Gunpei Yokoi made what is arguably Nintendo's most profitable piece of hardware ever and got the windowseat after one flop (virtual boy).
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NPD January 2013 Sales Results [Up7: Wii U 57K (CNET), Vita ~35K, PS3 201K]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
InsaneZero
Member
Come holiday season and I think we'll see the X360 still consuming the entirety of the console market, Orbis and Durango included.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
I'm not that flexible.
Personally, I just think they weren't satisfied with the direction and sales (even though it reached 2.7, it had a big drop off and took 4.5 years to get to it) of the series. They essentially were stuck making derivatives if they stayed, so they opted to go with a new IP (DD, like Dahbomb said), while giving a new dev a shot at it with their own vision.
It didn't work out, of course.
Bel_Air_Jeff
Banned
dreamer3kx
Member
No wonder Nintendo announcing all these games in the Directs, panic mode, Nintendo never does this.
metalslimer
Member
Does Wii U have Pokemon?
Steve Youngblood
Member
How many people do you know that are having fun playing it? Because the thing with the Wii and Wii Sports was that it really was almost a case where literally everyone they knew was playing and enjoying it.
DMC4 sold really well, that's true. why they didn't make a DMC5 themselves? their reasoning was that they didn't have the resources and staff to allocate to it, probably most of them were sucked into RE6 (it's a huge game, regardless of what you think of it's quality, tons of stuff in it) and probably Dragon's Dogma which was supposed to be a big deal for them too as a new IP, yeah both failed but they didn't think they would, it wasn't because DMC4 sold poorly, Capcom made a gamble and they lost on all 3 fronts pretty much.
hahaohwow.jpeg
Nothing1016
Member
I wouldn't say Nintendo is doomed. Are they having a console that is bombing? Yes. Will it continue to bomb? Maybe. Can they fix it? Maybe.
There is a ton of maybes and reactions being thrown around right now after three months. I can't wait to see how this plays out over the next couple of years.
There is a ton of maybes and reactions being thrown around right now after three months. I can't wait to see how this plays out over the next couple of years.
Bel_Air_Jeff
Banned
dat recession.
Still though, about 150 million ps360 owners. What -are- they buying? Just COD?
shinra-bansho
Member
Quite possible. But I don't see it happening - it's not happening right now at least.
What on earth does this have to do with my comment? Where did I mention iOS?
Is a console Pokemon going to turn around the Wii U?
Does that everyone you know include your mother and your girlfriend? But, yeah, I get it. It's a testament to the inherent appeal (or lack thereof) of the game pad. I can totally understand how a group of friends could have fun; I can also understand how no one else would care.
And if it had sold well they never would have gone back to DMC proper. There was no going back to the series as it was.
Ninja Scooter
Member
GameCube had all 3 of those and everyone assumed as they released they would help Nintendo gain market share on MS/Sony. They all sold well but they didn't push consoles. In fact if anything, the opposite occurred and GameCube actually lost ground to Xbox as time went on. It's very likely that those games sell well to core Nintendo fans, but Nintendo's problem has never been appealing to core Nintendo fans.
Wii Sports was the Wii's killer app. Wii Sports is the difference between a Wii level success and a GameCube.
TheUnknownForce
Member
Nintendo Land is a game. Virtual Boy was a handheld. A bit of a difference there.
Xbox had Halo, whereas the GameCube did not. Not to mention the GameCube was given a bad label shortly into its lifecycle.
I do believe there is an issue appealing to core Nintendo fans and non-Nintendo fans this time around, though. There are core fans that have not yet bought a Wii U, because the lineup right now is not what they wanted. This year should start to fix some of that. The non-fans...yeah, Nintendo needs to do more than court third party ports if it wants those gamers. Casual gamers are off on their phones and tablets and PCs; getting those back will require a lot of investment. The question is where should Nintendo take it from here to get more people...more hardcore gamers...or again with the Wii crowd.
InsaneZero
Member
Nintendo already learned its Gamecube lessons regarding rushed releases. As much as it would frustrate everybody (Nintendo especially) to have periods of drought, it would be in everybody's best interest at this point to make damn sure that the games that do come out are spit-shined. Otherwise the Wii U will have the highly enviable position of being known for no games and bad games.
