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[TheNatural]

You mean by January.

My faith in Nintendo surviving this gen is tiny, though. I'm expecting both Wii U and 3DS to sell around 35 million in the absolute best-case scenario, and less than 10 million in the worst.


That's totally different, especially since Apple was still making a ton of money off of it and had other sources of income along with superb marketing.

Nintendo has made 18 billion last generation dumbass, and Microsoft and Sony have overall been in the red in the videogame business. You have to be an idiot to think Nintendo won't survive anything. They've survived much, much worse situations than this.

 

[PdotMichael]

Also people have been talking about the doom of Nintendo since Nintendo made videogames.

God, please, stop with black and white rhetoric

 

[UltimaPooh]

God, please, stop with black and white rhetoric

How is that black and white?

It's a true statement.

 

[mokeyjoe]

My faith in Nintendo surviving this gen is tiny, though. I'm expecting both Wii U and 3DS to sell around 35 million in the absolute best-case scenario, and less than 10 million in the worst.

My God, I haven't seen a 'Nintendo is doooomed!" post in years. Takes me back, man...

 

[madara]

Lol, there is not enough nintendo news with 3ds for you guys today?

 

[snesfreak]

My faith in Nintendo surviving this gen is tiny, though. I'm expecting both Wii U and 3DS to sell around 35 million in the absolute best-case scenario, and less than 10 million in the worst.

Holy shit...

 

[lednerg]

[...]
Either way, 3DS is Nintendo's Saturn. I really hope Wii U won't be their Dreamcast. This is the worst business decision Nintendo has ever made, and it confirms that they're falling apart.

Nintendo has been on life support ever since the Virtual Boy. Now with the 3DS, they've rested their head on the chopping block. Next year, the Wii U will shove cyanide down Nintendo's throat.

 

[StevieP]

Nintendo has been on life support ever since the Virtual Boy. Now with the 3DS, they've rested their head on the chopping block. Next year, the Wii U will shove cyanide down Nintendo's throat.

You forgot to mention how massive a failure the DS and Wii were, both financially and as gaming machines as well.

 

[BurntPork]

If it makes you guys feel better, I'm still buying both systems.

 

[lednerg]

You forgot to mention how massive a failure the DS and Wii were, both financially and as gaming machines as well.

I thought it would be in bad taste to make light of those prolonged torture sessions, but yeah. Why do they do this to themselves?

 

[herzogzwei1989]

The 3DS pricedrop will ensure Nintendo won't be pricing Wii U at $400 or more. I now absolutely expect it to cost $299 .
I'm certain they've learned their lesson, I'm not worried about price at all. Now it comes down to what software will be there at launch. Hopefully developers will have final kits soon.

 

[Lord Ghirahim]

The 3DS pricedrop will ensure Nintendo won't be pricing Wii U at $400 or more. I now absolutely expect it to cost $299 .
I'm certain they've learned their lession, I'm not worried about price at all. Now it comes down to what software will be there at launch. Hopefully developers will have final kits soon.

I'd buy a $400 Wii U if it meant getting "compensated" with 20 GCN game downloads 6 months later.

 

[BurntPork]

Nintendo should give us a price ceiling this year, like they did for Wii. If they say "Wii U won't cost more than $350," it would give quite a bit to talk about.

 

[Zoramon089]

Nintendo should give us a price ceiling this year, like they did for Wii. If they say "Wii U won't cost more than $350," it would give quite a bit to talk about.

Why do we need more to talk about?

 

[specialguy]

Nintendo has been on life support ever since the Virtual Boy. Now with the 3DS, they've rested their head on the chopping block. Next year, the Wii U will shove cyanide down Nintendo's throat.

Too be fair Nintendo was in a steady state of decline most of it's life from the NES until the Wii/DS explosions.

So I mean, Nintendo is doomed talk usually had some basis in reality. At one point it looked like Sony was swamping them for example.

 

[BurntPork]

Why do we need more to talk about?

Wii U needs hype. Really, though, announcing a $269 price would be the best thing they could do. Sadly, I don't think this will be more than twice as powerful as the current gen, so it needs to be priced accordingly. The market needs to be reassured that Nintendo will do that, especially since even more Nintendo fans feel burned now.

