Wii-U thoughts so far

[ejamer]

The Wii U is closer to 2.5 years old. Wasn't this the same mistake Sega made when they launched the Dreamcast too soon after the Saturn and made their fans and 3rd party developers afraid of investing in a new Sega console?

I agree it seems early for a new console... but very few people would argue that Wii U is a successful console, and I don't see why they would continue to support a failing system with significant resources. Nobody but Nintendo are making games for Wii U any longer, and the list of upcoming releases is woefully small.

Other than the relatively short lifespan, what argument is there for keeping the Wii U alive for more than another 18-24 months? I like the console and think it's worth owning for many gamers, but can't really argue in favor of not moving on...

[Ziggy]

what argument is there for keeping the Wii U alive for more than another 18-24 months?

Because that's one of the worst moves you can make. Early abandonment of a product upsets customers.

but very few people would argue that Wii U is a successful console

I don't understand how the U is a failure, outside of too many gaming "news" sites calling it a failure (which causes tons of internet folk to repeat it, which makes it "common knowledge"). Mario Kart 8 sold over 5 million copies, New SMB U sold 4.8 million, 3D World over 4 million, Smash Bros U 3.65 million, Super Luigi 2.25 million, and a few games over a million copies. I don't even know how up to date these numbers are (they might be larger) and they will go up. These are all first party games, Nintendo makes bank on each and every copy sold. Just take the whole list from Wikipedia and add up the totals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_b ... ideo_games

It's about 30 million games sold. Let's say Nintendo is only making $20 per copy (they're probably making more). 3,000,000 * $20/game = 60 million dollars. Again, assuming they only make $20 per game. And again, those number might not be up to date. This also doesn't take into account any money Nintendo made from eShop sales, console sales, accessories like Pro controllers, Amiibos, Mario Kart DLC, etc. They probably CLEAN UP with merchandising sales. T-shirts, hats, pajamas, toys, lunch boxes, and a million other things. And the new Zelda and Star Fox will be coming out. That's gonna be at LEAST another 5 million games sold. And I bet another major Mario installment will happen, which will be a guaranteed few more million games sold. Also not counting sales of Splatoon, which have been decent, and games that didn't break 1 million. And future sales for games like Yoshi's Woolly World and whatever other tricks Nintendo has up their sleeves.

I just don't see how the U is a "failure". Sure, it failed to sell as many units as the Wii. It failed to gain 3rd party support that we would have liked. It failed to live up to some people's expectations of the online aspect. But it's certainly not an outright failure.

[ejamer]

... Sure, it failed to sell as many units as the Wii. It failed to gain 3rd party support that we would have liked. ...

Exactly those two points.

It hasn't sold many units compared to Nintendo's previous systems or compared to the competition. This is made worse by the upcoming release schedule: with essentially no third party support, sales for the platform are only going to stagnate further. The best means to really increase sales of the platform are (a) price drops, or (b) release more games, but (b) isn't going to happen very often and there are limits to how far Nintendo can drop pricing while keeping things profitable. The trend of disappointing sales isn't going to suddenly reverse - at this point in time, it very clearly "is what it is".

Don't get all up in arms about the terminology. Being a failure doesn't mean Wii U is a bad console, or even that it's unprofitable. It does mean that Wii U didn't meet expectations and that a shorter lifespan than initially planned is reasonable.

I'm not saying Nintendo should cut bait and run without continuing to support Wii U owners... but if they can introduce something new in roughly 18-24 months time without having it rushed to market, then I believe that would be a prudent business move.

[BoringSupreez]

4 years is early for a successful console, but not for a failed one. In North America, oXbox and Sega Saturn were both 4 when their successors launched, and the Master System was only 3.

But the U is not a failed console, and the comparison to those 3 consoles doesn't work well even if it is.

From Nintendo's annual financial report, page 6 (in other words, straight from the horse's mouth, yo):

The “Wii U” hardware still has a negative impact on Nintendo’s profits owing mainly to its markdown in the United States and Europe, and unit sales of software, which has high profit margins, did not grow sufficiently, leading to a gross profit of ¥163.2 billion (U.S.$1,584 million). Total selling, general and administrative expenses exceeded gross profit, resulting in an operating loss of ¥46.4 billion (U.S.$450 million; compared with an operating loss of ¥36.4 billion in the previous fiscal year).

Just to be clear, I'm talking in business terms. The amount of enjoyment anyone has derived from the Wii U has no bearing on this definition of success, or on whether Nintendo as a business will see fit to replace it early.

The Wii U is closer to 2.5 years old. Wasn't this the same mistake Sega made when they launched the Dreamcast too soon after the Saturn and made their fans and 3rd party developers afraid of investing in a new Sega console?

The Wii U launched on November 18, 2012 in North America, which does indeed put it at about 2.5 years. However, by the time the NX launches (I'm guessing November 2016), it will likely be right at about 4 years. Development always starts well in advance. The PS3 was generating news articles back in 2004.

