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[Hex]

Because you are forbidden to buy Nintendo consoles, right?

What, is she looking at the last reasons to buy a Wii U fly right out the window?
Really getting a neck work out isn't she?
Hey there goes another one..
Almost looks like she wants to jump out after them...

 

[plagiarize]

There is really no big move they can or should make with wiiu. They shouldn't lose hundreds of millions to try and save this platform. There is only so much maneuvering you can do.

By big move, I wasn't specifically talking about doing something with the Wii U. I'm talking about ANYTHING. New hardware, console or handheld. Even, gulp, multiplatform releases. A crazy pricing structure.

You know, some major move to stop the shareholders going fucking nuts.

 

[Raist]

Nintendo reported on January 30th that LTD shipments for the Wii U console were as follows:

As of December 31st, 2012:
Japan - 830,000 Wii U units shipped
America - 1,320,000 Wii U units shipped
Europe + Other - 900,000 Wii U units shipped
[B]World - 3,060,000 Wii U units shipped[/B]

Also, Nintendo reported on April 24th that LTD shipments for the Wii U console were as follows:

As of March 31st, 2013:
Japan - 920,000 Wii U units shipped
America - 1,520,000 Wii U units shipped
Europe + Other - 1,010,000 Wii U units shipped
[B]World - 3,450,000 Wii U units shipped[/B]

So, in the three month period from January to March, the Wii U shipped 390,000 extra Wii U consoles worldwide.

It therefore follows that assuming an identical, flat trend for all of 1H, upon Nintendo's July 31st Q1 earnings release, Wii U worldwide shipments will have hit ~3.84 million units for the quarter ending June 30th, 2013.

The "4 million units sold" figure you've seen is an optimistic projection of LTD Wii U shipments through the end of 1H.

Optimistic investor projections:
As of June 30th, 2013:
World - 4,000,000 Wii U units shipped
World - 550,000 LTD unit increase in the past three months (compare to a 390,000 LTD unit increase from January through March)
World - 183,333 average monthly increase from April through June

The "5 million by November" claim also operates under the assumption of optimistic projections.

yeah fine but we also know that there's a big gap between shipped and sold, and I've seen a lot of pople use the 4M figure as LTD user base. hence my question.

 

[Hex]

I would almost say move on to the next incarnation, but the ill will that they would get from those who invested and believed in the Wii U as well as the stigma attached to it would be a huge albatross not to mention that it is safe to assume that they have not learned anything that would help them yet.
I still look forward to a discount priced Wii U.

 

[LordGouda]

LOL. I don't think they're going to make it.

With how things are going, I doubt they will.

Spoiler

Though my inner Nintendo fanboy wants them to surpass 5 million.

 

[Aquamarine]

yeah fine but we also know that there's a big gap between shipped and sold, and I've seen a lot of pople use the 4M figure as LTD user base. hence my question.

It's simple: those people were clearly misinformed.

It's much more likely that the current Wii U LTD sell-through is slightly less than three million. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that the current LTD sell-through is anywhere near 4 million.

Hell, it's optimistic to think that the Wii U has even SHIPPED 4 million by the end of June.

 

[DJwest]

lmao !

 

[Alebrije]

Do not know how WiiU will behave on a few months :

WiiU
360
PS3
PS4
Xbone
Ouya

I got mine just because I hope Nintendo delivers a Metroid game , but if dont I still will be happy because there will be a new Mario and Zelda soon or later. We have Pikmin 3 now (one of my most wanted list ) . If WiiU manages to get 20-25 great games in his lifecicle it will be goof for me. At this moment my list has:

Zombie U.
Pikimin 3.
Lego Undercover.
RE Revelations.


But I inderstand that most of people can not get two consoles , if you just can get and support one go for a PS4 or Xbone, It will be hard to see a GTA , Elder Scrolls , Fall Out , etc Game in the WiiU.

For me WiiU -PS4 will work.


As a consumer I do not see the WiiU is a failure because it is delivering what I expect from it , but as a shareholder I just expect the company manages to improve the image with developers and get some multiport games from western studios.

 

[Daingurse]

Dam SmokeyDave. When will you stop your relentless assault on poor Nintendo? Why!?

