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[kswiston]

Almost no new games for it in a market that is completely saturated with iOS, smartphones, and tablets.

Those sales are great. People need to stop comparing it to previous generations of handhelds because it's a totally different marketplace now.

A) The market was saturated with iOS stuff last year

B) The lack of software is Nintendo's fault. Yes, it would have done better with something equivalent to Mario Kart 7, but Nintendo would have known this like a year ago. No clue why they released NSMB2 in August and let half of their holiday slate slide into 2013.

 

[Coolwhip]

In perspective the Wii U is not THAT terrible. BUT not that great either.

At least it's doing (somewhat) better numbers in Japan

Well on GAF something is either amazing or terrible without a middle ground. 1 million units ltd in the US isnt THAT bad. But not a flying start either. Its not hard to find out why though:

(Defense force inc if you're 12)
- the console is 100 bucks more than a 360
- tablets are hot amongst kids now for games
- terrible marketing
- wii u is a terrible name
- no killer app game at launch
- no killer app game announced for near future
- huge launchpatch
- wiis are covered in dust in most households, why upgrade to wii u if you even realise wii u is the wii sucessor

... And so on. Lets hope Nintendo is extra motivated now. Start by firing your marketing and PR division and go from there.

 

[PhantomR]

360 dropping in its 8th December doesn't seem as bad as the 3DS in its second.

edit: I'm not saying that 3DS did badly, obviously it did fine. I just doubt Nintendo are popping any champagne bottles.

Okay, I think that's more reasonable.

I'll give you that.

 

[schuelma]

If New Super Mario Bros U couldn't, nothing else could have.

I have a long post I'm thinking of making addressing how I think Nintendo fucked up, but one factor I think Nintendo overlooked (and I did too), was just how stale 2D Mario is and how little it adds to a fresh new console.

I see what Nintendo thought- our biggest selling Wii game is easy to make and get out for launch=profit, but neglected that it really does nothing to sell the system.

I think Twilight Princess is neglected when discussing the Wii launch- I think it drove a lot of initial excitement from the core early adopter crowd which is absent from the Wii U launch.

 

[Plinko]

I'm fascinated to see the sales of next-generation consoles. After the initial boom of core gamers buying the new system, it is really going to be interesting to see how casuals latch on (if at all).

 

[Bsigg12]

360 had halo 4, ps3 had wonderbook and sony smash bros last year was terrible for ps3 exclucives

I still think the 3 stores I do merchandising and training for still have their original shipment of the Wonderbook. I'll have to check, but i'm pretty sure they have not moved a single copy of that among three stores.

 

[Miles X]

Nintendo needs to kill the Wii immediately. It doesn't matter if it's still profitable if it's starving the Wii U of oxygen.

I mean, look at this. That is a fucking terrible idea. There is no way you want to present your dying/dead console (at least from a game development perspective) as an option, and a cheaper on to boot, against your new baby. This isn't the iPhone.

Kill the Wii, drop the price by $50 on both units, add Nintendo Land to the Basic and swap it out for New Super Mario Bros. U on the Premium and sit back and watch the sales rise.

It'll be dead early 2014, for sure.

 

[BriBri]

Really surprised at all the comments saying those 3DS sales are great.

A) Nintendo Handhelds always post big holiday numbers

B) 3DS is down 300k+ units from last year, which was its December. What console sells less units in their second (or third if they had a November launch) holiday when compared to the previous year?


Those 3DS numbers aren't great just because all the (ancient) home consoles are doing poorly except for the 360, the Wii U is floundering, and the Vita is basically stillborn.

Because Luigi's Mansion was delayed and Animal Crossing is AWOL, leaving Paper Mario as the only new release, I'd call it pretty impressive. Obviously it could've been better, but given the un-enticing line-up I guess Iwata must be fairly pleased (with the 3DS that is!).

 

[Nibel]

Know what?

NOA deserves this - this is not how you sell a console in 2012/2013

 

[bigtroyjon]

This figure helps to frame general public interest in the 3DS in its own right, and it's pretty clear to me that it's greater now than it was last year.

best spin of the thread so far, congrats. will have to remember that Selling less means there is more interest

 

[outunderthestars]

If New Super Mario Bros U couldn't, nothing else could have.

