Nintendo Wii U

[Shimmyhill]

No premium stock in HMV and none due, do I buy a basic for £180???

[Transient Curse]

Shocker. Game that sold nowt on other platforms not in line for dev funds to port to Wii U.

What is the world coming to?

No idea of the figures, but I'm pretty sure it was Sega's biggest game in ages.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-18-uk-charts-aliens-colonial-marines-is-top

EDIT: 600,000 sales in week 1

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/250782/weekly-sales-analysis-16-february-aliens-colonial-marines/

[b00dles]

The thing that is a shame was that with the Alien scanner on the gamepad, it could have been a better version of an already shit game but now we'll never know.

[Shimmyhill]

No premium stock in HMV and none due, do I buy a basic for £180???

Sod it, bought one - I prefer the white!

[Not Thread Owner]

Weak!

[Shimmyhill]

Weak!

I know, on the bus home now and ready to be told off - will show the kids first

I picked up nintendoland and sonic racing thingy so looking forward to a play on it!

[Hitcher]

A very large part of the problem is ninty aren't advertising the thing. They may have misstepped with calling it Wii anything as well as there is a perception among the general populace that its just a new controller for the standard wii ala kinect is to xbox.

I was discussing this earlier with a friend and we suggested they do an ad with a fella playing video games, his wife comes in and wants to watch her soap operas, so he just puts on some headphones and keeps gaming with the off telly feature....instant sales.

Except it's not a universal game feature!

[Cthulhu Steev]

Except it's not a universal game feature!

I hope she doesn't walk in while they're playing Zombie U. Or Nintendo land.

[Matt]

I wonder if that is a problem. Maybe Nintendo are just waiting till they have some big games out.

Surely they should have waited for some 'big games' to come out before releasing it in the first place?

[Steven]

I was discussing this earlier with a friend and we suggested they do an ad with a fella playing video games, his wife comes in and wants to watch her soap operas, so he just puts on some headphones and keeps gaming.

I prefer this.

[sweetdaddyg]

Except it's not a universal game feature!

it bloody well should be, its fantastic

[Rain Birds]

A very large part of the problem is ninty aren't advertising the thing. They may have misstepped with calling it Wii anything as well as there is a perception among the general populace that its just a new controller for the standard wii ala kinect is to xbox.

I was discussing this earlier with a friend and we suggested they do an ad with a fella playing video games, his wife comes in and wants to watch her soap operas, so he just puts on some headphones and keeps gaming with the off telly feature....instant sales.

The almost complete lack of advertising is peculiar, and that has been the case since launch. They must be holding back in that department; I wonder about the comparative lack of retail presence, another common thread since its arrival. I've seen it in very few supermarket branches, and more recently stock of new releases has been hard to come by, well, anywhere offline. Not a single big UK chain stocked Need for Speed and I think only Game carried Monster Hunter in-store.

There've been plenty of suggestions for rebranding the thing, and I've come to wonder whether dropping Wii from the title might be the easiest way to go. Nintendo U. It's similar enough that it sounds as though it's from the same family, yet it's less like that expensive U controller for the Wii. There's a perfectly good 'U' logo, the box art can stay more or less the same. Nintendo U...complete with mainstream-proof sticker informing the customer that it is compatible with their old Wii games.

[scottcr]

They don't need to drop the Wii U. Wii is Nintendos big telly console brand. People said the same about the 3DS and that 3DS games were getting mixed with DS games... Go to the supermarket now and all you see are 3DS games. The same will happen with WiiU:

There'll be massive push with Wii Fit U, Mario Kart and the next 3D Mario.

[sweetdaddyg]

The almost complete lack of advertising is peculiar, and that has been the case since launch. They must be holding back in that department; I wonder about the comparative lack of retail presence, another common thread since its arrival. I've seen it in very few supermarket branches, and more recently stock of new releases has been hard to come by, well, anywhere offline. Not a single big UK chain stocked Need for Speed and I think only Game carried Monster Hunter in-store.

There've been plenty of suggestions for rebranding the thing, and I've come to wonder whether dropping Wii from the title might be the easiest way to go. Nintendo U. It's similar enough that it sounds as though it's from the same family, yet it's less like that expensive U controller for the Wii. There's a perfectly good 'U' logo, the box art can stay more or less the same. Nintendo U...complete with mainstream-proof sticker informing the customer that it is compatible with their old Wii games.

