Wii U retail impressions?
- Thread starter BRiT
- Start date
People said the same of the Xbox Arcade in the beginning. The reality is that early adapters are more likely to get the 'premium' version (partly because they're smarter).
In this particular case, the 32GB version comes with Nintendoland, so this version is quite clearly the superior one.
Nintendo restricts mature content in Europe to 11pm - 3am.
I really have to wonder what were they thinking when I hear about Nintendo blocking mature Wii U eShop content in Europe. Regardless of your account settings or having been verified as an adult, Nintendo will not display or sell mature content (18+ rated) on their eShop unless it's between the hours of 11pm and 3am.
If I was a publisher such as Activision or Ubisoft which only sells mature games I'd back away from the WiiU platform. This will have a significant impact on their ability to sell DLC such as map packs or additional missions for their popular franchises of CoD (Call of Duty) or AC (Assassins Creed).
In a word: ouch.
I really have to wonder what were they thinking when I hear about Nintendo blocking mature Wii U eShop content in Europe. Regardless of your account settings or having been verified as an adult, Nintendo will not display or sell mature content (18+ rated) on their eShop unless it's between the hours of 11pm and 3am.
If I was a publisher such as Activision or Ubisoft which only sells mature games I'd back away from the WiiU platform. This will have a significant impact on their ability to sell DLC such as map packs or additional missions for their popular franchises of CoD (Call of Duty) or AC (Assassins Creed).
In a word: ouch.
Accross Europe? I havent noticed it on mine (UK)?
Sounds like Nintendo though. They'll scrap it pretty sharpish I'd imagine. I'd hope.
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
You went to THREE Gamestops today?
I just got back from my local target, they had four in stock. Two of each.
I don't think there's any supply problems, I can't remember a time when consoles were this readily available this soon after launch.
You went to THREE Gamestops today?
I just got back from my local target, they had four in stock. Two of each.
I don't think there's any supply problems, I can't remember a time when consoles were this readily available this soon after launch.
Lol, we got three gamestops within 2 mile radius so it wasn't that bad.
Japanese Wii U launched today and I was really surprised by lack of people in the line at some of the stores in Japan. The store that had 400 people lined up to get 3DS only had 15 people at the line, and other store that had 1000 people lined up for 3DS only had 120. The word is that even without the reservation, people were able to purchase one easily.
I really didn't think Wii U would get that kind of reception in Japan, especially on the launch day.
Billy Idol
Legend
Oh my...
Maybe some japanese got ticked off that a japanese console did not launch first in japan? Dunno, but with the werid nationalism they got going over there in gaming (xbox bombing...twice, no japanese WoW client when Blizzard's even made an italian version, etc...) *shrug*
Who knows.
Or maybe the wuu's just too weird of a concept to grab people.
Who knows.
Or maybe the wuu's just too weird of a concept to grab people.
I doubt it's any of that. The console just doesn't seem too appealing to audiences worldwide now. Although you never know when Japan will embrace something the rest of the world doesn't.
I dont even think this is the first time a Nintendo console has launched a week or two later in Japan. Also for example, USA was easily gamecube's best market, well ahead of Japan where it was pretty unsuccessful.
And beyond all that, Wii has sold only 11-12m LTD in Japan and PS3 is at 8-9m (compared to PS2 that did 20m+). It just appears there isn't much of any console market left in Japan.
I think it's not weird enough. As in, it's the same as the other cheaper options only with a bit of social gaming at a price. The price/value isn't there as the USP isn't strong enough to support the console at its launch price. Couple that to the constant stream of negative talk across the internet because we can't work out what the hell Nintendo is doing, and there's not a great deal of incentive to rush out and splash as much money as an iPad or new phone or PS3 on a Wii U.
As for the time delayed content thing, that's something of an afront to their users and one which makes zero sense. Does the console stop you from playing 18 content outside the hours of 11-3? If not, kids in a household can be subjected to the content (happens all the time). I'm inclined to believe it's more a case of Nintendo preserving their image. For Nintendo fans who think of Nintendo as the family friendly console with none of that horrible violence, going onto the eStore and seeing 18 rated games would come as a shock, so Nintendo are hiding that murky side of their business.