Nintendo went to the New Super Mario Bros well a little too often. They still have not shown the general public a single reason to spend $300+ on a new system.

The demo kiosks are a joke (no playable games, or just rayman around here)

Nintendoland just looks like a minigame collection to outsiders

and the third party games look exactly like the ones available on consoles that are much less expensive.

 

[Drago]

I mean, look at this. That is a fucking terrible idea. There is no way you want to present your dying/dead console (at least from a game development perspective) as an option, and a cheaper on to boot, against your new baby. This isn't the iPhone.

Is Nintendo FUCKING SERIOUS

Why would they do this

 

[catotheyounger]

WiiU was out launched by a 500-600$ PS3.

WiiU was outsold by Wii by a slim margin, but this is not too much of a surprise. Yet when contrasted with the previous generation, it is still alarming. Using the PS2-PS3 Dec' 2006 sales does not give an entirely accurate analogue. The PS2 was still very relevant in its twilight years, highlighted with GuitarHero2 and the soon to be released God of War 2. Even using XBox-XBox360 in 2005 as an analogue is tough as Halo2 was launched the year prior. If anything, the two case studies are similar in that both consoles, the OGXbox and OGWii were relatively dead.

Being outsold by your predecessor is not unheard of, but it is alarming when that predecessor is this close to death.

 

[antonz]

So is 3DS still on track to be overtaken by DS in the next few months?

Probably still a safe bet though Nintendo seems to be getting ready at least handheld wise to try and make that big push. The whole point of us Knowing Pokémon now etc. is to get people on board early who were waiting for pokemon. Now that they know its coming they may be more willing to bite early and sample software out there now.

 

[farnham]

It's a very "distant" #2.
But still #2.

Japan just hates console gaming. You would too if you lived in a closet.

So why iant psp and vita no. 2?

 

[Gorillaz]

Skyward Sword would not have saved Wii U launch, I'd wager.

I don't know about all that......I think it would have definitely given Nintendo a bump.

 

[AniHawk]

PS3's doing well for beating 360 WW with a 1 year late start.

ps3 would have looked like the wii u when it launched if it wasn't for the ps2 preceding it and making every developer think it was the de facto leader before the generation ever started. without that, sony's an also-ran to microsoft, considering how software moves in much larger quantities for the companies with the biggest-selling franchises.

 

[Plinko]

A) The market was saturated with iOS stuff last year

B) The lack of software is Nintendo's fault. Yes, it would have done better with something equivalent to Mario Kart 7, but Nintendo would have known this like a year ago. No clue why they released NSMB2 in August and let half of their holiday slate slide into 2013.

Who said it wasn't Nintendo's fault? I didn't see anyone saying that.

 

[Baconsammy]

Good WiiU numbers

I mean good for us, panic mode Nintendo is great.

I wish this was true. Panic Mode Nintendo led to what this year for me? NSMB2 and Paper Mario? Panic better, please.

 

[Striek]

Selling this many in a month with no significant software is definitely a fine result.

Comparisons to last year are blunted by December 2011 having Mario Kart.

FWIW, I expect big increases next holidays with Pokemon, (maybe) Zelda and whatever's in the pipeline for next year.

Certainly it should do better next year.

But personally, rather than say 'oh well its a fine result because it didn't have significant software', I would say 'Nintendo screwed up not getting software out for it which led to a bad result'.

 

[Kusagari]

I have a long post I'm thinking of making addressing how I think Nintendo fucked up, but one factor I think Nintendo overlooked (and I did too), was just how stale 2D Mario is and how little it adds to a fresh new console.

I see what Nintendo thought- our biggest selling Wii game is easy to make and get out for launch=profit, but neglected that it really does nothing to sell the system.

I think Twilight Princess is neglected when discussing the Wii launch- I think it drove a lot of initial excitement from the core early adopter crowd which is absent from the Wii U launch.

Wouldn't NSMB2's numbers this month suggest otherwise?

I do agree that NSMB isn't that big among the core who buy a console immediately. A Zelda game at launch probably would have had a better tie-in ratio.

 

[omonimo]

Nintendo needs to kill the Wii immediately. It doesn't matter if it's still profitable if it's starving the Wii U of oxygen.

I mean, look at this. That is a fucking terrible idea. There is no way you want to present your dying/dead console (at least from a game development perspective) as an option, and a cheaper on to boot, against your new baby. This isn't the iPhone.