Lol, SmokeyDave will never end that assault, as long as it's the truth. Dave owns one, he's fucking entitled to rip it. hahaha

So ASDA is like the Walmart equivalent over there in the UK? That's fucking rough. I don't see anything really stopping this train, quite frankly I think the Wii-U is fucked and have had such an opinion for months now. I don't think anything can really save this console from becoming a Gamecube, hell that would be a marked improvement at this very time.

It's not the Wal-Mart equivalent...ASDA literally is Wal-Mart.

Although the store's UK-wide marketshare and its interior makeup differs from conventional Wal-Marts in the USA, ASDA is Wal-Mart's brand name in the UK.

They were purchased in 1999.

Ah gotcha, it is Wal-Mart basically.

 

[Aquamarine]

Lol, Smokey will never end that assault, as long as it's the truth. Smokey owns one, he's fucking entitled to rip it. hahaha

So ASDA is like the Walmart equivalent over there in the UK? That's fucking rough. I don't see anything really stopping this train, quite frankly I think the Wii-U is fucked and have had such an opinion for months now. I don't think anything can really save this console from becoming a Gamecube, hell that would be a marked improvement at this very time.

It's not the Wal-Mart equivalent...ASDA literally is Wal-Mart.

Although the chain's UK-wide marketshare and its interior makeup differs from conventional Wal-Marts in the USA, ASDA is Wal-Mart's brand name in the UK.

They were purchased in 1999.

 

[GetemMa]

Bad news. Nintendo needs to make some drastic and painful decisions.

My suggestions would be the following:

1. Ditch the gamepad and make it an optional peripheral whose only required support is Off TV Play. Games that require the WiiU gamepad can still be made obviously.
2. Use the WiiU Pro Controller as the pack in controller.
3. Drop the price to $199.
4. Actually market it as a product available for sale (<--***IMPORTANT***)
5. Sell the Gamepad bundled with Nintendoland or ZombiU for $99
6. Improve Online (online accounts, party chat, invite system)
7. Get Mario Kart 8 and Wii Sports U out ASAP with bundles.
8. Invest in internal development to prevent game droughts.
9. Purchase/Partner with 3rd party studios like PG or Atlus and have them make new IP.
10. See #4 and apply to all games.
11. Plan next console for release in 2016 which should be a home console/mobile handheld combo system.

 

[Visualante2]

Big thread. The sales impact might be minimal as discussed but shelf space is a hard earned privilege. The great irony is that it will probably be replaced with Xbone and PS4 pre-order information, and item that isn't really making Asda a great deal of money for the next 4 months.

I think it's crossing the line from a joke into a tragedy for me. There's no recovery from this if other supermarkets make similar announcements.

 

[cyberheater]

It's not the Wal-Mart equivalent...ASDA literally is Wal-Mart.

Although the chain's UK-wide marketshare and its interior makeup differs from conventional Wal-Marts in the USA, ASDA is Wal-Mart's brand name in the UK.

They were purchased in 1999.

I wonder at what point will Wal Mart start doing the same?

 

[TheDrowningMan]

But what was the reason for that?

No idea. They also didn't stock any new 3DS games from December to about a month after Luigi's Mansion came out, at which point they took LM and Lego City, and have gotten new stuff since.

Something's going on with Asda and Nintendo's suppliers; to not allocate much store space is one thing, but this applies online too. Nothing new on Wii U since launch, no new 3DS games from December until May / June. Even online.

 

[Law Abiding Stranger]

I wonder at what point will Wal Mart start doing the same?

That would mean the end of WiiU.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

I wonder at what point will Wal Mart start doing the same?

Do they carry new Wii U games? Asda have ordered nothing since launch and have never really stocked it properly, so this "development" is only an issue for those who haven't been laying attention.

 

[kinggroin]

Hmm, wonder if this is the beginning if the end.

 

[zoukka]

Even today, in our connected times, calling a few friends over to your house for an evening of local multiplayer is the greatest experience video games have to offer. It is just so much more personal and intense than online gaming.

I agree 100%. But the times are different. People expect online content from most games. Mario and Nintendoland being offline only was a massive mistake by Nintendo.

 

[LordGouda]

Hmm, wonder if this is the beginning if the end.

