Exclusive to them as opposed to other existing consoles, yes. Wii U is providing nothing to gamers that PS360 don't already (other than tablet). Next-gen will provide new games with exclusive content, prompting gamers to replace their old console.
Anyone still think Wii U will "win" "next gen"?
- Thread starter Rangers
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I have to admit, I don't understand nintendos marketing strategy. To be honest, I don't think they understand where they are headed either.
I have seen a total of zero wiiu commercials since launch. It has gotten close to zero media coverage, because unlike the wii, there is no wow factor.
I dunno if this is the same in the rest of the world, but I'm starting to wonder if Nintendo anticipated that media coverage itself would sell the console, which was the case for the original wii. But that had ground breaking motion controls that every journalist in the world went crazy over... Wiiu has the same graphics as a 360, and ...wait for it.... A tablet! Nobody gives a **** about that...
I predict that this console will be nintendos biggest failure since virtual boy
I have seen a total of zero wiiu commercials since launch. It has gotten close to zero media coverage, because unlike the wii, there is no wow factor.
I dunno if this is the same in the rest of the world, but I'm starting to wonder if Nintendo anticipated that media coverage itself would sell the console, which was the case for the original wii. But that had ground breaking motion controls that every journalist in the world went crazy over... Wiiu has the same graphics as a 360, and ...wait for it.... A tablet! Nobody gives a **** about that...
I predict that this console will be nintendos biggest failure since virtual boy
Nintendo was clearly counting on the Wii causal audience to come back for the tablet. The WiiU should have come out 2 years ago while there was still a street buzz about the Wii and marketed it heavily to keep the casuals. Once the casual put theirs away in the closet somewhere, Nintendo became just as irrelevant to them as the gamecube days.
The product is now solely there for Nintendo loyalists who will be there at different price points and product releases.
There is no chance for them to steal PS3/360 audience and certainly not a shot in hell staying relevant amongst core gamers when Durango/Orbis release.
Gotta know when a comeback isn't in the cards.
The product is now solely there for Nintendo loyalists who will be there at different price points and product releases.
There is no chance for them to steal PS3/360 audience and certainly not a shot in hell staying relevant amongst core gamers when Durango/Orbis release.
Gotta know when a comeback isn't in the cards.
Billy Idol
Legend
But on the other hand...who knows? Maybe they pull a Wii again out of their hat.
Catch hardcore gamers - no chance.
Catch casual gamers-difficult due to the competition.
What is left...well, that is easy: girls. One could say old people, but this might be a bit to difficult for Nintendo. So...a console not only for gaming boys/young men but also girls/young women. Imo, there is a huge potential market and maybe Nintendo will target this?
The casual gamers can now sit down in front of the TV with their iPads and game away. The Wii isn't the only game in town anymore when it comes to the casual audience, even Microsoft likely stole some away with Kinect and they may do it again with Durango/Sony the same.
No chance at women/girls. They are now focused on quick hits via Facebook and smartphone games when do they do want some casual gaming action. The Facebook and mobile games are the perfect bite sized gaming this audience prefers anyway.
The Wii novelty is simply not there this time and nothing they do with the tablet will make it so.
The product is a mistake. It has a very limited potential market.
Any Nintendo die hards thinking I'm picking or "hating" on Nintendo should read my vita comments.
Just so we are clear my comments only focus on western gaming. Japan is too foreign and different for me to comment on so maybe they will find success there.
The key everyone must remember is that the Wii was pre-iPhone and pre-App Store. I doubt it would have had the same wild success if people were paying any kind of games on their phones at the time.
Every form of entertainment always competes for one crucial thing: time. Even if you've got plenty of money to burn, if you have no time, you won't spend it.
I totally overshoot. 45-55k according to Gamasutra,
Goddamn. I doubt publishers will be merciful. Ubisoft already blinked when Nintendi ruled out price cuts
How far are Nintendo willing to go to save the console their fans love? 
