A sense of dread shrouds Nintendo?s Wii U

[Epona]

The latest Wii U sales numbers are out from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom ? and unease is deepening. In Japan, Famitsu Magazine reported Wii U weekly sales slipping to 70,000 units from 76,000 units during the important period ending in January 6. This is the week many Japanese teenagers spend their New Year?s money and sales of consoles tend to bounce. During the week, the portable 3DS sold 305,000 units, up sharply from the already impressive 266,000 units in the previous week. The seven-year-old Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3 managed to increase its sales to 64,000 units from 54,000 units. The equally ancient PSP climbed to 53,000 from 34,000. Even the star-crossed PS Vita managed to vault to 31,000 from 18,000.

http://news.yahoo.com/sense-dread-shrouds-nintendo-wii-u-191856697.html

WiiU just isn't the Wii. When the 7 year old PS3 sells almost as many systems as a launch system it's not good.

So what is it with the WiiU that just isn't attracting buyers?

 

[shrekfan246]

Spoiler

...come on, admit it. You knew I was going to crop up in this thread.

You got the first post this time. I'm impressed.

OT: What is it that "isn't attracting buyers"? Well, it could be the fact that it's only two months old, so it doesn't have the kind of library some people are looking for yet. Just throwin' that out there.

Everything I could say has been ninja'd by jeffers, since I'm not actually following the Wii-U at all.

 

[Epona]

It just came out, give it a chance, once more great games come out for it, it will fly off the shelves!

The 3DS started poorly, look at it now!

The Wii flew off of shelves, the WiiU isn't.

 

[Epona]

What the hell are you talking about?


The Wii U has sold more in its launch period than either the 360 or the PS3 managed to sell in theirs.

Yes, current gen consoles are outselling it. That is always the case. The PS2 was outselling the PS3 at an embarrassing rate for years. Consoles at launch rarely have the killer apps needed to move units in large numbers. The Wii was fortunate enough to launch with Wii Sports, which acted as the system's big draw and killer app. Every other console in the history of ever has needed time to get established, and an expanded library in order to start attracting gamers in large numbers.

The Wii U has sold 2.2 million consoles in just under two months. That is not a bad figure at all. Again, it's better than what either the 360 or the PS3 managed in their launch periods. Sure, it's not the Wii, but guess what? No-one expected it to be. The Wii was a lightning in a bottle moment, and even Nintendo have acknowledged that they're not going to catch that moment twice in a row. Hence why they're slowly moving back towards core gaming, and focusing less on the casual titles. They've got a strong roster of titles lined up for the rest of the launch period, and they'll have other titles ready to release during the rest of the year. Once the likes of Rayman Legend, Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta 2 are out, the Wii U will start being a major attraction for a lot of gamers who are currently on the fence.

If you're going to hold the Wii as the standard of a 'succesful' launch, then by that reasoning, every other console in the history of ever is a colossal failure.

Spoiler

...come on, admit it. You knew I was going to crop up in this thread.

It's barely outselling the PS3. The PS3 is my preferred console but it is also 7 years old.

 

[shrekfan246]

Spoiler

...come on, admit it. You knew I was going to crop up in this thread.

You got the first post this time. I'm impressed.

OT: What is it that "isn't attracting buyers"? Well, it could be the fact that it's only two months old, so it doesn't have the kind of library some people are looking for yet. Just throwin' that out there.

Everything I could say has been ninja's by jeffers, since I'm not actually following the Wii-U at all.

Well, at 2 months old the Wii had no problem se

Why do you keep comparing it to the Wii? Because it has 'Wii' in its name?

The Wii was an incredibly cheap console that came prepackaged with a collection of fun-for-everyone games. The Wii-U is a slightly-less-cheap console that comes prepackaged with... Nintendoland, which is a collection of minigames that are skinned with Nintendo franchises. Not quite as broadly appealing.

It's barely outselling the PS3 because the PS3 has a massive catalog of games to go through at this point, while the Wii-U has something like 30 games, plenty of which are tech demos, re-releases, or garbage.

