Nintendo Wii U

[squirtle]

When, on day one, you can walk into a shop and pick up a console with no effort whatsoever something isn't right.

But that's how it should be. Shouldn't it? I want to be able to walk into a shop when something is released and just buy it. Having them available like that saves me having to hope a pre-order comes through (fucking ZAVVI!!!!) or stops shops from gouging me for extra tat on top that i SIMPLY MUST HAVE!!!! It also stops stupid e-bay style price hiking and the like. Supply and demand should meet. That should be the utopian ideal we hope for.

[Not Thread Owner]

Hmm. With a Zavvi voucher and the 10% off code ZPOGTEN, Lego City for £31?

[SMD]

never change

At least the price is as good as it'll get for preorder.

[Not Thread Owner]

£29 with "Rewardz"

[Not Thread Owner]

£28 with Quidco!

GET!

[DocG]

But that's how it should be. Shouldn't it? I want to be able to walk into a shop when something is released and just buy it. Having them available like that saves me having to hope a pre-order comes through (fucking ZAVVI!!!!) or stops shops from gouging me for extra tat on top that i SIMPLY MUST HAVE!!!! It also stops stupid e-bay style price hiking and the like. Supply and demand should meet. That should be the utopian ideal we hope for.

The problem is that demand is going to quickly fall off after that launch weekend, but a corresponding drop in supply involves stopping expensive production lines that the company has just spent billions tooling up to make the things. Demand can change like a cornering F1 car, whereas supply is more like an oil tanker. So the only way to guarantee enough launch-week stock for some hot new gadget is to have stockpiled for months and months before hand... but that's months and months of sitting around with vast sums of money tied up in valueless (because you can't sell it) inventory. That's not a viable idea either.

Hence, companies launch with as much stock as they can manage, and if it sells out, it sells out. It's the least bad approach.

[Padlocked]

Lots and lots of people (many analysts and industry folks certainly) thought Vita was going to blow it away. They said the same about the DS with the PSP.

It's amazing really - Sony have won two generations, and underperformed in at least three (PSP/PS3/Vita) - but you never hear the same screams for them to go third party as you do for Nintendo....makes you wonder if the people screaming are actually Sony fans who just want Nintendo content but don't want to be seen having to stoop to buying Nintendo hardware to get at it <massive winkey woo>.

Many analysts and industry folks don't have a clue though. They merely look at historic data and predict stuff from there - which was exactly why the early monumental success caught them off guard, and then the subsequent low attachment rate did the same.

I'm a light gamer, now, but with one eye on change and as a consumer the Vita has never made any waves outside of the hardcore for me. I literally have no idea about anything to do with it. I think there's probably something there that's shared with the Wii U, which has been marketed like a £250 controller add on.

Yeah, the DS.

And that's what I'd agree with. Nintendo's focus with the 3DS was on getting users to upgrade, which they've generally managed by releasing iterative software upgrades, removal of old hardware from the market and reducing the software support. The 3DS' competition is smartphones, there are no other players in the handheld market and I doubt there ever will be now.

With respect to the Wii U, given the Wii's low attachment rate I just don't see the upgrade route working for them here. That massive casual market that's bought 3 games in the last 6 years does not care, and will not be interested, and will continue to not be interested, in new consoles of any make. They have a Wii. They are not used to a 5 year cycle of upgrades in the same way you and I are.

The question 6 years ago was how do we convert this massive market in this massive new space into gamers. The question now should probably be how does the industry evolve without them.

[rgraves]

...given the Wii's low attachment rate I just don't see the upgrade route working for them here. That massive casual market that's bought 3 games in the last 6 years...

Total myth. The Wii attach rate is actually not too bad at all (8.69 games per system), and it's sold a significant volume of software - 863.53m units according to the latest numbers.

[b00dles]

Although it's a leap to go from playing Angry Birds while waiting for a bus to becoming a pre-orderer of everything ever, I do think that games in general are at the most popular they have ever been. I think this does skew a lot of analyst's predictions but at the same time things like the Wii have introduced to a more widespread audience the notion of getting a game out of an evening instead of, I dunno, charades so I think any other console still has the potential to market to that sort of demographic.

Tbh though, those thee levels of Mario Chase have provided more entertainment to my mates and I than I think anything on Wii Sports did but it's harder to show that using the Redknapps or some other dull lifestyle family.

I still think calling it the Wii U and not making more of it being more powerful and a different console was Nintendo's biggest cock-up. Then again I thought the 3DS would have the same problem but it seems people have twigged now at least. That might be what will happen with the WiiU, after it's out and about a bit more, word of mouth will spread that it isn't just an accessory and it is 'better'. Maybe. I also don't understand why they don't show Blops II on it and other nicer looking games. Actually (although I am now rambling) I can't think of the last time I even saw a WiiU advert.

