Nintendo Wii U

[rgraves]

its better than it being a mini map for Sonic racing which is utterly pointless

Yeah, it should have just been the rear-view mirror all the time instead of having to toggle it on.

[angel]

Angel has hated Nintendo with every fibre of his being since 1987

Hardly..Nintendo consoles owned: US snes with 25 odd games inc FF6, Zelda 3, Secret of Mana, Mario Kart etc. US N64 with 15 odd games, Resident Evil 4 ltd ed Gamecube with US copies of RE4, Eternal Darkness, Zelda, etc etc, Black Wii, Mario Kart etc....normal white DS, 3ds XL with all DS Castlevanias, Metroids etc

Yeah I really hate them.

[pulsemyne]

New lego trailer.

Looks like a huge amount of fun.

[R0b]

Looks like he bought Fugu's bin on eBay

There's a guy who took the Cabela's games too seriously.

[mushashi]

Don't see why they would when the installed user base eclipses the Wii U by quite a margin. I mean Just Dance 4 on Wii has sold just over 5 million so far. The Wii U version did 0.15m, 360 0.8m and PS3 0.22m. There's no way they'll suddenly drop Wii support when it's selling like that. These people don't need new machines.

Rather large disparity between those ioi numbers and what Ubisoft managed to ship to retail, which was almost 8 Million units, making it the 5th best selling game globally last year.

[rgraves]

You mean like how Oni Training managed to move 3DS units in Japan?, afterall its predecessors both moved millions of units and casuals are like cattle.

Or let us compare the relative sales of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort... obviously zero signs of fatigue with that one too

Maybe they should try another Wii Play, as that will finally prove if people really bought it for the cheap bonus minigames or they just actually needed an extra controller afterall, I'm not betting on the minigame collection being the massive draw people thought it was at the time.

Well I suppose we can all hope Animal Crossing blows up bigtime in the West, but that isn't much use to Nintendo's home console either way.

All Nintendo have to push the Wii U at present is the same kind of stuff they trotted out on the N64 and GameCube, I'd expect the same basic end result if that is all they have available, selling to their diminishing long term audience (well it must be diminishing, otherwise, why were they losing over 10 Million customers per generation before the Wii became a hit?)

You keep on pushing this point, but if you're going to go on about it why does the same not apply to Sony? PS2->PS3 and PSP->PSV have hardly seen them expand their audience have they? Why are they then in a totally different place to Nintendo?

In truth, the whole industry is in decline right now - it's not a platform-holder specific thing. As much as they are perhaps happy to see it, I think you can also be sure that a small piece of the hierarchy at both Sony & MS is a little concerned by the performance of the Wii U and what it might foreshadow for them in terms of where the market is right now.

[Cthulhu Steev]

There's a guy who took the Cabela's games too seriously.

Those animals are still alive, he just forced their heads through the tarpaulin of his gaming tent.

[mushashi]

You keep on pushing this point, but if you're going to go on about it why does the same not apply to Sony? PS2->PS3 and PSP->PSV have hardly seen them expand their audience have they? Why are they then in a totally different place to Nintendo?

In truth, the whole industry is in decline right now - it's not a platform-holder specific thing. As much as they are perhaps happy to see it, I think you can also be sure that a small piece of the hierarchy at both Sony & MS is a little concerned by the performance of the Wii U and what it might foreshadow for them in terms of where the market is right now.

I disagree with that, and I've pointed out the factual basis for why I think that.

If the total console market expands next gen, and Orbis sells significantly less than PS3, then you can make the comparison, but currently Sony's performance with the PS3 can be blamed on a strong competitor stealing market share, and no, I'm not talking about the Wii.

Look at DS, despite PSP selling close to GBA numbers, they still increased their total hardware units sold, something that can't be said for Nintendo home consoles until the Wii, and as even people sympathetic to the cause have said, they don't believe that audience will return, which leaves what exactly to make the Wii U a bigger success than the N64 or GameCube?

[rgraves]

I disagree with that, and I've pointed out the factual basis for why I think that.

If the total console market expands next gen, and Orbis sells significantly less than PS3, then you can make the comparison, but currently Sony's performance with the PS3 can be blamed on a strong competitor stealing market share, and no, I'm not talking about the Wii.

Look at DS, despite PSP selling close to GBA numbers, they still increased their total hardware units sold, something that can't be said for Nintendo home consoles until the Wii, and as even people sympathetic to the cause have said, they don't believe that audience will return, which leaves what exactly to make the Wii U a bigger success than the N64 or GameCube?

Or, in other words, "I'll apply my logic where it fits the point I'm trying to make and ignore it when it doesn't".

[Ketchup]

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.