 

[x-Lundz-x]

The iPhone dropped $100 after 2 months.

599 dollar iPhone drops to 499 within two months, after they discontinue the 499 model.
17% price drop on an item that revolutionized the phone industry

249 dollar 3DS dropped to 169 after 5 months because it's not selling.
32% price drop on an item, which only selling factor is 3D (no one cares anymore) and has no games and has not revolutionized the gaming industry in any meaningful way.

Is that better?

 

[Jokeropia]

Too be fair Nintendo was in a steady state of decline most of it's life from the NES until the Wii/DS explosions.

So I mean, Nintendo is doomed talk usually had some basis in reality. At one point it looked like Sony was swamping them for example.

Barring a few unprofitable quarters now and then, they were consistently making money during those years as well. So no, the doomsaying has always been stupid.

599 dollar iPhone drops to 499 within two months, after they discontinue the 499 model.

I remembered that wrong. It was actually a $200 price drop.

The rest of your post is fanboy nonsense.

 

[lednerg]

One thing in Nintendo's favor is that the Wii U specs still aren't finalized. Now they've got to decide whether to go the PS3.5 route we've been expecting, or ramp up clockspeeds and try to knock our socks off. In either case, they should sell at or near cost, and if they do go for power, then they need to make damn sure we actually notice.

 

[stilgar]

My faith in Nintendo surviving this gen is tiny, though. I'm expecting both Wii U and 3DS to sell around 35 million in the absolute best-case scenario, and less than 10 million in the worst.

You realize they still have a swimming pool made of money, approximatively ten times larger than the Baïkal lake? Man, if of really think they'll die, and I don't see why except for the 3DS bad start, at least try to have a reasonable timeline.

 

[Vinci]

If it makes you guys feel better, I'm still buying both systems.

How is the fact that you're also a consumer whore supposed to make us feel better after that ridiculous nonsense you posted earlier?

One thing in Nintendo's favor is that the Wii U specs still aren't finalized. Now they've got to decide whether to go the PS3.5 route we've been expecting, or ramp up clockspeeds and try to knock our socks off. In either case, they should sell at or near cost, and if they do go for power, then they need to make damn sure we actually notice.

Or, you know, they could make compelling software that takes full advantage of the controller and system hardware and appeals to families. You know, instead of taking steps that would unnecessarily increase the cost of the system.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

One thing in Nintendo's favor is that the Wii U specs still aren't finalized. Now they've got to decide whether to go the PS3.5 route we've been expecting, or ramp up clockspeeds and try to knock our socks off. In either case, they should sell at or near cost, and if they do go for power, then they need to make damn sure we actually notice.

I'm hoping they reassess their specs for the Wii U. There's probably not a whole lot they can do at this point with the CPU and GPU though correct? Perhaps they could add more ram but how much of a difference would that make?

 

[rhoq]

Wii U needs hype. Really, though, announcing a $269 price would be the best thing they could do. Sadly, I don't think this will be more than twice as powerful as the current gen, so it needs to be priced accordingly. The market needs to be reassured that Nintendo will do that, especially since even more Nintendo fans feel burned now.

I think it will be no higher than $300. Nintendo just witnessed first-hand with the 3DS that people can't afford luxury items priced too high.

Let's face it, the Wii U is current-gen tech with a slight bump in power and another gimmicky controller. Of course the specs could change, but at the present time this is what it looks like. I actually think could do it for the Wii launch price of $249.99, but will then use the controller as an excuse (again) to explain the $50 premium, driving the MSRP up to $299.99. Anything more could be a mistake, even if it means they sell the new console at a loss. It also might be in Nintendo's best interest to launch the console earlier than expected since they just posted a big 1Q loss and cut their forecast by 80+%

 

[BurntPork]

I think it will be no higher than $300. Nintendo just witnessed first-hand with the 3DS that people can't afford luxury items priced too high.

