Game get a refit, and forgets Wii-U, and everything else.

[Dudley]

I fly to New York in 11 hours.

Very looking that up.

[scottcr]

Nintendo do know how to run a shop... There's just one of them. That's the problem

[feltmonkey]

ok, this is a hell of a weird thread.

Hughes is right - i can't stand Game personally, but they aren't marginalising the Wii-U out of some kind of vendetta against poor downtrodden Nintendo. they're marginalising it because the bloody thing has been a huge clanging failure so far. no-one wants to buy a Wii-U, no-one wants to buy games for the Wii-U. why should Game sacrifice valuable shelf space for something that makes them no money? they are driven by the market. the shuffling of the Wii-U towards the rear corner of the store is a reflection of the console's unpopularity, nothing else.

a Nintendo store is a ridiculous idea. maybe one or two little flagship stores which would lose money but advertise the brand or act as a kind of Mecca for their rabid fans would be viable, but you guys seem to be imagining stores all over the country (or world) like Disney stores. videogame retailers can barely keep their heads above water when they stock games from all the consoles, never mind ditching the most popular ones and hoping you can shore up the turnover with fucking Yoshi plushes.

[JPickford]

Well I'm a happy Wii U owner but I agree that a Nintendo store is a daft idea. ANY games retailer is a daft idea. It's a dead business. Well, dying. There is no future in selling digital media on physical disks/carts. Hardware can be sold effectively via Amazon or electrical retailers.

[cavalcade]

ok, this is a hell of a weird thread.

Hughes is right - i can't stand Game personally, but they aren't marginalising the Wii-U out of some kind of vendetta against poor downtrodden Nintendo. they're marginalising it because the bloody thing has been a huge clanging failure so far. no-one wants to buy a Wii-U, no-one wants to buy games for the Wii-U. why should Game sacrifice valuable shelf space for something that makes them no money? they are driven by the market. the shuffling of the Wii-U towards the rear corner of the store is a reflection of the console's unpopularity, nothing else.

GAME's problem has always been looking back, instead of forwards. There's plenty of places to buy cheap PS3/360 hardware and games, online or offline. The reasons the WiiU isn't selling are numerous, but one of its biggest problems is trying to explain its feature set to baffled potential purchasers and demonstrate some of the better software. GAME, unlike Tesco or amazon are perfectly placed to do this. There's no guarantee the PS4/XB1 will sell either, and they are also fairly traditional propositions - it seems optimistic to double down on the nebulous potential for them to both sell gangbusters in a traditional brick and mortar store.

If I was GAME I'd try to act like a leading retailer and start driving the market a bit. The WiiU has some decent software, it could be an attractive Xmas gift for families so why not drive sales rather than slavishly try to follow the market? Use your "skilled staff" and highstreet presence to your advantage. Do the same-ol-same-ol and they'll be undercut out of existence as quickly as they were last time. Similar approach for the Vita - another platform that benefits from a hands on demo and walkthrough the feature set.

If you want to be a specialist game retailer in a shrinking market then you need to be creative.

[scottcr]

The Nintendo store in New York sells tons of toys, clothes and all sorts... It's always busy as well, whenever I'm there anyway

[hat]

Do they still have the Nintendo Zone in the Oxford Street John Lewis or has it bombed?

[erhgiez]

I went in the other day, the Wii-Us were not even turned on!

[womblingfree]

Well I'm a happy Wii U owner but I agree that a Nintendo store is a daft idea. ANY games retailer is a daft idea.

But it wouldn't be solely a games retailer, well not mine anyway. It would be an outlet for all kinds of Nintendo toys and merchandise with consoles/games to play and buy if you want. Plus milkshakes.

Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear can do it dunno why Mario and Zelda can't. If the Disney store was there to market DVDs that would also be a shit idea.

By the end of this gen I imagine games stores will be completely dead. So it's all about brand awareness and getting the hardware out there.

[scottcr]

It's the place to go for Pokemon plushes

[Haribokart]

But it wouldn't be solely a games retailer, well not mine anyway. It would be an outlet for all kinds of Nintendo toys and merchandise with consoles/games to play and buy if you want. Plus milkshakes.

Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear can do it dunno why Mario and Zelda can't. If the Disney store was there to market DVDs that would also be a shit idea.

By the end of this gen I imagine games stores will be completely dead. So it's all about brand awareness and getting the hardware out there.

You don't understand the real world. This shop would lose so much money.

[womblingfree]

You don't understand the real world. This shop would lose so much money.

Do Disney stores lose money?

