Why is the Wii U not succeeding?

[stroopwafel]

The WiiU has a lack of third party support which isn't compensated with a HD Zelda or Metroid or any other of Nintendo's antiquated franchises. The Wii was a success b/c the casual market picked it up thanks to the cheap gimmicky software. The WiiU doesn't have such a pull on the casual market but b/c of a lack of first party software not on the 'core' market either.

You'd think by now Nintendo would show some awesome trailers or gameplay footage of a true HD zelda(not a re-release of Wind Waker) or something. Anything that would get people excited about the WiiU, or atleast Nintendo fans. But nothing. It's like Nintendo is just passively waiting for the system to die as WiiU's all over the world are collecting dust on store shelves.

 

[krazykidd]

Because despite applauding what it is, what it does, and what it can do, people just aren't buying it.

Don't worry, sales will pick up in the next year or two once it gets some more Mario titles and a Zelda and stuff.

I keep hearing people saying "Oh, the Wii U has no games on it!!!" but for me the Wii U has quite a few games out that I want, and even more upcoming.

I'm currently more excited for upcoming Wii U games than I am by any of the announced XBO or PS4 games.

Up coming games are nice and all , but why would i buy a WiiU now for games that are comming out in 6 month-1 year time? While i'm sure in about 1-2 years the sales are going to multiply , there is little incentive to buy one now . That's the only think preventing me from buying it . When i buy a console i want to be able to play games back to back , not wait 2-3 months for a new tittle . Also the starting line up of games was pretty terrible .

All this is my personal opinion of course

 

[Something Amyss]

That's very backwards and dumb if you ask me when Sony also has their store connect to multiple consoles, but they put a download limit of 2 times for digital product, and you can deactivate one of the products and download it somewhere else if you want to.

The only downside is they make it a right pain in the ASS if one of your consoles/handhelds dies. My PS3 went belly up last year, and the only option to wipe it is apparently wiping all of your consoles/handhelds. This was mostly an annoyance for me, as my PSP had been dead since the same event that damaged my PS3 and I didn't own a Vita yet. For someone who owns multiple units, like a family, that could be quite a problem.

Anyway, the hardware tie is why I won't buy things from the eShop for any of my devices. And Sony's version is better. Just...Still has its flaws.

I'm sure the board members over at Nintendo would've called you crazy if you suggested to leave 'Wii' out of the name.

They probably also would have had you locked up if you suggested that now might not be the right time to launch a new console with few planned "killer apps" to go along with it.

I honestly do think a combination of economic uncertainty and the promise of an entirely new generation that would make the console look like a half-measure were on people's minds as well.

Anyway, Nintendo themselves seems to at least understand both now. I mean, they sent begging messages out to Wii owners promising them that gosh-darnit there was a totally new console out, no foolin'.

Trying to capitalize on the Wii brand has likely instead caused confusion among potential customers whether it's just the same console with a peripheral, like the Wii balance board.

And, I might add, the marketing I've seen kind of fucked that up. I don't have cable, but the ads I've seen online promote it almost as though the Wii U is the name of the tablet. Now, I know better, but I do wonder what I'd think if I saw this with the fresh eyes of the soccer mom they're targeting.

They also should've probably spent more time focusing on how to make HD games when they decided to make an HD console.

At the very least, they should have spent some more time coming up with something better than remakes of two year old games for their new super HD next-gen console. I know they're slightly shinier and have new gimmicks, but they give the wrong impression.

The final thing I'd point out is that the Wii became one of those "it" devices due to something akin to chance. You can't predict fad items, or they wouldn't really end up as fad items. It'd be business as usual. The problem comes in the form of the consumer for the Wii. They're not the tech group who buys into the upgrade cycle. Maybe for their phones, maybe. But if they're still using the Wii, they have what they want: Wii Sports, Wii fit, etc. Attach rates were low compared to other consoles (low enough Nintendo included pack-in titles to bolster their figures to roughly half that of the 360's) because the common purchaser wasn't all that interested in games. And if you're a non-game gamer, what does the Wii U matter, anyway?

