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Yves Guillemot: ZombiU Wasn't Profitable, not even close, no sequel planned

Less than 200k sold? Man... I really enjoyed ZombiU. They did a great job with that game. Sucks that it didn't sell well.

I love Nintendo and I hope they are aware of their mistakes (marketing and the lack of a solid, new strategy) by now. They need to turn this around. I don't mind just having Nintendo games for Wii U (honestly that's why I bought it) but their current situation stops interesting games from being made since devs think it's not worth it :(
 

impact

Banned
or you know there's just a tiny ass amount of people playing games online on wii u

518-people-are-playing-black-ops-2-on-wii-u-right-now-1093471.jpg

518 people for the biggest game in America. Holy shit.

You can go on PS360 and pick any random bullshit playlist and it will have more than 518 people, I guarantee it.
 
so why cant i have all three and just regard themm all as equal? I have way more games on wii than on ps360 btw

You can. I'm just saying that not everyone wants to spend that kind of money. My original plan, personally, was to just buy a Wii U and be done with it. But Wii U isn't getting certain games that I want - Kingdom Hearts III being the major one. Beyond that, Wii U's anemic install base ensures that you won't have as many people to play online with.

People want a wide variety of games. And beyond Nintendo games - Nintendo's usual games, mind, people can't get that on Wii U. Less so if the sales don't pick up.
 
Not surprised about Zombie U in the slightest. Audience just isn't there for these types of games on Nintendo systems and hasn't been there for a long, long time.
 
"The lack of online engagement that we see on Wii U [is troubling]," says Moore. "It's so integral to what we do. They're so small it's hardly worth running the servers. It seems like a box that's out of sync with the future of EA - which is one that gives a real social feel to our games. The Wii U feels like an offline experience right now."
Someone gets it. They really, really get it. This is how I felt with the Wii before I just got tired of feeling so disconnected that I stopped playing on Nintendo consoles. The infrastructure is garbage without stuff that helps me invest in their online seriously like accounts, crossgame party chat, ethernet for those of us who take online lag seriously, and a standard mic+jack on their controller. This doesn't even include simple stuff like trophies/achievements that others go gaga for (I'l never understand the appeal but whatevs). Nintendo consoles feel so isolated compared to the other systems if you aren't this local multiplayer pro with a billion friends nearby.

:(
 
There were many out there that predicted the WiiU to be the next Wii.

Those people were wrong. It could have happened but it didn't.
Those people who invested in that prediction lost money.

Everything else is ancillary.
But I was told by someone on this board that these people don't exist.
 

FINALBOSS

Banned
Well thank you. People are constantly bitching for new IPs and when the they get the best new survival horror in a decade they don´t fucking buy it.

Damn i´m pissed. The 3rd person cinematic shotbang future is upon us.

Edit: @Evolution_1ne: You are surely smart enough to provide us with some context aren´t you? It seems the picture is from today. You surely wouldn´t post some pictures during launch time to fake an argument wouldn´t you?

Do you really want him posting a picture from today?


I bet the number is even smaller lol
 
And again some are wishing for the Big N to go 3rd party. Breaking news: Not going to happen. And you can do nothing to change that. ^^
 

Verendus

Banned
And again some are wishing for the Big N to go 3rd party. Breaking news: Not going to happen. And you can do nothing to change that. ^^
Maybe not third party, but depending on how the next decade goes, I can imagine them leaving the home console space. There are going to be some big changes coming, and they're not doing themselves any favours by making their brand increasingly irrelevant to the wider gaming audience.
 

Mithos

Member
Out of curiosity: the development costs of ZombiU are known?

They are not, but the development was not smooth. It was originally created to be an alien shooter, and then switched to zombie apocalypse...

Started on Xbox360 as that alien shooter, switched too Wii U as Killer Freaks from outer space, and then ZombiU.

Can't have been a cheap development, 10million euro, more/less?
 

StevieP

Banned
Maybe not third party, but depending on how the next decade goes, I can imagine them leaving the home console space. There are going to be some big changes coming, and they're not doing themselves any favours by making their brand increasingly irrelevant to the wider gaming audience.

Nintendo's software tends to appeal to a wider audience. It's the 16-35 male that it doesn't tend to appeal to.
 

Verendus

Banned
Nintendo's software tends to appeal to a wider audience. It's the 16-35 male that it doesn't tend to appeal to.
When I say 'wider gaming audience', I'm not referring to demographics. I mean the overall gaming population which has decided Krillin is not worth supporting. Maybe my poor phrasing I guess. Nintendo is doing a good job of making their home console become a non-factor at the moment.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Yea. It amazes me how people are presented with actual facts, and instead of discussing around it, they just fall back on the same tired arguments over and over.

People still focusing on the names of the games, their budgets, their reviews, their boxarts. These are not the larger issue. ZombiU didn't fail to hit expectations due to any of this. As other people pointed out, many people who purchased the game, really like the game. The larger issue is that Nintendo put out a console that has sold roughly 1.1MM units NA in 9 months and has one Mario game with a 70% attach rate... and the next highest game, regardless of publisher, is 150k.

