Nintendo Wii U

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Both.

Anyway, Nintendo did a mighty push last year to put the 3DS in the spotlight, but I hope them going all hands on deck with the Wii U doesn't mean the 3DS will suffer.

[gizmo1990]

I think it's a given they'll show in some form Galaxy, Mario Kart and Smash Bros as they've already stated as much. I don't see how any of those titles will be enough to pick up sales of wiiu in a really meaningful way though.

Even if retro do finally show what they're working on, my goodness does it need to be good. That's a lot of pressure. Plus when will these titles be out?? They need titles this year not next and we're only at the start of the year!

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I think it's a given they'll show in some form Galaxy, Mario Kart and Smash Bros as they've already stated as much. I don't see how any of those titles will be enough to pick up sales of wiiu in a really meaningful way though.

Well, a followup to Galaxy (not Mario Galaxy 3 please) would sell a Wii U to everybody who bought Nintendo consoles for 3D Marios from the Nintendo 64 onwards - like myself. Mario Kart is maybe the hugest asset Nintendo has and will sell the Wii U to families all over the place and gives Nintendo the chance to show off their improvements in the online space and Smash Bros is absolutely huge in the US so will help to shift consoles there.

It would be a pretty amazing trinity if all of them came out this year. I think a lot of people are waiting for those games to appear before seriously considering buying a Wii U.

[gizmo1990]

Well I don't agree. I think times have changed and even those big titles won't guarantee the wiiu massively more sales. And there's no way smash will be out this year either.

I think Nintendo need more. Be that a price cut, a Ambassador program, great retro titles constantly being released, a tie up with a major company (I'd love Valve, it's so obvious) stuff like that to really jump start the machine in the face of the onslaught of the next gen consoles.

[Calashnikov]

Wonderful 101 looks like the stuff that people who dryhump toddler sized pillows with female manga characters on them play.

Aye, give me big burly homoerotic space marines with massive phallic weapons running up and down grey corridors any day of the week.

[Bojangle]

34,000 pieces of Wii U software sold in January (including bundled Nintendo Land)

<-------- 2013 -------------> <-------- 2012 --------->

System Share (%) Share (units) Share (%) Share (units)

Xbox 360 38.4% 810K (-50K) 30.9% 860K

PS3 25.8% 545K (-28K) 20.6% 573K

PC 10.8% 228K (-84K) 11.2% 312K

Wii 8.6% 182K (-352K) 19.2% 534K

NDS 6.6% 139K (-170K) 11.1% 309K

3DS 5.3% 112K (-44K) 5.7% 156K

PSV 2.2% 46K (----) ----% ---K

WiiU 1.6% 34K (----) ----% ---K

PSP 0.6% 13K (-18K) 1.1% 31K

PS2 0.1% 2K (-1K) 0.1% 3K

That's pretty fucking bad, and it puts third parties reluctance to commit to the console under a new light. Nintendo really need to activate their panic mode right about now and magically release some awesome stuff on there. I've no doubt this time next year there will be some stone cold classics available for the system, but between now and then it looks to be a bumpy road ahead for them.

[Barny]

Wonderful 101 looks like the stuff that people who dryhump toddler sized pillows with female manga characters on them play.

Idiot

Wonderful 101 makes me want a Wii U. So does X from Monolith and Bayonetta 2.

[SMD]

I'd look at that and see the market wide drop in sales as more of an indicator.

[hanzo]

Yeah but 34,000 units, and that's including Nintendo Land?!

[Not Thread Owner]

That's pretty fucking bad,

It is, but it's a new console with a low current user base (OH! NO! NDF!). All those other consoles are already in millions of homes.

[SMD]

I'm not suggesting that it's rosy reading but the Vita sold 12k more despite selling more units and no other machine is benefitting. What is that, 750k fewer copies than last year? It doesn't make for good reading for Nintendo but MS and Sony should be worried when they launch that the desires of the loud and vocal may be a small minority.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

It is, but it's a new console with a low current user base (OH! NO! NDF!). All those other consoles are already in millions of homes.

New consoles are usually owned by keen gamers who'll buy anything that's released for it in the first months because they want to play with their new toy. Just look in the launch threads of the various consoles, people will buy stuff like Asphalt GT if they run out of games to play.

