for a while now. They'll hit the ground running, since development is streamlined and the new consoles are so like PCs. Core gamers are going to be swamped this Christmas and there's not much Nintendo can do to fight that tide.

All Nintendo can do is to release games like Zelda, Smash Bros, Metroid, etc to keep their core audience happy. That's the easy part. The difficult part is trying to recapture the attention of the casual gamers who bought a Wii during the Wii Sports/Wii Fit craze. That's going to be enormously difficult.

Who's buying a Wii U for Watchdogs man? I'm betting that when Nintendo has its stable of core franchises available, they'll see an increase in sales among core gamers. The same ones who may own a 360/PS3 or the successors to those. Long term, I think its Nintendo's only real shot at surpassing the cube in LTD sales, otherwise it'll only be a mix of Nintendo faithful and some casual I feel. Could very well play your way, but I'm a little more positive that the 3D styled franchises with great visuals in HD will be enough to push a few systems to core gamers.

 

[ymmv]

Who's buying a Wii U for Watchdogs man? I'm betting that when Nintendo has its stable of core franchises available, they'll see an increase in sales among core gamers. The same ones who may own a 360/PS3 or the successors to those. Long term, I think its Nintendo's only real shot at surpassing the cube in LTD sales, otherwise it'll only be a mix of Nintendo faithful and some casual I feel. Could very well play your way, but I'm a little more positive that the 3D styled franchises with great visuals in HD will be enough to push a few systems to core gamers.

Indeed. But that's going be the Gamecube all over.

But Nintendo could have had far more if they'd made the Wii U a bit more powerful so it could act as a stepping stone to real next gen consoles, if Nintendo had a compelling list of new games for the entire year, if 3rd parties were on board and putting out the absolute best console versions of games like Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinity, DMC, Metal Gear Revengeance, etc. That way they could have captured the attention of core gamers of didn't have the patience to wait till MS or Sony said next gen started. Because Nintendo was already there. But those opportunities were squandered by Nintendo.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Remember pre Wii U launch when Iwata and Reggie were saying every other day that they'd learned from the 3DS launch?

Apparently they didn't.

I'm a staunch Nintendo fan, and these numbers are really disheartening. Fortunately, I don't feel the future of the Wii U is set in stone just yet. Just get a steady steam of quality games coming, and you'll see the Wii U become a little healthier. Maybe a price cut would help, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen until they have the software out to make up got the hardware losses.

Whenever I get distressed about Wii U sales, I just think about one thing to cheer me up:

Smash Bros.

Not only will it be awesome, but it'll also move some units.

 

[kinggroin]

Indeed. But that's going be the Gamecube all over.

A little better I think if the total combined ps3/720 units sold are anything to go by. I'm probably reaching, but that's what I'm running with as a best case scenario and based off the Wii's performance among core gamers and pulled-out-my-ass-anectdotal evidence.


Edit: I don't agree about horsepower and third parties. It would take a fuckton more than what Nintendo would be willing to put in, to make folks already comfortable in the other ecosystems, switch to Nintendo for multiplatform games. No, that was always a dead end for them.

Its at least powerful enough this go round, where hopefully HD image quality coupled with the typically fantastic art style of their staples franchises, will be more than acceptable to folks who bitched about the Wii's shit gfx last gen.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Smash Bros.

Not only will it be awesome, but it'll also move some units.

Will it? At what point does the novelty wear off there, especially when theres not going to be an added shocker like Snake or Sonic in there brand new to get the "HOLY FUCK ITS MARIO PUNCHING SONIC" effect. Sure its going to sell to the Nintendo hardcore but... well as the WiiU is proving, thats not exactly an ever expanding market.

Mario Kart strikes me as the only genuine ace in the hole, and even then theyve been dragging that horse out a little too much for its ritual beatings unless they actually open it up to Nintendo Kart like they should for a slightly fresh take.

 

[jcm]

Until there are some concrete numbers released, it's pointless to even mention. People will gleefully scoff at the suggestion in the absence of any decent data.

So far there is only anecdotal comments from devs and retailers and the PSN charts to go on. Signs do point to the Vita shifting a proportionally high chunk of digital sales but without being able to conclusively prove it, it's irrelevant.

Ubisoft gave us a range for AC:L. 15-20%, more important in US than EU.

 

[Mpl90]

Will it? At what point does the novelty wear off there, especially when theres not going to be an added shocker like Snake or Sonic in there brand new to get the "HOLY FUCK ITS MARIO PUNCHING SONIC" effect. Sure its going to sell to the Nintendo hardcore but... well as the WiiU is proving, thats not exactly an ever expanding market.

Mario Kart strikes me as the only genuine ace in the hole, and even then theyve been dragging that horse out a little too much for its ritual beatings unless they actually open it up to Nintendo Kart like they should for a slightly fresh take.

The Gamecube entry sold almost 8 millions WW. On a 21 million userbase.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

The Gamecube entry sold almost 8 millions WW. On a 21 million userbase.

Which is what he was pointing out. Smash Bros. will sell to the Nintendo hardcore.

 

[Bucket-o-roadkill]

Why is this a surprise? Vita will not be bought until a price drop. The price hasn't dropped. People are not buying it. Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[JordanN]

Edit: I don't agree about horsepower and third parties. It would take a fuckton more than what Nintendo would be willing to put in, to make folks already comfortable in the other ecosystems, switch to Nintendo for multiplatform games. No, that was always a dead end for them.

