Wii U game sales


Well considering Nintendo did NO advertising in their most important market (the great US of A) it makes perfect sense. No advertising = poor sales


also, its a really bad console. Its not very family freindly if only one person gets the special controller. For a console designed for children to play, the idea of "I get this and you dont" isnt very helpful. If they wanted to occupy kids better, they should allow all 4 controllers to be the one with the screen
 
It could be problems with the WiiU. It could also be that ZombiU is a terrible game and nothing Nintendo can do will improve that.

It's the same story across the board though, consoles just aren't "performing" the way they used to, by which I mean they're generally selling the same or better, but games are costing significantly more to make now. The forest has grown too much, trees are too tall, shutting out the light below them while branches whither and saplings struggle. The industry needs to do some self-pruning or something is going to come through and clearcut everything.
 
Outside of a tablet controller it doesn't give you anything over current gen systems.. I admit I may pick one up when the price drops a tad and that killer Nintendo exclusive title comes out.. so far there hasn't been one.
 
From dqy one I said "hmmm, I might just buy the tablet thing and mod it for a higher resolution screen. Then, just use it as a second monitor for my PC." Watching movies and whatnot in bed would be great on it, but that screen is so shit compared to everything else I own (except my pandora I guess o_O)
 
"This is always going to be a 3rd party problem on Nintendo systems, and it is only going to get worse in time.

"N" makes systems for themselves, and to hell with what the industry or 3rd parties want. Yeah, it's great that Miyamoto and his teams can make great games, but when you design a system and what it can do, you need to look at the consumer and other publishers in the process.

Proper online accounts, trophies/achievements, proper 4 shoulder buttons & dual analog controllers, etc. These are industry standards, that "N" just flat out refuse to acknowledge(Yes, they now have a proper controller, but it is sold separately, not a good idea)

Now I'm not saying anyone of these features would save the WiiU alone, or is the exact reason for their down fall, but you can't compete among 3rd party games on PC, 360, and PS3 when your system has inferior versions that cost more. Why would anyone buy Batman ages after release, only to pay full price and not have has much to do as the PS3 and 360 games due to trophies and achievements?

Every "N" system ever made has been for their game developers in mind and no one else. This needs to change.

Yeah, the 3DS is of the same mind set, and yes it is doing very well. "N" handhelds have always done well, and this has never been an issue for them, and really doesn't need to be addressed. 

Consoles are a different beast, and besides the Wii, every other system from N64 to WiiU has not seen good 3rd party game sales. The Wii actually had some killer 3rd party games, and none of them sold well either. No surprise here, as the console is based around forced waggle controls which no "real" gamer is ever going to get behind long term. Even grandma's came to their senses over time, and Wii sales almost stopped completely.

Why? Because everything "N" has in place is counterproductive to the proper audience of these games actually getting them and enjoying them. Bayonetta 2 will be an awesome game and it will sell super poorly just like most recent 3rd party games. Then "N" will complain how they spent a ton of money to make this killer exclusive and no one bought it. Boo Hoo!

Of course no one is going to buy it, as the audience it is made for is not using or enjoying the WiiU. "N" has always had the same problems. "Well our games sell in the millions, why can't 3rd parties do the same?" Because your marketing and system isn't designed to sell titles that they make, and you guys are clueless to make a system that breeds that kind of market.

Until "N" gets off of their high horse, games like ZombieU will always sell poorly, and companies like Ubisoft and EA will always take their business to MS and Sony because their systems sell the games that these companies make."

^I wrote this on Gamefaqs yesterday, so I figured I would pass my thoughts along here^

Chris
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ProTip: Ctrl+V=Paste, but in order to avoid that grey background, Ctrl+Shft+V=Paste without formatting
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe it's also because of the game.

I at least would never buy Zombie U.
 
Ya, I think people are tired of "Hey look its mario, only this time he's doing professional underwater basket weaving and skydiving. Watch, as you pay yet another $50 for the same carachters you've been playing as for over 2 decades"
 
I won't get tired of Mario as long as they make good games.

I'm getting tired of Zombies.

Every game needs to have a Zombie mod or the storyline (if there actually is one) is about Zombies.

Did they already eat your brain ;) ?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe it's also because of the game.
It is. It isn't a very good game. It has literally no learning curve(*) and a high price of failure. The reward/risk ratio is very low. Some people are going to love it, but it's got way too many flaws for me to give it a serious recommendation.