With respect, I disagree. I think they needed to push to the customers from the outset that this isn't wii, that it is a new system. They have failed to do that so far. Rebranding will just muddy those waters.

Also, I agree about the lack of stock. My local tesco had a few games and have now removed it totally. Once the big first party games come I think it will be lik 3ds, but to be honest the thirdparty boat may have sailed.

[Not Thread Owner]

They don't need to drop the Wii U. Wii is Nintendos big telly console brand. People said the same about the 3DS and that 3DS games were getting mixed with DS games... Go to the supermarket now and all you see are 3DS games.

Er, no. They're all still mixed in with DS games.

Even in Game they're still mixed together.

[Rain Birds]

Price cannot be underestimated either. Wii had the motion control hook + a game for £179.99, the DS & DS Lite both launched at £99.99; that's a massive difference given the sort of audience that made those systems huge, even more so given the economy and proliferation of phone / tablet gaming.

Nintendo have obviously tried to straddle the core / casual market this time around, but it's not really paying off so far. It's a tough spot, admittedly - I don't think for a second that Wii U would have gone stratospheric as a £300+ high-spec machine with a normal controller, as much as some like to believe so. I suspect we'd still have the "Nintendo's audience is different" from publishers and "PS4/720 will be more powerful / hardcore!!" from that audience.

A £199 console + a strong Nintendo line-up and, for goodness' sake, decent advertising could turn things around significantly.

[scottcr]

Er, no. They're all still mixed in with DS games.

Even in Game they're still mixed together.

Big Tesco in Perth today had only 3DS games.. Loads of them: ANECDOTES

[Lorfarius]

How many games are out for it at the moment and does the number compare well to other systems at launch?

[V3zna]

This thread is going round and round in circles. It's the same as the 3DS / most consoles. When the big hitters arrive on Wii U, sales will pick up as they always do. Why are people even debating this? It's not a Wii 2 either. Wii 1 was an anomaly that tapped into the consciousness of the general public. The iPad is the current poster child in that regard.

[Not Thread Owner]

Pretty sure the DS launch price was £129.

[SMD]

How many games are out for it at the moment and does the number compare well to other systems at launch?

Wii U:

1. Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition
2. Ben 10: Omniverse
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
4. Darksiders II
5. Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
6. Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
7. FIFA Soccer 13
8. Funky Barn
9. Game Party Champions
10. Just Dance 4
11. Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
12. Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
13. New Super Mario Bros. U
14. Nintendo Land
15. Rabbids Land
16. Skylanders: Giants
17. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
18. Sports Connection
19. Tank! Tank! Tank!
20. Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
21. Transformers: Prime – The Game
22. Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
23. Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013
24. ZombiU
25. Assassin's Creed III
26. 007 Legends
27. Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
28. NBA 2K13
29. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
30. Sing Party
31. Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2
32. The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition
33. The Croods: Prehistoric Party!
34. Need for Speed: Most Wanted U
35. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
36. Lego City Undercover
37. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

PS3 (will take it 4 months from the US release because the Euro launch was so far after):

1. Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
2. Ridge Racer 7
3. NHL 2K7
4. Resistance: Fall of Man
5. Genji: Days of the Blade
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
8. Need for Speed: Carbon
9. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
10. Tony Hawk's Project 8
11. NBA 2K7
12. Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
13. Madden NFL 07
14. NBA 07
15. Fight Night Round 3
16. Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
17. Full Auto 2: Battlelines
18. Sonic the Hedgehog
19. Virtua Fighter 5
20. Major League Baseball 2K7
21. MotorStorm
22. Def Jam: Icon
23. NBA Street Homecourt

Wii (using US release again but this time because the European one listed is all over the shop):