I agree with a lot of this. The PS2 thought was doing quite well at launch, even within the first year. Sure the games were crap but everyone was waiting for GT3. GTA 3 came out of no where and turned it into a huge seller but GT3 had already started that push.

You're right with the Wii name, the way they announced it and explained it really cemented the Wii in peoples minds. Yes it was silly, some even found it embaressing but Nintendo were right, within a few months saying Wii was as natural as saying Google or Virgin Cola. Nintendo screwed up with promoting the Wii U, it would have been so easy to do but instead of following their Wii lead of simplicity they decided to make it all extreamly complex. Even their Wii U adverts are confusing and rushed.

Nintendo Land really isn't a game to sell the console to people. Its a lovely multiplayer game but takes ages to get into. Each game is unique and requires 5 minutes of explaining the game and the controls and people just zone out after 10 seconds of not really knowing whats going on...if they are not into games. The Wii though, know how to play tennis? Thats how you play the game. Know how to bowl? Well you have to hold B, Bowl and then let go of B which still confused people not used to games but that took 5 seconds to explain and people loved it.

Even games like Wii Party are simple, normally just a single button push or action that anyone can grab in seconds but Nintendo Land throws a list of controls at you and rules and how to play and blah!

[Ketchup]

New lego trailer.

Looks like a huge amount of fun.

Looks great, reminds me of San Andreas in a lot of ways with the different slightly wacky missions. Although all those lego bits are off putting because i'll want to collect every single one i see on the screen.

[b00dles]

you really don't need to explain the majority of nintendo Land games and it does it for you if there's a new player. You know hide n seek? You know 'it'?

If anything, they're much harder to explain or make sound fun than just having people play it. Which is where the marketing is tricky. Amazing lack of demo pods for it compared to the Wii, as far as I've seen and that's what it needs.

[gossi the dog]

Looks like he bought Fugu's bin on eBay

Does Gaz sit outside in a puddle of wee?

[SMD]

There are demo pods in every game store in Liverpool - but the only demos have been Rayman () and Mario.

Nintendo should just get people to go into town centres on a weekend and show off the multiplayer of Nintendo Land.

[Cthulhu Steev]

Well, I did it. Let's see how they respond to the big guns.

Oh boy, you're gonna have blood on your hands man.

It worked, my Zynga comment got you guys a demo. A demo!

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Fuck, Steve is really knocking 'em out of the park here.

[SMD]

Maybe Ubisoft will keep releasing exclusive demos until by the end of summer, we've all got the whole game.

[moosegrinder]

Rayman Legends confirmed for episodic content.

[Not Thread Owner]

Yo dawg, I heard you like games so we put game with your games so you can game with your game.

You know this is Game and Wario, right?

[SMD]

Game and Wario has deer heads?

[Not Thread Owner]

Yes.

[Clipper]

Maybe Ubisoft will keep releasing exclusive demos until by the end of summer, we've all got the whole game.

But you can only play it 30 times

[Not Thread Owner]

So quite a few people have Scribblenauts now, because Amazon had stock, and dispatched on Thursday.

What the fuck was the delay then, if it had already got to shops?

[mushashi]

Or, in other words, "I'll apply my logic where it fits the point I'm trying to make and ignore it when it doesn't".

Keep on burying your head in the sand if you can't figure out why Nintendo has a specific problem which doesn't apply to Sony or Microsoft currently.

We can re-visit my position in 4 years time and see how it all panned out, currently, with the available data, I see no reason to change my thinking on the matter.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Not only Ubisoft, but Activision doesn't seem to be too happy about the Wii U. Including EA, that's the big three then.

Wii U Launch Sales Disappointed Activision Executives

Nintendo's (OTC: NTDOY ) latest console is off to a rocky start, selling only 3.19 million units since it was released last November.

According to The New York Times , Nintendo expects that it will have sold no more than four million units through March -- nearly 30 percent less than the company's previous projection of 5.5 million. In the grand scheme of game console sales, four million units is not a bad number to achieve in just over four months. This is no ordinary console, however. Wii U is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Wii console, a machine that has sold 98.8 million units in six years.

Wii inspired millions of consumers to line up for hours. The lines began forming in November 2006 and did not end until 2008, when the number of units had finally caught up to the demand.

The same was not true for Wii U. While the first round of shipments immediately sold out, the console became readily available at most Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) stores before Christmas. It was a new world for Nintendo -- one where consumers did not eagerly scramble to buy what the company was selling.

Some have blamed the low sales on the lack of quality games. Others believe that consumers would rather play simple or mindless apps on their smartphones instead of spending $50 to $60 for a high-quality game.

Whatever the cause, Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI ) CEO Bobby Kotick may not care. He just simply wants Nintendo to turn things around.