[rgraves]

Nintendo's biggest cock up is that they're only bothering to get 4 games out for it in the first six months of its life.

It's spacing/pacing that's the issue, not volume. If they'd have had Pikmin 3 (for example) ready to go in January I think it would have made a huge difference - the margins are really that slim in terms of perception.

I think the Lego title could be big (and it holds significant cross-audience appeal) - I'd certainly be pushing to have it ready asap if I was them.

[rgraves]

No ones buying the Wii U so they can play xbox 360 games though I doubt.

Not just 360 games no, but 360 games AND Nintendo games on one box then yeah....surely you can't see them having stuff like CoD available alongside the next MK as being anything other than a good thing? It's a message they really need to communicate though, as it's not getting over right now.

[Not Thread Owner]

No ones buying the Wii U so they can play xbox 360 games though I doubt.

Well, maybe dekay and scott

I'll be buying which ever version is better. Like I always have.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Not just 360 games no, but 360 games AND Nintendo games on one box then yeah....surely you can't see them having stuff like CoD available alongside the next MK as being anything other than a good thing? It's a message they really need to communicate though, as it's not getting over right now.

Thing is, if the new CoD is available for the Wii U people say it's fucked because people play CoD on their 360 anyway. And if the new CoD isn't available for the Wii U people say it's fucked because a console needs CoD to be successful.

Eventually it comes down to critical mass - the right amount of games and promise to warrant purchase. For me that moment hasn't occured yet with the Wii U as there's just nothing on it I'm dying to play yet. But that's no problem, I can wait.

[Padlocked]

Total myth. The Wii attach rate is actually not too bad at all (8.69 games per system), and it's sold a significant volume of software - 863.53m units according to the latest numbers.

Wow. I wonder why people don't give a shit then.

[footle]

*** Actually can someone explain what is with the UK market? I saw report the other day that 360 sales are poised to overtake the Wii this year to make it #1 seller this gen in UK (currently it is 200000 units behind) and #3 of all time. Now we always point to US market and say oh well that is 360's home best market etc but there the 360 is still substantially short of Wii numbers. In europe generally PS3 stomps all over 360 let alone the Wii. So why is UK so pro-360

I've bought three.

A launch one.

A 60GB one when my launch one died.

A black 250GB one when my wife went away with work for a bit and I took the opportunity to colour coordinate our AV systems.

I've only bought one PS3 or Wii - because I never turn them on.

[Yoshimax]

It didn't sell out at launch, it isn't selling much now and if you think post-E3 once the PS4 and 720 are in the public conscious that a new mario game - no matter how good - can compete with say COD launching in November on those two machines you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I can see the newspapers now "Look at it it's like X times more powerful than a wiiU" - nobody will give two shits about that gamepad.

Last Xmas was the time they absolutely had to shift every single wiiU they had produced and they failed to do it because they didn't have the software and the momentum behind the wii had died. They've now missed the biggest sales window they are going to have with wiiU.

[scottcr]

I got flamed a bit for this - but releasing better versions of hardware does inflate your sales.

I wonder how many people here are actually using their original first old Xbox... I know I am... but I bet loads of folks bought elites and then slims as well.

These sales chats are all moot - ultimately it's about how much profit the boxes are making for their parent companies. If the 360 still hasn't recouped its costs - (and I have no idea - just made that up) - it's all moot. The business won't be happy and will expect the next itteration to be different.

[Not Thread Owner]

It didn't sell out at launch, it isn't selling much now and if you think post-E3 once the PS4 and 720 are in the public conscious that a new mario game - no matter how good - can compete with say COD launching in November on those two machines you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I can see the newspapers now "Look at it it's like X times more powerful than a wiiU" - nobody will give two shits about that gamepad.

Replace Wii U with 3DS and PS4/720 with Vita and...

[hub2]

But when you buy a new box, you don't through the old one in the bin*, it enters the 2nd hand market and is still relevent when talking about install base. MS may not make a profit from the sale of the box but they will from the games and Live sub.

* Red ring debacle notwithstanding.

[rgraves]

It didn't sell out at launch, it isn't selling much now and if you think post-E3 once the PS4 and 720 are in the public conscious that a new mario game - no matter how good - can compete with say COD launching in November on those two machines you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I can see the newspapers now "Look at it it's like X times more powerful than a wiiU" - nobody will give two shits about that gamepad.

