Agreed.
Not like they made any big announcement before to make any big title for Wii U and then cancel it now. Don't see any big deal
Avalanche (Just Cause) - Wii U dev kits collecting dust, Nintendo is hard to reach
- Thread starter Flightmare
- Start date
Agreed.
Not like they made any big announcement before to make any big title for Wii U and then cancel it now. Don't see any big deal
metalslimer
Member
So you're saying right now it's doing better based on hypotheticals? I think most people would agree Wii U has a much stronger system selling lineup than Vita, but as of right now Wii U's horrendous sales have a much bigger impact on Nintendo than Vita does for Sony. Nintendo is a video game only company, so failed hardware (especially failing hardware sold at a loss) is particularly damaging.
They have a history of very profitable consoles. Wii U should be one of the most profitable yet due to full retail games being sold digitally, along with the inevitable DLC and subscription models.
We'd have seen the blue ocean success by now...? We haven't even seen an attempt at that type of game yet. And why are you acting like Wii U has been out for any significant amount of time?
What hypotheticals? What has been the impact on Nintendo so far? Slowly gaining market share, making some extra cash before their first big game and marketing push? They're could have 10+ million Wii U's sold before Microsoft or Sony launch their next systems.
Right, Sony has multiple divisions, and gaming is one of the few that's profitable, so I'd argue it's even worse to have a failed platform on their hands. and unlike the Wii U it won't be fine in the end; it's being hid until they can quietly discontinue it. Much like Vita, Sony is in a very dire situation, only being able to report profits due to selling off assets left and right.
Irrelevant. They don't have a history of turning around a console that initially performed as poorly as the Wii U is. Actually, very few companies have a history of turning around a product that initially performed as poorly as the Wii U has.
Because the Wii U has been out for over 6 months now? That's a pretty significant time frame in console time.
Poimandres
Member
If they had no interest in the Wii U why would they invest in dev kits?
Or attempt contacting Nintendo?
metalslimer
Member
Making some extra cash? Wii U wiped out their profits from the 3DS last year and is still being sold at a loss. They won't even hit 5 million before Sony and MS launch their next consoles. And with retailers essentially putting Wii U on firesale they'll probably have to pricedrop to get retailers to even look their way this holiday which will kill them financially.
Raitosaito
Member
This whole post just is filled with ignorance to reality, and slippery slope arguments that lead to nowhere.
WiiU profitable when sold at a lost? 50,000 or less sold a month? Iwata admitting they were too slow and sales are not even close to what they were expecting?
Hell, I'm buying a WiiU for Pikman and X but I'm not going to sit here and say trumpet Nintendo like they are making really smart business decisions this gen when even Nintendo themselves are saying they are having a tough time.
SolarPowered
Member
Poimandres
Member
Dozens of high profile games on the way? Really? Dozens?
Raitosaito
Member
Didn't you hear? Every Nintendo franchise is a guaranteed hit that will sell millions of copies and sell consoles to our grandmothers. Oh, and they will all release in 2013.
Time to clip that little buggers skinny blue legs.
What? You do realise that, iirc, the Mario games sold more this gen than any other series in the market?
According to you, Nintendo should retire a series that outsells anything else? Really? The entire franchise is worth more than $10 BILLION at this present time. But lets just ignore that, shall we?
lol.
Just as we're starting to get decent games again? Nah, I'd simply ignore him if I was you. He's not going anywhere haha.
Mario is nostalgic at most, same old shit. I've had fun with the Mario games in my time but damn if thats all you have to give me after all the loot I spent on the Wii U then yeah retire his ass. Shit reboot his ass or something. Weak console barely any support in the 3rd party category, going through this shit with my Vita too so im not biased or anything but if all you have to rely on is a 3D Mario game then that shit is straight up whack. Give me mo Gaemz Nintendo. The argument that oh people buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games is getting old, people should buy consoles to play a wide variety of games, Nintendo execs are just fucking stupid. That is all.
meh nothing new here.
a game developer who has never made any games on wii is stating that they wont' make games for wiiU, citing reasons like sales and user base; problems that the wii never had in its heyday.
it's a new excuse every generation.
not that the developer doesn't have valid reasons; he most def does. nintendo's handling of the wiiU has been an absolute disaster/clusterfuck. seriously.
however even if they did pull off a successful launch with healthy sales, i absolutely believe these western dudebro developers would latch onto some other reason to exclude a nintendo system from their plans.
no conspiracy, just downright ego.
probably a reason why western presence in the handheld arena is an embarrassment; because nintendo IS the handheld market. they have a healthy growing ecosystem in that market, and barely any western developers are even trying to make money in that segment -and the ones that are, are probably just doing so because they're not big enough to make HD console shooters... yet.
meh. anyway. news like this isn't really surprising. expect to hear more of this in the near future.
nintendo is largely to blame though. seriously they never had this much issues with westerners in the past. wtf are they doing?
a game developer who has never made any games on wii is stating that they wont' make games for wiiU, citing reasons like sales and user base; problems that the wii never had in its heyday.
