Sho_Nuff82
Member
They released said console at a time when interest in the 360 is at an all time low. Because everyone interested at buying an hd console at $250 or more pretty much has one already.
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Iwata: "Some developers have become pessimistic about Wii U"
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
They released said console at a time when interest in the 360 is at an all time low. Because everyone interested at buying an hd console at $250 or more pretty much has one already.
Mysterious
Banned
I predict—and I say this as a long-time Nintendo fanboy—that Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, watch_dogs, Assassin's Creed IV will not cause consumers to go out and buy a Wii U and that Super Mario 3D World will only provide a short-term increase in sales.
If a 2D Mario game is not enough of an incentive to buy a Wii U, why would a 2D Donkey Kong game be?
The Ubisoft titles could be had on every other platform, and consumers are going to choose the version that their friends are playing or has an incentive for them to do so (i.e. better graphics). As evidenced by Nintendo's failure to convince consumers otherwise, for the large majority of the market, Off-TV Play is not a compelling enough feature and thus would not purchase the Wii U version solely for Off-TV Play.
Super Mario 3D Land was able to increase consumer awareness of the Nintendo 3DS, and I expect it to do the same for Wii U. However, Super Mario 3D Land was quickly followed up with Mario Kart 7 and Monster Hunter 3G (in Japan) to allow the momentum of a 3D Mario action game to continue through the holiday season and into 2012. Super Mario 3D World should have launched in November; by December, a large section of the market would have already started or completed their holiday gift shopping. In other words, the Wii U did not have the 3D Mario action game momentum in November.
Due to the absence of any major software titles between Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, there will be a lull in sales between the releases and thus Mario Kart 8 would have to recreate momentum for Wii U instead of growing the momentum created by the 3D Mario action game.
Wii Fit U and Wii Party U does not largely appeal to the consumer who is actually going to be buying a Wii U this holiday season. These games were bought on Wii by consumers who had felt that motion controller gaming was something that they liked, and thus wanted to continue that experience with Wii Fit and Wii Play. Leaving aside the fact that "casuals have moved on", there is no title to build momentum for Wii U for this market. There is no new experience for this market to cause them to buy a Wii U in the first place.
I strongly feel that Wii U will be Nintendo's worst-performing platform (with the exception of Virtual Boy and Nintendo Color), with respect to both hardware and software. This, inevitably, would lead to large scale changes at Nintendo, including senior management and corporate philosophies. I also expect that Wii U will not be Nintendo's last home console, and that they next one, created with new management, philosophies and a restructured Nintendo Co., Ltd. would create a new home console that is as paradigm-shifting as the Wii but as aggressive as the PlayStation 4. I feel that this company, lately, has become too "Japanese" that is adversely affecting global operations and sales, and that this will be rectified for the next generation.
However, they face two issues should they discontinue the Wii U prematurely:
1. Nintendo will risk to lose significant mindshare for their home console space for consumers, retailers and developers should there be a large gap between Wii U being removed from the market and the next home console arriving in the ninth generation. This is akin to the Blackberry 10 being too late to the iOS/Android party. The developers have moved on. The consumers have moved onto iPhone/Android. Blackberry retail presence has been miniaturized.
2. Nintendo will risk another Wii U/Dreamcast situation should they launch a new home console, comparable to or better than the horsepower of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in the middle of the eight generation. By the time the console is on the market, PlayStation 5 and the new Xbox will already be nearing announcements. These competitors then have the significant advantage to make their products more powerful than Nintendo's offerings.
Nintendo's only solution now is to hold off on the Wii U, as they did with Gamecube, as they prepare their Nintendo Revolution 2.
If a 2D Mario game is not enough of an incentive to buy a Wii U, why would a 2D Donkey Kong game be?
The Ubisoft titles could be had on every other platform, and consumers are going to choose the version that their friends are playing or has an incentive for them to do so (i.e. better graphics). As evidenced by Nintendo's failure to convince consumers otherwise, for the large majority of the market, Off-TV Play is not a compelling enough feature and thus would not purchase the Wii U version solely for Off-TV Play.
