Wii-U thoughts so far

[emwearz]

But I agree, I'll be surprised if the PS3 beats the Wii in the end.

I wouldn't be - the PS2 sold about 1/3 of its global total sales after the introduction if the PS3 (~50million). The PS3 would only need to sell half of that in the next 4-5 years or so to surpass the Wii, which seems pretty feasible.

Remember, Sony produces/sells their consoles for a long time. The Wii is officially out of production.

Even more so this generation. Multi platform games that were from the PS2 - PS3 crossover we generally horrid in comparison. This generation the crossover is usually resolution, framerate, lighting, etc. But the core game is the same.

When AAA titles are coming out on PS3 and PS4 which are the same game with less eye candy, there is no pressure get a PS4 anytime soon.

[Cronozilla]

I think comparing any system's numbers to PS4 is unfair. The PS4 is selling faster than any other system before it. It's outpacing the Wii by at least a couple million at the same point in the lifespan. And the Wii sales during the first couple years were considered "Phenomenal", the PS4 is selling better than phenomenal. It's definitely an outlier.

The Xbox One isn't selling badly, it's selling normal console numbers. It just looks bad compared to "better than phenomenal".

The Wii U is selling poorly, the kick from Mario Kart 8 is a good sign, though, since it shows people are, in reality, willing to buy the system.

I think what's going on is, the Wii U's launch was marred by a couple things, Message from Nintendo and Next-gen anticipation. I know a lot of people who didn't make ANY decisions until both those Sony and Microsoft reveal events happened.

People have, apparently, already said, "I'm buying PS4 first" for the most part. The question is, which do they buy second, or third.

Once the PS4 numbers slow down, that's when you'll see something a little more telling for the generation.

And the Wii U isn't actually doing as miserable as people think, It might be doing worse than any other Nintendo system, but it's still performing better than the PS3 did. The question there is, how does it do this holiday season. But, comparatively PS3 didn't reach current Wii U numbers until five months past the 6.whatever Million mark Wii U hit. And that doesn't include the Mario Kart 8 numbers.

People did the same thing last generation comparing PS3 sales numbers to Wii sales numbers and sitting back and laughing. It turned out fine. I think Nintendo's problems are not quite as severe as the issues Sony had to overcome to get the PS3 moving. The Mario Kart 8 numbers give a hint that people will buy this thing for the right software, and if Nintendo hits that mark a few more times within the next year and a half, The Wii U will likely be OK in the long run.

I think the only danger Nintendo has is, their home systems don't usually build momentum as they age. It's usually huge bursts, then it rides the coat tails. They need to operate on a slow burn mentality for this system. It needs to be massaged like the DS and 3DS needed.

[dsheinem]

I think comparing any system's numbers to PS4 is unfair. The PS4 is selling faster than any other system before it. It's outpacing the Wii by at least a couple million at the same point in the lifespan. And the Wii sales during the first couple years were considered "Phenomenal", the PS4 is selling better than phenomenal. It's definitely an outlier.

The Xbox One isn't selling badly, it's selling normal console numbers. It just looks bad compared to "better than phenomenal".

The Wii U is selling poorly, the kick from Mario Kart 8 is a good sign, though, since it shows people are, in reality, willing to buy the system.

I think what's going on is, the Wii U's launch was marred by a couple things, Message from Nintendo and Next-gen anticipation. I know a lot of people who didn't make ANY decisions until both those Sony and Microsoft reveal events happened.

People have, apparently, already said, "I'm buying PS4 first" for the most part. The question is, which do they buy second, or third.

Once the PS4 numbers slow down, that's when you'll see something a little more telling for the generation.

And the Wii U isn't actually doing as miserable as people think, It might be doing worse than any other Nintendo system, but it's still performing better than the PS3 did. The question there is, how does it do this holiday season. But, comparatively PS3 didn't reach current Wii U numbers until five months past the 6.whatever Million mark Wii U hit. And that doesn't include the Mario Kart 8 numbers.

People did the same thing last generation comparing PS3 sales numbers to Wii sales numbers and sitting back and laughing. It turned out fine. I think Nintendo's problems are not quite as severe as the issues Sony had to overcome to get the PS3 moving. The Mario Kart 8 numbers give a hint that people will buy this thing for the right software, and if Nintendo hits that mark a few more times within the next year and a half, The Wii U will likely be OK in the long run.

I think the only danger Nintendo has is, their home systems don't usually build momentum as they age. It's usually huge bursts, then it rides the coat tails. They need to operate on a slow burn mentality for this system. It needs to be massaged like the DS and 3DS needed.

Interesting thoughts.