[angel]

Do Disney stores lose money?

hes mad. a store full of pokemon plushes, ds games, nintendo merch would clean up.

[BarryL85]

Game at Glasgow Fort has had a Wii U pod since day 1 I've been in the store loads and not once have I ever seen a soul near it. (except me and I was just interested what demos you could play).

[scottcr]

http://www.nintendoworldstore.com

[JohnC]

hes mad. a store full of pokemon plushes, ds games, nintendo merch would clean up.

Nah. Disney merchandising is on a whole other level. It's madness to think a Nintendo store would be anything like a Disney store.

[angel]

if they did it right itd be pretty big i reckon. just in the big cities. besides, they could subsidise it.

[womblingfree]

Doesn't even have to make money, it's great advertising and the indoctrination of the young. A few stores would probably cost less than a couple of prime TV slots.

I mean, does M&M World make money?? Despite walking past it every week it was there for over year before I realised what it actually was. And that was because someone told me. Likewise the Lotus shop in Piccadilly that doesn't sell Lotuses, just key-fobs and baseball caps. I doubt they're there to turn a profit.

Despite that I think retail stores stuffed with Nintendo plushes, candy, t-shirts, figures, radio-controlled things, fancy-dress and always on game-pods could be a winner and maybe turn a profit too.

[ZOK]

The Nintendo Store in New York barely has any decent merchandise in it. And that's in New York. God knows what one in the average British high street would be like.

[JPickford]

The NY store isn't a business. It's a promotional thing. No way would that scale across the world.

[exwhyzed]

If i didn't come to this place i wouldn't even know a wii u was a thing. I don't blame them.

[Ketchup]

The NY store is crap, vast and empty. Downstairs has a few Pokemon items and a massive area to join other 3Ds owners to trade your pokemons, upstairs has a tiny corner dedicated to a few bits of Nintendo merch, an area for Wii u's, some shirts and then an eBay sourced corner of Nintendo history.

What GAME are doing they have been doing for years. Companies can buy space and that's what everyone bar Nintendo does. That's why Fifa always gets top promo over Pes and why even when the Wii was massive it still had a tiny section at the back of the store whilst Sony and MS are at the front with huge sections.

Nintendo don't play the game so get kicked out, although oddly they are buying space at Tescos of all places.

[strider]

The NY store is crap, vast and empty. Downstairs has a few Pokemon items and a massive area to join other 3Ds owners to trade your pokemons, upstairs has a tiny corner dedicated to a few bits of Nintendo merch, an area for Wii u's, some shirts and then an eBay sourced corner of Nintendo history.

What GAME are doing they have been doing for years. Companies can buy space and that's what everyone bar Nintendo does. That's why Fifa always gets top promo over Pes and why even when the Wii was massive it still had a tiny section at the back of the store whilst Sony and MS are at the front with huge sections.

Nintendo don't play the game so get kicked out, although oddly they are buying space at Tescos of all places.

But that's not what sscott suggested. I don't know what to think now.

[carleton]

space at Tescos of all places.

Telco of all places? The most successful high street retailer for the past 10 years as opposed to Game who nearly went bust?

I'm with you on the NY Nintendo store though. I went a good while ago but it was some plushies and overpriced DS games. And nobody browsing... rather like the eStore.

[Super Craig]

A Nintendo Store done right would be a great idea. A mix between the Apple and Disney Stores. Shitloads of merchandise and a place for you to try out the hardware and buy accessories. It wouldn't need to waste space on software as they've got the eShop.

[deerokus]

A Nintendo shop would really work only in massive intercontinental hub cities where it would be a kind of retail tourist attraction, effectively. New York (apparently it exists), Tokyo (I assume they have one here already), Paris, maybe London.

And Nintendo probably don't have the nous to make it work anyway. Now, if Disney bought Nintendo, I could see them making such a thing successful.

[routeburn]

Now, if Disney bought Nintendo, I could see them making such a thing successful.

I don't recall whether it was Steve Jobs, or Apple, which had a large interest in Disney.

Anyway, if Disney bought Nintendo, and Apple had a controlling stake in Disney (which it doesn't at the moment), then Apple would own Nintendo, and the "marriage made in heaven" which many Apple/Nintenerds go on about, would come to fruition.

[Super Craig]

It was Steve Jobs, through the sale of Pixar to Disney. Don't know what happened to his shares after he died.

[SeanR]

New York, London, Paris, Munich, everyone talk about Wii Music!

[routeburn]

New York, London, Paris, Munich, everyone talk about Wii Music!

No. No, they don't.

Everyone does talk about the videos of Nintendo execs pretending to play instruments and dance around in front of the telly though.