Super Mario 3D Land was able to increase consumer awareness of the Nintendo 3DS, and I expect it to do the same for Wii U. However, Super Mario 3D Land was quickly followed up with Mario Kart 7 and Monster Hunter 3G (in Japan) to allow the momentum of a 3D Mario action game to continue through the holiday season and into 2012. Super Mario 3D World should have launched in November; by December, a large section of the market would have already started or completed their holiday gift shopping. In other words, the Wii U did not have the 3D Mario action game momentum in November.
Due to the absence of any major software titles between Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, there will be a lull in sales between the releases and thus Mario Kart 8 would have to recreate momentum for Wii U instead of growing the momentum created by the 3D Mario action game.
Wii Fit U and Wii Party U does not largely appeal to the consumer who is actually going to be buying a Wii U this holiday season. These games were bought on Wii by consumers who had felt that motion controller gaming was something that they liked, and thus wanted to continue that experience with Wii Fit and Wii Play. Leaving aside the fact that "casuals have moved on", there is no title to build momentum for Wii U for this market. There is no new experience for this market to cause them to buy a Wii U in the first place.
I strongly feel that Wii U will be Nintendo's worst-performing platform (with the exception of Virtual Boy and Nintendo Color), with respect to both hardware and software. This, inevitably, would lead to large scale changes at Nintendo, including senior management and corporate philosophies. I also expect that Wii U will not be Nintendo's last home console, and that they next one, created with new management, philosophies and a restructured Nintendo Co., Ltd. would create a new home console that is as paradigm-shifting as the Wii but as aggressive as the PlayStation 4. I feel that this company, lately, has become too "Japanese" that is adversely affecting global operations and sales, and that this will be rectified for the next generation.
However, they face two issues should they discontinue the Wii U prematurely:
1. Nintendo will risk to lose significant mindshare for their home console space for consumers, retailers and developers should there be a large gap between Wii U being removed from the market and the next home console arriving in the ninth generation. This is akin to the Blackberry 10 being too late to the iOS/Android party. The developers have moved on. The consumers have moved onto iPhone/Android. Blackberry retail presence has been miniaturized.
2. Nintendo will risk another Wii U/Dreamcast situation should they launch a new home console, comparable to or better than the horsepower of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in the middle of the eight generation. By the time the console is on the market, PlayStation 5 and the new Xbox will already be nearing announcements. These competitors then have the significant advantage to make their products more powerful than Nintendo's offerings.
Nintendo's only solution now is to hold off on the Wii U, as they did with Gamecube, as they prepare their Nintendo Revolution 2.
Some real good points. props
Linkstrikesback
Member
The PS3 waqs on par with it's only competition: Even if it wasn't doing so great, it cost very little to port to it. The U is doing significantly worse than that to the point where several developers aren't even bothering to do the easy ports, and unlike the PS3 which had guarenteed access to easy ports for 6-7 years (even if things never picked up), the wii u has a year, maybe 2 if it's lucky of them left.
The 3DS has no serious competition for traditional games in the handheld space, so the two situations aren't even remotely comparable.
Great post; you took the words right out of my mouth.
Nintendo's biggest problem right now is their image - they have no appeal beyond their core fanbase and young children. Many "hardcore" gamers have moved on from Nintendo, and Nintendo is doing nothing to bring them back. Who's going to be excited about Donkey Kong enough to buy a Wii U? Nintendo fans. Mario 3D World? Nintendo fans. Zelda? Nintendo fans.
Nintendo had a very distinct appeal, but nowadays they do nothing apart from that appeal. This stubbornness cost them the N64 generation, as well as being the main cause for the Gamecube's failure. Third parties don't like working with Nintendo because of their history with them. Non-Nintendo fans have no reason at all to buy a Nintendo console, and this has been the case for years. On the flip side, if you're not a fan of Sony or Microsoft's first party outputs, third party games can carry the purchase very reasonably. This is something Nintendo should be able to do, but has failed at (with their consoles, anyway, seeing as how their handheld division has exactly that going for it) repeatedly.
