Nintendo GOing Forward.
- Thread starter Wynix
- Start date
The first Bayonetta wasn't a huge success, and a spinoff from a brand that Aonuma's sent into the toilet isn't going to move hardware units.
Smash Bros should do okay, though.
They should let the team that created Wii Sports do more.
Yeah, Nintendo should take them out from the basement where they had them hidden.
Smash Bros had sold nearly 9 million units on Gamecube, a console that only sold 22 million units, I think its safe to say that its going to do better than "ok".
Bayonetta 2 will be a commercial success if sales approach a million units. Platinum hasn't survived this long needing to sell millions of units, their software is almost always pretty niche.
Hyrule Warriors is in the same boat. How many Warriors games have put up huge numbers? They simply don't have big budgets, and can profit will modest sales.
Wii U hardware is finally not a negative on the bottom line. Nintendo is most likely going to continue to push bundles this year instead of dropping the price. I would bet we will see a Smash Bros bundle later this year, similar to the MK8 bundle. Nintendo will profit this fiscal year, something Microsoft wont be able to say for their Xbox division.
Regardless of of the quality of the games, pretty much every Zelda sells well. The fanbase is large enough that there's a huge amount of dedicated people who will buy everything Zelda regardless of if it's good or not. I don't think we need to worry about Hyrule Warriors as a success or not...
Whether it sells systems or not is another matter, of course, but if it sells to a large amount of Wii U users, that will help a lot.
Edit: For the record, I'll be very surprised if Hyrule Warriors sucks. I love DW style games, and I really wish we'd gotten that Pokémon Warriors Koei wanted to do, but Nintendo rejected for fear it'd be too violent.
Yeah like a spinoff of a series that is about cockfighting with Fantasy Chickens, but somehow the Fantasy Chickens don't mind being used in fights is gonna totally be more violent than the actual games are, especially given Black 1/White 1 had Pokémon abuse as a damn plot point...
Bayonetta was only available on PS360. Which means that anyone that enjoyed that game and would like to play its sequel, will have to buy a WiiU to do it. So while the title may not have universal appeal on among Nintendo customers, it will contribute to pushing otherwise doubtful potential customers over the threshold to buying a WiiU. Thus, its value to Nintendo goes beyond software sales numbers alone. (Additionally, it fleshes out their platform with a game that both has recognition, and which is fairly unique in flavor.)
Sales have been declining for a long time. The one bright spot was Twilight Princess, where someone apparently twisted Aonuma's arm and made him respond to consumer demand instead of foisting another anime adventure on everyone.
Yeah, Hyrule Warriors will sell software units, same as Crossbow Training did, but it won't move hardware. It will probably be more fun than the increasingly tedious, pseudo-puzzle* based games.
*Placing a bomb at an obviously marked location is not a "puzzle," and neither is shooting your hookshot at a clearly marked spot.
The Warrior games are pretty popular in Japan, so I could see it moving some units over there for sure. What people have to realize is that these upcoming games are no longer having to sell hardware by itself. The lineup of already released games is pretty darn good now. So even though games like Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta wouldn't "sell" many consoles on their own, they could very well be the thing that pushes some consumers to make the plunge when those consumers were already somewhat interested in games like MK8 and Mario 3D World.
Nintendo always likes to make sure their games are still accessible to the new or novice gamer, that's why games like Zelda become pretty easy for experienced gamers. Hand the controller to a new gamer, or a casual gamer, and you will see that what seems obvious to you and I, can be overlooked by someone who doesn't play games all the time.
Nintendo always likes to make sure their games are still accessible to the new or novice gamer, that's why games like Zelda become pretty easy for experienced gamers. Hand the controller to a new gamer, or a casual gamer, and you will see that what seems obvious to you and I, can be overlooked by someone who doesn't play games all the time.
Yeah, but Zelda's declined precipitously in sales the more and more it revolves around "push the block" and looks like a cartoon. They should make games people actually buy.
What was the last Zelda game that didn't sell a million copies? 2 Million Copies? 3 Million Copies? Zelda SS released on Wii in 2011, a year that the console was basically abandoned, and it still managed to sell about 3 million copies. I don't want to hear the lame excuse about the huge install base, the droves of Wii sports casual gamers were never going to lineup to buy a Zelda game. Heck, Wind Waker HD has sold over a million copies, and its a HD remaster of a Gamecube game. I guess if Nintendo is doing terrible with Zelda, then you must think Sony is doing terrible with the majority of their exclusives. People act like all games these days have to sell 10 million copies to be considered a success, but the reality is the majority of games that arent COD, AC, and Batman simply don't put up those huge numbers, and it hardly makes them all failures.
Now obviously Nintendo has acknowledged the fact that the Zelda series is in need of some formula changes, just don't expect Nintendo to ever deviate to much from the accessible formula that they stick to.
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Fearsomepirate's point wasn't about total sales, but declining sales. I don't know if true or not, but that's his point - where the franchise sold lots before, it's now selling substantially less, even if selling a million or two units.
