Dvader said:I would assume they would want to recreate it. They made more money from that era than (anybody else in the videogame industry ever has) they made in their entire history. But yes right now a system selling 20-35 million should make them extatic.
Added to^
I think the media and gamers are too quick to forget that they made about 20 years worth of console profit over a 5 year period. In one year alone they made 4x - 5x as much profit as anyone ever has, even PS2 at it's peak year.
No one else has ever had a home console + portable blow up like that at the same time. So losing a paltry £134 million over a year is nothing when they made 20 years worth of profit in a 5 year period.
For the Wii U estimate, they esitmated conservatively, they said, as I think they've finally learned that their over ambitious estimates just backfired and led to all these downward revisions stories, stock drops etc.
SteelAttack said:It's like GG said, Europe is boning Nintendo while getting a rimjob from Sony. Well, he didn't say that last bit, but I thought it was fitting.
Putin stealth invaded Europe and is banning the sale of Wii U's.
Dvader said:Zelda franchise sales in another language.
Pretty much stays in that 7-3 million range. With the added rereleases OoT is close to 10 million and WW is now closer to 6 million. Skyward Sword greatly underperformed.
Notice how the classical realistic visual ones sell the most? Cel-shading=bad sales.
edgecrusher said:Unfortunately, they're going to try and come out with some handheld console hybrid which like the Wii U isn't going to be a hit with anyone and they'll be fucked again.
Probably, but I think having a hybrid device meaning all Nintendos' studios games can work on the same platform would solve the software drought problem. And the portable games if on the same OS as the home console could be enhanced, better frame rates/ resolutions, effects etc.
travo said:I wish the U would receive some of these crazy games that the Wii received. Where are the Trauma Centers? Zack and Wikis? Mad worlds? Deadly Creatures type games?
Indies I guess.
Ravenprose said:^ None of those games sold well, Travo. That's why U don't get any..
Trauma center did allright, had two sequels, the rest though, yeah.
BTW Animal Crossing sales are awesome, it's sales are great. I posted years back, everyone in the media was jizzing over Halo when Animal Crossing Wild World blew Halo away in sales and nobody in the hardcore gaming community gave it any props. Especially when the Wii game was announced at E3 and peeps didn't recognise or see it as a "big" game. It's a massive property on handhelds but only sells about a 3rd of that on home consoles. I think it could be a monster if they ever brought it to tablets and smartphones, the DS game even had all touch screen controls.
There were a lot of updates today on this issue so:
IGN Video - Pokemon Remakes: Why You Should Be Excited youtube.com
Important news hidden in the Nintendo financials:
"- Wii U target of 3.6 million units will need more manufactured than in current inventory - There is no loss from the hardware any more and more games will be at E3"
So since the price cut, they were taking a loss on each unit sold but they've addressed that and there is no loss from the hardware anymore. Should result in profits for next fiscal year.
- Iwata saying this fiscal year is to increase profits- 3/15, not grow dramatically in 3/16 but develop pillar for growth with growth in 3/17
- Pillar is around the QOL announced in January
- Iwata: we are preparing for next generation hardware as we are always doing. When are we release? Difficult to declare...
- Iwata: Not hopeless or at a loss in coming up with something new, but unless existing users are satisfied we cannot release our next hardware
- They have established Business Development department with outputs like NFP, entering into new markets, use smart phone platforms etc
- Not pessimistic on games, but want other pillars as safety net for games business
- They are more of entertainment company
- Iwata: The WiiU forecast of 3.6 million is not the peak. Wanted to be more conservative this year.
If Nintendo, based on losses, determines the console market to not be a sound enough investment, then they won't deal in it, regardless of how much available cash they have.
Nintendo having a lot of money to play with merely means they won't be forced out because of financial limitations. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of willingly stepping back.
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
download sales
Has Nintendo given Wii U one more year to recover?Nintendo was unable to turn around momentum for Wii U during the last year-end sales season, and has now set its sights on giving the platform one full year to rejuvenate the platform, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed.
"For Wii U we were unable to recover the momentum sufficiently even in the last year-end sales season," explained Iwata. "We would like to spend one full year to leverage Nintendo's own strength in order to regain momentum.
"Of course, we are making efforts to continue selling the titles already released for Wii U and turn them into evergreen titles. For this fiscal year, we will release two flagship Nintendo titles that are known as games that can be enjoyed alone or with others."