Notice how whenever the third party problem is brought up, Nintendo defenders almost always say something like "well yeah, but everyone buys Nintendo consoles for the Nintendo games anyway"? They're absolutely right, and that's the problem. Third parties know this as well; that's why they always develop for platform on which they'll have a better share of the limelight, Nintendo hardware limitations nonwithstanding.
What Nintendo needs to do is shed this image of "we are what we are and if you don't like us then fuck off", because ignoring the miracle that was the Wii, this exact mentality is what allowed Sony to utterly dominate the market.
The sales for the PS3 picked up when the great games started being released for it. MGS 4, GOW 3, GT 5 etc.
The same should happen with Nintendo when they start this year with the release of Mario followed by Mario Kart, SSb etc.
Edit. Nintendo are not losing billions of dollars with the Wii U either. Honestly the situation although inconvenient for them isn't as bad as Gaf makes out.
None of those games saved the Gamecube. Nintendo's IPs sell to a large contingent of handheld gamers, but only a small contingent of console gamers. 3rd parties aren't going to help them out at all. They're losing money or at the very best breaking even per system. They clearly have no truly innovative game play idea for the Wii U remote like Wii Sports was for the Wiimote. They also have completely dropped the ball at using the success of the Wii to hit the ground running on HD development.
They've basically made every mistake they possibly could with the Wii U. I have a hard time seeing how it isn't going to turn around for them.
The biggest thing I'd like to see Nintendo realize is that it is no longer profitable for them to manage two formats that effectively compete for first party support, 3rd party support, and users. Every Nintendo fan who bought a Wii U and 3DS spent $150+ on non-profitable hardware for Nintendo when instead they could have bought three games with healthy profit margins on them. That doesn't help Nintendo.
I'd like to see their next hardware be a unified device, a handheld with HDMI out and wireless controller support. If Sony's history with the PSP and PSV are any indication of how hardware progresses we could likely see a PS4/XB1 level handheld at an MSRP of $250 within about 5 or 6 years. If Nintendo delivers a handheld with that level of power, capable of 1080p HDMI and wireless controller support they can unify all their gamers into a single family and the biggest feature they tout for the Wii U (off-screen play) would still be a reality.
Then all of Nintendo's first party muscle would be on one system. All the third party support they get will be on one system. All their fans will be on one system with more money in their pockets for more Nintendo games. It really makes by far the most sense for them.
It will be at least half a year before Mario Kart follows Super Mario 3D World. Even longer for Brawl.
Buddha Beam
Banned
What they ought to do is launch a new console in 2015 that is a bit more powerful than the PS4 but can be built fairly inexpensively. the Wii U is going to have an amazing 2014, so just string it along and let it get to 2015 would be smart. PSBone will only be in Year 2 of their life span, and if this generation ends up lasting another 8 years like the current/last one, that would give Nintendo's hypothetical 2015 console a traditional 5-6 year lifespan.
But they just can't go on with the Wii U until 2017. This is shaping up to be a lot worse than the Gamecube. They kept mindshare up with the Gamecube... but that isn't shaping up to be the case with the Wii U. Sure, they can afford to bumble 4 more years with it, but they'll have absolutely no gas to launch with after that.
In 2008, I was most excited to get a PS3 for the opportunity to play all the big new HD games I was seeing online. I was about 14 at the time, so I was psyched to play Sonic Unleashed, Spider-Man, and Naruto (think what you will of my tastes, my only defense is "I was 14"). The reason I picked Playstation over Xbox is because I preferred their exclusives and because I had been a Playstation gamer since I first started. The reason Nintendo wasn't even an option was because despite having cool games of their own, none of those other games I mentioned before were going to be there, along with whatever other big HD games were coming out in the future.
Five years later, it's the same situation, only this time I find Nintendo's first party output even less appealing to me personally. Say I hated inFAMOUS and Killzone, and whatever else SCE was offering. I'd still have a reason to buy a PS4 because of Final Fantasy XV, a better Watch_Dogs, and so forth. Nintendo lacks this advantage.