I can't see how this is anything but a disaster.

[SMD]

Because if that was the case, every other recent console or handheld launch (bar the Wii) was a disaster too.

It's the overall trend that should be worrying.

[Clipper]

Sony and MS need to keep a very close eye on pricing for nextgen. 3DS , Vita and WiiU all struggled with their launch prices in a tricky economy.

[angel]

The problem is, as talented as EAD etc are, their stuff is not gona match up with the new consoles. Wave Race might look great and im sure it will play great...but when two fucking monstrously powerful machines come along in 8 months, they're gona just wipe this out. The fact that theyre being made easier to program for too means we're gona get stuff equivalent to top end PC graphics and beyond right out of the gate. No amount of Nintendo talent is gona make their stuff stand up against it. They shoulda waited another year, got it right, and released with amazing next gen HD Mario, Metroid, Mario Kart and not bothered with the tablet.

I can only think the Wii made them arrogant, when everyone else realised the casual market has moved on.

[SMD]

If we're doing anecdotes, yesterday I was talking to someone who said their mum had a Wii and was gutted there weren't more Big Brain Academy games. That Nintendo courted the casuals and then abandoned them.

Which is a pretty interesting way of looking at it.

The casual market doesn't move on. As films, TV shows and music show, people like having the same thing over and over again. We post on forums, Twitter, talk to like minded people and move in similar circles - there's so much confirmation bias going on in our lives it's insane. If Wii Sports HD comes out tomorrow, as well as Brain Training HD and so on, it's not going to sell shitloads?

We talk about games, we love them and we're into anything that comes out, regardless how niche it could be. That's not how the casual market works.

I don't see how the Wii made them arrogant, it's still a brilliant piece of tech but it might not be what you want.

[angel]

Its the same story every gen though, a company starts out the plucky underdog, then turns into an arrogant dick. It happens everywhere. The playstation 1 came along and kicked everyones arses, sony courted developers, got the Final Fantasy games on board, won that gen. Then they got arrogant and released the very weird to write for PS2...admittedly which also "won" then gen after a fight, but was a willfully awkward machine. Then Nintendo came from nowhere with the Wii..caught lightening in a bottle with the name, the waggle, getting it all over the news, showing how anyone can play....pensioners playing Wii Tennis, mums playing Just Dance etc etc..

Then they got arrogant and lost sight of it all...how the fuck did they think those casuals who liked the non techy approach of just waving a wiimote ...would feel about getting to grips with an ipad like device covered in control pads, circle sticks, triggers, buttons, touch screen...never mind the "game" controller, or using the old wiimote and nunchuck combo. Its confusing as fuck, it seems like an add on, its way to pricey, its not cheap and cheery any more....its a solution to a problem no one asked for. Arrogance of Nintendo...they fucked up their design.Tryin to give people what they think they wanted, not what they do want. Wii fans want Mario Galaxy 3 in HD, a new Mario Kart...Metroid Prime 4, some other kick arse Nintendo stuff...Just Dance 4...Wii Sports 3 HD....fucking hell, its so obvious.

Nintendo done lost the plot, whatever scottcr thinks.

[SMD]

The PS2 was an absolute smash hit, I don't know how that's arrogance.

As for the PS1, Square went to Nintendo first but a combination of avoiding CDs and their bizarre relationship with third parties pushed Square to go to Sony.

I don't know if the Wii was lightning in a bottle. Dance Dance Revolution mats were fucking everywhere on the PS1/2, Eyetoy did reasonably well despite the tech being quite shonky.

Also those 'casuals' are the ones who are all over tablets, with gestures and stuff.

I have no idea what your point is exactly. Cheap and cheerful but powerful and cutting edge... what I can see is Nintendo are trying to find a happy medium but are in the middle of trying to change their own processes. The collaboration path is an interesting one that might bear fruit but the problem with console generations having long tails is that it works at both ends.

Maybe Nintendo are confused because gamers are confused.

[scottcr]

The problem is, as talented as EAD etc are, their stuff is not gona match up with the new consoles. Wave Race might look great and im sure it will play great...but when two fucking monstrously powerful machines come along in 8 months, they're gona just wipe this out. The fact that theyre being made easier to program for too means we're gona get stuff equivalent to top end PC graphics and beyond right out of the gate. No amount of Nintendo talent is gona make their stuff stand up against it. They shoulda waited another year, got it right, and released with amazing next gen HD Mario, Metroid, Mario Kart and not bothered with the tablet.