"It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for." - 4th Doctor

... I had to.

 

[Alebrije]

It's not the Wal-Mart equivalent...ASDA literally is Wal-Mart.

Although the chain's UK-wide marketshare and its interior makeup differs from conventional Wal-Marts in the USA, ASDA is Wal-Mart's brand name in the UK.

They were purchased in 1999.

Really !! Wal Mart owns everything , soon or later :

Made in USA.
Made in China.
Made in Wal-Mart.

 

[Majmun]

Mario Kart U is probably the biggest upcoming Wii U game. Could be a great showcase for the gamepad...

But no, it's just a honk.

Or have they announced more gamepad functions? Nintendo really needs to sell the damn thing.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Made in Wal-Mart.

Ah so the rumors that Wal-mart were going to buy their own third world country to eliminate health codes, child labor laws etc. are true

 

[Mr_B_Fett]

Someone posted the number is 4.85 according to latest reports

Yes, someone who doesn't understand how to read a balance sheet.

That sounds much more feasible. Still a shit ton of cash, but dwindling as you would expect.

Feasible perhaps, but very very wrong. Cash (and equivalents) peaked in 2010 (~$12 billion) and have been dwindling the last couple of years down to ~9.5 billion.

But here is the good thing, there really is no need to take my ridiculous fact based assertions at face value. You can look for yourselves:

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/NTDOY/financials/balance-sheet

Anyway, after reading this thread I'm going to go give my Vita, Wii U and GC a big group hug.

 

[DragonSworne]

Mario Kart U is probably the biggest upcoming Wii U game. Could be a great showcase for the gamepad...

But no, it's just a honk.

Or have they announced more gamepad functions? Nintendo really needs to sell the damn thing.

A horn and a map. I know what I'll be using more. *honk*

 

[Father_Brain]

Man, I really just want to watch some heads roll at NCL. Well, April is only nine months away...

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Hmm, wonder if this is the beginning if the end.

Given that they never really stocked it and have taken no new stock since December, this changes nothing.

It's still in dire trouble, but nothing has changed to those who've been paying attention.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I expect Tesco to follow suit, the Wii U displays across several local 'Extra' stores (the biggest) are shocking. The same two boxes have been sitting on the bottom shelf below a mixture of PSVita and Wii stuff.

And if you find the price you'll laugh at the £249.99 Premium 'bundle'.

 

[DragonSworne]

Ah so the rumors that Wal-mart were going to buy their own third world country to eliminate health codes, child labor laws etc. are true

Sadly, it would still be cheaper to use China

 

[eorl]

Similar story here in NZ.

Barely any shops stock the WII U. Dick Smith, a relatively big national wide consumer electronic shop discontinued stocking the WII U about 2 months ago.

Dick Smith stopped stocking a lot of gaming items in Australia as well, not just the Wii U. Though oddly enough they are taking orders for PlayStation 4 but not Xbox One.

 

[Parmenides]

It's like 2007 era PS3, but without the motivation to try and fix it.

Odd comparison

PS3 hit a million UK sales faster than its predecessor PS2 (February 13th 2008)

LTD HW Shipments (Unit:Million)

 FY       PS1            FY       PS3             

1994      1.0           2006      3.5  
      
1997      32.8          2009      35.7

A whole year headstart should mean a big advantage as seen with PS2 and 360

It's a huge disadvantage as seen with the DC,360 and Wii U.First movers suffer massive opportunity costs because the previous generation is still going strong.

Wii/PS2/PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 until September 2008.Fortunately for Xbox 360,Sony couldn't respond to Microsoft massive price cuts.

Microsoft: Blu-Ray Absence Boosted Xbox 360 (March 16 2010)

Realistically console sales have been dwindling for the past 3 years

PS360 global sales are incredible.They need price cuts in certain markets,as simple as that (Occam's razor)


Microsoft FY13- Hardware Shipments (Unit: Million)

 Console    Jl-Sp'12    Oc-Dc'12    Ja-Mr'12    Ap-Jn'13    FY13    

 PS3/PS2      3.5         6.8         3.4          ?        13.7      
	
  360         1.7         5.9         1.3         1.0       9.9        

 PS/XB        5.2         12.7        4.7        1.0 + ?    23.6 + ? 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
	
            FY02 PS2                         

 HW         22.52m                                    

           Peak Year

Sony: PS2 Discontinued Worldwide (Jan 7th 2013)

I'm not disagreeing that the Wii U is a huge, self made disaster. I just think it's possible that the other next gen console could encounter soft demand.