Their new games will increase sales, yes, but their image will stay, and it will continue to plague them in the future.
Linkstrikesback
Member
And gamecube sales never picked up despite Mario, SSb, Mario kart, etc.
Despite what people have convinced themselves, as great a developer as nintendo is, they can't keep a sinking ship afloat by themselves.
And then what? After killing consumer confidence, they'll somehow convince third parties to develop on their machine that is 2 years late to the party, with no install base? If you hadn't noticed, they aren't getting timely 3rd party ports now when it'd be a quick/dirty job, they won't be in 2 years if they tried to play catchup again.
In addition, because of that killing of consumer confidence, no-one buys it, and the people who were big enough nintendo fans to have bought wii u feel ripped off by nintendo and won't buy them again because they'll be rightfully worried they'll be forced to upgrade again in another 2-3 years.
No, nintendo has no choice but to try to stick it out until 2016 at least, if they want to remain in the home console market. Probably 2017 being realistic. The alternative plan of dropping out of the home console market entirely and focusing all of nintendos mighty development power on the constantly more successful handheld side, with an optional adapter in the handheld using the seamless streaming tech in the gamepad to allow output to a tv would be an alternate and frankly, less suicidal plan.
You're leaving out the one thing that's most important on Nintendo console systems played on televisions, same room multiplayer. Nintendo has based all their home consoles since the N64 around playing with your friends and family in the same room. You could argue they thought about that a lot in the SNES and NES eras too, but not quite so much as they do today.
You just can't do that if you're selling only handhelds. It doesn't work like that. I like that the Gamepad gives me great single player games I can play on the TV or via off-TV play. But the best experience with the Wii U so far has been NintendoLand IMO... which offers a lot of really cool multiplayer fun you can't find on any other system that has five player options that take advantage of different types of gameplay within the same game.
It would be easier for Nintendo to support only one system, but it also puts all their eggs in one basket too. I disagree that it makes the most sense for them to have one portable console that hooks up to a television. Third parties don't want to support Nintendo because they have to compete against them on their platform. It's really as simple as that. Moving to only one system wouldn't change anything there.
Various Artists
Banned
You really think it would be a good idea to abandon their console after three years? That would effectively mean that after their current games that have been announced are out they would shift to ANOTHER platform. Bad idea IMHO. They need to get the price of the console under $200 and ideally include a game. If that means ripping the U touch controller out and putting in a regular one so be it. What games are using its potential anyways.
How much money did Nintendo lose on the GameCube? I've read quotes where it wasn't that much, just like the losses will be minimal with the Wii U in the long term.
The console will eventually sell 20m and combined with the software sales from thier first party output, will prove to make them break even or even profitable.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
So... Do nothing? I'm not saying Nintendo hasn't screwed up they have and royally but they should at least try to mitigate the damage
Linkstrikesback
Member
Handheld using the streaming technology in the gamepad to support output to the tv, and wireless controllers. Heck, stick with Wiimotes for all I care. Problem solved.
And every nintendo console barring the massive success of the wii sold worse than the previous one when they were trying to rely just on the "nintendo magic". The numbers don't matter, the fact that it looks like it's going to continue the loss in market share from the NES->SNES->N64->GC->Wii U chain is the disaster.
Just being barely profitable isn't good enough for consumers or nintendo. In my opinion, It's clearly hurting the output of the games they can afford to make, and they're not doing anything that will change that.
And yet every single Nintendo handheld to date enjoyed tons of third party support, and that living room appeal didn't stop their handhelds from selling gangbusters and being hugely successful.
I can't see a merger being anything but good for them, to be honest.
Heart Attack
Member
I'm calling it, the Wii U will be the next Dreamcast.
Various Artists
Banned
I don't have any stats to back this up of course but I would suspect that with the rising development costs only 20 million consoles would be considered a massive failure.
How much have costs increased by going to the HD era? An install base as low as 20 million would make it near impossible to recoup costs. That's the reason third parties are avoiding the system.