Kill the Wii, drop the price by $50 on both units, add Nintendo Land to the Basic and swap it out for New Super Mario Bros. U on the Premium and sit back and watch the sales rise.

I think it's impossible to them to do better than this. Wii is dead from a whole year.

 

[SolarPowered]

Nintendo needs to kill the Wii immediately. It doesn't matter if it's still profitable if it's starving the Wii U of oxygen.

I mean, look at this. That is a fucking terrible idea. There is no way you want to present your dying/dead console (at least from a game development perspective) as an option, and a cheaper on to boot, against your new baby. This isn't the iPhone.

Kill the Wii, drop the price by $50 on both units, add Nintendo Land to the Basic and swap it out for New Super Mario Bros. U on the Premium and sit back and watch the sales rise.

Why is the Wii on the Wii U page

why

 

[Plinko]

If New Super Mario Bros U couldn't, nothing else could have.

I'm curious to know how things would have turned out had they gone another direction. I always though the best game they could have released with was a new Smash Bros.

 

[liger05]

Is Nintendo FUCKING SERIOUS

Why would they do this

That is unbelievable. Well done on giving people a reason to buy the Wii.

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

Out of curiosity, does this make people who were interested in buying the Wii U, that just hasn't yet, LESS interested in buying one?

I just recommended to a friend who was somewhat interested not to buy yet, not until she sees more about what lies in store. At this point it seems like a potential buyer can't make a lot of assumptions about the future beyond the facts in front of our noses.

 

[AniHawk]

So why iant psp and vita no. 2?

psp should be dead, but it isn't because that's how popular handheld gaming is.

vita should have more support, but it doesn't because that's how popular the psp is.

 

[PhantomR]

Not moving Skyward Sword to Wii U was a colossal mistake.

 

[VideoMan]

So

Wii Dec 2006 - 604,200
PS3 Dec 2006 - 490,700
Wii U Dec 2012 - 460,000

What was the 360's first December like? And the PS2's?

Found it myself
Wii Dec 2006 - 604,200
PS3 Dec 2006 - 490,700
Wii U Dec 2012 - 460,000
360 Dec 2005 - 281,441

And here are PS2's numbers
PS2 October 2000 (Launch) - 391 245
PS2 November 2000 (second month) - 187 554
PS2 December 2000 (first December) -522 239

To put it even more into perspective:

Xbox 360 US Launch (Nov+Dec): 607k
PS3 US Launch (Nov+Dec): 687k
Wii U US Launch (Nov+Dec): 890k


Wii U is not setting the world on fire but some of the reactions in this thread are way overblown.

You could even say Wii U is the best North American launch of a HD console in history.

Spoiler

Nintendo should hire me to do their PR.

 

[Plinko]

I wish this was true. Panic Mode Nintendo led to what this year for me? NSMB2 and Paper Mario? Panic better, please.

I don't think we'll see a true "Panic Mode Nintendo" until next-gen. Get ready for the Nintendo-Sony super machine.

 

[pieatorium]

Well on GAF something is either amazing or terrible without a middle ground. 1 million units ltd in the US isnt THAT bad.

1 million would ne solid, barely below Wii, WiiU isn't at 1 million tho it's a slow start that won't show signs of picking up anytime soon with the current release schedule

 

[omonimo]

ps3 would have looked like the wii u when it launched if it wasn't for the ps2 preceding it and making every developer think it was the de facto leader before the generation ever started. without that, sony's an also-ran to microsoft, considering how software moves in much larger quantities for the companies with the biggest-selling franchises.

But this a nintendo fault, not surely a sony problem.

 

[kobashi100]

I just think lots of the Wii crowd (that would have maybe bought a WiiU) have moved onto mobile and/or don't ever care about video game systems ever again.

does nobody think that Wii owners moved on to 360 and PS3 when the Wii literally died few years ago?

 

[Kusagari]

I'm curious to know how things would have turned out had they gone another direction. I always though the best game they could have released with was a new Smash Bros.

Launching with Smash Bros probably would have caused a very high launch number, but I'm not sure if it would have done anything to stop it cratering after December.

