Anyone still think Wii U will "win" "next gen"?

[Deleted member 13524]

...Except they don't, because they got shit for brains over there in their HQ.

It seems that during the last investor meeting, Satoru Iwata got the lowest approval rating in a long time. He got 77% where it's always over 90%.
They won't get to be stupid for much longer.


Honestly, I don't know what would get the Wii U out of oblivion.
I wouldn't be the least interested in it even if the price went down to 200€ and the games cost 40€.

The dirt-cheap and slow hardware, along with a ridiculous initial price really put them in a tough position.
Now it's almost time to get next-gen consoles, and Nintendo didn't create any momentum at all.

What were they thinking?

 

[liolio]

Nintendo needs to start paying third-parties to port titles to wuu. It's not as if they can't afford it or anything, they are loaded like Uncle Pennybags over there in Kyoto, but stingier with their money than friggin Scrooge McDuck...

Devs wouldn't hesitate if they knew Nintendo would take the hit if a title bombs, but if there aren't titles the whole console will bomb. You gotta spend money to make money, and all of that...

Imo at this stage an EOL would be their best option, the user based is still minimal.

I don't see how can the system goes anywhere, sticking to it get Nintendo closer and closer to a wall (not their end though they have plenty of money and they could shift to software only or software+handheld only).
The more they the more disastrous it is for the company in the long run. They have the money they can swallow the bullet to remain relevant, too late is too late even with a lot of cash.

 

[Rangers]

Imo at this stage an EOL would be their best option, the user based is still minimal.

I don't see how can the system goes anywhere, sticking to it get Nintendo closer and closer to a wall (not their end though they have plenty of money and they could shift to software only or software+handheld only).
The more they the more disastrous it is for the company in the long run. They have the money they can swallow the bullet to remain relevant, too late is too late even with a lot of cash.

I thought them forgoing E3 basically might be a sign they were thinking this way.

Realistically though they'd probably let all their big software round 1 come out first, Which wouldn't be until end 2014.

Part of the company has to be already thinking about the next step, though.

 

[liolio]

I thought them forgoing E3 basically might be a sign they were thinking this way.

Realistically though they'd probably let all their big software round 1 come out first, Which wouldn't be until end 2014.

Part of the company has to be already thinking about the next step, though.

I don't see the point, the owners will be even bitter and it could go from a PR difficulty to a PR disaster.

They got to go back to the drawing board and design hand in hand their next DS and their next consoles. That is if the top management agree to be open minded when it comes to select hardware partners...

Imo Nintendo can't support the development of a proper front end on 2 too distant architectures, neither for their games, it is time from them to all ARM on the CPU and have the same GPU arch (or close on their 2 systems).

 

[Deleted member 13524]

They could offer a trade-in program for current Wii U customers.

The console would have to be backwards-compatible with Wii U titles, which would probably mean keeping the tablet, PowerPC and eDRAM.
Since it's so small, they could just keep the 3-core PowerPC in the new console just for BC, operating system and social media features. The tablet was their best idea in years so they should stick with that.. but eDRAM seems to be a liability if we look at the xbone.


But that would be so un-Nintendo-ish.. The company doesn't seem to be agile enough to pull a stunt like that.

 

[dagamer]

I don't see the point, the owners will be even bitter and it could go from a PR difficult to a PR disaster.

They got to go back to the drawing board and design hand in hand their next DS and their next consoles. That is if the top management agree to be open minded when it comes to select hardware partners...

Imo Nintendo can't support the development of a proper front end on 2 too distant architectures. It, neither from their games, it is time from them to all ARM on the CPU and have the same GPU arch (or close on their 2 systems).

They've already merged their mobile handheld and console groups. I think that's pretty telling.

 

[Grall]

They've consolidated (no pun intended) their previously disparate hardware divisions. Which would seem to be a smart move, from what we know. Pooling knowledge and resources and all of that.

It does not necessarily mean future hardware will be the same for consoles and handheld use. After all, software hasn't been unified; Luigi's Mansion was only released for the DS when it would have made a fantastic wuu title. Blah, Nintendo!

 

[Cjail]

. the only hope IMO is amazing exclusive games that are unique to the platform.

Super Mario: Modern Warfare.
A new revolutionary FPS set in Nintendoland that is overrun by zombies.

That could work...maybe...maybe not.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Synergy between their mobile and console platforms seems the best move. Nintendo manages to sell handhelds still. Sell a console to the handheld gamers as an enhancement to their game. Super Super Mario 3D 2 on the Nintendo TS (three screesn! ) and then play the same game on your TS Home in HD, with everything seamlessly handled regards game synchronisation. Use the TS as the controller. Even better, have the top half of the TS detachable and plug into the TS Home unit, and the bottom half operate as a wireless controller.

I think there are a lot of visionary opportunities for Nintendo to synergise with the mobile space because everyone else is being dog slow about it, but they can't wait too long to act in that regard. With WiiU where it is, I can't see any way to salvage that and turn it into a worthwhile future, so I'm one of those who'd also probably pull the plug (sorry Rodéric!).

 

[Grall]

Blah, I'd forgive Nintendo for all the stupid shit in wuu if they'd just release a Metroid Prime re-make at 1080P rez... Seriously. I want that more than ANYthing else in the whole world.