Various Artists
Banned
I think you are like the 10,000 person that called it. If you were shouting this at this time last year it would be impressive. Now not so much
Further you are wrong. Nintendo won't exit the hardware market after wiiu.
Edit: whoops sorry for double post!
I really don't see Nintendo spending 80m per game like Sony or MS or any 3rd party. Thier games will be kept at a certain budget and usually make them way more money then they spend.
I've been saying this quite a while on gaf but Nintendo is in a no-win situation, where their only option right now is to scrap the Wii U and start over. Have Iwata make a public apology for his fuckup to both fans and developers and publicly resign.
More than an Iwata resignation is needed though, the entire executive board needs to be scraped and as other has said a corporate philosophy shift is needed.
I know what others are going to say and have said, it's a bad idea for developer and consumer confidence to scrap the Wii U so early but not playing the long game is what got Nintendo in this situation in the first place. The original Wii should of be scrapped early after the gimmick fadded, but Nintendo rode the Wii wave way too long and it really hurt their long game. It would be a mistake to allow that to happen with the Wii U.
More than an Iwata resignation is needed though, the entire executive board needs to be scraped and as other has said a corporate philosophy shift is needed.
I know what others are going to say and have said, it's a bad idea for developer and consumer confidence to scrap the Wii U so early but not playing the long game is what got Nintendo in this situation in the first place. The original Wii should of be scrapped early after the gimmick fadded, but Nintendo rode the Wii wave way too long and it really hurt their long game. It would be a mistake to allow that to happen with the Wii U.
Christopher
Member
spookyfish
Member
I guess I don't understand why Nintendo doesn't take some of its mad massive monies and pay for exclusive titles from developers, a la Bayonetta 2.
Everyone talks about how much cash they have: They should use it to do this more often. Hell, help fund Activision and EA so they'll have either on par or unique features for games on its system.
I don't know ... just seems cheaper than scrapping the system and making a new one in two years ...
Everyone talks about how much cash they have: They should use it to do this more often. Hell, help fund Activision and EA so they'll have either on par or unique features for games on its system.
I don't know ... just seems cheaper than scrapping the system and making a new one in two years ...
Nintendo is cheap. They have tons of money in the bank (supposedly) yet they come out with 7 year old hardware and price it at $350?
That tells you all you need to know about Nintendo.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Not sure if serious? If they scrapped the wii u this early on what makes you really think consumers and developers will give them another chance. They have to support wii u and make the best of it
SonicMegaDrive
Member
I wish there was a "next Dreamcast".
Spieler Eins
Member
The money is in the controller.
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
There is no-one at Nintendo in a position of power to actually enact such things that has any kind of rapport with western console developers, nor a broad understanding of its goings on to engage with other studios in a meaningful way.
As such you're getting some token japanese support (Platinum, Sega) and probably some Tecmo shite at some point and that'll be that. Even Japan's developers see the benefit more in supporting Vita through PS3/PSVita/PS4 cross platform approaches than locking themselves into Nintendo's failbox.
When Iwata is saying "some developers have become pessimistic", the actual reality is only Sega's Sonic developers seem gunho as even Kamiya is displaying their mistrust in WiiU and Nintendo's ways at this point.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Your analysis has a glaring omission: the price cut.
Mysterious
Banned
A price cut will not absolve the Wii U from its primary issue: it is not appealing to whom it is trying to target. A price cut did not help the Gamecube or the PlayStation Vita (in Japan).
I absolutely agree that a price cut will cause sales to increase; however, this increase, is only short-term. They need to follow this price cut with marketing and appealing software (plural) that appeals to all of the demographics that they are targeting, and quite frankly, I don't see Super Mario 3D Land singlehandedly being that software.
Also, your mention of a price cut brings in a new discussion: How do they price the Wii U to remain competitive but at the same time, allow for only a small loss (or ideally, a profit). Would a $299 Deluxe/Premium do the trick? How about a $249 Basic? For anyone to suggest that Nintendo drops the price to $199 is absolutely moronic.
FalsettoVibe
Member
I agree 100%. At this point, I don't know if Wii U can recover.
