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Thread discussion cycle, in a handy image! *Disclaimer: I don't personally own a Wii U, the last Nintendo systems I did own were GBA and Gamecube, and am generally uninvested in Nintendo's ecosystem. I just happen to eat this "is Nintendo doomed?" poo poo up for some reason, and the general Wii U thread had grown weary of that discussion, so I wanted to have a dedicated place to mull Nintendo's fortunes. To be fair, Nintendo is in a much better position than Sega was in 1999, so even if the Wii U flops worse than Microsoft's Kin, they're unlikely to go publisher-only. That said, things aren't exactly going well for Nintendo at present. Is the Wii U the next Virtual Boy? As reported by The Verge, Nintendo recently announced its second consecutive annual operating loss, largely due to Wii U sales missing their mark by over half a million units (which themselves had already been revised downward from original estimates). Despite a strong initial launch, post-holiday monthly sales have continued to stagnate, most recently with just 55,000 units sold in April in the US, being significantly outsold by the 8-year-old Xbox 360 and 7-year-old PS3, and embarrassingly being outsold by the original Wii (only the poor PS Vita sold less than the Wii U). What's gone wrong? Obviously, things haven't gone as well as Nintendo intended. Where have the missteps happened? Marketing: Perhaps confusingly, since the original 'Wii Would Like To Play' campaign was so successful, Nintendo's marketing has badly stumbled with communicating the newness and desirability of the Wii U to consumers. By Nintendo's own admission, many consumers are confused and think that the Wii U is just a peripheral for the old system. While the console's name doesn't help the situation (who signed off on the name 'Wii U', anyway, instead of, I don't know, Wii 2 or anything other than 'U'?), its advertisements haven't done much to clarify. Case in point, The North American launch ad shows a lot of people playing with original Wiimotes and a Gamepad, barely shows the actual console (which, helpfully, looks highly similar to the orignal Wii), and the games it does show look like games that are already on the original Wii (New Super Mario Bros U, fun though it may be, doesn't exactly scream 'next generation experience'). What is the Wii U? Is it a tablet? A new handheld game system? Some new peripheral for the Wii? When an ad fails to accurately communicate the 'what' of a new product, let alone the 'why', you have a problem.  When consumers see images like this, is it any wonder they're confused? Software: Marketing wouldn't be such an issue if the system had great games that drove consumer awareness, but sadly for Nintendo that hasn't been the case either. Despite a pretty decent launch lineup, offerings since have been coming at an abysmally slow pace, to the point that Super Mario World's virtual console release makes headlines. Major first party releases, long the driver for Nintendo systems, have been delayed until Fall 2013 at earliest, and third party support is increasingly drying up - EA announced recently that Madden is going to skip the Wii U, and that Frostbite 3 - the engine powering EA's next-gen franchise releases such as Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Battlefield, won't support Wii U. Not exactly a show of confidence for Nintendo's fledgling system. Can the situation be salvaged? Despite myriad problems, it would be advised to not count Nintendo out just yet. If all of the above sounds familiar to you, it's because they faced a similar situation two years ago with the fumbled launch of the 3DS, a system that has since turned around to a large degree of popularity and with a steady flow of quality software. That said, they're in a significantly worse financial situation than two years ago, so the stakes are a bit higher for Nintendo at present. Can Nintendo stop competing with themselves and line up competent marketing with a steady flow of quality software? Please discuss below any ideas, complaints, or general doomsday predictions for the big N. The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Apr 22, 2014 |
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May 16, 2013 19:17
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Supercar Gautier posted:I think they're in a weird position marketing-wise, in that brand penetration has been so weak that they could reboot with a totally different campaign and none of the audience they missed the first time around would notice that this bright new thing had already launched months ago. They desperately need to kick off a new blitz ASAP, and hopefully they've got it in the works and are just waiting on the right release to centre it around. I think this is mostly spot on. Everyone knows they have to do some sort of marketing reboot, but I think the reason we haven't seen it yet is they're not comfortable making such a push when there isn't enough software to back it up. Why drive consumers to your system when there's a months-long drought of software? Then you risk negative word-of-mouth becoming even worse than it is at present. Of course, that's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem when it comes to third party support, since how are you going to convince companies to develop great software for a system that has a tiny userbase? My big question is, with the pending launch of PS4 and Xbox-whatever, can anything they do really generate enough momentum? Even with a new marketing push and decent releases, I don't see how they can salvage this holiday season without a significant price cut.