It's better to have the option of horsepower than not. There are already multiplats on Wii U, you might as well just make them more attractive, especially for people who are on the fence about it.

That way, there will be initiative for the core to switch.

 

[Subhero]

Ymmv, but people are getting confident that the time to "call it" is either very soon or just a few months away.

I don't believe it does make any sense to "call it" before holiday 2013 tbh.

- Yes UK trends often filter through the rest of Europe over the years. An exception is France.

Nope, I believe those times where UK acted as "trend setter for everybody except those silly frog eaters" are in the past. Gaming behavior and game type/franchise preference are very different imho, at least that is what I read/interpret from my occasional glance at the charts (besides the global top sellers in their top charting weeks).

- The UK is either the biggest European videogame market or is now sharing that honour with Germany in the market, so yes, big deal.

Who cares about the top spot?
With the UK being not representative of mainland Europe in term of "gaming behavior/preferences" (as an assumption), Germany, France, Spain at al combined let it look less significant in the total percentages/revenue, but of course not insignificant, which leads to...

- If it was revealed Iwata was "purposely letting the Nintendo market in Europe/UK die" he would be forced out by his shareholders in a bloody coup of "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, IMBECILE?!?!" screams.

Who said it would be left to die? It's about a shift in significance to Nintendo in terms of where they see their performing markets, because of the segments they cater to. Meaning: less TV time, media spending, retail promotions, etc. if they think those investment could be used more effectively elsewhere.
Wii U is presumably flat lined in the UK. Maybe it makes sense to put the resources for life support where it has at least a (dangerously low?) pulse, hoping for comeback in the holiday season with a (hopefully) decent library of games to offer.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Who cares about the top spot?
With the UK being not representative of mainland Europe in term of "gaming behavior/preferences" (as an assumption), Germany, France, Spain at al combined let it look less significant in the total percentages/revenue, but of course not insignificant, which leads to...

Who said it would be left to die? It's about a shift in significance to Nintendo in terms of where they see their performing markets, because of the segments they cater to. Meaning: less TV time, media spending, retail promotions, etc. if they think those investment could be used more effectively elsewhere.
Wii U is presumably flat lined in the UK. Maybe it makes sense to put the resources for life support where it has at least a (dangerously low?) pulse, hoping for comeback in the holiday season with a (hopefully) decent library of games to offer.

- From the look ins we have on the German market, the WiiU situation over there is just as woeful with nothing cracking the 2012 Top 100. So thats the two largest markets in Europe where its dying/dead already.

- Ah, the Xanatos Gambit. Iwata simply doesnt want to try and sell the WiiU right now, it makes a lot more sense to wait until Holiday 2013 and an entire year of flatlining sales to make his moves. The solutions to WiiU's woes are all things that would have had to have been put into action last year (western studio purchases) to have any chance of impacting this generation, but instead Iwata has pledged to somehow make 1 billion dollars in profit, thus ruling out any extravagant spending on their part. Its a pledge to "stay the course" and hope the previously trusted formula of Mario, Mario, and Mario Punch Friends reverse fortunes.

Also the WiiU is selling terribly everywhere right now, so... I'm not sure where they'd be shifting their focus other than killing it off and just going all 3DS and all Japan.

 

[War Eagle]

Wait... What?

£25k in game sales for a month. At an average of £40 a title that's just 625 sales in total for the month for the whole of the country?

Oh my..

Unit sales my friend. Sold 25k units that month.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Surely some trends tend to be seen in other countries, but not so much, otherwise 360 would have been the best selling console in all the other European countries, while it's third behind 3DS and PS3, Inazuma Eleven / majority of anime games wouldn't sell at all, Kingdom Hearts shouldn't sell anything nowhere (no episode broke the 100k barrier in UK, while the first two chapter were at around 700-800k; let's not even talk about US) and so on.

It's moot. We have indication of some other European countries Wii U % share (several actually considerably lower than the UK; Germany roughly the same; France better) and an estimate of the launch sales in Europe.

 

[Ken Masters]

They had Mario game on launch, why does it bomb so hard?

NSMB series is officially played out, and thank god it is

The series has been creatively bankrupt

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Will it? At what point does the novelty wear off there, especially when theres not going to be an added shocker like Snake or Sonic in there brand new to get the "HOLY FUCK ITS MARIO PUNCHING SONIC" effect. Sure its going to sell to the Nintendo hardcore but... well as the WiiU is proving, thats not exactly an ever expanding market.

Mario Kart strikes me as the only genuine ace in the hole, and even then theyve been dragging that horse out a little too much for its ritual beatings unless they actually open it up to Nintendo Kart like they should for a slightly fresh take.

I think you're underestimating the appeal of Smash Bros. Although it's equally possible I'm overestimating it.

But it's not about novelty and all caps exclamations that generalize the gameplay. I think even the less dedicated gamers know Smash and know it's fun. Every Smash game is great with a group of friends (and with online hopefully not worthless in the next version, it will be fun online too) and jam packed with content.

It may not be an ace in the hole, but I think it'll expand the Wii U install base by at least a decent amount when it comes out. But it's still a long ways off.