I can't play the wii version, waving about with the wand is too imprecise, I can't aim, and switching HUDs is slow and clumsy without a real, hardware C stick (or equivalent, like on wuupad or pro controller.) Seriously, original Gamecube MP had one of the best console FPS control schemes around, IMO. It was nearly flawless.

 

[liolio]

They could offer a trade-in program for current Wii U customers.

Agreed, that or some money to be spend on games (3ds if one doesn't want to wait as the soonest they could get something up and running is late 2014 starting now with off the shelves parts).

The console would have to be backwards-compatible with Wii U titles, which would probably mean keeping the tablet, PowerPC and eDRAM.
Since it's so small, they could just keep the 3-core PowerPC in the new console just for BC, operating system and social media features. The tablet was their best idea in years so they should stick with that.. but eDRAM seems to be a liability if we look at the xbone.

Disagree either they manage it in software either way they pass. Imo with WiiU being mostly irrelevant and its successor not coming before late 2014, BC makes no sense. They need the best hardware money can buy for cheap, BC and complicated BS should not be part of the plan.

But that would be so un-Nintendo-ish.. The company doesn't seem to be agile enough to pull a stunt like that.

Indeed but in my opinion, it is now or never as they might find them-selves down an impossible slope to climb in a couples of years if the management does not react to a challenging and changing environment and adapt a new way of doing things.
Though I think Pachter is right, nothing will happen any time soon at Nintendo.

 

[BRiT]

So Nintendo appear to have sold no WiiU's in 3 months. Or the end-of-2012 figures were an overestimate.

Some of us mentioned it earlier, but the positive press numbers from Nintendo were SHIPPED consoles while the market numbers were SOLD consoles. I'm fairly certain I even said they might be able to fully halt production while they sell from the overstuffed channel.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Makes we wonder what Nintendo's contracts were like. Have they said to they manufacturing partners, "can we take a 6 month break from making any more until we've sold what we've got," or have they been stockpiling a minimum number?

 

[Sigfried1977]

Nintendo should go software only. MS should buy Nintendo. It would fit perfectly into their Kinect plans.

$15 billion is a lot though.

Eww. Nintendo games are known for their tactile controls above all else. How would their stuff be a good fit for anything Kinect-related.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Miyamoto. 'Nuff said.

 

[itsmydamnation]

Nintendo best bet is to target 20nm, sony and MS have set the bar lowish with 100-150watt systems. Nintendo should do the same @20nm. maybe 4-6 steamroller cores, 30 CU's and wide O/I memory........

But that would require admitting defeat and actually spending money on hardware

 

[liolio]

Miyamoto. 'Nuff said.

I think that is only the tip of the iceberg, Pachter nails it here.
THe issue is more the main share holder which I don't want to misspell the name and the overall "old school practices" at the board of the advisers or how a global company is managed by a hand few like what used to happen at SOny as Cerny describes which for me is a harsh critic of former managers and managerial practices wrapped in a smile.

 

[Grall]

Seriously, I pretty much assumed Yamauchi was dead by now because he looked older than shit already back when he was forced to resign and Iwata took over, and that was a while ago now. That he's still around and still apparantly making decisions for Nintendo (crappy decisions, the kind that got him ousted in the first place) is quite frankly SCARY.

They need to tell that old fuck to go screw himself, or at least stay the hell out of Nintendo's business, because he doesn't know what he's doing anymore. The world changed, and he could not adapt. The world started changing already at the tail end of the NES era and his decisions showed he couldn't adapt then either and were even outright counter-productive. His MO was to screw third parties as much as possible for Nintendo's/his own benefit which caused much resentment, and which led directly to the rise of the Playstation (the single most hard-hitting blow ever to Nintendo), and the disappointing N64 and Gamecube consoles.

Nintendo's attitude has pretty much always been to eat the third-party developers' pie in addition to their own, it never changes, and you just can't be successful anymore without third party games. Which is why Nintendo is rapidly obsoleting themselves.

It's really sad to see, as a long-time Ninty fan. I started my gaming life on the NES for frig's sake, when it launched in my country.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

The problem with Nintendo is that they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

They don't have the hardware muscle to stay in the console race, yet they likely can't justify their $15 billion market cap by just going software only on other hardware.

They are worth $5 billion to MS IMO, but not $15 billion.

Sony can't afford them.

 

[liolio]

The problem with Nintendo is that they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Well I disagree on Pachter they were at the top with the Wii, not in the core segment still they manages to reach cores gamers that may not have owned a Nintendo in years. They did not manage the Wii end life properly, not enough games, the replacement came too late and parallel to that is what they made with the DS successor which shows that they had no idea about were to go from the Wii on. So I think the issue is that they had no vision going forward from the successful "coup" the Wii was.

They don't have the hardware muscle to stay in the console race, yet they likely can't justify their $15 billion market cap by just going software only on other hardware.

Clearly they could compete on the low end and low price instead of shipping... well crap
Actually if they wanted they could compete with Sony or MSFT but they don't want to bet their massive amount of cash.
I mean going software only is pretty radical, they could have tried to ship good products in the grey, Google Style.

They are worth $5 billion to MS IMO, but not $15 billion.

Sony can't afford them.

I expect Pachter to have this right, their capitalization is not that far from their cash level... 8-9 Billions US dollars.
I picture the main share holder a bit as "Uncle Scrooge" having a love affair with his pool filled out of cash