Let's face it, the Wii U is current-gen tech with a slight bump in power and another gimmicky controller. Of course the specs could change, but at the present time this is what it looks like. I actually think could do it for the Wii launch price of $249.99, but will then use the controller as an excuse (again) to explain the $50 premium, driving the MSRP up to $299.99. Anything more could be a mistake, even if it means they sell the new console at a loss. It also might be in Nintendo's best interest to launch the console earlier than expected since they just posted a big 1Q loss and cut their forecast by 80+%

It's not current-gen tech. Current-gen tech would imply that it's using tech from 2005-6.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

They'll be in the same price situation as the 3DS if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2012 or 2013. They'll be in the same tech situation as the Wii if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2013 or 2014. It's like they knew what their problem was, wanted to address it, but ending up repeating the same mistakes again. It's completely retarded.

 

[lednerg]

Or, you know, they could make compelling software that takes full advantage of the controller and system hardware and appeals to families. You know, instead of taking steps that would unnecessarily increase the cost of the system.

Well, yeah. That would be the PS3.5 scenario I mentioned, which is what I think most of us are guessing will happen. If they do that, then they need to keep it under $300 if they ever expect to get casual gamers on board.

What I was saying is that they could very well see both the 3DS situation and the Wii U's lackluster reception as a sign that they may need to alter course a bit. That may even involve pricing it at or near cost in order to keep the install base high. It may also involve boosting the specs to get more hype out of core gamers. I don't know what they will or even should do, just that they at least have some time to figure it out.

 

[[Nintex]]

What Nintendo should do is change the name, call it Nintendo doopdiederp for all I care but after 3DS they should be aware that Wii U is a terrible name for their new system.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Okay, so

Didn't see it mentioned yet, but what does the 3DS being sold at a loss mean for the Wii U?

Do you think it means Nintendo is going to try and profit on the hardware to make up for the 3DS loss or that Nintendo sees the virtue of launching around cost and might try to make the system more economical?

I'm honestly not sure yet and probably will not be until I see how the audience responds this winter.

 

[AzaK]

They'll be in the same price situation as the 3DS if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2012 or 2013. They'll be in the same tech situation as the Wii if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2013 or 2014. It's like they knew what their problem was, wanted to address it, but ending up repeating the same mistakes again. It's completely retarded.

Remember it's all about marketting. Now I'm not saying the Wii was awful (It was my only current gen console for a long time) but it's popularity was due to intense marketting to the blue ocean crowd along with some games that those types of people enjoy (Wii Fit etc). How many stories have we heard of mums and dads or grandparents buying Wii's and then only playing Wii Sports for a bit and that's it.

If the Wii U hits the enthusiast gamer's 'nerd bone' and the new controller/system is marketted hard-out to the casual crowd, it will be successful. It will only go the way of the Wii if it can't get that enthusiast audience and/or core 3rd party developers, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Even if the next PS and XBox blows the Wii U out of the water in terms of sheer power do you really think devs won't be able to "down scale" their games/engine for the Wii U power. All the engines currently out there are geared towards tech that the Wii U will be able to do (Likely with ease) and I doubt that functionality will disappear from their engines if they have to enhance them for PS4/720?

So at worse I see the Wii U getting "downgraded" (But still stunning like games these days are) ports of games, along with Nintendo 1st party titles. If they can up their online gaming and other services I don't see how it won't be a great system to have.

And I'll reiterate what I've said elsewhere. Don't underestimate that controller. Honestly having a second screen that's effectively a "local area tablet" will be attractive to a lot of people if they can support that with good base software. I use my iPad a lot while on the couch, not to game, but to browse the web and check email, IMDB etc. If the Wii U can stream a good Web experience to me and let me play my Wii U games on the controller if my wife's watching TV, or check my "trophies", download VC games etc - that will be pretty damned awesome and I will probably find my iPad use drops. That then has the flow on effect of keeping my eyes and mind in the Wii U headspace. If I have the controller to browse the web, why not also check the eShop? Why not check what my friends are playing..."Oo, friend X is playing Mario Kart, I think I'll go have a game." and I can either do that on the full screen or controller. That is, to me, fantastic.

