Wii-U thoughts so far

[CavZee]

They fucked up in several ways and it's been clear to see for a while.

At the same time I feel less and less of a connection to this industry as time goes on. Most of the mainstream western stuff that dominates gaming these days doesn't appeal to me much anymore. I worry about not just Nintendo's future but the Japanese side of the industry as a whole. Despite being a massive Sony fanboy for the vast majority of my gaming life I'm not on the PS4 hype train yet and I think the big reason is there's not really any JP developed games yet, so hopefully that changes sooner rather than later.

[Retrogamer0001]

me again, here with your regular dosage of gloom and doom:

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-reports-a-lo ... 1572841102

The Wii U has sold ~6 million units worldwide since November 2012. The PS4 has already outsold it (~7 million), and the Xbox One is more than half way to the Wii U's numbers (with ~5 million shipped to retailers).

By comparison, the Gamecube sold about ten million units in the same timeframe. The Wii sold about 25 million units in the same timeframe.

I think that very soon the question must shift from "why would third parties continue to develop games for the Wii U?" to "Why would Nintendo continue to develop games for the Wii U?"

Like I've said in other threads, if there was any 8th-gen console I was going to buy, it would be the Wii-U. You are aware that the new Smash Bros game is coming out shortly, right? The fact that it has the original Mega Man in it was enough to get the wheels turning in my head. Once the quality games start churning out, console sales will pick up. It will be interesting to see what results Smash will have on overall sales.

[pepharytheworm]

me again, here with your regular dosage of gloom and doom:

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-reports-a-lo ... 1572841102

The Wii U has sold ~6 million units worldwide since November 2012. The PS4 has already outsold it (~7 million), and the Xbox One is more than half way to the Wii U's numbers (with ~5 million shipped to retailers).

By comparison, the Gamecube sold about ten million units in the same timeframe. The Wii sold about 25 million units in the same timeframe.

I think that very soon the question must shift from "why would third parties continue to develop games for the Wii U?" to "Why would Nintendo continue to develop games for the Wii U?"

Like I've said in other threads, if there was any 8th-gen console I was going to buy, it would be the Wii-U. You are aware that the new Smash Bros game is coming out shortly, right? The fact that it has the original Mega Man in it was enough to get the wheels turning in my head. Once the quality games start churning out, console sales will pick up. It will be interesting to see what results Smash will have on overall sales.

I doubt he really cares. He can't wait 'till it fails so he can get a good deal and add it to his complete collection of "failure" consoles (32x and 7800). I mean what kinda question is "Why would Nintendo continue to develop games for the Wii U?" Realisticly I am sure he knows the answer. What responses does one hope to get from statements and questions he poses? Hiding behind I am asking legitmate questions but says them in a way that he already has his answers or to make others question their own thoughts.

[dsheinem]

I doubt he really cares. He can't wait 'till it fails so he can get a good deal and add it to his complete collection of "failure" consoles (32x and 7800). I mean what kinda question is "Why would Nintendo continue to develop games for the Wii U?" Realisticly I am sure he knows the answer. What responses does one hope to get from statements and questions he poses? Hiding behind I am asking legitmate questions but says them in a way that he already has his answers or to make others question their own thoughts.

I'm not hiding. Right here, pep.

The question I asked is one of "what would it take for Nintendo to stop spending resources on developing games for the console?" or "At what point do sales have to be low enough for long enough for them to decide, internally first, that it is time to move on?". These are legitimate questions.

Clearly Wii U development costs money, and at some point they have to ask if they are spending good money in chasing a bad product.

Also, as I indicated above, I may not wait much longer:

Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 1.48.57 PM.png (52.55 KiB) Viewed 618 times

So can we cut it with the "Dave is dancing on Nintendo's grave" bullshit?

[MrPopo]

Admit you like the N64 and we'll consider it.

[dsheinem]

Admit you like the N64 and we'll consider it.

I enjoy every N64 game I own.

[Retrogamer0001]

Why wouldn't Nintendo continue to develop games for their own systems? Exclusivity is probably their strongest asset right now, especially with the first-party franchises they have sole proprietorship of. The only real failure Nintendo has released in the last twenty years, in my opinion, has been the VB - both N64 and Gamecube were moderate successes. Gaming generations are not sprints, they're marathons. They may not win the generation, but they will eventually have success as long as the first-party software is there.

[dsheinem]

Why wouldn't Nintendo continue to develop games for their own systems? Exclusivity is probably their strongest asset right now, especially with the first-party franchises they have sole proprietorship of. The only real failure Nintendo has released in the last twenty years, in my opinion, has been the VB - both N64 and Gamecube were moderate successes. Gaming generations are not sprints, they're marathons. They may not win the generation, but they will eventually have success as long as the first-party software is there.

Even though they are likely using somewhat older hardware and development engines than their competitors, the fact remains that dev costs are much higher these days while retail prices are generally the same or less than they were in previous generations.

Today, it is comparatively much more expensive to produce AAA titles (which Nintendo traditionally does with its IPs). It is also harder for companies to make their money back - they generally need to move more copies at retail than they used to have to. This is why so many devs have folded in the past generation and why so many others are going multi-platform or have lucrative exclusive contracts. (See some of the articles on the budget and sales around the most recent Tomb Raider reboot, for a recent example of this).

At some point every company decides that developing games for a system is a cost risk that outweighs the anticipated return, and I am wondering how close Nintendo is to that point.

[Retrogamer0001]

At some point every company decides that developing games for a system is a cost risk that outweighs the anticipated return, and I am wondering how close Nintendo is to that point.

I think it is far too early for Nintendo to bow out of the console market. Not only are they coming off massive success with the original Wii, but the 3DS is very strong. Wii-U sales slumped because of poor marketing decisions and what I would consider an inferior launch line-up/lack of first-party games, but I firmly believe that the market can support AAA Nintendo titles. I really hope that the inclusion of Mega Man in Smash is a sign that maybe Capcom is considering a return to the character for Nintendo.

[Cronozilla]

I think at this point in time ... people whom know what the Wii U is (and this is Nintendo's biggest problem, that the thing has been out over a year and average people don't know what the Wii U actually is) and have chosen PS4 or XB1 or Nothing. That "VS" mentality might start dying down. When that happens, people do generally look at the "competitors" to see what else is out there.

Though, the last few generations, people haven't done that with Nintendo, they've adamantly ignored their platforms. I think that has a lot to do with the culture that's being sold along with Xbox and PlayStation systems. The PS3 didn't really push it, but the 360 did it double time.

I'd be curious, after this slate of games are out, for people whom aren't just blindly bashing, what their curiosity for the library will be. And I still think Nintendo started out the Wii U with getting the faster to market games out first, instead of waiting for the back-half of the console's life, like they usually do. We're just now getting some of those titles in Mario Kart and Smash Bros. In a year or so when they start launching the new 3D Mario, it'll be interesting if people respond or act like immature idiots who complain it wasn't there at launch.

In terms of cost effectiveness, Obviously Nintendo isn't going to allow themselves to hemorrhage money, but I also think they're smart enough to know, they can't push out their old hardware until they're talking about something that can replace it. The last thing they want to do is lose video game relevancy. You don't want to disappear from the market for a few years, then attempt a come back if you can help it. (Then again current consumers might respond better to that kind of marketing since they're so used to it now.)