Nearly all of those users only want Mario. People bought the Wii because they wanted the Wii. They bought a ton of games with it because they were sold on the concept of what it did for them. The features excited them. They wanted to experience a lot of what it had to offer, at least for awhile. Publishers saw launch attach rates of 30%. You want that. You target that. You'll take 10% and 10% is good too... when the system itself has a ton of hardware momentum. Wii U doesn't. So you want 30%. Whose even getting 10% now? These are just rough targets and obviously not everyone builds their financing to these models, but attach rate is the best number to really look at here.

Nintendo needs to sell people on the Wii U tablet aggressively and get people to understand why the console itself is something they need. Right now, people bought the Wii U for Mario. You're fighting for scraps with around 300k users who are willing to buy more than just Mario. I really want them to succeed... I want everyone to, given I want the industry to grow, and someone has to target females and bring younger demo into the industry at higher price points than Apple and Android do, but the reason I probably spend more post-energy on Nintendo related things is because they really are in a bad spot, and they have to start repositinoing and spending and I'd love to see that happen asap.

Excellent post. And I guess that's a yep:

Could this be the rumored 'big game expected to sell millions but only doing a couple tens of thousands in the first months' after all?

If new large budget exclusives don't sell, the EAs are right to bring out half assed ports and not bother with bringing over the DLC.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
It's just up to Nintendo now. They need not to fuck up the holidays. And they need to bring more diversified games on the consoles. First sell the console with the help of the known sellers, but then educate the audience into different genres too.
 

GamerJM

Banned
Someone gets it. They really, really get it. This is how I felt with the Wii before I just got tired of feeling so disconnected that I stopped playing on Nintendo consoles. The infrastructure is garbage without stuff that helps me invest in their online seriously like accounts, crossgame party chat, ethernet for those of us who take online lag seriously, and a standard mic+jack on their controller. This doesn't even include simple stuff like trophies/achievements that others go gaga for (I'l never understand the appeal but whatevs). Nintendo consoles feel so isolated compared to the other systems if you aren't this local multiplayer pro with a billion friends nearby.

:(

Do you ever play classic games? I honestly have a hard time understanding people who quit a console due to lack of connectivity or whatever, like I understand playing on it less but it just seems a bit extreme to quit playing on consoles because of this even if there's a game you really want to play on it, considering that's how we played games for many years before seventh gen.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
It's just up to Nintendo now. They need not to fuck up the holidays. And they need to bring more diversified games on the consoles. First sell the console with the help of the known sellers, but then educate the audience into different genres too.

Too late. They chose Mario 3D Land instead of Mario Kart for this holiday.
 
I find really amusing the "nintendo should go 3rd party" argument.

usually, the people who says it, are the ones that are more vocal about how much Nintendo sucks... but at the same time, they are implying that they want nintendo games on other consoles. amusing.

These are the same guys who says 3rd-party shafting of Nintendo system is "good business" or supporting Nintendo is "risky".
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
I just bought ZombiU a few days ago at GameStop (excellent game!), and they were ordered to convert all new copies over to preowned because they have a huge glut of unsold copies.
The game is no longer being printed.

I hope this isn't the end of the ip. They could always release a Zombi game on the other systems. It's not like aspects of the game that use the Wii pad can't be made to work on systems without it.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Too late. They chose Mario 3D Land instead of Mario Kart for this holiday.

There are two arguments for that:

1. It worked for 3ds in the same way,
2. Mario Kart it's obviously a more demanding game from the development point of view, I don't think anyone wants it to be rushed.

We'll see how this will work this time around.

Edit: sorry ... I confused the dates, Mario Kart Wii launched in April.
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
There are two arguments for that:

1. It worked for 3ds in the same way,
2. Mario Kart it's obviously a more demanding game from the development point of view, I don't think anyone wants it to be rushed.

We'll see how this will work this time around.

??? On 3DS Mario Kart and 3D Land launched within a month of each other in the holiday season.
 

The Light

Member
I didn't know this game switched platforms while in development. Can the blame of not being profitable really be laid on the wii-u then? I imagine switching platforms and changing from original concept can't be cheap.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
If this holiday is a disaster they should kill the Wii U and get another system out by 2015. Save Mario Kart 8 for launch
 
Do you ever play classic games? I honestly have a hard time understanding people who quit a console due to lack of connectivity or whatever, like I understand playing on it less but it just seems a bit extreme to quit playing on consoles because of this even if there's a game you really want to play on it, considering that's how we played games for many years before seventh gen.
I play the classics (my 10+ year old Dreamcast still works and sits next to my Wii and PS3!), but I totally understand that playing the classics means I'm going to close myself off from everyone to enjoy them. I don't want to feel that way when I'm going to play 3D World(no online multi!?), Pikmin 3 (no online coop!?) or Mario Kart 8 (lack of crossgame... and party chat in general). I shouldn't feel the need to skype my friends or pull out an xbox headset to play MK8 like I did a few years back with MKWii. That is straight up silly.

I'm 25 so my gaming time is only becoming more and more valuable as I play less. I better be connected if I'm going to be playing modern games. The classics I can forgive just fine.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
This is an old pic because it's higher than that everyday

What are the numbers really like these days? 1500-2500? That's a drop in the bucket compared to PS3 and 360.