I believe this period before the next MS and Sony consoles have decent momentum is the only window of opportunity for Wii U. On the software side, not a lot can change in the coming year or so. Development won't deviate too much from their normal schedule. New projects sanctioned now may take 2 years+ as well.
The only trick available to Nintendo in the near term is some form of price cut. The problem with that is PS360 are cheaper right now, and may well have a price cut of USD50-100 later in the year. So, Wii U may need a USD100 reduction just to draw level in price, and even going level in price may not be enough to boost its sales a lot.
They say they are losing money per unit sold now. For simplicity of argument, let's suppose they have a price cut that make them lose USD100 per Wii U console, but this cut is "successful" and they sold 10-15 million Wii U in a year at this loss per hardware unit level. That is USD1-1.5 billion of investment in the year for future profit potential in their home console business.Given such a price cut may still not be enough to make the Wii U platform prosper in the long term, are they willing to try that?
I believe this period before the next MS and Sony consoles have decent momentum is the only window of opportunity for Wii U. On the software side, not a lot can change in the coming year or so. Development won't deviate too much from their normal schedule. New projects sanctioned now may take 2 years+ as well.
The only trick available to Nintendo in the near term is some form of price cut. The problem with that is PS360 are cheaper right now, and may well have a price cut of USD50-100 later in the year. So, Wii U may need a USD100 reduction just to draw level in price, and even going level in price may not be enough to boost its sales a lot.
They say they are losing money per unit sold now. For simplicity of argument, let's suppose they have a price cut that make them lose USD100 per Wii U console, but this cut is "successful" and they sold 10-15 million Wii U in a year at this loss per hardware unit level. That is USD1-1.5 billion of investment in the year for future profit potential in their home console business.Given such a price cut may still not be enough to make the Wii U platform prosper in the long term, are they willing to try that?
(((interference)))
Veteran
I don't know what they can do tbh, best thing would be to settle for a third place standing with Gamecube level sales of 20-30 million machines and try not to lose money until they can launch a more competitive machine in 5 years time.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Nonesense... utter utter nonesense!
Casual gamers appreciate gaming on a big screen just as much as core gamers do. COD alone will bring in millions of them, along with the next-gen equivalent game that blows up and sells gang-busters.
There'll still be stuff like dance central and fitness apps, motion control stuff that is impossible for ipads and tablets to emulate.
There'll also be multi-media stuff that doesn't even make sense to do on a tablet when you are at home in your living room, sat in front of your brand new 55inch 4k(lol) OLED screen.
Point being, whichever console gains the greatest mind share will become the casual console by default. Casual users will pick them up for games as well as the expanded multi-media functionality and lifestyle games/apps, and core gamers will buy in for "teh graffix" and games.
PS4 and Durango are also being purposely built as lower cost HW compared to PS3/XB360 when they first launched. So the price alone will make them appealing to non/casual gamers simply because of their flexibility and multi-functionality over other dedicated entertainment HW and set-top box devices.
Think why droves of casuals picked up cheap PS2?... (Ans: It was a cheap DVD player that also played madden and guitar hero).
D
Deleted member 13524
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The numbers are out and Nintendo sold about 50 000 consoles in January.
Are there any of those 9 people in the poll who would change their opinion now?
Are there any of those 9 people in the poll who would change their opinion now?
Why, the WiiU is millions of units ahead of its competitors!
In all seriousness, it's too early to say. I'm a bit of a Debbie Downer when it comes to the console market in general, and feel that Nintendo is well placed to both offer exclusive content, and to drop price of entry. We've had three console launches lately. All three enjoyed an early peak, and then crashed horribly. Of these three, the 3DS has managed to regain some momentum, but it required both sharp price reductions and wider content. And I think it gets progressively more difficult to make a case for a new stationary console as time passes, so I wouldn't take for granted that either the PS4 or 720 are going to do particularly great either.