Ya, I think people are tired of "Hey look its mario, only this time he's doing professional underwater basket weaving and skydiving. Watch, as you pay yet another $50 for the same carachters you've been playing as for over 2 decades"
Not at all, people are chomping at the bit for the next Mario game. Here's the thing, there's nothing really wrong with Wii U sales: it was a little slower than the Wii was after 4 months, but remember that the Wii was a surprising success, stealing a huge market that was previously untapped. In it's first 4 months, the Wii U outsold the first 4 months for the 360 and the PS3, and no one was claiming they were dead at the time.The problem is that the 3 months that followed have had nothing to back it. Nintendo hasn't been providing the software, who's going to buy hardware when there's nothing new to play? They want the next Mario game, the next Zelda game, anything! The third parties are using this as an excuse to not produce for the Wii U but the fact is that they're part of the problem too. The hardware sales WERE there, there just wasn't software to keep the momentum going. This was the exact same problem with the 3DS: it started off strong, slumped because there were no new games coming out (even though it was still exceeding NDS and PSP sales it was called "dead"), but then Nintendo started releasing things and now it's back on track. The Wii U is fine, the hardware isn't lacking, it's the software that is lacking. A price drop might help, but only once they've got more games that people want to play. The exact same thing could affect the PS4, but only time will tell. (And I'm avoiding talk about the XBOne, that's a whole other kettle of fish).

(*)edit: by which I mean the learning "curve" is a vertical line. After sitting through an unskippable 5 minute cutscene you are thrown into the hoard with no guidance and no control instructions. I've played that scene 5 times, once after reading a walkthrough, and I still haven't managed to figure out the right way to go in order to "escape" properly.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There's a good reason ZombiU didn't sell - it's just not very good. It was my most anticipated game when I got my WiiU. I played it for a couple of hours and it was very meh. Most reviews gave it just above average scores. And they were pretty much spot on.

Nintendo just haven't really shown what the WiiU is capable of and why you'd need one over a Wii. Despite really loving the WiiU, with what I've seen so far, there really isn't much that would persuade the average person.

BTW The screen on the pad is very clear and wonderfully accurate to the touch.
 
Not at all, people are chomping at the bit for the next Mario game. Here's the thing, there's nothing really wrong with Wii U sales: it was a little slower than the Wii was after 4 months, but remember that the Wii was a surprising success, stealing a huge market that was previously untapped. In it's first 4 months, the Wii U outsold the first 4 months for the 360 and the PS3, and no one was claiming they were dead at the time.
Wii and even PS3 were capacity constrained for a while after their release. This is not the case for Wii U. It's sitting on shelves. Nintendo keeps lowering their sales estimates.

Also consider that Wii U basically has the next gen market to itself right now, if you consider it next gen. And it's coming after a long slump in Wii sales, although maybe this hurt Nintendo all the more; it's best to follow up a popular console before that popularity has completely dried out.

The situation with third parties is really bad. Nintendo has coasted on subpar third party support before, and even the Wii was probably weaker in this area than the other two consoles. But when companies are cancelling and postponing games left and right and EA drops a series that has been on Nintendo consoles for over a decade that's setting a new low bar. And the third parties aren't blaming this on a lack of first party games from Nintendo, they're simply reacting to terrible sales of their games, whatever the reason may be. You could argue that the games just suck but a lot of these are games that sold at least okay on other consoles. Nintendo has at least admitted that their marketing sucks: http://www.gamespot.com/news/nintendo-we-are-to-blame-for-poor-wii-u-sales-6410425 (why a company with this much cash would be this conservative in marketing is a total mystery to me)

The other side of it, IMO anyway, is that while people still want Nintendo first party games a lot would rather get them on the handheld. Which is why 3DS got games like Luigi's Mansion that Wii U could have, but didn't. I think fans might bite for a really big Mario game on Wii U but Nintendo is just not trying hard enough. NSMB series changes way too little with each iteration. And now Super Mario 3D World looks like it's rehashing a bunch of stuff from Super Mario 3D Land.

I do think there are legitimate issues with the hardware too. Like the gamepad being packed with a pathetically small battery and having the battery life to show for it. Nintendo will now sell you a slightly less pathetically small battery for a not especially modest price. They should be including this thing (no, a bigger one) by default.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"N" makes systems for themselves, and to hell with what the industry or 3rd parties want. Yeah, it's great that Miyamoto and his teams can make great games, but when you design a system and what it can do, you need to look at the consumer and other publishers in the process.

Proper online accounts, trophies/achievements, proper 4 shoulder buttons & dual analog controllers, etc. These are industry standards, that "N" just flat out refuse to acknowledge(Yes, they now have a proper controller, but it is sold separately, not a good idea)
I'm not saying Nintendo is on the right track, but at least they try to be innovative instead of riding half dead "industry standard" horses.

There's a good reason ZombiU didn't sell - it's just not very good
Thank *insert super natural beeing of your choice here" I just borrowed it, what a lousy game.

I do think there are legitimate issues with the hardware too. Like the gamepad being packed with a pathetically small battery and having the battery life to show for it. Nintendo will now sell you a slightly less pathetically small battery for a not especially modest price. They should be including this thing (no, a bigger one) by default.
While that is true, I guess they had to make a trade off in terms of weight and costs.
 
Im not Nintendo, and this might be a bit too far out there, but here is what I would have done.