While library is obviously a massive issue that the U faces, launching a game like 3D World later that particular period of time could feasibly do well to push an audience over the edge when accounting its library to go alongside it, and it will mean a lot more than NSMBU did. Launching with NSMBU as the only go-to game during its inception meant nothing despite it having an extremely high attach rate. It was the only real reason to own the console at that time. When the next two big games hit, Pikmin 3 and Wind Waker HD, it strengthens the previous library which will have other exclusives to consider such as MH3U and TW101 to go with it. When DK hits, it will strengthen it further, and you'll also have some third party games by that time, as well as stuff like Sonic Lost World. When 3D World hits at the end of the year, the Wii U library is going to look pretty great and varied all things considered, at least well enough to chug along at an acceptable pace. In the end it doesn't have to be a question about "Nintendo fans" being the only ones interested in the console. Can it not be said that the brands and potential increased brand awareness just turns those franchises into generally appealing for everyone? I suppose we'll find that out later in the year.
The one true critical flaw is not launching Mario Kart 8 this holiday season. If anything is their trump card at such a long build up, that would be it. Donkey Kong isn't nearly as serviceable of a replacement.
The one true critical flaw is not launching Mario Kart 8 this holiday season. If anything is their trump card at such a long build up, that would be it. Donkey Kong isn't nearly as serviceable of a replacement.
Pretty much this, Nintendo has always gone with revolution>evolution cycle with their consoles, they should have done the same here rather than go off the beaten path with no reason what so ever.
I will like the games for the Wii U, I know I will. But goddamit this console is such a disappointment.
I agree they have to do something. I still think they would need to condition customers to buy those games on Nintendo systems. On top of paying for Wii U versions they should also be paying for exclusive content to make sure the gamepad is used well. Something that makes the Wii U versions stand out so more and more people will have an added incentive to buy the Wii U version. It isn't enough to simply have those games on the system. They have to get people to buy them and in large enough numbers.
I do think I need to stay away from these threads though. They just leave me down in regard to owning the system and the current state it's in.
shinra-bansho
Member
Sales for the PS3 picked up due to price reduction. From an old post:
PS3 US weekly sales averages:
http://i.imgur.com/ZifemUU.png
The points of interest are:
Transient sales spike at Jul-07 - $100 price drop on the 60GB ($499).
Baseline increase 2008 - $100 price drop on 80GB ($499) and 40GB model introduced in Nov-07 for $399.
Transient sales spike at Jun 08 - Metal Gear Solid 4 and bundle.
PS3 Slim and price drop August 2009 ($299).
The only sustained shifts in the PS3's situation came from major price reduction. Any increases from specific games were very transient.
That's why started my analysis with the fact that Nintendo is currently in a no-win situation with he Wii U. It's a failure, but currently riding out that failure in my opinion is worse than the short term damage of publicly declaring the Wii U a failure and scrapping it early.
Nintendo need to support the WiiU well and build up goodwill with hardcore gamers. If Sony dropped the PS3 after its horrible start (though not as bad as WiiU sales wise) there would be no hype for PS4. Sony spent years building goodwill through constant core game releases with rare droughts. Nintendo should try to do the same so their next console is on better terms, though as of right now they are not prepared to do it
Won't happen. PS3 had adequate hardware, online infrastructure, no gimmick device bloating the hardware cost. Basically, the PS3 made itself future proof for the next 7 years. The Wii U is in the opposite situation and will never build up any sizable base because of this.
Various Artists
Banned
They could drop the Wii U controller and include a regular pad. Make it an optional accessory or something. It would actually effect very few games that are out right now. Different options could be patched in to the old games that require.
I dont think that it will happen but they should seriously consider it before getting to far into the console life cycle. Sell games that require the controller in a different color box like Kinect or something. Market confusion never happened with Kinect or the 4MB memory pack on N64. Here is the Quick way to get it all done.