 

[Penguin]

Okay, so

Didn't see it mentioned yet, but what does the 3DS being sold at a loss mean for the Wii U?

Do you think it means Nintendo is going to try and profit on the hardware to make up for the 3DS loss or that Nintendo sees the virtue of launching around cost and might try to make the system more economical?

I'm honestly not sure yet and probably will not be until I see how the audience responds this winter.

I was wondering that as well.
If anything expect them to sell for a tiny profit and just hit the ground running with software

 

[Axkil aka StabMasterArson]

Cripes this site has so many Nintendo trolls. I swear to god on this particular site, everyone who doesn't own a Nintendo system is a card carrying "Nintendo is DooMed" Phrophet. Just got home from work and going into 3DS threads, all i'm seeing are all these avatars and names (who only show up when they have something negative to say about Nintendo) heckling and pointing from ontop of the mountain about Nintendo's doom. I swear most of them only play video games in order to justify their hate for Nintendo.

 

[snesfreak]

Cripes this site has so many Nintendo trolls. I swear to god on this particular site, everyone who doesn't own a Nintendo system is a card carrying "Nintendo is DooMed" Phrophet. Just got home from work and going into 3DS threads, all i'm seeing are all these avatars and names (who only show up when they have something negative to say about Nintendo) heckling and pointing from ontop of the mountain about Nintendo's doom. I swear most of them only play video games in order to justify their hate for Nintendo.

So true.

 

[[Nintex]]

Cripes this site has so many Nintendo trolls. I swear to god on this particular site, everyone who doesn't own a Nintendo system is a card carrying "Nintendo is DooMed" Phrophet. Just got home from work and going into 3DS threads, all i'm seeing are all these avatars and names (who only show up when they have something negative to say about Nintendo) heckling and pointing from ontop of the mountain about Nintendo's doom. I swear most of them only play video games in order to justify their hate for Nintendo.

The first knee jerk reaction when third party games started to move or dissapear and we started to talk about our concerns for the platform was: "Booh you all hating Nintendo, 3DS is doing fine just a slow start!" and now that Nintendo has actually said: "Oh shit we fucked up here's a 30% price drop and a bunch of free games for the early birds" and their stock is slashed by 12% it's "but but but you guys are trolling Nintendo boohooo"

Well cry me a fucking river.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

[QUOTE='[Nintex]Well cry me a fucking river.[/QUOTE]
But you're doing such a good job yourself.

 

[[Nintex]]

But you're doing such a good job yourself.

I bought one at launch man and I've got all those 20 free games they're about to give me. I own some like four or five times, like on cartridge, collectors disks, re-releases and on Virtual Console so you can point and laugh at me

 

[Gaborn]

My faith in Nintendo surviving this gen is tiny, though. I'm expecting both Wii U and 3DS to sell around 35 million in the absolute best-case scenario, and less than 10 million in the worst.

... for the entire generation? I mean, others have already questioned your sanity but really, honestly? It cannot be questioned enough. I mean, seriously.

 

[SMT]

Ethernet port please!

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I bought one at launch man and I've got all those 20 free games they're about to give me. I own some like four or five times, like on cartridge, collectors disks, re-releases and on Virtual Console so you can point and laugh at me

I see basically no reason to inject the emotionality in to the video game industry that people do, honestly.

I mean, you're never going to find someone that loves video games more than me without bordering on the obsessive. But at what point does how people treat a company (i.e. people calling out trolls) or how a company acts in fiscal conservancy (what up, Capcom) or price drops (HI NINTEX) really, honestly affect you?

Yeah. $70 kind of blows.

But by August, is it still seriously going to bother you? I am willing to guarantee you, believe me or not, that Nintendo did not make the 3DS a slow-starter to screw over early adopters. It was an issue born of incompetence that I think we all wished they had the sagacity to avoid at this point. But sometimes business and market realities fuck over the consumer and at the end of the day, the only thing you can really do is vote with your wallet. You think it's a bad value? Sell it. I recommend Craigslist.