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May 16, 2013 20:04
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Of course, with the Wii, Nintendo famously quit the technological arms race, and to a certain degree they deserve commendation for that - but now I'm curious, is there any information on if there was some sort of brain drain post-Gamecube? Now granted, Sony had experience making computers and Microsoft had experience with Windows obviously, but some of the engineering and UI/UX decisions Nintendo has made in the past and present are just baffling. Stuff like this:Billa posted:Not long ago the 'gamertag' was a 93489384 number string which was retarded to share among friends. I mean, seriously? It's almost like they hold in contempt the idea that anyone would want to have a network of online friends to play games with instead of sitting on a couch with a couple buddies. Anyway, back to the arms race thing, I think Nintendo was able to get away with it last generation since the Wiimote was so obviously different and interesting to everyone, gamers and non-gamers alike. Sure, it was barely more powerful than the Gamecube, but everyone remembers their first Wii bowling experience and how unique it was compared to everything else - to the point you even had loving nursing homes buying them for elderly residents to play with. Now, years later, that was pretty obviously a gimmick to a large degree, as I'd argue most of the 100 million Wiis that were sold are collecting dust, but selling a hundred million of the damned things is still pretty successful, gimmick or not. However, with the Wii U, they're again attempting to get by on a 'just enough' hardware upgrade and a gimmicky control input solution - only this time no one gives a poo poo about the gimmick, partly because everyone already has one or more touchscreen devices in their possession anyway. Ellen and Oprah aren't going to feature NintendoLand, nursing homes aren't going to buy them so the elderly can play Mario Chase, and pediatricians aren't going to consider Wii U play 'light exercise' so that parents can feel good about buying them for their kids/themselves. In short, it's all going to come down to the games for this system, and they've shot themselves in the foot with their limited hardware spec. Developers aren't going to want devote resources to creating separate, pared-down versions of their big AAA franchises, especially now that the other two big platforms are finally on a easy, x86-based architecture. Game development is now too expensive to create a new range of IPs for one single system, and even if developers did make pared-down versions for Wii U, the audience that buys big AAA titles aren't going to be attracted to playing them on Wii U when the 'real experience' will be on PS4/Xbox. Basically, not playing the arms race game is fine as long as you offer compelling experiences that can't be had elsewhere. I think it's safe to say at this point the Wii U Gamepad hasn't really done much of anything in that department, even in Nintendo's first party offerings.
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May 16, 2013 20:52
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C-Euro posted:I've never fully understood this criticism though I'll be transparent and admit that I don't own a 360 and haven't used my PS3 for any sort of online gaming. If those systems have such robust online services, why would you need to cart your profile to another friend's machine except for couch multiplayer? Which, mind you, is a proud tradition that needs to make a comeback Say you want to show off a new downloadable title to your friend that they don't own, or a new DLC for a game you own that haven't purchased yet. Easy, sign into your gamertag on system, download title/DLC, and play away. This was a pretty big deal among my friends during our Rock Band craze. Plus, I kinda hate to say it, but... achievements.
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May 16, 2013 21:04
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Paper Jam Dipper posted:That's because while the weakest console doesn't always win the generation, the strongest console always loses. Pithy "rules" like this drive me crazy as there's no real basis in reality. Unless you count the Neo Geo, which at its price was arguably never going for giant mainstream success, then the SNES was the most powerful of its generation and also the top seller. The PS3 is in some instances the most powerful of this generation, and yet is neck and neck with the 360 in global sales (and the sales leader, the Wii, is essentially running the same tech as the previous generation). The original Xbox was the 'loser' of its generation, but it was always known it would be the loser - it was more about solidifying the Xbox brand and setting up the 360. Should Sony simply call it a day since the Durango's specs are a little weaker? The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 23:08 on May 16, 2013 |
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May 16, 2013 23:05
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Paper Jam Dipper posted:My point was that gaming is expensive and the more expensive you make it, the less affordable it is for everyone. You can't rely on a demographic of 18-35 males who spend their disposable income on alcohol and video games. You can only go so far on that. Fact is, the gaming industry wants top of the line gaming consoles but the reason the console industry has stayed ahead of the PC market is because it used to be far more affordable to buy a gaming console compared to a PC. Now it looks like companies are just releasing five year old PC's with a controller. The company that makes their console the most affordable with the best games to play is going to be the market leader. Not the company that tries to be a three year old PC instead of a five year old PC. Fair enough, and I'll agree if there's a fairly significant price increase to accompany that extra power, that system likely won't do well no matter how amazing its tech specs are (see launch PS3). There's been a lot of speculation about Microsoft adopting a cellphone-style subsidy system to get the upfront cost of the new Xbox in the $300 range, and I'm really curious to see both how that fares and how Nintendo would respond. Sony has a pretty obvious response in PS+ (especially once Gaikai streaming of PS1/2/3 back catalog games gets started, presumably linked to having a PS+ account), but Nintendo doesn't seem to have any obvious response aside from just cutting the price.