Scary looking numbers and it's a shame because the console in my opinion is really great. As it was said many times over in this thread, lack of games, price, bad marketing etc. All of these need to be remedied in a way or another for the Wii U to get into good sales territory (which is still very much possible).
I'm happy for Ni No Kuni but I was hoping for it to be one place or two higher. I almost bought a PS3 to play that game, and I most definitely will in the future.
I'm looking forward to Fire Emblem sales next month, especially with all of the difficulties that launch had. Will be interesting.
I'm happy for Ni No Kuni but I was hoping for it to be one place or two higher. I almost bought a PS3 to play that game, and I most definitely will in the future.
I'm looking forward to Fire Emblem sales next month, especially with all of the difficulties that launch had. Will be interesting.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
It is, essentially, making me really think that the Wii initially sold on novelty. I mean, I always knew it did, but this really drives home how much the novelty must have been driving sales.
Pretty clearly the market disagrees.
Theres some sort of chart thingo in the OP.
People who play it seem to like it, people who haven't played it haven't played it. I'm not sure we even have the numbers to quantify it.
edit: Seems several people are making this basic mistake.
Admiral Bone to Pick
Banned
This is literally the most obvious point ever and 90% of gaming side can't seem to grasp it.
Nintendo staples like Mario and Zelda have been on every Nintendo system, successful or not. The breakout Nintendo systems (Gameboy, DS, and Wii) were successful because they had incredibly popular series with widespread appeal. For the Gameboy, this was Pokemon and Tetris. For the DS, this was Nintendogs and Brain Trainings (and similar accessible titles). And for the Wii, this was the entire Wii series. Point being that Nintendo greatly expanded their potential market by releasing innovative, accessible titles outside of their usual staple series. The Wii U, while it has an interesting control scheme, hasn't replicated this at all. A game like NSMB won't do much to appeal to the expanded market without breakout titles to provide an expanded base. When the expanded base is brought on, it will naturally spill over to traditional Nintendo series, bolstering their sales potential (Mario Kart was the largest beneficiary of this effect last generation).
NintendoLand is the right idea but the wrong execution. When the Wii first came out with Wii Sports, the exposure was ridiculous. It was mainstream. Everyone knew about the control scheme and what the system offered. Does the average person really care about the Wii-U or NintendoLand? What does it matter to them if NL is technically superior to Wii Sports? Where is the marketing? Where is the hype?
As a Wii U owner these numbers are horrifying, but I said it before and I'll say it again. Kill this console, start over, beef up your system specs, make the touchpad a peripheral that is optional or suffer for the next 5 years with sub Gamecube level sales. This isn't just about software, this is also about a control scheme nobody cares about as well as the console being completely underpowered. Dreamcast 2 is here.
Infinite Justice
Member
Yep.
Bingo
Didnt see your post before I wrote mine, exactly Nintendo is just gonna eat it right now until Spring thru fall and see how things pick up, nothing they can do right now.
Eh, kind of expected, but this is so bad its actually funny. There's nothing on the system that is going to convince someone to buy it right now, and a lot of people dont even know what it is. As has been said 1000000x, once Mario, Zelda, Smash come out the sales will get a huge boost. Until then I think we can expect these shitty numbers to continue.
The market is incredibly top heavy at the moment, and even those games are in YoY decline. Probably why every publisher is going for broke trying to turn anything they possibly can into a CoD mega hit (EA with Dead Space, for example).
Dammit. Now I'm convincing myself that the market actually IS shrinking.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
It's kind of bizarre to see Wii Sports retconned into the Jesus Fucking Christ of all mainstream video games.
Also maybe a little hyperbole there, because part of what made Wii lightning in a bottle wasn't just one game, it was time, circumstance, and position.
Tetris likely wouldn't have made the splash it did had it been released now, today, in this gaming market and current global culture.
Wii Sports is great and WSR even better. But the original did benefit from incredible mystique and hype built up around Nintendo's "bizarre" new game console, that the mainstream press did no small part in helping to create curiosity about. Wii also launched in a world where every mainstream person was not already playing easily accessible games on their phones every day, and was now used to the idea of video games as just another form of entertainment.