PS4 in 2013 seemed like a bad idea.Microsoft's mistakes are a golden opportunity for Sony.The PS4 can reach up to 15m by March 2015 (PS3 sold 12.6m in the same time frame)

That said,expect slow adoption of next generation consoles outside the US.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

I'm pretty sure Tesco is the biggest supermarket here.

 

[Monty Mole]

Mario Kart U is probably the biggest upcoming Wii U game. Could be a great showcase for the gamepad...

But no, it's just a honk.

Or have they announced more gamepad functions? Nintendo really needs to sell the damn thing.

Well, the advantage for many is off-TV play. I don't see why you'd want anything more than a Honk anyway for MK. It's not the type of game where you have the time to glance down at the second screen whilst playing.

I'm pretty sure Tesco is the biggest supermarket here.

Indeed it is, and by quite a stretch. Although I have no idea why the worst two UK supermarkets are also the two largest.

 

[lefantome]

Wii'll be missing U



jokes aside is the uk market the one where the Wii U seems to sell worse: price cuts, bad position in the charts and now ASDA.

it's still available at the co-operative at least http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk...GB-6-2-Touchscreen-in-White/id-NIN-WII-WIIU-W

 

[Visualante2]

Really !! Wal Mart owns everything , soon or later :

Made in USA.
Made in China.
Made in Wal-Mart.

ASDA seems slightly less evil than Walmart. But it's hard to know.. I've never visited one. Corporate America is so demonised. Probably behind the scenes it is just splitting hairs.

 

[Biker19]

Amazing how quickly your fortunes can turn in one console cycle.

Let this be a lesson that no matter how well you did in the last cycle, you can't just assume you are going to win the next.

It's now happened to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo has to change courses quickly. Releasing the same tired franchises and old games remastered (unless it's 3rd party) isn't helping them.

This. It's now been eight months since the system's been officially released, & it's already struggling in sales everywhere. 8 months. It's much worse than the position that Sony was in back in 2006-2007 with the PS3.

Ouch at that headline.

Shit is getting (more) ugly for the Wii U.

This is probably the worst received Nintendo home console ever.

Yeah, even worse than either the N64 or Gamecube.

 

[Oersted]

Really !! Wal Mart owns everything , soon or later :

Made in USA.
Made in China.
Made in Wal-Mart.

Germany says no, or better, Nein!

 

[Law Abiding Stranger]

...is it even possible that Walmart would stop stocking/selling WiiU?

I mean SEGA themselves axed Dreamcast, so something like this would probably kill the system in the USA.

 

[eorl]

I have a Wii U, and roughly eight games for the system (not including Pikmin 3 which I really need to grab). I enjoy it and the games I do own I've played for at least 20 hours each not through boredom or desperation but actual enjoyment.

I think Nintendo's biggest problem is marketing. They quite literally thought that it could sell on name alone, and it didn't. Simply put, if Nintendo wants this to sell, they need to sell it through advertisements and marketing, plus put a bigger effort into getting titles out. I'm not exactly sure where their work has been put, either in the 3DS (which is far from a blunder now) or the difficulty of HD, but they really need to focus on helping out this console.

Are Nintendo doomed? Far from it. However the Wii U is definitely in a struggle, and will most likely become a niche console with a few million sales and that will be it. I hope Nintendo can push for more 3DS focus but at the same time still offer its wonderful titles on the Wii U for those looking for the Nintendo home console experience.

If Nintendo ever does make a new console (which they probably will), I hope that they can be much more competitive, maybe even offering GDDR5 due to its cheapness now. That would be somewhat hilarious if they did, even if it was 2-4GB.

 

[v1oz]

Even Nintendo aren't that dumb.

It has historical precedence. Nintendo did it to Toy'r'us and many other retailers back in the day. Nintendo would threaten to withhold stock as means to gain leverage.