 

[Epona]

It just came out, give it a chance, once more great games come out for it, it will fly off the shelves!

The 3DS started poorly, look at it now!

The Wii flew off of shelves, the WiiU isn't.

Like I said, give it time, just because it has a few slagging sales, doesn't mean the Wii-U is in trouble.

It's a new console released during a world wide recession, it's sales will pick up in the future when more games are available, look at the Vita (I know that hasn't sold very well, but that is beside the point) when certain games were released, more units were sold during the week of the games release, the same will happen when a new Zelda or Metroid is released for the Wii-U.

You do see that it wasn't necessary to "give it time" when it came to the Wii but it is with the WiiU.

 

[Epona]

Spoiler

...come on, admit it. You knew I was going to crop up in this thread.

You got the first post this time. I'm impressed.

OT: What is it that "isn't attracting buyers"? Well, it could be the fact that it's only two months old, so it doesn't have the kind of library some people are looking for yet. Just throwin' that out there.

Everything I could say has been ninja's by jeffers, since I'm not actually following the Wii-U at all.

Well, at 2 months old the Wii had no problem se

Why do you keep comparing it to the Wii? Because it has 'Wii' in its name?

The Wii was an incredibly cheap console that came prepackaged with a collection of fun-for-everyone games. The Wii-U is a slightly-less-cheap console that comes prepackaged with... Nintendoland, which is a collection of minigames that are skinned with Nintendo franchises. Not quite as broadly appealing.

It's barely outselling the PS3 because the PS3 has a massive catalog of games to go through at this point, while the Wii-U has something like 30 games, plenty of which are tech demos, re-releases, or garbage.

I am comparing it to the Wii because it's the successor to the Wii. I am comparing it to the PS3 because the article did.

So you think that it's the higher price and the lack of games that are hurting it?

Let me tell you something I have noticed. The few people I have talked to about the WiiU know nothing about it, one of them even said "why do I need a new Wii". They just didn't understand that the WiiU is a new and DIFFERENT console. I have had to explain to people that it is a new console that has a new controller but it does still play Wii games. I am not able to tell them what makes it better than the Wii though outside of the the advantages of the tablet controller (the Netflix interface, transferring games to the tablet, etc..).

 

[Epona]

It's barely outselling the PS3. The PS3 is my preferred console but it is also 7 years old.

And? The PS3 actually got outsold by the PS2 during its launch. The PS2, in case you've forgotten, is the single most successful console of all time, having sold over 150 million units. And it was still selling more than the PS3 for the first year or so of this generation.

So whatever you're trying to say about the Wii U applies doubly so to the PS3 and its launch. This isn't some unique thing you've happened upon. New consoles get outsold by old consoles for the first while. That's the way these things go. Always has been, Wii excluding, and always will be.

So...do you think Nintendo is happy with it's sales? BTW, I didn't HAPPEN upon anything, it's an article that someone else wrote and I passed it along. I could have waited three days for the Escapist News Room to catch up but I decided not to.

 

[shrekfan246]

Spoiler

...come on, admit it. You knew I was going to crop up in this thread.

You got the first post this time. I'm impressed.

OT: What is it that "isn't attracting buyers"? Well, it could be the fact that it's only two months old, so it doesn't have the kind of library some people are looking for yet. Just throwin' that out there.

Everything I could say has been ninja's by jeffers, since I'm not actually following the Wii-U at all.

Well, at 2 months old the Wii had no problem se

Why do you keep comparing it to the Wii? Because it has 'Wii' in its name?

The Wii was an incredibly cheap console that came prepackaged with a collection of fun-for-everyone games. The Wii-U is a slightly-less-cheap console that comes prepackaged with... Nintendoland, which is a collection of minigames that are skinned with Nintendo franchises. Not quite as broadly appealing.

It's barely outselling the PS3 because the PS3 has a massive catalog of games to go through at this point, while the Wii-U has something like 30 games, plenty of which are tech demos, re-releases, or garbage.

I am comparing it to the Wii because it's the successor to the Wii. I am comparing it to the PS3 because the article did.

So you think that it's the higher price and the lack of games that are hurting it?