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May 16, 2013 23:27
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Attach rates absolutely do have an impact on developer support, but Nintendo's really not helping themselves when it comes to third party relations. At E3 2011, former EA CEO John Riccitello got on stage to announce support for the Wii U, resulting in games like Mass Effect 3 and Madden being launch titles. Now, two years later, when EA is making official statements that they don't have any Wii U titles in development, and that their next-gen game engine isn't going to support Wii U, that's a pretty damning sign. Nintendo's developer relations weren't any better during the original Wii years, but the insane sales numbers for that system meant third parties would be silly to not have a presence there. Of course, that dried up a few years later when the only major third party successes on the Wii were games like Just Dance, but that gets back to Nintendo's lovely relations issues.
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May 17, 2013 00:25
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Fulchrum posted:And this is not the place for a Console PC fanboy war, so how about we stop this poo poo right now? Yes, please. C-Euro posted:If the deluxe Wii U is $350 on mostly current-gen hardware, what does that say about the potential cost of making an actual next-gen console? I know that the gamepad is a little costly to manufacture but even at $350 Nintendo is selling the Wii U at a loss on the hardware alone. Nintendo isn't selling Wii U at a loss, though, they're specifically trying to make money on the system itself. That's not factoring in unsanctioned price cuts by UK retailers, but Nintendo isn't playing the same game as Sony and MS on console pricing. Anyway, to get back to Quest for Glory's complaints about Nintendo's lack of marketing and 'getting it in people's faces' - take a look at Microsoft as an example. Xbox 360 and Kinect logos are plastered over every NFL game, even two years after Kinect's launch, there are plenty of ads for games on TV that always feature an 'Xbox 360' branded outro, not to mention print and website ads - they basically get the thing in your face no matter what outlets you choose for entertainment or information (hell, they even plaster the damned 360's dashboard with ads). Say what you will about Microsoft, but brand awareness is not one of their problems - even if you have absolutely no desire or interest for the things, I'd wager you're aware of what Surface and Windows 8 are. The point is, Nintendo could be doing something, anything along those lines right now, but they aren't. Why?
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May 17, 2013 05:27
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Chic Trombone posted:They are, actually, and have admitted it a couple times now. Reggie initially said it only took one game purchase for them to be in the green, but I think that was busted a while back on that and the loss is more than that in reality. Really? I could've sworn I'd read that they still weren't taking a loss on the Wii U. Not to say I think you're incorrect, but do you have a source link? I tried (briefly) to find one before posting but my Googling just turned up a bunch of retailer sites.
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May 17, 2013 05:34
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Crowbear posted:http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22013695/nintendo-fils-aime-talks-wii-u-eve-launch Thanks. That really makes me wonder where the costs are going, considering the CPU and GPU aren't dramatically superior than the 360/PS3, it only has 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, (up to) 32 GB of flash storage, doesn't include a blu-ray drive or have to license blu-ray decoding software, and (having held one in my hand a few times), the Gamepad honestly feels a little cheap. Granted, that doesn't factor in R&D, but I would think with volume purchasing deals Nintendo could get the base materials together for less than $350.
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May 17, 2013 05:39
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Guys this is a silly derail. Dreamcast had lots of arcade games because Sega was then very much still an arcade company, and the DC's hardware itself was the same hardware put into their arcade machines. Anyway, back to the actual console the thread was intended for, the Wii U: while not really 'news' given their previous 'no games in development' statement, EA confirmed no FIFA 14 for Wii U due to poor sales of FIFA 13.
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May 17, 2013 17:20
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Samurai Sanders posted:If Nintendo does get out of the home console biz, but stays in the portable console biz (which I assume they wouldn't give up since it's doing so well), is there any chance Nintendo properties could get onto other hardware? That's what I want to see happen but having a very successful portable console means they might just stick to that entirely. Unless there's a complete change in leadership, no chance in hell. As it stands, Nintendo supplying software for other platforms is about as likely as Apple deciding to ship all Macs with Windows 8 preinstalled. Now, if the Wii U continues to tank the company's fortunes, there will be real, tangible shareholder anger that they'll have to answer to. e: There's a very good chance we'll see that anger in a year's time, as I have no idea how in the hell they're expecting to meet their '9 million shipped in FY 13' target. It's almost as if they came up with that number well before the present sales numbers started trickling in, and once they did just plugged their ears and held onto the 9 million goal anyway. The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 18:02 on May 17, 2013 |
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May 17, 2013 17:57
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Samurai Sanders posted:I've seen this before but I don't understand why it is an issue. Youtube is already ad-driven, why does it matter so much if it's Nintendo ads when watching Nintendo content? You're misunderstanding it. Previously, the person posting the video (the LPer) got the ad revenue from Youtube for their videos. Not a huge deal, but a nice little bonus for people who actually bother making LP videos. Now, Nintendo is stepping in and claiming all ad revenue from LP videos for their games. While certainly within their rights, it's a bit of a dick move considering that such revenue will be negligible toward their bottom line, and disincentivises LP makers from doing anything Nintendo-related. Which, considering a lot of people don't even know their new console exists or is a wholly new console, is probably not the best idea.