I can only think the Wii made them arrogant, when everyone else realised the casual market has moved on.

Nintendo are a gona

[angel]

The PS2 was very shakey for a long time, it was GTA3 that brought that into the mainstream, that and Sega being useless. Its still such a weird machine to this day, it took about 5 years before devs really got the hang of it. It still has this crazy fillrate that the PS3 cant even match. The Wii was definitelt lightning in bottle, this cheap machine came from nowhere, motion control that anyone could play..the name got people talking, the PR was good too getting it all over the news, showing it in old peoples homes etc. It became the gadget to have that xmas and next rather than a game console. It trancsended...and Nintendo did well keeping it going for a few years, such as Wii Fit being the one of the must own gadgets a few xmasses into the consoles life.

Compare that to Wii U...far too expensive, confusingly 2 versions available, 2gb day one updates..bricking consoles, it wont connect to wifi without manually assigning it an IP, the controller situation is mental (HOW many combinations of wiimote, nunchuck, tablet, gaming controller etc are there). It has no games, no killer app like Wii Sports tennis and bowling....it sounds more like a tablet add on for the Wii....its a mess.

My point is it shoulda cut out the pad, launched at 199 quid...been more powerful...stuck with the same input method as the Wii.....had a proper name to make it known as the Wii 2, came out with some killer casual and hardcore games...and been marketed properly. Theyre arrogant because theyre released this crazy middle ish machine that is master of no trades at all...too underpowered for gamers, too pricey and no really selling point to casuals.

tl;dr: Shoulda been Wii 2, more powerful, no tablet, and come out with bigger games, and been 199 quid and marketed properly..and one sku for all.

[scottcr]

Nintendoland is a killer app - but Angel is afraid to play it.

[angel]

No way is Nintendo Land remotely a killer app. All the pensioners on the news with the clever PR spin...buy a wii, get your Nan active! Wii tennis being played by using the wiimoted in their hand as a racket....that is the ultimate killer app. Easy to understand...looks great to bystanders, looks great fun, no buttons to press. Perfect...it'll never be beaten as a killer app, nothing else comes close.

Also..killer app has changed. It used to be Ridge Racer to show off the PS1..wow, arcade at home..3d! Mario 64...wow..analogue control, its like a cartoon...changed platformers forever! Mario on the NES..etc.

Nowadays everyones played everything to death...graphics dont catch peoples eye as much any more..it needs to be something more. You wont ever ever beat the simplicity and how "right" wii tennis looked to people, and played.

[scottcr]

tl;dr: Shoulda been Wii 2, more powerful, no tablet, and come out with bigger games, and been 199 quid and marketed properly..and one sku for all.

you've not really properly used the gamepad have you?

Nintendo's marketing has been bad... currently, you need to use the WiiU for a few days before you realise that you want these features and controller in all your consoles. But it takes time. The Wii was instantly

If anything, their main problem has not been having one of those big 'core' franchises available straight out. The core complain about lack of decent hard games - and then completely ignore NSMBU, which is the hardest and best 2D mario game since the SNES days.

What the rampant core want, are realistic looking titles and definitely not 2D. And there's nothing different on the WiiU that attracts them yet.

No way is Nintendo Land remotely a killer app. All the pensioners on the news with the clever PR spin...buy a wii, get your Nan active! Wii tennis being played by using the wiimoted in their hand as a racket....that is the ultimate killer app. Easy to understand...looks great to bystanders, looks great fun, no buttons to press. Perfect...it'll never be beaten as a killer app, nothing else comes close.

While you're right about Wii Sports being utter genius... Nintendoland is just dripping in wonderful game design that you obviously don't appreciate.

[mackemansj1]

Sony and MS need to keep a very close eye on pricing for nextgen. 3DS , Vita and WiiU all struggled with their launch prices in a tricky economy.