These two games are Mario Kart 8 on May 30 and Super Smash Bros. this winter.
Iwata continued: "With these two titles for Wii U as pillars, we would like to create a new trend for our console game business through which we can best leverage our strength.
"At the Corporate Management Policy Briefing this January, I explained that the company would prioritise making and proposing Wii U software titles that can only be made possible with the Wii U GamePad. We are planning to disclose our progress on this at E3 in Los Angeles in June."
Yodariquo said:We largely agree on the subject of sensationalism and perpetual doomsday headlines from game industry writers, but to play the other side a little, there is a difference between whether Nintendo can afford to lose that much money, and if they're willing to continue to lose that much money.
If Nintendo, based on losses, determines the console market to not be a sound enough investment, then they won't deal in it, regardless of how much available cash they have.
Nintendo having a lot of money to play with merely means they won't be forced out because of financial limitations. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of willingly stepping back.
I think it would depend on how much sucess they see in other business areas. I can see them looking hard at the costs vs return and even going cheap with gaming. Like dirt cheap and focusing on profis rather than keeping up with the Jones'. I don't see them running scared from losing paltry amounts compared to what they've historically made. They keep talking about "Nintendo like profits" and they know that hardware is cyclical. They reboot every 5 years and take another stab. Also gaming is and has been their bread and butter, it's what the whole company is about so I can't see that changing any time soon. Maybe if they become more like a gadget company like I was saying yesterday, making quirky, reasonably priced, but innovative gadgets. That might do well. Or start licencing their IP for movies and TV series. Or do themeparks?
So we have one year to prove the wii u can survive. Good luck with that.
This is around the point where Nintendo always puts out the majority of their software anyway, during a console cycle. Then the final 2 or so years are a barren wasteland. It would be the same for Wii U whether they sold 10 million or 100 million consoles. They're not suddenly going to make more or less software based on sales, they never have.
One thing I'll say though is I'm tired of Nintendo ignoring a huge chunk of their franchises. I'm tired of just hearing about Mario, Smash, Zelda as a Wii U owner, while their answer for everything else is virtual console re-releases.
edgecrusher said:One thing I'll say though is I'm tired of Nintendo ignoring a huge chunk of their franchises. I'm tired of just hearing about Mario, Smash, Zelda as a Wii U owner, while their answer for everything else is virtual console re-releases.
Yeah, we need more original Nintendo content like Wii Fit and Wii Music.
Some other tidbits:
Download sales have 3x increased in the past two years
3DS hardware sales may have slowed but software sales have increased 20-40% and Nintendo seem to think the HW base is large enough to reap the harvest, in cash terms.
edgecrusher said:This is around the point where Nintendo always puts out the majority of their software anyway, during a console cycle. Then the final 2 or so years are a barren wasteland. It would be the same for Wii U whether they sold 10 million or 100 million consoles. They're not suddenly going to make more or less software based on sales, they never have.
I think they have done pretty well with software on Wii U, about as good as they have done historically. Nintendo only puts out about 2-4 big home console games a year, they haven't changed. It's the total absence of third parties that make things look bad.
Year 1:
- NSMBU
- Nintendoland
- Game and Wario
- Pikmin 3
- WW HD
- Mario 3D World
- Lego City
- W101
Year 2:
- Donkey Kong
- Mario Kart 8
- Smash
- Bayonetta 2
- X
Not bad but they need more diversity. Bayonetta and Xeno give them some, but those are also not out yet.
edgecrusher said:Not bad but they need more diversity. Bayonetta and Xeno give them some, but those are also not out yet.
Nintendo tend to announce games at E3 and release them by the end of the year or early next if they're delayed. Wasn't Mario 3D World done like that? I can't remember. I'm sure there will be more games announced. Fatal Frame will be cool... if it comes to America. I think the Gooch might be doing an action rpg and Arika might be doing another Endless Ocean.
They need more Zombi U type games.
Sorry for the late addition.
6.1 million is an embarassment.
Nintendo is not fucked, but Wii U is.
I saw one for the first time last weekend. It looked a) cheap and b) smaller than I thought. No wonder it's not selling to the mob.
I am interested for the console they are going to release to "developing markets". In the manner of, if it takes off will they bring it to estanlished markets.
^ None of those games sold well, Travo. That's why U don't get any..