Or not. Utterly mind-boggling. One of those committee ideas that got approved on the principle it sounded good at the time between bottles of saki, but which makes no sense after the fact and is an embarrassment to be included. If nothing else, after a few boring years at least we have a lot to talk about now!
personally i think the wii u is just not appealing. I still think theres a place for core consoles like what durango will be. the post your replying too was worded oddly, i edited it to make clear i meant wii u.
Japan has just moved a lot to handheld I guess. but unlike the west the 3DS (dedicated handheld) does really well there.
To some degree this is probably true.
For whatever reasons, the total console hardware marked has been in decline the last few years, mobile and stationary both. Some thought that this was due to lack of new hardware, but now that both Nintendo and Sony have brought out their mobile replacements and have had them on the market for some time, we know that this was not the case. Is this then isolated to mobile consoles? I don't think so, because while it is tempting to think that mobile devices replace mobile consoles, another equally valid way of putting the same phenomenon is that consumer interest and spending has moved away from gaming consoles. While it would surprise me if the stationary consoles where hit as hard as the mobile, it is not impossible either as they are typically introduced at higher prices, and they still have the royalty system in place that makes the games unappealingly expensive, as the public has moved towards free to play and low cost downloads. A single misstep here, such as Microsofts rumoured lock on used games sales, could cause the market to fall away from under their feet.
Where I live, the WiiU hasn't been promoted by the retail outlets. Very strange. Perhaps their quotas were largely preordered and they feel that it's stupid to promote what you can't sell as Christmas is moving ever closer? Makes sense, I guess, but it's still weird to see.
Edit: That said, I do believe they need to drop prices, and soon. I would be surprised if the WiiU isn't available for 25% less before summer.
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We've already sold 140 million HD console and 80 million Wiis. That's 220 million units, the largest ever for a console generation, and that's with the HD consoles maintaining a far higher price than previous generations. We're just looking at market saturation. Dropping the price further would gain more sales, and then there'll reach a point where everyone who cares about gaming has hardware, and it's necessary to provide those already with hardware some new hardware to upgrade to.
I agree completely, but then that's because you talk about the last generation, and stop short of spelling out what that actually means for the upcoming. You sort of imply that the WiiU/Durango/Orbis generation will sell in the same numbers as Wii/360/PS3. Is that what you actually believe?
Personally, the impression I get from the WiiU launch is that consumer interest is rather tepid. Price is certainly part of that, and something where the WiiU is engineered to allow some flexibility, so Nintendo should be able to survive this generation. However, as I've indicated before, I also believe that gaming is slowly moving away from the console model. This generation saw an upswing with the Wii, and with MS backstabbing its own PC platform (with Valve and Steam carrying the banner forward instead) causing an influx of previous PC gamers. The next generation however will face a consumer space that not only spend their money on iOS/Android hardware, but has also gotten a taste for the software distribution and pricing models there. If we also consider that the media capabilities that was a strong selling point of the PS3/360 are now shared by every damn gadget sold for more than $20 (not to mention the iOS/Android gadgets mentioned above) I can't see other than a stationary console market destined to shrink.
Time will tell.
I'm willing to place a bet though.
I'm not making any predictions about next-gen - I'm just offering an observation on this and why the global hardware market is slowing down. It has nothing to do with a lack of interest in console hardware IMO, and I don't think new handhelds and Wuu are evidence of a lack of interest overall in new hardware. It's just market saturation that's causing any slowing down of hardware sales that you're seeing, rather than the market drying up.
I'm not arguing against increasing pressure on consoles. I don't think Wuu is any evidence of that whatsoever, though. You are using Wuu as an example to show the public is losing interest in console gaming. I perceive no such correlation; it's just not a great product in the minds of consumers. It's like Sony releasing their tablet P and it not selling, and then someone taking that as evidence of the tablet market shrinking rather than seeing it's just a bad product in the eyes of consumers. Then a Nexus 7 or iPad Mini comes along and shows there's plenty of interest in a new tablet as long as it's good.
If Wuu was powerful, affordable, innovative and well supported, and yet people still weren't buying it, then I'd agree with your connection. Instead, I see the apparent lack of consumer interest in Wuu as indicative that it's not a great product in consumers' eyes, rather than everyone's off buying tablets instead.
upnorthsox
Veteran
Tepidness may be people seeing this as an underwhelming opening to the nextgen. One where the rest will be here in short order. Simply put, they can afford to wait to see what's next.
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