Which is pretty much what everyone ran around and said when we had PSP vs DS, Wii vs 360/PS3, 3DS vs Vita.

I'm not saying this is going to turn out the same, nobody can really predict it at this point, but I think we can confidently say that just having more powerful hardware is not an instant route to success - and that anyone who does believe that is the one in, as you so lovingly put it, in 'cloud cuckoo land'.

[hub2]

When's Monster Hunter out? I will get one then, and so also presumably will all of Japan

March 22nd. Not too long to wait.

[Harsin]

There's a small part of me that kinda wants Nintendo to go bust just to see how rgraves would spin it.

[Nobuo's Organ]

Monster Hunter was a launch title in Japan. Bastardos.

[Yewone]

I'm quite content if this just ends up doing a vita, trundling along with a steady trickle of titles to keep my interest over the next 12 to 24 months..

At least I've got one and can enjoy it right now, whilst waiting for the dust to settle over the other next gen stuff. Poor sales figures are only a concern to me if Nintendo decide to pull the plug, which lets face it despite how much some people (for some bizarre reason) seem to want this to fail, just ain't going to happen., anytime soon at least.

[hub2]

Gamecube only sold 21m and that was a fantastic console with lots of great titles.

They've got a decent line up coming, albeit some time off, and the potential of dropping the price still as they did with 3DS so it's too late to panic. Pretty clear though it's not going to capture the public's' imagination as the Wii did.

[pulsemyne]

No it wasn't. Anyway we get the demo for it at the end of next month so that'll be good stuff.

Anyway as for the results and sales figures and stuff TBH its what I expected. The worlds economy is struggling at the moment, the eurozone in particular has bad unemployment and with caps on wages etc people just have less money to spend. While the WiiU is a bit expensive and the world economy is pretty crap I don't see that as the total problem. One major problem in the UK is the supermarkets, my local tescos and asda have no WiiU's in them. They never even bothered trying to push them. Nintendos marketing has also been total crap across europe. It used to be that on pretty much ever ad break you would see a DS or Wii ad, now its nothing at all. Casual games only really get to know about consoles etc from advertising.

Basically people in NoE seem to be running around going "What the fuck are we supposed to do!".

But of course it's not just NoE as NoA has been total shit now for quite a while. They too seem to have no real clue as to how to market things to the wider audience they helped create.

Unlike what people would have you believe on shit like Neogaf it's not the hardware that's the problem, the WiiU is actually a very nice machine, the problem is one of perception and ignorance about the machine and it's muddled and misguided message. If you don;t tell people about something then how the hell are they going to buy it?

[Not Thread Owner]

March 22nd. Not too long to wait.

Shit.

Rayman, Scribblenauts, Lego City, Wonderful 101 and Monster Hunter all in less than two months. And Batman only just arrived. And Zen Pinball tomorrow. And Runner 2 and Mutant Mudds. And I've not completed Trine 2 yet. Or bought The Cave.

And then Game & Wario and Pikmin 3 in April.

And that's just for the Wii U.

Shit.

[pulsemyne]

I'm quite content if this just ends up doing a vita, trundling along with a steady trickle of titles to keep my interest over the next 12 to 24 months..

At least I've got one and can enjoy it right now, whilst waiting for the dust to settle over the other next gen stuff. Poor sales figures are only a concern to me if Nintendo decide to pull the plug, which lets face it despite how much some people (for done bizarre reason) seem to want this to fail, just ain't going to happen., anytime soon at least.

The reason some people want it to fail is because they are largely involved in some online willy waving contest of "My consoles better than yours!". They get this stupid idea of "Gaming would be awesome without the gay nintendo!". It's all a load of bollocks. Gaming wouldn't be better if Nintendo or MS or Sony left the scene.

[pulsemyne]

Shit.

Rayman, Scribblenauts, Lego City, Wonderful 101 and Monster Hunter all in less than two months. And Batman only just arrived. And Zen Pinball tomorrow. And Runner 2 and Mutant Mudds. And I've not completed Trine 2 yet. Or bought The Cave.

And then Game & Wario and Pikmin 3 in April.

And that's just for the Wii U.

Shit.

Out of that lot I'll defineatly be going for Rayman, The wonder 101 and probably Lego (as it's meant to be good, certainly looks it). As for Monster hunter I'll use the demo to decide. That's three damn good games over the next couple of months.

[hub2]

No it wasn't.

For 1st party Nintendo games, and several 3rd party games... yes it was. It helped it was 129 quid of course.

Monster Hunter and The Wonderful 101 for me. Wish there was more indie stuff on the eShop to tide us over but that's why I have a PC and PS3.