If it turns into a fight over a shrinking market, I'm not sure either Microsoft or Sony has much interest in being there at all. Even though there may be money to be made in absolute terms, if there is little hope for growth, mobile money goes to where ROI is (hopefully) higher. Nintendo doesn't have other markets to turn to though. They will remain in the business for the foreseeable future, and may come to dominate through sheer perseverance.
Personally, I hope Sony will do OK. They are in a difficult spot financially, and they are a technology driven company which I appreciate. But I'm very likely not to buy any console at all, and if that sentiment is widely shared, those who gloat over the current sales numbers of the WiiU may not have much to rejoice over in the end.
^^
Stop denoting to the fallacy that "it's too early to say". No it's not, the WiiU is a failure. It won't get any momentum because the content will never be there now that NOBODY is making games for it but Nintendo. It's also a machine that arrived dollars too much and 7 years too late. You do realize the 360 is selling nearly 3 times as much and the ps3 twice as much? They aren't even in an advantageous position in pricing because as gen3 consoles go the 360 and ps3 are cheaper, it has cheaper games, longer list of games and exclusive content and better online services. The only advantange Nintendo ever had was the luck they had with the casual market and they aren't showing up for WiiU.
Stop denoting to the fallacy that "it's too early to say". No it's not, the WiiU is a failure. It won't get any momentum because the content will never be there now that NOBODY is making games for it but Nintendo. It's also a machine that arrived dollars too much and 7 years too late. You do realize the 360 is selling nearly 3 times as much and the ps3 twice as much? They aren't even in an advantageous position in pricing because as gen3 consoles go the 360 and ps3 are cheaper, it has cheaper games, longer list of games and exclusive content and better online services. The only advantange Nintendo ever had was the luck they had with the casual market and they aren't showing up for WiiU.
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COD is a casual game? I'm sure Activision wants to sell it to the broadest audience possible but an FPS game, no matter how much it sells, seems more a core game.
Anyways, those dance games and arcade games on consoles pale in number to the games being played on mobile devices now.
So I didn't word it accurately. There may be a significant number of casual games being played on consoles but relatively speaking, that number isn't impressive.
Did Nintendo make the 3DS a success with the quick price drop and the release of some big games?
You're right though, generally you get one chance to make an impression and you want to ride off the momentum of a big launch.
They could reboot it, come out with different form factor at a lower price along with some high-profile games releases.
But the die may be cast.
So the 3DS had anemic launch, Vita is moribund and WiiU is looking that way as well.
Games industry is on a losing streak. Orbis and Durango may fare better but I wouldn't count on them necessarily selling as well as even the current gen. WiiU obviously will take much longer to reach the installed base of its predecessor, if it ever does.
Same fate may be in store for Orbis and Durango. They may both reach over 50 million but it may be a tougher slog than their predecessors, as they compete against other electronics entertainment devices, some of which are selling at rates that consoles never attained.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc: lets point to the 3DS as evidence of similar circumstances because the correlations are 1:1. In fact, lets point to the WiiU's lackluster start and compare that to the narrative of the general decline of "console gaming". No, this is another logical fallacy. Per as I mentioned, Nintendo can't compete on prices or content and most importantly as dedicated home consoles go, the mindshare isn't there. A new Mario hasn't helped drive the sales of WiiU at launch what makes you think some a new version of the same game you've played for 20 years is going to drive sales in the face of the brand new sexiness of a gen4 console? The correlation isn't 1:1.
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Who has claimed that there is a 1:1 correlation?
I'll reverse your statement and ask - is it reasonable to assume that there is NO correlation or commonality in market forces?
We won't know how this plays out in the long run for another couple of years, at least. (If then. How many in 2008 would have predicted that the PS3 would eventually outsell the 360?) At this point in time, if the rumours are correct, it seems as if all platforms will have their own weaknesses and strengths. This is arguably a good thing from a consumer point of view, as it allows a broader demographic to be attracted to stationary consoles. If it is enough to allow three different eco-systems to thrive in parallel remains to be seen. I doubt it, personally, but the only player I feel confident in predicting will stick around in the traditional console market is Nintendo, regardless of their current situation.
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