1. Discontinue the Wii completely so everyone going into Walmart for a Wii Gets the new one.
2. Basic Pack comes with New Super Mario U and standard controller for $199
Deluxe comes with Wii U controller and Nintendo Land and Pikmin $299
3. Patch Older games so Controller isnt required. (May not even HAVE to do this)
I think Nintendo did not loose money wit the gamecube. I think there is a chart out there that shows that they made more money in the gamecube years than what Sony did with the PS2. If someone could elaborate it would be great please.
The 100 price cut didn't really help them...
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Overall these points are the direction I'm leaning in. The one caveat is I think Wii U has a decent shot (but not anywhere near a sure one) at equaling or just slightly surpassing Gamecube sales... *if* Nintendo hangs in there and continues to grind out games over the next 3-4 years. And ramps up production to fill out the Wii U catalog single-handedly.
But to add to that analysis, I am beginning to think what is happening now is the inevitable result of Nintendo's actions with the N64 combined with Nintendo (and most everyone else) being upstaged by the mobile revolution and its expanded audience. Nintendo was not wrong with the Wii, they did help carve out a new audience. It's just that the early era of the Wii dovetailed with the sudden explosion of mobile computing and a whole new market for software that was far beyond Nintendo's ability to compete with. In the west, at least.
The problem is that a literal Gamecube 2 never would have worked - the so-called core gaming market for 18-35 year old male console users priced itself out of Nintendo's mass-market comfort zone in 2005. Nintendo was never going to make a $400-$600 game console to compete in a bloody pool that they'd already lost in two generations in a row. The Wii was a hail mary to buy time IMO as much as find new markets.
On the side, I do think Nintendo could have some potential over the next several years to capture a little bit of an audience which may just now be springing up - that being adult game players who are now out of their 20's and have families. It has been lost amid all the angry core audience cries about Wii U's shit this, shit that... but I have noticed a fair number of gamers with children saying that the whole Wii U concept is working out surprisingly well for their family environment. The damn thing just needs more games.
But generally I do think that Nintendo will dig in and survive for the next four to five years and then reinvent themselves. I'm not as sure that they'll try the PS4 route just because we don't know yet how game consoles will continue to shake out that far in advance. The road ahead may be volatile. I give it even odds they'll go with the conjectured mobile system that connects to a TV when available.
You can't be serious. PS3 had poor online infrastructure early on, the Hardware was/is a pain for every developer, and the Blu Ray is the reason for its terrible start.
The difference between the two is that PS3 was powerful for its time, and had guaranteed 3rd party support.
Lupin the Third
Member
Perhaps a similarly appropriate analogy to this one would be SEGA's retailer relationship during the Saturn lifespan, culminating in Bernard Stollar's assassination of the platform at E3 1997. Retailers were still seeing success with Genesis products, but Sega was insisting retailers move from Genesis to Saturn. When push came to shove, some retailers just dropped Sega altogether and stocked PlayStation instead. Walmart wouldn't even carry Saturn because it wasn't involved in the midnight launch (not that Walmart was anywhere near the beast they are today). It didn't help matters that Sega had already launched two relatively unpopular platforms with Sega CD and Sega 32X. (Remember Toys R Us clearing out 32X attachments for $25 each? They were just sitting in a box at the end of an aisle at my store, it wasn't even a proper endcap.)
If Nintendo murdered the Wii U or did anything similar, they would lose, I'm sure, a lot of retailer goodwill thanks to unsold product on shelves which lead to heavy losses from retailer-instituted price cuts, and generally just wasted space during the lifespan of the product (dedicating space to a platform is just as much an investment for the retailer in securing future accessory and title sales as it is for the consumer in having future titles come to the platform).
Just my two cents.
It could be. And maybe Pokemon Helped too.
spookyfish
Member
While I hope this is the case, without compelling software, I'm not sure that will help much.
It will produce a spike, for sure, but probably not anything long-term.
So what killed the Wii U momentuim?? The system was going strong in it first 2 months and then it faded. It July now why did the build up stop? Why didn't Nintendo this past march(MH3U,LCU,NFS:MWU,WD) all released not advertise WII U?
Nintendo needed to have Pikmin 3 ready by this march
Nintendo needed to have Pikmin 3 ready by this march
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