I'd say the biggest difference between slow PS3 and slow WiiU numbers was price. The PS3 @$600 was in a heap of trouble from the start as the tech was pricey, HDTV adoption wasn't widespread yet, etc. Time and price drops were kind to it...I don't know that a Wii U price drop eould see the same boost...

[darsparx]

The Wii U is selling poorly, the kick from Mario Kart 8 is a good sign, though, since it shows people are, in reality, willing to buy the system.

I think what's going on is, the Wii U's launch was marred by a couple things, Message from Nintendo and Next-gen anticipation. I know a lot of people who didn't make ANY decisions until both those Sony and Microsoft reveal events happened.

Exactly, though mk8 is only the first of games in quite awhile it feels like that everyone has been awaiting the sequel for for awhile.

The Mario Kart 8 numbers give a hint that people will buy this thing for the right software, and if Nintendo hits that mark a few more times within the next year and a half, The Wii U will likely be OK in the long run.

Yeah right software and one we're still missing is the big new zelda game(we've already had the usual re-release even if it was from a 2 generations ago system instead of the last one. Now it's time for them to bring out the big guns and give us the zelda game they've been hyping up for too long. Or I've been wanting and constantly reading about too long because that idea of massive dungeons just makes me drool. Even though to me some of the dungeons even in twilight princess and skyward sword felt massive to me but probably because I probably forgot I was just in this or that room

I think the only danger Nintendo has is, their home systems don't usually build momentum as they age. It's usually huge bursts, then it rides the coat tails. They need to operate on a slow burn mentality for this system. It needs to be massaged like the DS and 3DS needed.

Yeah, what would be nice is if they took some of their current franchises on the u and gave them a decent update. I'd really like to see a dk like dk64 to some extent(don't judge it for being a collectathon because I loved that), mostly because I want the 3d platformer back because it'd be interesting to see again in dk. Also would love to see a mario game with a major storyline and possibly be a mario and luigi game on the u or at least some rpg game on the u that might bring back a ton of characters we haven't seen in a long time. Plus I know a ton of people would love to see a star fox revival. I actually wonder how many underutilized IPs nintendo has and hasn't used in a long time, those could be what the u needs now...

[ZeroAX]

But I agree, I'll be surprised if the PS3 beats the Wii in the end.

I wouldn't be - the PS2 sold about 1/3 of its global total sales after the introduction if the PS3 (~50million). The PS3 would only need to sell half of that in the next 4-5 years or so to surpass the Wii, which seems pretty feasible.

Remember, Sony produces/sells their consoles for a long time. The Wii is officially out of production.

The PS2 was much cheaper than the PS3, now the PS3 and PS4 are close enough in price for people to be willing to spend more on the next gen....happened with my cousins (though unfortunately for them, they still don't have any decent games to play on the system )

[dsheinem]

But I agree, I'll be surprised if the PS3 beats the Wii in the end.

I wouldn't be - the PS2 sold about 1/3 of its global total sales after the introduction if the PS3 (~50million). The PS3 would only need to sell half of that in the next 4-5 years or so to surpass the Wii, which seems pretty feasible.

Remember, Sony produces/sells their consoles for a long time. The Wii is officially out of production.

The PS2 was much cheaper than the PS3, now the PS3 and PS4 are close enough in price for people to be willing to spend more on the next gen....happened with my cousins (though unfortunately for them, they still don't have any decent games to play on the system )

Eh, I dunno. The cheaper PS3s are regularly $200-$250 and that's about half of the PS4's price. They'll probably be $150-$200 range by this time next year, and I expect Sony will sell them down to about the $100 price point.

[darsparx]

$150-200 range? I think i got mine for 159, though I will admit that was at a pawn shop >_>

[isiolia]

Eh, I dunno. The cheaper PS3s are regularly $200-$250 and that's about half of the PS4's price. They'll probably be $150-$200 range by this time next year, and I expect Sony will sell them down to about the $100 price point.

I'm not sure the $100 price point would be feasible for the PS3, but I agree that we'll see Sony do some aggressive price cuts on the system to reposition it as a value product. A $199 500GB system pushing PS+ and Now, for example, with a $149 flash memory model positioned for Now.

So far PS3 sales this year are down a lot, and last year was already down a bit (though they still sold over 8 million of them). However, that's without a real shift in strategy for selling them - something the drop in sales will probably prompt.

[Retrogamer0001]

PS3 is such a fantastic console with a very strong library of games - how anyone passes up buying one in favor of the PS4 is beyond me.

[darsparx]

Probably don't see it as the new and now thing like the ps4 is slowly becoming