"As you know, we were somewhat disappointed with the launch of the Wii U, and I think it's a challenging environment this year," Kotick told investors during a conference call. "One of the things we are concerned about is what the installed base of hardware will be like for 6- to-11-year-olds. But we have a lot of confidence in the franchise for the long-term."

In addition to expressing disappointment, Kotick referred to Wii U's "slower-than-expected adoption" as posing a challenge to Skylanders, the company's most popular game developed specifically for young children.

Disney Infinity (NYSE: DIS ), a Skylanders clone featuring several worlds and characters from various Disney and Pixar franchises, could present a more significant threat when it is released later this year.

http://www.nasdaq.co...23#.URZ8wii9Kc0

[Smitty]

The rumoured touchpad on the new PS4 controller however will be a work of genius right?

What? Your brain is so addled by the rot of your fanboyism you evidently can't think straight.

I've said literally nothing about the quality/usefulness of this rumoured new interface on the PS4, and how could I when we know nothing about it?

I'm not even a fan of the Dual Shock!

[mushashi]

I know people don't want the real news from the war front, but the founder of Sidhe of NZ posted some very interesting comments about his discussions from the recent DICE convention:

At DICE, nobody has been talking about the new Wii U projects they have started, only the Wii U projects that have just been cancelled.

Platform is in serious trouble.

Originally Posted by beast786:

Is the sentiment worse than early PS3 days?

Pubs and devs never recoiled from PS3 like they seem to be with Wii U (though this is anecdotal). There was always the confidence that the numbers would get there over time with PS3. I'm not sensing that with Wii U.

I had a data point yesterday at lunch with a high budget Wii U game that was hoping to sell "millions" over time. It only managed "tens of thousands".

Originally Posted by BGBW:

Was the game any good in the end? It could have sold badly even if the Wii U was selling well is the quality isn't up to scratch.

It is one of the top rated games for the platform.

Originally Posted by JoeM86:

They just have to build that though and, as you know, that takes time.

...

I seriously don't see why developers are dropping at such an early juncture.

If they can't make money now, why would they support it now? Chicken and egg problem.

Originally Posted by ascii42:

It's easier to get noticed when there are fewer games on the system.

Hard to get noticed when there are so many games across so many systems.

But on the bright side, he isn't too hot on the chances for consoles in general:

I've been down on next gen consoles and the retail market for a while which is something to consider. Grain of salt and all that. Am reporting what I am hearing though.

Originally Posted by Vire:

So you don't think PS4/ Nextbox will sell well either?

I don't have much of an opinion on what they might achieve in terms of an install base. But my general opinion is this next console generation is going to fail. The infrastructure for retail sales is crumbling, console platform manufacturers are still wanting to control content and prices too much, and the shift to other platforms (of consumers and dev support) in the meantime has been significant (my reasoning is more nuanced, but those are the big ticket items).

Originally Posted by Vire:

So basically iPhone's will kill us all?

Not iPhone specifically, but the business models it allows e.g. digital distribution, software as a service, free to play. PC, web, smartphone and tablet are where the growth is and where consumers are going.

Unless console manufacturers open their platforms up in a similar way by not curating content so aggressively and allowing publishing and pricing control by individual companies they will flounder.

Where the market is at right now, tech specs are irrelevant. Content and access to it is the driving factor for success.

Originally Posted by shinra-bansho:

Not sounding good. You're probably not allowed to say but are there a lot of Chinese whispers about things in development for Gen4/other next gen platforms?

People are being pretty cagey about that. But they always are before official platform announcements. Hard to get a read on how much is actually in dev there.

[Smitty]

You're right of course Smitty. The GamePad is a shitty gimmick.

I didn't say it was shitty, and nor did I try to invalidate other people's enjoyment of it. But I remain to be convinced that it isn't a gimmick.

This isn't a unique attack on Nintendo either, all of the manufacturers are trying to foist gimmicks upon us.

That said, this particular gimmick is central to Nintendo's new console and that changes the nature of the potential issue here.

[scottcr]

Skylanders Giants on the Wii is good enough for kids... No need to upgrade.

I love how these guys expected the WiiU to sell as quickly as the Wii and even though its sold more than the PS3 and 360 did in the same period it's a disappointment.

The wider issue is, the larger market beyond real enthusiasts aren't really needing new machines yet.

[Smitty]

All this might make a tiny (tiny) amount of sense if you'd even bothered to try one...but you're just basically making stuff up to dislike it otherwise.

I don't think a single person that has actually used one has been disappointed - it just feels right and works incredibly well.

Haha, you literally can't accept someone having a different opinion on it to you without it being a lie or ploy of some kind.