I was thinking that too, but i really think there will be enough of a difference for people to get excited about. 3ds vita have the ios thing going against them with people really not seeing value in £40 handheld titles as much as they once did, and wii u was confused and there wasnt that big look at this can do pull. It looked like a current gen system with a touch screen hoyed on. I really think people are going to see the power of these two and know right away the difference. Not to mention nintendo burnt the core gamer bridges a tad with wii, the core gamer is going to want one of these next machines you couldnt really say that about wii u.

[SMD]

The PS2 was very shakey for a long time, it was GTA3 that brought that into the mainstream, that and Sega being useless. Its still such a weird machine to this day, it took about 5 years before devs really got the hang of it. It still has this crazy fillrate that the PS3 cant even match. The Wii was definitelt lightning in bottle, this cheap machine came from nowhere, motion control that anyone could play..the name got people talking, the PR was good too getting it all over the news, showing it in old peoples homes etc. It became the gadget to have that xmas and next rather than a game console. It trancsended...and Nintendo did well keeping it going for a few years, such as Wii Fit being the one of the must own gadgets a few xmasses into the consoles life.

Compare that to Wii U...far too expensive, confusingly 2 versions available, 2gb day one updates..bricking consoles, it wont connect to wifi without manually assigning it an IP, the controller situation is mental (HOW many combinations of wiimote, nunchuck, tablet, gaming controller etc are there). It has no games, no killer app like Wii Sports tennis and bowling....it sounds more like a tablet add on for the Wii....its a mess.

My point is it shoulda cut out the pad, launched at 199 quid...been more powerful...stuck with the same input method as the Wii.....had a proper name to make it known as the Wii 2, came out with some killer casual and hardcore games...and been marketed properly. Theyre arrogant because theyre released this crazy middle ish machine that is master of no trades at all...too underpowered for gamers, too pricey and no really selling point to casuals.

tl;dr: Shoulda been Wii 2, more powerful, no tablet, and come out with bigger games, and been 199 quid and marketed properly..and one sku for all.

GTA 3 came out a year after the PS2 did. Not sure that counts as a long time. I bought mine in '03 and I was considered a late comer, it was demolishing everything in its way. 5 years...you could say that about any console!

Again, the Wii didn't come out of nowhere. Excitement was fever pitch before the JP launch, let alone in the West. It was sold out everywhere because everyone new about it. It wasn't like it was lying around and people snapped it up.

And once again, you're massively dumbing down the market. How many different versions of the 360 and PS3 are there? Or DS and 3DS?

The gamepad is the USP, without it why would anyone get a Wii U? Because it's more powerful? Have you seen a Nintendo console? I don't think Nintendo have ever had the most powerful machine on the market, though ironically it's the only machine that's marketed only for games. Current and next gen Sony and MS machines are all about the media hub.

It just seems like your criticism is unfocused. There's plenty to criticise about the Wii U but suggesting it should've been just a souped up Wii is weird.

[angel]

I do appreciate good design, but i know what a killer app is..something that catches peoples eye, gets people talking. People had Wii tennis / bowling tournaments at work, college, school etc ..so easy to pick up and play. Who the hell is doing that with the Wii U...no one..because its too complicated and needs explaining. Wii tennis? Use it like a bat...there you go youre playing!

Sorry scott..youre well wrong.

[SMD]

I was thinking that too, but i really think there will be enough of a difference for people to get excited about. 3ds vita have the ios thing going against them with people really not seeing value in £40 handheld titles as much as they once did, and wii u was confused and there wasnt that big look at this can do pull. It looked like a current gen system with a touch screen hoyed on. I really think people are going to see the power of these two and know right away the difference. Not to mention nintendo burnt the core gamer bridges a tad with wii, the core gamer is going to want one of these next machines you couldnt really say that about wii u.

I think the release of Pokemon will be a big indicator. If sales don't improve dramatically then there's something to worry about.

[RubberJohnny]

Scott's obviously running out of friends and family

scotts friends and family are actually all in the mind of Reggie Fils-Aime holding a snowglobe.

[ryodi]

I thought everyone hated waggle controls now, Wii sales had fallen off a cliff and its not like the Move controller was setting the world alight as far a I can tell. At the moment the WiiU seems to be suffering in part because the expectation of how amazing the next XBox and PS will apparently be

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Of course this sort of press isn't going to help the Wii U's fate:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/07/wii-us-struggle-to-remain-relevant