[Sarge]

I think "disappointment" is the right term, at least from a business standpoint.

As a system, though? Fantastic. We really didn't deserve it, I suppose. Much like the Dreamcast, which failed despite being an incredible system with some awesome, awesome games.

Nintendo really did have to swing for the fences again with something novel. I don't think they can straight-up compete with Sony and Microsoft in the console space right now, and I'm not entirely sure they should. There's so much convergence between PS4/XB1 and PCs now that it's crazy.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I am happy with my WiiU. Whether it is a success or not financially, I enjoy the system. I could care less.

Also, been playing SteamWorld Dig on my WiiU and I definitely enjoy it more on the system vs. the PC. The tablet has the map and inventory management on the screen and it really helps when navigating the caves. I might try Don't Starve on there in the future.

[Cronozilla]

The announcement period for NX in the Wii U's life cycle is entirely normal. The Wii was announced 2.5 years into the GameCube's lifespan as well, it didn't come out for another 2 years. And traditionally Nintendo systems have come out two years after initial announcements of specifics (like a project name). The Wii U is the only exception, it came out a year later. That might be an exemption, Wii still had titles coming out in 2010 that were selling. They might not have wanted to hurt Skyward Sword sales, for instance.

2016 would be an unusually early launch, not unrealistic, but 2017 seems more likely given their history. There's also the issue of having your consoles on a completely different generational cycle than your competitors. It probably won't end well. This round of hardware fever is over. Arguably, launching a new system in 2016 would scorn Wii U owners and be dismissed by XB1 and PS4 devouts. In 2017, however, the Wii U would be a solid 5 years old and the competitors would be mentioning new hardware (And maybe some games will actually come out! Trying to manufacture a ten year life cycle is not beneficial to anyone not named Sony or Microsoft).

If Nintendo keeps putting good titles out, the system will sell, but it's never going to be a "hit" (unless something comes out that catches on, but honestly that seems unlikely), so all sales are going to be a grudge match. That doesn't mean they can't reach at least GameCube numbers by the time Wii U production ends, it'll just be hard.

Also, 2017 gives the opportunity of really pushing out a larger slate of titles, so that when the next system launches, they could drop the price down of Wii U and attempt to sell it with a big slate of games. I don't think that'd happen, but it'd probably benefit from a marketing resurgence with some clear messaging.
While Nintendo is currently spending more in marketing than they did during the launch of the N64, it would seem that marketing budgets are significantly less effective. You do see commercials, but it's rare. And I've never seen any advertising, even on their youtube channel, showing a montage of titles for the system, which is very good as an educational tool for an ignored system.

Anyway, I would say, NX is talked about in 2016 (remember, they still need developers for this thing and talking about it publicly is a good way to do that), then detailing it and releasing it in 2017.

As a Wii U owner, I'm kind of bummed, because it's a great system with great games. I feel like we're getting into a TurboGrafx-16 situation here.

[pepharytheworm]

Supposedly, the NX will be officially revealed 2016. Which means a late 2016 release (unprecedented) or sometime in 2017. Nintendo has never released a console the same year it was unveiled. That would put the NX between 4-5 years after the WiiUs release. Nintendo has a recent track record of first speaking of an upcoming console then a year later revealing it and finally the next year releasing. They have mostly released consoles 5 years apart in the US with the the Wii and NES being 6 years each in the US the only exception. Handhelds are another matter entirely which have been all over the place. With many theories that the new platform will be a combination of both platforms that could give credence to a precedent though.

Wii U first announced April 25, 2011
Wii U first revealed E3 2011
Wii U First released November 18, 2012

Wii first mentioned 2004 E3
Wii first revealed 2005 E3
Wii first released November 19, 2006

Gamecube code name first mentioned May 1999
Gamecube first revealed August 24, 2000
Gamecube first released September 14, 2001

N64 codename first mentioned sometime in 1994
N64 first revealed Q2 1994 and fully November 24, 1995
N64 first released June 23, 1996

[girlracer]

if anyone is interested Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is at NeweggFlash for $30

[RCBH928]

2.5 years later is normal to start rumors about next gen. consoles but the posts in this thread gave me the idea that Nintendo is abandoning Wii U and launching a new console by next year. It just how it sounded to me.

How much you enjoy the console has nothing to do about how successful it is. One thing we learned is that any videogame that does not reap profits, we will not see any more of and the opposite is true. I read a lot of Shenmue praising, but there is no Shenmue 3 is there? Whatever you like about Nintendo or Wii U now you will probably not see more of it in the future.



@BoringSupreez

The Nintendo statement you provided does it include all the crazy profits they made from the 3DS or are they talking about the Wii U only? I think this is the first time Nintendo reported a loss in its videogame history, am I wrong?