The counter to that is proof that either the franchise sells as much per iteration as ever, or perhaps sells as large a proportion as ever, although the argument is about moving Wii U units as I understand it, so proportion isn't as relevant as total sales. If Zelda has been selling less and less each title, it's ability to move units is likely diminished.
Sales have went up and down for the franchise for years though, that's why I am countering the argument that the franchise sells less and less with each title. OoT sold more than MM, but then I am pretty sure Wind Waker sold more than MM. Twilight Princess sold more than both MM and Wind Waker. SS sold about the same number as MM. The idea that the Zelda franchise has seen this downward spiral in sales in just not true, its gone up and down for years. Even Zelda Link Between Worlds has sold about 3 million copies already. The series is healthy, the numbers back that up.
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Deleted member 11852
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I would love to se some graphs reflecting sales. Zelda is one of the few Nintendo franchises that I genuinely care about. Although it's incredibly unlikely, I think it's the only game that would get me to buy a Wii U.
Ubisoft Done With Mature Wii U Games
Yves Guillemot CEO of Ubisoft has announced they will not release any more mature games on Wii U after Watch Dogs, and that AC will be not be landing on Wii U this year. I have heard polarizing opinions from various people now, and honestly I can see both sides, but I can respect their decision on this one. AC4 had a larger install base with Wii U than they did with X1, and the sales weren't even close, it sold far better on X1 than Wii U. I think it comes down to recourses and return on investment. Even if Wii U ports aren't losing money, that doesn't make them a good return on investment. So while many Nintendo fans will protest that they were getting inferior versions, and that's why the sales were terrible, that argument doesn't hold much water since PS3 games typically ran and looked worse than the 360 versions, but the PS3 versions still sold well regardless. I do think the thinning of the heard is actually going to be beneficial for the mature games that do release on Wii U. Games like Bayonetta 2 and Devils Third wont be competing against AC, Batman, and possibly COD for Wii U gamers dollars. Seeing as how those games account for less than a million units total, its not going to drastically change sales potential for games like Bayonetta 2, but it will like help a little bit.
Yves Guillemot CEO of Ubisoft has announced they will not release any more mature games on Wii U after Watch Dogs, and that AC will be not be landing on Wii U this year. I have heard polarizing opinions from various people now, and honestly I can see both sides, but I can respect their decision on this one. AC4 had a larger install base with Wii U than they did with X1, and the sales weren't even close, it sold far better on X1 than Wii U. I think it comes down to recourses and return on investment. Even if Wii U ports aren't losing money, that doesn't make them a good return on investment. So while many Nintendo fans will protest that they were getting inferior versions, and that's why the sales were terrible, that argument doesn't hold much water since PS3 games typically ran and looked worse than the 360 versions, but the PS3 versions still sold well regardless. I do think the thinning of the heard is actually going to be beneficial for the mature games that do release on Wii U. Games like Bayonetta 2 and Devils Third wont be competing against AC, Batman, and possibly COD for Wii U gamers dollars. Seeing as how those games account for less than a million units total, its not going to drastically change sales potential for games like Bayonetta 2, but it will like help a little bit.
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Deleted member 13524
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Give it another year and the headline will read exactly the same but without the "mature" part.
May as well add COD isn't being ported either. Despite Nintendo's early aspirations to draw 3rd parties, they've failed to create anything other than a second console with niche appeal. Which is exactly as many of us predicted, and points to concerns for Nintendo's future.
At which, I feel this is better served in the Nintendo's Future thread.
At which, I feel this is better served in the Nintendo's Future thread.
Why? Are you forced to play every ubi game or something?
Will they even try to release cheaper 28nm Wii-Us in the near future? It's not like the 2 main competitors aren't not manufacturing reliable and relatively cheap 28nm (and a lot bigger) APUs since 1 whole year.
Also they should have made a 180 (U?) turn, like Microsoft with its expensive Kinect, here the costly touchpad. For the price, like Kinect, the touchpad doesn't bring enough compelling enjoyment and for many people is more like a repulsive device for various reasons.
They could have made a 199$ Wii U this year with a 28nm process and without the touchpad. They are doing incredibly great software, but their whole hardware management is a total disaster on all its aspects, at least compared to its more aggressive competitors.
Also they should have made a 180 (U?) turn, like Microsoft with its expensive Kinect, here the costly touchpad. For the price, like Kinect, the touchpad doesn't bring enough compelling enjoyment and for many people is more like a repulsive device for various reasons.
They could have made a 199$ Wii U this year with a 28nm process and without the touchpad. They are doing incredibly great software, but their whole hardware management is a total disaster on all its aspects, at least compared to its more aggressive competitors.
I doubt it. The issue is the 32MB of EDRAM. I'm not sure how reliably that can be manufactured even now. I suppose they could go to ESRAM as an alternative as long as they match the performance specs (which should be possible as the rumored bandwidth isn't that high, I think), but the I doubt they would get a significant cost savings in that case.