Nintendo at one point also refused to supply retailer Game UK with stock because of a dispute.

What makes you think they have that kind of leverage?

3DS is the only gaming handheld that sells well.

 

[Haines]

Its extremely strange for me to come on and see the bad WiiU news all the time, when mine hets used here almost every single day even with owning every other system.

I think it was just priced too high, and Nintendo should have pulled a 3DS, or even bigger promo.

 

[Bob White]

I really like my Wii U. I hope Nintendo just double down, stick their fingers in the ears, and make amazing games for their platforms without alienating the existing customers. Make a revolutionary Zelda and make the world pay attention to your home console, despite its weaker hardware and lack of other media features.

They had a chance to do this at E3. They decided 3D Land 2 and the chick from Wii Fit in Smash Bros. were the things that would make people take notice.

Oh, and they canceled their big press conference...all to help the world pay more attention to them.

 

[PaulLFC]

It has historical precedence. Nintendo did it to Toy'r'us and many other retailers back in the day. Nintendo would threaten to withhold stock as means to gain leverage.

Nintendo at one point also refused to supply retailer Game UK with stock because of a dispute.

That would have been when they had more bargaining power though. If they'd done it when the Wii was selling in ridiculous numbers, they'd probably have got their way. They try it now with the Wii U and no retailers will take them seriously, they'd just tell them to go ahead, because either Nintendo backs down, which is most probable, or they stubbornly go through with it, and Wii U sales potentially decline even further.

 

[Neuromancer]

You know Asda = Walmart, I assume?

Is your village greengrocer a huge national chain owned by Walmart?

You guys are no fun.

 

[Playsation_]

I wish i felt sad, but I don't.

 

[SolarPowered]

I agree 100%. But the times are different. People expect online content from most games. Mario and Nintendoland being offline only was a massive mistake by Nintendo.

Mistake of the decade.

 

[Snakeyes]

Even if nintendo had the "10x lead over psbone", who is going to develop for it? The mass market will still be with sony/ms and now Nintendo has a system that costs even more to develop their own titles for

Well, the plan wouldn't be to simply release a powerful console and call it a day.

From what I've seen, there are two ways for a new system to get decent third party support; if it's the follow-up to an established platform where third parties have been massively successful (PS2) or if it's piss-easy to develop for (original Xbox, Xbox 360).

The first scenario is out of the question, but Nintendo could gain a lot by releasing the first real next-gen console and making it incredibly dev-friendly. Third parties are willing to put their games on as many platforms as possible nowadays, if porting them is completely painless, and a fair amount of core gamers will bite just because multiplats will look noticeably better. Not to mention Nintendo's own franchises, which would still benefit from more AA, higher resolutions (4K?) and better textures, as seen with Dolphin.

It's what Nintendo should have done with all they made from the DS and Wii in the first place instead of betting it all on the Gamepad. A system like that would've almost certainly performed much better than the U, and could have potentially won the upcoming generation.

 

[Yawnier]

I wonder at what point will Wal Mart start doing the same?

Went to my local Wal-Mart tonight (Canada), and the Wii U section there is tiny, tiny. Like 1/5 of the size of the PS3 or 360 section there, maybe even smaller its about the size of the Vita section.

Also, they had Mass Effect 3 (Wii U version) for 80 dollars. What the fuck?

 

[Coffee Dog]

The wii u is getting shit on by retailers harder than the vita is. That's pretty crazy.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Mario Kart U is probably the biggest upcoming Wii U game. Could be a great showcase for the gamepad...

But no, it's just a honk.

Or have they announced more gamepad functions? Nintendo really needs to sell the damn thing.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...talk_gamepad_features_track_design_and_f_zero

Other uses of the Gamepad under consideration for sure but who knows what will make the final version.

 

[Frodo]

Went to my local Wal-Mart tonight (Canada), and the Wii U section there is tiny, tiny. Like 1/5 of the size of the PS3 or 360 section there, maybe even smaller its about the size of the Vita section.

Also, they had Mass Effect 3 (Wii U version) for 80 dollars. What the fuck?

I still can't believe EA launched ME3 like that for the Wii U... lol

And why on earth would they charge 80 dollars for it?