Let me tell you something I have noticed. The few people I have talked to about the WiiU know nothing about it, one of them even said "why do I need a new Wii". They just didn't understand that the WiiU is a new and DIFFERENT console. I have had to explain to people that it is a new console that has a new controller but it does still play Wii games. I am not able to tell them what makes it better than the Wii though outside of the the advantages of the tablet controller (the Netflix interface, transferring games to the tablet, etc..).

That'd be because the Wii was aimed at everyone. It was a console that anyone could afford, buy, and have fun with.

The Wii-U is being aimed at a different demographic, first and foremost. The people who don't know anything about it are the people who likely weren't going to be interested in it either way.

The Wii-U doesn't have the same broad appeal that the Wii had. It was never going to have the same broad appeal, because the Wii was an absolute miracle of advertising, branding, and cheap production that I'll be surprised if its success is ever recreated in another console ever again. The Wii-U isn't failing or breeding "unease" because it's not living up to the success of the Wii - Because it was never going to reach the same success as the Wii.

So yes, I think it's the higher price and lack of games that are hurting it. Because that's what hurts every new console when it launches.

 

[Epona]

It's barely outselling the PS3. The PS3 is my preferred console but it is also 7 years old.

And? The PS3 actually got outsold by the PS2 during its launch. The PS2, in case you've forgotten, is the single most successful console of all time, having sold over 150 million units. And it was still selling more than the PS3 for the first year or so of this generation.

So whatever you're trying to say about the Wii U applies doubly so to the PS3 and its launch. This isn't some unique thing you've happened upon. New consoles get outsold by old consoles for the first while. That's the way these things go. Always has been, Wii excluding, and always will be.

So...do you think Nintendo is happy with it's sales? BTW, I didn't HAPPEN upon anything, it's an article that someone else wrote and I passed it along. I could have waited three days for the Escapist News Room to catch up but I decided not to.

Considering that the Wii U is making Nintendo more money than the Wii did at launch... yeah, I think they're pretty damn happy. It's not got the same instant casual appeal, but its sales are steady out of the gate, and it's making them more money, and sending their share prices up.

Exactly what is supposed to be the problem here?

It's up to you to determine if there is a problem here. I think that consoles are dying and I also think Nintendo's new console is the first on the chopping block. I think next gen (WiiU, PS4, Nextbox) will be the last gen for consoles.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

If comparing something to its predecessor, rather than actually evaluating profitability, were the way to measure success, Sony would have shut down its gaming division because the PS3 failed to outperform the PS2.

 

[Epona]

If comparing something to its predecessor, rather than actually evaluating profitability, were the way to measure success, Sony would have shut down its gaming division because the PS3 failed to outperform the PS2.

No one has said Nintendo should shut down. I just don't understand you apologists. Now we can't even compare the WiiU to the Wii.

 

[Epona]

If comparing something to its predecessor, rather than actually evaluating profitability, were the way to measure success, Sony would have shut down its gaming division because the PS3 failed to outperform the PS2.

No one has said Nintendo should shut down. I just don't understand you apologists. Now we can't even compare the WiiU to the Wii.

You can compare if you like. And in comparison, it's making Nintendo more money.

Where you're off base is in assuming the Wii U is meant to have the same broad appeal as the Wii. It's not. The Wii was a console with a TV remote for a controller. The Wii U has a regular controller for a controller. It just happens to have a touchscreen in there as well. Despite what cynics may say, the Wii U is Nintendo's return to 'proper' console design. Therefore, it will never have the same appeal as a console designed to get grandmothers to go bowling.

The WiiU has a tv remote as a controller, literally. The Wii had a controller that only LOOKED like a remote control.

You are way off base assuming that you were a fly on the wall in Nintendo R&D. You don't know what was "meant". If the WiiU were flying off shelves would you still be saying "it wasn't meant to fly off shelves like the Wii"?

I don't understand the attitude that the WiiU controller is a NORMAL contoller that just happens to have a screen in the middle. Did people say the DS is just a Gameboy that just happens to have an extra screen?