1. Trauma Center: Second Opinion
2. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
3. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
4. Avatar: The Last Airbender
5. Avatar
6. Excite Truck
7. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
8. SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
9. Call of Duty 3
10. Cars
11. GT Pro Series
12. Happy Feet Midway Games
13. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
14. Madden NFL 07
15. Monster 4x4: World Circuit
16. Need for Speed: Carbon
17. Rampage: Total Destruction
18. Rayman Raving Rabbids
19. Red Steel
20. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
21. Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
22. Wii Sports
23. Rapala Tournament Fishing
24. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
25. Metal Slug Anthology
26. Open Season
27. Barnyard
28. The Ant Bully
29. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
30. Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action
31. Super Swing Golf
32. Pangya! Golf with Style
33. Eledees
34. World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions
35. Far Cry Vengeance
36. WarioWare: Smooth Moves
37. Wii Play
38. Sonic and the Secret Rings
39. SSX Blur
40. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
41. Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Ubisoft May 30, 2007 March 20, 2007
42. Cooking Mama: Cook Off
43. Wing Island
44. TMNT
45. The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
46. Kororinpa: Marble Mania
47. Medal of Honor: Vanguard
48. Meet the Robinsons

Xbox 360:

1. Kameo: Elements of Power
2. Amped 3
3. Condemned: Criminal Origins
4. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
5. Gun
6. Madden NFL 06
7. NBA Live 06
8. Need for Speed: Most Wanted
9. Project Gotham Racing 3
10. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
11. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
12. NBA 2K6
13. NHL 2K6
14. Call of Duty 2
15. Perfect Dark Zero
16. Ridge Racer 6
17. Quake 4
18. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
19. Dead or Alive 4
20. Full Auto
21. Fight Night Round 3
22. Burnout Revenge
23. College Hoops 2K6
24. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
25. The Outfit
26. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
27. Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
28. Far Cry Instincts Predator
29. Rumble Roses XX
30. Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires
31. Top Spin 2
32. Major League Baseball 2K6
33. Tomb Raider: Legend
34. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
35. Final Fantasy XI
36. 2006 FIFA World Cup
37. X-Men: The Official
38. Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis
39. Hitman: Blood Money

EDIT: fuck knows what happened with the formatting there, I put the lists in spoiler tags to save space.

[b00dles]

In regards to "good business" I find Nintendo's approach to this year of no competition for a 'next gen' console really strange.

Personally, I would think that they had two options, which they've seemingly gone for the second;

1) Flood the market with advertising and 'better' versions of existing games on the other consoles - really perster 3rd companies to make a good WiiU version of Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock etc and big up the off screen play, I'm almost tempted to make an ad myself, it almost writes itself.

2) Poach any early adopters keen enough to pay full whack and once there are any announcements from the competition, slash the price of the console, claim it's on a par and by that time have all your Mario Karts, Zeldas and other Nintendo IP.

I sort of 'get' the logic behind going with number 2 but I still find it a bit strange and can't help but think they could have made more money from this year or thereabouts of no competition.

Then again, almost regardless of what they do or plan, once Mario Kart and the like come out, they'll make a shit load, it's just a shame (I don't know why but it is) that I can't play Tomb Raider or what have you in 'slightly better mode' on the Wii U.

[Not Thread Owner]

In regards to "good business" I find Nintendo's approach to this year of no competition for a 'next gen' console really strange.

Personally, I would think that they had two options, which they've seemingly gone for the second;

1) Flood the market with advertising and 'better' versions of existing games on the other consoles - really perster 3rd companies to make a good WiiU version of Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock etc and big up the off screen play, I'm almost tempted to make an ad myself, it almost writes itself.

Ah, the Dreamcast approach.

[Goemon]

Are the oracle games supposed to be coming to WiiU or 3DS? Also, when are they due to land? The JPN ones are out already, right?

[SweatyTravolta]

They're remaking Oracle of Ages/Seasons?

[NEG]

Don't be silly. GBC rereleases.

[Super Craig]

They're out on the 3DS VC in Japan right now and we'll have them in the summer.

[SweatyTravolta]

A re-release is good enough for me, love those games. Is there any information as to how they'll handle the transfer new game + stuff? I assume they'll rely on the passwords but I sure hope it still works.

I bought some Nintendo Points Cards in that HMV sale and it turns out you can't use them on the Wii U. Why are they just the worst when it comes to this sort of thing?

[simms]

Nintendo do not understand online

[Super Craig]

They ditched the Nintendo Points system after everyone bitched about not being able to buy things with real money.