At the end of the day, though, it's a price drop. They are cutting the fat off with a knife in an attempt to squeeze through the door. I hope they succeed. But the consumer feeling burned is kind of a quick, natural reaction that will probably go away in two weeks.


As an aside, while I don't agree that the negative response to the 3DS is trolling necessarily, I do believe there are many who would like to see the system in its current incarnation fail. I have not always been the most reasonable internet person and have been a cheerleader for the failures of certain systems or brands. Sometimes it's because I didn't want them to succeed because I thought what they were doing was bad for the industry.

I still eventually owned every system I secretly (or publicly) wished death on. And they all had pretty great libraries regardless.

A general note to GAF: injecting vitriol in to a conversation ultimately adds nothing.

 

[Zoramon089]

... for the entire generation? I mean, others have already questioned your sanity but really, honestly? It cannot be questioned enough. I mean, seriously.

I keep telling you guys...BurntPork...he's way out there

 

[Daschysta]

They'll be in the same price situation as the 3DS if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2012 or 2013. They'll be in the same tech situation as the Wii if Sony or Microsoft launch in 2013 or 2014. It's like they knew what their problem was, wanted to address it, but ending up repeating the same mistakes again. It's completely retarded.

You obviously don't grasp what the wii's problem was. The problem wasn't that the hardware lacked the OOMPH, it's that it was SOO dated that the engines couldn't even be downported massively without a ton of work which would cost more than it was worth.

The wii-u is using modern hardware, has all the programmable shaders, can render in the highest possible resolution, and most rumours point to it being a decent leap above current gen anyhow. We're reaching diminishing returns, the gap between wii-u and even something like samaritan, will never seem as large as the gap between wii and ps360, and even then we're eons away from tech like that demo being in a box that won't burn the house down after 10 minutes of gameplay.

It's just as likely that the wii-u becomes the baseline for next gen and the other systems get up-ports (provided it's a 3-5x increase in power, which is very likely). The abovementioned problems prevented wii from being a ps2ish system, but ports between wii-u and next gen should be very possible, and if wii-u is the market leader it should get plenty of love.


Edit also BurntPork is incredibly delusional, not only is WII-U going to sell less than 35 million, but 3DS too?!?!?!?! you've got to be trolling.

nintendo could probably release a console with literally nothing but there own games on it and still sell 35 million portable systems, and it isn't as if nintendo won't have the casual games that drove Wii, not to mention that their first party games sell better than they ever have before, AND nintendo is going to have a massive head start on next gen, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDDDDD nintendo already survived the gamecube generation which had alot less going for it than the upcoming generation. If nintendo knows how to do nothing else it's survive. And I haven't even gotten into the ungodly surplus of cash that they have for current gen. Both could flop horribly and they'd still survive. There is no way you can be serious.

 

[[Nintex]]

At the end of the day, though, it's a price drop. They are cutting the fat off with a knife in an attempt to squeeze through the door. I hope they succeed. But the consumer feeling burned is kind of a quick, natural reaction that will probably go away in two weeks.

I agree with you for the most part but... 'go away in two weeks' I'm not sure man. $599 kept around forever, RROD is still used a lot. Even the $3000 Crysis PC-lol is still pops up every once in a while. Not to mention the actual Nintendo related stuff like all Wii's are still collecting dust and the GameCube to this day is 'Kiddy'.

 

[snesfreak]

You obviously don't grasp what the wii's problem was. The problem wasn't that the hardware lacked the OOMPH, it's that it was SOO dated that the engines couldn't even be downported massively without a ton of work which would cost more than it was worth.

The wii-u is using modern hardware, has all the programmable shaders, can render in the highest possible resolution, and most rumours point to it being a decent leap above current gen anyhow. We're reaching diminishing returns, the gap between wii-u and even something like samaritan, will never seem as large as the gap between wii and ps360, and even then we're eons away from tech like that demo being in a box that won't burn the house down after 10 minutes of gameplay.

It's just as likely that the wii-u becomes the baseline for next gen and the other systems get up-ports (provided it's a 3-5x increase in power, which is very likely). The abovementioned problems prevented wii from being a ps2ish system, but ports between wii-u and next gen should be very possible, and if wii-u is the market leader it should get plenty of love.