Partner with Intel or AMD (whoever gives the better deal) to make a WiiU emulator for PC. So, simultaniously you release the WiiU and the WiiU emulator. But this emulator requires the absolute latest in AMD or Intel hardware. So, the consumer is left with a choice, but a brand new PC and run the emulator (gou still need to nuy the games from Nintendo through a download service and the WiiU controller from a store) or buy the WiiU as a package from Nintendo. That way, you attract the traditionally PC-only gamer market, which is a market Sony and Mucrosoft have yet to understand
 
"N" makes systems for themselves, and to hell with what the industry or 3rd parties want. Yeah, it's great that Miyamoto and his teams can make great games, but when you design a system and what it can do, you need to look at the consumer and other publishers in the process.

Proper online accounts, trophies/achievements, proper 4 shoulder buttons & dual analog controllers, etc. These are industry standards, that "N" just flat out refuse to acknowledge(Yes, they now have a proper controller, but it is sold separately, not a good idea)
I'm not saying Nintendo is on the right track, but at least they try to be innovative instead of riding half dead "industry standard" horses.
I admire "N" for what they did with the Wii, but it was still just a gimmick at the end of the day, and really didn't help to improve the game playing experience.

Zak & Wiki was a brilliant puzzle game, and I had to fight the controls tooth and nail to get through it(a mouse would have been 10 times better). That's not fun. Skyward Sword was another great game, but I had more struggles than triumphs dealing with the motion controls.

Innovation is great when you blaze a trail and others follow. "N" was good for that years ago, but with the current tech and what's available, there's only so many ways to reinvent the wheel. This new game pad/controller idea was nothing more than another shot at trying to do what the Wii did, and it is totally useless to the majority of gamers. That controller adds at least 100-150 of the total cost of the WiiU, and if it wasn't there it wouldn't be missed. "N" has always been great about bringing new ideas to the table, and then never supporting them properly. If they aren't using the pad in cool and unique ways, how do they expect anyone else to?

I think everyone here can agree that touch screens, motion controls, and movement devices are cool in certain situations, but they will never replace a standard controller and solid game play. "N" has always thought they are the beginning and end of all things Video Games. They are the last game only company left in the hardware business, and you just can't compete in this day and age ALONE.

If you look back at the N64 days, and how "N" tried to tell everyone how cartridges where still needed and how they knew best, and you can see the folly of their thinking, and honestly it hasn't change since then. All 3rd parties wanted CD, and they gave the middle finger to everyone, and lost tons of business.

The Wii was a fluke, and the long term life of that system shows as much. Where Sony and MS where slow to start, they steadily built good games and partnerships that allowed both the 360 and PS3 to keep selling well even to this day. This is why there is a ton of interest in the PS4/One.The Wii died years ago, as soon as the "non gaming" market got tired of the "gimmick", and realized they really didn't care to play anything besides Wii Sports or some exercise app.

I agree that the standard gaming industry can be boring sometimes, but small tweaks and improvements are all that's needed in certain situations, not a revolution. If 3rd parties are doing x, y, & z on the current systems and PC's, what does "N" offer that would change this? Nothing. If it aint broke, don't fix it. 

Chris
 
While that is true, I guess they had to make a trade off in terms of weight and costs.
The battery is around a third of the capacity of what you can find in some very thin and light tablets. I don't think weight is an issue.

It would have cost more, maybe a couple dollars per unit, but that is something Nintendo should have swallowed because this decision is absolutely hurting the product in a pretty visible way. Nintendo has gotten away with pretty weak batteries in their handhelds and I think it's gone to their head - maybe they can afford to do that in a market they have cornered but that doesn't translate well at all here.

Im not Nintendo, and this might be a bit too far out there, but here is what I would have done.

Partner with Intel or AMD (whoever gives the better deal) to make a WiiU emulator for PC. So, simultaniously you release the WiiU and the WiiU emulator. But this emulator requires the absolute latest in AMD or Intel hardware. So, the consumer is left with a choice, but a brand new PC and run the emulator (gou still need to nuy the games from Nintendo through a download service and the WiiU controller from a store) or buy the WiiU as a package from Nintendo. That way, you attract the traditionally PC-only gamer market, which is a market Sony and Mucrosoft have yet to understand
Alright, assuming that even a high end PC could comfortably emulate Wii U, which is questionable, you wouldn't ask Intel or AMD to help you with it because they don't have any industry expertise in writing console emulators. If Nintendo wants to sell to PC users it'd be a lot easier for them to just port the games instead of trying to emulate them. But PC as a platform is only barely removed from Sony and MS's platforms. If Nintendo wants to start developing for other hardware they'd get the most sales doing so for PS4.

Not sure what Sony and Microsoft really need to understand about the PC market - there are almost no PC exclusives anymore, almost everything comes to their consoles..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
At the end of the day, the only truly successful business are those that adapt to the changing world market place. Nintendo did this years ago, when they went from making cards, to toys, electronics, and finally to video games. The only way they can maintain a successful business is to follow trends and get on board, or make your own. They seem unable to do either at this point.

Even their franchises I love, are growing old and tiresome and need a good kick in the arse at this point. They really need new blood over there and new leadership, and until that happens, they will continue to tread water.

Chris
 
Back
Top