I would argue that Nintendo has virtually the perfect storm of bad decisions.

 

[Denamic]

Well, there's no games I'm interested in enough to buy it. Add to that that the console doesn't do anything interesting for me. A good controller is to me one that you don't notice. Having a display on it is in direct opposition to my preference, even more than rumble is. And I hate rumble.

 

[Something Amyss]

Up coming games are nice and all , but why would i buy a WiiU now for games that are comming out in 6 month-1 year time? While i'm sure in about 1-2 years the sales are going to multiply , there is little incentive to buy one now . That's the only think preventing me from buying it . When i buy a console i want to be able to play games back to back , not wait 2-3 months for a new tittle . Also the starting line up of games was pretty terrible .

All this is my personal opinion of course

Indeed. I really don't get the "buy it now for games down the road" idea. Surely, if you're buying it for games, there's not much incentive before there are games.

I mean, I bought a PS3 when it had few games I wanted because I wanted an affordable BD player and if it happened to run games? Ooooh, I'll get Uncharted, too. But in that instance, games were more of an afterthought than a primary reason.

 

[balladbird]

And was that little bit of censorship enough to make it a dull 4kidsized version as you previously claimed?

Oh, of course not, the edits didn't impact the gameplay or story in any meaningful way, but the fact that they happened can still come across as insulting. Nintendo said they wanted to return their attention to core gamers, the majority of whom are adults, but this comes across as disingenuous when they refuse to release a localization of their game until a couple extra inches of tharja's chest are covered with cloth. Adults know what cleavage looks like, after all.

Whether censorship impedes my enjoyment of a game isn't really the issue, the fact that nintendo sees fit to censor their titles at all is. this is the reason why a chill runs up my spine when people say they want Nintendo to buy Atlus and make it a second party company.



As to the question at hand, I can't speak for others, but from me personally, I throw my lot in with the crowd that blames the 3DS. it's the reason I personally have no interest in the Wii-u, since it already suits me perfectly, which couples with my lack of interest in Nintendo's first part ips to make the console unappealing. the only title announced so far that I would want to play is SMT x Fire Emblem.

 

[thebakedpotato]

Another Nintendo console with shit third party and indie support, deliberately low graphics quality, and a quirky gimmick that's hard to design for and will lead to annoying gameplay in many cases?

Sign me the fuck up!

 

[Saltyk]

About a month or two ago, I talked to a guy who didn't even know the Wii U was a new console. He seemed to think it was a controller. And something hit me. I knew what the controller looked like, but was clueless about the console. I honestly had no idea what the console looked like. It was kinda like what happened with the PS4 announcement. I knew there was one, but what it looked like eluded me.

And if one person doesn't even know it's a new console, and I, a gamer, knew it was but couldn't pick it out of a line up to save my life, that is a bad thing. I wouldn't be surprised if that was an issue for a lot of people.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

But then...That whole Bayonetta 2 fiasco which everyone complained about even though Nintendo was probably the only company willing to save the franchise...Just shows some people ask for something and then become hypocrites when they get it.

Bayonetta had no plans to become a franchise until Nintendo desperately needed a name of a core title attached to the Wii U. After the first Bayonetta came out its director said that they had no plans for a sequel. There seems to be some notion that Bayonetta was to be a multiple game franchise when that wasn't the case.

Have you played the game? It ends. No cliffhanger or any leads to a sequel. Platinum Games fulfilled a multi-game contract with Sega and the collective sales of the 5 games made lost Sega money.

Bayonetta 2 isn't the result of Nintendo saving a franchise, its the result of Nintendo trying to gain a core audience for the Wii U. Bayonetta 2 will more than likely flop when it comes out due to the fact that it was a niche multiplatform sleeper hit.