I wish more people understood this, it seems no matter how many times it's said they still don't get it.

 

[InfiniDragon]

I wish more people understood this, it seems no matter how many times it's said they still don't get it.

I wish more people were like you. Why aren't there more people out there like you?

I don't even like to post in here most of the time because the level of stupid I see in here (read: almost anything anti-Nintendo on this thread in particular) literally hurts my heart.

 

[Gaborn]

Edit also BurntPork is incredibly delusional, not only is WII-U going to sell less than 35 million, but 3DS too?!?!?!?! you've got to be trolling.

nintendo could probably release a console with literally nothing but there own games on it and still sell 35 million portable systems, and it isn't as if nintendo won't have the casual games that drove Wii, not to mention that their first party games sell better than they ever have before, AND nintendo is going to have a massive head start on next gen, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDDDDD nintendo already survived the gamecube generation which had alot less going for it than the upcoming generation. If nintendo knows how to do nothing else it's survive. And I haven't even gotten into the ungodly surplus of cash that they have for current gen. Both could flop horribly and they'd still survive. There is no way you can be serious.

Just to add, Nintendo didn't just survive, they THRIVED with GameCube. They had huge profits, their biggest profits until the Wii came along.

 

[bgassassin]

Ethernet port please!

Considering everything else that's being reused, I would assume this will be too.

I wish more people understood this, it seems no matter how many times it's said they still don't get it.

Or don't want to. Anyone with basic hardware knowledge should know that it won't be the same as with Wii. It ends up being either denial or straight up incompetence..

 

[kame-sennin]

Remember it's all about marketting. Now I'm not saying the Wii was awful (It was my only current gen console for a long time) but it's popularity was due to intense marketting to the blue ocean crowd along with some games that those types of people enjoy (Wii Fit etc).

 

[Easy_D]

Wii U needs hype. Really, though, announcing a $269 price would be the best thing they could do. Sadly, I don't think this will be more than twice as powerful as the current gen, so it needs to be priced accordingly. The market needs to be reassured that Nintendo will do that, especially since even more Nintendo fans feel burned now.

I'm naive enough to believe the 3DS' price was lowered just so they could justify a lower pricepoint for the WiiU. I'm pretty dumb.

 

[Axkil aka StabMasterArson]

The first knee jerk reaction when third party games started to move or dissapear and we started to talk about our concerns for the platform was: "Booh you all hating Nintendo, 3DS is doing fine just a slow start!" and now that Nintendo has actually said: "Oh shit we fucked up here's a 30% price drop and a bunch of free games for the early birds" and their stock is slashed by 12% it's "but but but you guys are trolling Nintendo boohooo"

Well cry me a fucking river.

Dude i'm not acting like this is the first time. Every effin time their is news towards Nintendo the trolls come out to play. They sing the same song every time. This might happen with Sony n Microsoft, but with Nintendo, the trolling is taken to the highest level

 

[MYE]

Cripes this site has so many Nintendo trolls. I swear to god on this particular site, everyone who doesn't own a Nintendo system is a card carrying "Nintendo is DooMed" Phrophet. Just got home from work and going into 3DS threads, all i'm seeing are all these avatars and names (who only show up when they have something negative to say about Nintendo) heckling and pointing from ontop of the mountain about Nintendo's doom. I swear most of them only play video games in order to justify their hate for Nintendo.

I love it when, before entering any thread with the smallest shred of criticism being thrown in nintendo's direction, i'm able to predict 6 or 7 posters that will take the first chance they get to jump on the hate wagon and cheerlead and fuel the latest negative thing being said about the company.

A handfull of them never seem to fail to show up lol

 

[Easy_D]

I love it when, before entering any thread with the smallest shred of criticism being thrown in nintendo's direction, i'm able to predict 6 or 7 posters that will take the first chance they get to jump on the hate wagon and cheerlead and fuel the latest negative thing being said about the company.

A handfull of them never seem to fail to show up lol

The 3DS pricedrop thread and the 80% profit threads were hilarious to read . Trolls light up my day for sure.