Let's not go too crazy building up Wii Sports just to ensure the shadow cast over Wii U's "complete and total failure in every conceivable way" is long.
Also maybe a little hyperbole there, because part of what made Wii lightning in a bottle wasn't just one game, it was time, circumstance, and position.
Tetris likely wouldn't have made the splash it did had it been released now, today, in this gaming market and current global culture.
Wii Sports is great and WSR even better. But the original did benefit from incredible mystique and hype built up around Nintendo's "bizarre" new game console, that the mainstream press did no small part in helping to create curiosity about. Wii also launched in a world where every mainstream person was not already playing easily accessible games on their phones every day, and was now used to the idea of video games as just another form of entertainment.
Let's not go too crazy building up Wii Sports just to ensure the shadow cast over Wii U's "complete and total failure in every conceivable way" is long.
There were about 150M PS2 owners as well. Why did no game on that console sell more than 15M worldwide? Why was the highest selling PS2 DMC entry only able to move 2.2M units?
People have disparate tastes.
Bel_Air_Jeff
Banned
DOOOOOOOOOMED DOOOOOOOOOOOMED.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I feel like its a combination of not being as disruptively novel as the Wii Remote was and almost as importantly not being as visually fun as the Wii was. The WiiU has a much harder sell in most traditional forms of advertisement.
WonkyPanda
Member
Sad, isn't it? We can complain about casuals all we want, but I think dudebros are having a way more negative effect on gaming.
StreetsAhead
Member
It is really concerning to me that with those sales world wide, that expensive PS360 games regularly struggle to crack a few million each world wide.
People have no patience though. And this is where Nintendo made a huge mistake. If they expanded their internal teams enough during the Wii era, then the launch wouldn't be the disaster it is now.
How would that work? Every Wii U owner, the early adopters, would be pissed off. And it sends a really bad message.
Version 3.0
Member
He specifically said it would play Wii games in HD, which the Wii U doesn't do.
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
From the Top 10 you can see what they are buying
Just because DmC is created doesn't mean it will rake in profits
The market didn't like it, didn't want it, so it didn't buy it, don't cop out the title bu bu but it only did "200K" of 150 million users, what's wrong with them?....
Nothing, you win some, you lose some
I'm more impressed Far Cry 3 a game released after Black Friday in a dead month that is December is selling!
UberTag
Member
Minecraft.
Paying for Xbox LIVE Gold so they can watch Netflix.
FIFA Ultimate Team Cards.
Skylanders figures.
They're buying the above 4 things.
Meanwhile, the 100 million Wii owners are buying Just Dance 4.
I sure was... but I didn't want to post a comment about it. This is totally a Saturn situation and not a Dreamcast.
The DC was ambitious, groundbreaking, had amazing titles, was a graphical tour de force and pioneered console Internet connectivity.
FroJay said:
Dreamcast owners should be insulted by the comparison.
But seriously, I can't imagine Nintendo giving up after three or four months of sales, especially since this is their flagship product. This was the product of billions in research and development costs; can we really expect them to just do it over, especially now? And Nintendo, internally, has a pipeline of its own software for this console. What happens to that?
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Rising initially wont do that much better, maybe 100k more at best.
but what i do expect to happen is rising to have much more legs than DmC. I reckon it will hit 1.5 mil lifetime.
considering it was probably alot lower budget and developed in a much shorter time I think konami will see that as a success.
The real story will be GOW:A sales in march.
Bel_Air_Jeff
Banned
I think the majority of the problem from sales is due to the over-extension of this generation.
People are tired of the hardware.
People are tired of the hardware.
Father_Brain
Banned
They certainly did push consoles, at least in the sense that GC would surely have sold considerably worse without them.
metalslimer
Member
Please god mods make this sarcastic doomed shit a bannable offense. It literally does nothing for discussion and is about as useful as a laughing smiley or cool story bro.
I agree on that, but he was acting as if WiiU sales would still be 55K if those games were on the WiiU now, I highly doubt that.