 

[MaAlGon3]

Perhaps if Nintendo wasn't trying to force unnecessary innovation down our throats, developing third party for the WiiU would be more tangible. This would lead to more third party titles and hopefully more variety.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Currently has fuck all games worth getting basically. I do however plan on buying one when Bayonetta 2 comes out

 

[faefrost]

It's not doing well for a few reasons

As other have said, lack of games is a big one. But really that is more of a symptom. The problem is that it is no longer cheap to develop for. Nintendo placed themselves in an untenable place with this console. The Wii suceeded in part because of its low cost hardware and low tech approach, it didn't go for high graphical fidelity. It meant they could make good games cheap. But they never really learned how to deal with the costs of higher graphic development. and they are enormous. Well now they released a high graphics console. Which means they have all of the extra development costs and extended development time and delays piled on as a result. But they brought it up to last generations performance and hardware standards, not the next's. So they raised development costs to make last years games on a glorified X360 or PS3. They may get some people upgrading their older Wii's to the new hardware (those that use the things and don't have them gathering dust behind the TV). But this isn't going to recapture any new sales from the other consoles. Basically they blocked them into a consumer base of only a fraction of their previous base, but with no direction of growth potential.

and it gets worse. The stupid gimmicky controller. It confuses the game buying public. What is it? A poor mans iPad to use with a last generation console? But I already have an iPad! I use it for gaming all the time. They put out great tech, but the consumers aren't seeing any real benefit or purpose to it. Further that gimmick means that developers have to make games for it and just for it. It complicates any hope of multi system ports. And given that the next gen of the competition is all running on pretty much the same hardware platform, it leaves the WiiU standing out in the cold.

Finally it has been completely schizophrenic and target-less about who it is meant for. Who is the consumer audience for a WiiU? For the Wii they targeted the more casual and family oriented gamer and thrived. The same for the DS or 3DS. But the WiiU they attempted to branch into the hardcore crowd, but didn't do it far enough, while at the same time pricing and feature creeping themselves out of that more casual or family market. Leaving them where exactly? Standing next to the Sega Saturn and the Atari Jaguar?

 

[InsanityRequiem]

Perhaps if Nintendo wasn't trying to force unnecessary innovation down our throats, developing third party for the WiiU would be more tangible. This would lead to more third party titles and hopefully more variety.

Then explain why the PS4 and Xbox One have outside tablet support? Where you have to buy an extra multi-hundred dollar item to play a game that requires 'tablet support'? I know EA is doing that with a few of their games that they are putting on the PS4/Xbone/PC. Seems like the 'forced unnecessary innovation' you're talking about is even worse with Microsoft and Sony.

And seriously, don't blame Nintendo for third party publishers backstabbing them. EA, Ubisoft, Acti-Blizz, and others had at least two years, two freaking years, to make games for the Wii U. That is more than enough time to get a start on how the Wii U works. Making a small game to learn the system is easier than starting off with ports/large scale mega games.

Now why is the Wii U not succeeding? Unsuccessful marketing and releasing at least six months too early. I highly suspect that was because of mainly Ubisoft pushing for such an early release.

 

[Roxas1359]

And seriously, don't blame Nintendo for third party publishers backstabbing them. EA, Ubisoft, Acti-Blizz, and others had at least two years, two freaking years, to make games for the Wii U. That is more than enough time to get a start on how the Wii U works. Making a small game to learn the system is easier than starting off with ports/large scale mega games.

While this is completely true look at the PS3 for an example, it has been out for years and still many developers besides the first party ones actually know how to use it. Bethesda games are a huge example for this when it comes to that because any Bethesda game running on a PS3 was usually filled with even more bugs than normal, and always crashed the system. You can give the developers dev kits as much as you want, but at the end of the day not all of them can make a game around it. It's stupid yes, but that's how it is. As for UbiSoft, they have made a game for the Wii U, ZombieU, Assassin's Creed 3, and technically Rayman Legends (although they've been retarded when it comes to releasing it >.>), Acti-Blizz is busy with WoW and doesn't make the games, but straight on Activision brought Black Ops II to the Wii U no? As for EA I ask does anyone take what they say seriously anymore?