it's a new excuse every generation.
not that the developer doesn't have valid reasons; he most def does. nintendo's handling of the wiiU has been an absolute disaster/clusterfuck. seriously.
however even if they did pull off a successful launch with healthy sales, i absolutely believe these western dudebro developers would latch onto some other reason to exclude a nintendo system from their plans.
no conspiracy, just downright ego.
probably a reason why western presence in the handheld arena is an embarrassment; because nintendo IS the handheld market. they have a healthy growing ecosystem in that market, and barely any western developers are even trying to make money in that segment -and the ones that are, are probably just doing so because they're not big enough to make HD console shooters... yet.
meh. anyway. news like this isn't really surprising. expect to hear more of this in the near future.
nintendo is largely to blame though. seriously they never had this much issues with westerners in the past. wtf are they doing?
CoffeeGames
Member
I'm not sure what country you live in (maybe they released it in space first?), or what calendar you're looking at, but the Wii U has not been out for over 6 months now. In any country.
Check your calendar again.
Actually, I should probably check mine.
Right after I check the Wii-U release date.
Edit: end of Nov last year. We're about 3 weeks off the six month point.
metalslimer
Member
Convincing argument.....
Convincing gangsta argument
CoffeeGames
Member
November for the U.S. and Europe (I think), December for Japan.
NOA failed on nearly every single front when launching the Wii U in their region, and I'm glad somebody else is overseeing them now. I just hope that person sees what consumers in the region saw, and can let Mr. Fils-Aime and NOA marketing know some reasons the Wii U isn't/wasn't really understood by some consumers as a "new" console when it released.
Nintendo just can't compete in the console space any more. If the Execs at Nintendo had any foresight, they would have gone hand-held exclusive a long time ago.
Hand-held exclusivity = profits from both hardware and software, with reduced development costs. I mean, it's not about the graphics anyway?! right? right?!
Hand-held exclusivity = profits from both hardware and software, with reduced development costs. I mean, it's not about the graphics anyway?! right? right?!
Aquamarine
Member
What nonsense is this? Out of the entire company, Sony's FY 12 only had two segments reporting operating losses, and Sony is predicting decent growth in multiple areas.
Vita's "failure" is a drop in the bucket to Sony's financial performance.
Please actually take a look at Sony's financials before making sweeping statements about their company health.
metalslimer
Member
Wii U failed in every single region. I don't see how NoA was anymore at fault than the other branches.
pieatorium
Member
It failed the hardest in EU so thats where they should look to first
Oh, execs get it. I still can't believe that they thought that they could ride on the success of Wii and make another weaksauce console, specially in the age where tablets and cellphones took over casual gaming segment where Nintendo made shit load of money. At this point they should just cancel WiiU, refund everyone and make a proper console. Yes I know that would leave many pissed off customers, but it's not like things are looking up for them and it's not like people are exactly happy with Nintendo right now.
I honestly don't see any sort of future (other than Nintendo exclusives) for WiiU. And how many of those exclusives are worth spending $350 for a console that is being abandoned by developers and publishers almost daily? If you think things are bad now, wait until PS4 and Durango are released.
In all likelihood, Nintendo will announce successor in 2 years and humbly say "we fucked up". At the very least, they should give a nice, fat discount to anyone who bought WiiU.
Aquamarine
Member
This is only contingent on Nintendo giving Wii U the same accelerated treatment they gave the GBA.
GBA - Released March 2001
Successor announced June 2004
Wii U - Released November 2012
Successor announced February 2015
Supposing Nintendo has an internal investment lined up for launch. But would they really replace an expensive, failing console with another expensive, potentially failing console?
I don't see Nintendo replacing the Wii U with an attempt at a successful console, I expect another handheld to exist alongside an aging 3DS.
Holy shit! God-tier GIF.
Sure, having a new console in the market is always a risk but unless they are willing to end up as the "new Sega", they should make sure some things happen:
1. Make sure it doesn't have "Wii" in the name ("Revolution" was infinitely cooler name). Avoid making any connections with Wii or WiiU.
2. Go Sony's route, make it a "supercharged PC" able to compete with PS4 and X720 (or even a bit more buff). That kind of architecture has simplicity and hardware price in mind (Sony said countless times that PS4 will be affordable and that PS3 launch price won't repeat).
3. Establish much better relations with 3rd parties. Specially with EA.
4. Have the balls to create new franchises. It's nice to have Super Mario 2342323546456, Pokemon <insert_color_here>, Zelda and Metroid but honestly, Nintendo needs fresh ideas.
Dictator93
Member
What you are proposing is exactly that - for them to be the "new Sega"
We are all Nostradamus wanabees here. Some have been constantly wrong these last 12 years about Nintendo chances. And some got it right for their last 3 machines. As a member of this second group, I'll tell you what Nintendo will do:
1. Release a salve of must have games
2. Sacrifice short term profits and slash Wii U's price
How the market will react:
1. Buy an affordable Wii U + GamePad
2. Get Mario Kart + whatever other game
H2 sales will be good to great. 2014 and beyond is still a question mark. Nintendo should be able to get good sales from their 2013 lineup for a while. They'll need a Wii Sports sequel at some point, they'll need sequels to all their key franchises. And new killer apps leveraging the GamePad and whatever their crazy R&D comes up with.