 

[Xenon]

The one thing I have enjoyed seeing this gen is a company, who once rubbed their competition's noses in pie charts with their market dominance, reduced to hiding their sales figures.

 

[MikeE21286]

I'm curious to know how things would have turned out had they gone another direction. I always though the best game they could have released with was a new Smash Bros.

Probably Mario Kart?

 

[BriBri]

I don't think we'll see a true "Panic Mode Nintendo" until next-gen. Get ready for the Nintendo-Sony super machine.

I'm still waiting for my Super CD!

 

[Sandfox]

I wish this was true. Panic Mode Nintendo led to what this year for me? NSMB2 and Paper Mario? Panic better, please.

I myself don't like NSMB2 but those games did really well lol

 

[Plinko]

Launching with Smash Bros probably would have caused a very high launch number, but I'm not sure if it would have done anything to stop it cratering after December.

True, but I'm sure they'd love a high launch number right now.

 

[Exterminieren]

A) The market was saturated with iOS stuff last year

B) The lack of software is Nintendo's fault. Yes, it would have done better with something equivalent to Mario Kart 7, but Nintendo would have known this like a year ago. No clue why they released NSMB2 in August and let half of their holiday slate slide into 2013.

We're talking about whether the numbers are good and bad and providing context.

If these were numbers in a month with Pokemon and Mario and Animal Crossing and whatever else, with little to no competion, they'd be bad numbers.

In a month with nothing, in a marketplace thought to be saturated and with big recent hardware releases? They're good numbers.

 

[AniHawk]

I wish this was true. Panic Mode Nintendo led to what this year for me? NSMB2 and Paper Mario? Panic better, please.

nsmb2 and paper mario were the 3ds's best first-party games this year. what else was there... that sloppy kid icarus thing?

 

[kswiston]

Who said it wasn't Nintendo's fault? I didn't see anyone saying that.

I suppose then, more people should have been adding the qualifier "for the barren release schedule it had" when talking about 3DS sales being a success.

I want the system to do well, since it's the handheld I own, and I would like to continue to get support for it in the form of future titles, but Nintendo has really let things slide in North America these past 3 years or so. Not all of it can be blamed on changing market pressures.

 

[hammster]

It's interesting that people leap to blame at Iwata in this situation. I blame NOA (and NOE for the low numbers in Europe) for terrible marketing. I don't think Wii U and 3DS are as tough a sell as they are making them seem.

 

[creamsugar]

Vita > 1/10 3DS
cod bundle ~ 70%

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

December 2006 NPD for comparison:

Nintendo DS - 1600K
Wii - 604,200
360 - 1100K
PS2 - 1500K
PS3 - 490,700
PSP - 953,200

NPD Hardware December 2005

PS2: 1.5 million
PSP: 1.12 million
DS: 1.07 million
GCN: 470,000
Xbox: 415,000
X360: 280,000

 

[MikeE21286]

does nobody think that Wii owners moved on to 360 and PS3 when the Wii literally died few years ago?

I do think that's a "third" group of people. Those people graduated and they're obviously late adopters. Again, a group that would not buy a WiiU.

 

[Mpl90]

Probably still a safe bet though Nintendo seems to be getting ready at least handheld wise to try and make that big push. The whole point of us Knowing Pokémon now etc. is to get people on board early who were waiting for pokemon. Now that they know its coming they may be more willing to bite early and sample software out there now.

I got the message about NOA starting being more serious with 3DS today, due to FIRE EMBLEM BUNDLE COMING OVER HERE. Totally surprised by that. Even more than Pokémon simultaneous launch. :lol

 

[Psychotext]

Nintendo needs to kill the Wii immediately. It doesn't matter if it's still profitable if it's starving the Wii U of oxygen.

I mean, look at this. That is a fucking terrible idea.

Holy shit... that's purest idiocy.

 

[Coolwhip]

I think everyone warned them not to use the Wii name on this console. Market confusion probably didn't help any.

The Wii name is fine, just not Wii U. Imagine the next iPad being called iPad C. Apple could pull it off with marketing though, but Nintendo seems to hire a few monkeys for that.

 

[Darryl]

I wish this was true. Panic Mode Nintendo led to what this year for me? NSMB2 and Paper Mario? Panic better, please.

3DS is an absolute beast right now and has amazing software on it. panic nintendo paid off in every single way possible on that console.