While the Wii U needs more third-party support, there are some companies that have tried to make it work, but then there are those that avoid the console, possibly due to past failures when trying to sell on Nintendo home consoles (Square Enix, back then SquareSoft supported the GameCube for 3 years and lost major profits because of that support if you remember).

Really things will pick up eventually, as many are holding out due to not many Wii U units shipping to warrant them to want to go full on out. While it is dumb from a practical sense, from a business sense it is not, and in this day and age I take any "promise" from a huge game developer/publisher with a giant vat of salt.

Plus, Nintendo wouldn't release a console early because of another publisher, but I do agree that the Wii U feels like it was shoved out the door before it could even brush it's teeth and as a result has been torn to shreds by many people.

 

[laggyteabag]

Theres very few games so not many people buy it, and because very few people buy it, it results in not many developers willing to develop for it. It really is a vicious circle, and one that Nintendo is going to be very hard pressed to get out out of, of course Nintendo are going to bring out and dust off their usual titles like Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc, but not many AAA publishers are willing to risk making or porting a game over too it.

Another side of it is that the next-gen consoles are coming out fairly soon, so why drop the £300 for a WiiU when you can get a much more powerful PS4 that is pretty much guaranteed to be supported with a ton of games for only £50 extra?

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Another side of it is that the next-gen consoles are coming out fairly soon, so why drop the £300 for a WiiU when you can get a much more powerful PS4 that is pretty much guaranteed to be supported with a ton of games for only £50 extra?

Because some people may still want to buy a Nintendo console for Nintendo related games?, I know I still want to get myself a Wii U and eventually a PS4 down the road and hardware power has got nothing to do with my purchase decisions.

 

[Strain42]

Because despite applauding what it is, what it does, and what it can do, people just aren't buying it.

Don't worry, sales will pick up in the next year or two once it gets some more Mario titles and a Zelda and stuff.

I keep hearing people saying "Oh, the Wii U has no games on it!!!" but for me the Wii U has quite a few games out that I want, and even more upcoming.

I'm currently more excited for upcoming Wii U games than I am by any of the announced XBO or PS4 games.

Up coming games are nice and all , but why would i buy a WiiU now for games that are comming out in 6 month-1 year time? While i'm sure in about 1-2 years the sales are going to multiply , there is little incentive to buy one now . That's the only think preventing me from buying it . When i buy a console i want to be able to play games back to back , not wait 2-3 months for a new tittle . Also the starting line up of games was pretty terrible .

All this is my personal opinion of course

Oh yes, of course, that's totally understandable. I personally have a rule that I don't buy a console until it has at least 10 games I want, and at least 5 must be exclusives (I broke this rule for the 3DS because I knew it would get there, and it has...I think this year alone has released/announced more than 10 that I want lol)

But yeah, that's basically why the system isn't selling right now. Because guys like me, guys like you, guys like that jerk Steve from Tallahassee...we're just holding out for those titles that make us really want it.

When/If those titles come along, super, the Wii U will probably become quite the grand console in terms of sales.

But for right now, like many consoles tend to do, it's just sorta coasting on future potential.

 

[regalphantom]

Realistically the only reason the console is struggling is because there aren't enough titles for it. Quite literally that is it. I went into a local EBGames (Gamestop in Canada) about a month ago and was torn between picking up a WiiU or a cheap PS3 to use as a Blu-Ray/Cheap Exclusive player. I ended up with the PS3 since there were exactly two games I wanted to pick up for the WiiU. Had I been able to grab 3 or 4 games that I wanted for it, I would have taken it over the PS3, although it looks like we won't hit that point for a while (In all seriousness, now that Pikmin 3 is out, all it will take is one decent title and I will grab one. Heck, if the Wind Waker remake is reasonably priced that would be enough). As is, however, I am leaving it waiting on the shelf.