Wii numbers in the same timeframe is out of reach, yet only next year should we have enough informations to estimate Wii U's potential.
1. Release a salve of must have games
2. Sacrifice short term profits and slash Wii U's price
How the market will react:
1. Buy an affordable Wii U + GamePad
2. Get Mario Kart + whatever other game
H2 sales will be good to great. 2014 and beyond is still a question mark. Nintendo should be able to get good sales from their 2013 lineup for a while. They'll need a Wii Sports sequel at some point, they'll need sequels to all their key franchises. And new killer apps leveraging the GamePad and whatever their crazy R&D comes up with.
Wii numbers in the same timeframe is out of reach, yet only next year should we have enough informations to estimate Wii U's potential.
Answer: they had/have an interest in the Wii U, thats why they bought dev kits.
Why do some think these Avalanche guys are anti-Nintendo assholes. The quotes strike me as them being disappointed that getting their games on a Nintendo console didn't work out.
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
except it's not irrelevant. We're talking about a company with a strong track record and the knowledge of how to make their products successful, even if they start slow.
We're talking about a company that has yet to give their console a push or release a second wave of games. I'm willing to bet that in NA Sony spent more money advertising Vita in December than Nintendo has on Wii U LTD. You can try to broaden the scope (....why would you) and talk about ALL companies, but the reality is each one is different, and with Nintendo the problem and solution is incredibly simple. There is a tendency on this board for sensationalism, for example acting as if Wii U selling 3.5 mil in 6 months is a death sentence, or by some twisted logic, worse than Vita.
are you familiar with R&D? It's expensive, and kinda/sorta inevitable. It never helps your companies earnings report. The standard model is sold at a loss, which is made up by Nintendo selling ~1.5 games (or probably .5 games digitally). Mario alone has sold about 1.8 million thus far, so yes, future earning reports should be black for Wii U.
And you're predicting Nintendo can't sell 1.5 million Wii U's by November? And you act as if I'm the crazy one?
yeah, me too. I briefly toyed with the idea of quoting them in a new thread so more people could read it as I don't know how many non h.cores are still reading this thread.
Do we know how many have actually been sold to customers? not just shipped? But, yeah, if they haven't pushed 5 million by the time ps720 launch, well I'd be shocked and saddened.
pieatorium
Member
2.5million approx iirc
And they wont be close to 5 million sold by November this year and might not even have that many shipped.
DragonSworne
Banned
If that happens, Iwata will no longer be CEO. He promised 100bn yen profit this fiscal year or he'll step down. There is no way of meeting that goal if they drop the price of the Wii U.
As a whole, Nintendo seems more concerned about profits than their place in the market. They have a very strange and narrow view in this regard. I fear they lack the foresight that is required to truly see through a roadmap for a generation that is suppose to last 5-6 years. At best, Nintendo can support a console for 2-3 years until they either have to repeat the same franchises again or move on to their next system.
A new CEO is needed to break this cycle and truly have a better overall vision and plan for Nintendo. Iwata currently has a very limited and narrow opinion of what Nintendo should and should not do with their systems.
Nintendo missing a forecast is such an habit this one won't change anything. Moreso if it allows a U turn and provide bright perspectives.
But there is also no way of meeting that goal if the WiiU continues to sell like shit, which is without a doubt going to happen if they don´t cut the price dramatically.
A price cut won't help Nintendo here (at least not in the long run).
History has taught us that:
1: No matter the price-cut, hardware bumps will only be temporary unless you manage to create momentum for your product through a consistent schedule of notable releases.
2: You can't have a consistent schedule of notable releases without proper 3rd party support.
So what will Nintendo do here?
I mean, they may manage to create momentum for a year (and that's only because they delayed their launch window games), but what happens next?
How can Nintendo maintain a steady stream of notable releases without 3rd party support for the rest of Wii U's lifecycle?
They can't, unless of course they start money-hatting games everywhere.
shinra-bansho
Member
It would depend on how their release schedule ends up and/or whether that's accompanied by a price cut and whether that provides retailers with enough confidence to take more supply.
They will likely ship similarly low numbers this quarter if not lower, to that of CYQ1; there's a lot of Wii U's in the channel and sell-through will likely decline going into the northern hemisphere Summer. I would hazard to guess that post-Golden Week it will be seeing ~6K/week sales in Japan, Europe sales are apparently abysmal, and the US isn't much better so globally in the realm of 30K/week.
If they manage to push a major title into CYQ3 and it manages to move systems then they may reach 5M by 30th Sept. If not then it won't.
Oppo
Member
Hilarious, some of the antics in here
marc you really predicted the Wii U's current situation? WOW that's amazing. I'd love to see that post if you can dig it out of the giant pile of Nintendo boosterism.