And what's with all of the failures to connect to servers? I seem to see that complaint often in the Miiverse Blops 2 community.
 
I understand how the game appeals to the hardcore masochist GAF audience, but to the average consumer, I can see it as being a horrendous experience. Low production values, sloppy combat, and completely harsh difficulty level. The title also screams generic. Definitely not a good pack in game and not really a "bridge" title either. Not at all surprised at sales. It is a shame, though, as there were some good ideas and the devs deserved another shot.
 
Maybe not third party, but depending on how the next decade goes, I can imagine them leaving the home console space. There are going to be some big changes coming, and they're not doing themselves any favours by making their brand increasingly irrelevant to the wider gaming audience.

The thing is - even if they pull another gamecube - wich i seriously doubt - they have one unique advantage: they can sustain a healthy business just by themselfes. It may not be number one again but they are far far away from going out of business. In fact Sony is in much bigegr danger to do so. But Nintendo always generates more drama. I hear your arguments: But but, they had their first loss ever just last year! But guess what. Japan had a tsunami, a damn strong yen and a recession. Nintendo will just survive on it´s own if necessary. Could they be profitabel in short term if they just do what everyone does? maybe, but they won´t - because they would lose their freedom. So please stop portbegging for an entire company. It won´t happen.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
If this holiday is a disaster they should kill the Wii U and get another system out by 2015. Save Mario Kart 8 for launch

Ask Sega how well that strategy works. It's a sure fire way to kill any consumer confidence in your product.

Any preview of such a new console would be sure to mention their previous failure that they axed and left owners high and dry.
 
Ask Sega how well that strategy works. It's a sure fire way to kill any consumer confidence in your product.

Any preview of such a new console would be sure to mention their previous failure that they axed and left owners high and dry.

They wouldn't really be upsetting that many people. It'll be about 2 years before they could fast track a better piece of hardware though.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Isn't that the age bracket of the average gamer? Nintendo should probably fix that.

Its a checklist of the kid thats too cool for school and ultimately fails:

- too cool for online
- too cool for HD
- too cool for account system
- too cool for third parties
- too cool for 16-36 male gamer

Iwata may as well turn up to the next investor brief blind drunk and slurring "weeeee dunt neeed thossshe peeeple..."
 
The EA comment, is not surprising. Nintendo made a big mistake with WiiU by not including a Ethernet port.

The USB adapter doesn't cut it, especially at launch.
 

Bulbasaur

Banned
For a reserved launched effort it was a fantastic game. If there were more like it and not ports that "gamers" already own to push console sales I'm sure the situation would have been different.

I still find it weird that everyone outside the gaming press has good things to say about it though.

It's all nintendos fault for banking on Nintendoland being a system seller.
 
For a reserved launched effort it was a fantastic game. If there were more like it and not ports that "gamers" already own to push console sales I'm sure the situation would have been different.

I still find it weird that everyone outside the gaming press has good things to say about it though.

It's all nintendos fault for banking on Nintendoland being a system seller.

Cause there's nothing on wii u, so an average game can be amazing right now.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
Ask Sega how well that strategy works. It's a sure fire way to kill any consumer confidence in your product.

Any preview of such a new console would be sure to mention their previous failure that they axed and left owners high and dry.

Pssh the 360 came off of a 4 year old console...they could wait until 2016 but it would probably be better to wait for the second and third wave of 3rd party software coming to xbone and ps4
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
They wouldn't really be upsetting that many people. It'll be about 2 years before they could fast track a better piece of hardware though.

The irony of it all is the exact same thing could've been said of the Saturn! Then when they got it "right" with Dreamcast what happened? Nobody cared!
Sega completely destroyed all of their consumer confidence by killing their poorly supported systems off early.

I guarantee you if Nintendo killed the U early their next console would be dead on arrival.
 
The irony of it all is the exact same thing could've been said of the Saturn! Then when they got it "right" with Dreamcast what happened? Nobody cared!
Sega completely destroyed all of their consumer confidence by killing their poorly supported systems off early.

I guarantee you if Nintendo killed the U early their next console would be dead on arrival.

The saturn was released in 1995 and the dreamcast in 1999.

They killed the genesis too soon and the 32x was scrap.

I hope Nintendo learn, but they have their head in the sand.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Pssh the 360 came off of a 4 year old console...they could wait until 2016 but it would probably be better to wait for the second and third wave of 3rd party software coming to xbone and ps4

Ok and how does this magically solve their horrid relationships with third parties? You really think third parties are going to just line up to support the system?

It would be another failure. Nintendo needs to stick with U and turn things around with great games and competitive pricing.

What might happen with U if Nintendo started charging $40 for digital releases of new games and $50 for physical? Couple that with a new $250 price and a marketing blitz to coincide with the big holiday releases. They shouldn't be throwing in the towel, they should be taking the gloves off!
 

SoulPlaya

more money than God
Nintendo should just kill off the Wii U, and devote their resources to 3DS full time. Then, relaunch with a new console a few years from now, and this time, put forth a sincere effort.

At least, that's what I want.
 
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