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May 19, 2013 04:25
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Samurai Sanders posted:Any idea how Sony is going to handle that, since it's an integral part of the PS4? They haven't officially said anything, but considering the initial positive reaction to the feature and the resultant backlash from Nintendo's decision, hopefully they'll take notice and not do anything stupid. Microsoft, that's anyone's guess.
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May 19, 2013 04:28
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bloodysabbath posted:Of course, we didn't get that, but it's kind of interesting to think "what if," because if Nintendo had actually used competitive hardware in the Wii, there's a very good chance its sales numbers would have resulted in it being the lead platform during the Xbox 360/PS3 days. That would have meant thoughtfully executed motion controls as the rule, instead of the exception. See, I don't know, I've personally always been suspicious of Nintendo's latest offerings (DS onward, basically) because it feels like they try to force a gimmicky input method on players without clearly demonstrating how this new input method is necessarily superior to the status quo. For every success like Wii Sports, there are multiple failed experiments like Red Steel. I remember at the launch of the original Wii, the consistent refrain among true believers was "developers just haven't learned how to make games for it yet! Give it time and we'll have new paradigms of gaming!" Seven years later, we have... what, a bunch of mini game collections? Granted, that's partly a function of Nintendo giving the cold shoulder to the core gaming audience, but even their more core-friendly efforts fail to elicit more than a shrug (from me, at least). Is waggling the wiimote to make Link swing his sword superior/more precise, or more immersive than just pressing a trigger button? I'd argue no, but again, that's me. Now, in the present situation, Nintendo has again centered their new console around a gimmicky input method - a resistive touchscreen on a tablet-like controller. Now, once again, the true believers' refrain from the DS days - "developers don't know how to make games for it yet!", could apply here, except I'd argue the second screen being physically divorced from the primary gaming screen makes games less immersive, and is less intuitive when, for example, I have to look down at a separate screen and take time to identify what portion of the screen I need to press, rather than just use the standard arrangement of buttons. Again, one might expect Nintendo's first party efforts to lead the way in demonstrating how this new input method is superior to old, but so far we have NSMBU, in which the centerpiece of this new console is reduced to an optional (and arguably unfun, for whichever friend gets stuck using it) input method, and with NintendoLand we once again have a collection of minigames that are fun, but aren't nearly compelling to the point of driving a $350 purchase. New input methods are perfectly fine if you can clearly demonstrate their utility and superiority compared to the status quo - take a look at Apple's 2007 iPhone presentation and the first time they demonstrated pinch-to-zoom. Nintendo, from my perspective, seems to brainstorm potentially intriguing input methods, design a console around them, and then just toss it out there without fully explaining how or why this is superior to our present gaming methods. Why aren't they hard-selling the gently caress out of the new Wii U Gamepad, if it was supposedly worth building the whole console around? Assuming it lasts that long, are the majority of games six years from now just going to have minimaps on the Gamepad screen? The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 18:36 on May 19, 2013 |
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May 19, 2013 18:19
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Crowbear posted:Yeah Wii Fit pretty clearly sold millions and millions to the non-gamers that the Wii brought in who have ignored the Wii U. Basically. Wii Fit U may take off on its own, but a large part of the Wii's original mass appeal (to families/parents, at least) was "hey, it gets you off the couch", which Wii Fit was a continuation of. The "it's healthy!" gimmick doesn't apply to the Wii U at all, so relying on a repeat of the previous situation is hardly a guarantee.
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May 20, 2013 06:20
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AngryCaterpillar posted:Wii Sports Resort came with the attachment so a lot of people would have had it already. Plus a Motion Plus-enabled controller was a pack-in bundle for deluxe editions.
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May 21, 2013 05:48
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Hey, thread. It's been a while! Interesting analysis here, I think we all realized that NSMBU was the only thing resembling a 'hit' on the Wii U at the moment, but it's pretty crazy to think that one game could account for some 20% of total software sales. Anyway, the portion about third party support after this fall was similarly interesting - sure, there are quite a few games coming out, but as mentioned, those have all been in development well before the Wii U's dismal sales numbers came to bear. Ubisoft has been a key supporter, for example, but after their recent comments about ZombiU being 'nowhere near profitable', I have to wonder how long that support will continue as opposed to EA's 'wait and see' approach winning out. Also, I didn't realize we're only a few weeks away from Nintendo's earnings report. I can't imagine anything's significantly improved since the last one. ImpAtom posted:For one just off the topic of my head, the topic creator flat-out said in another thread they only created this one because they have anti-Nintendo bias and enjoy talking about their failures. v Hey man, that was supposed to be a joke!  I honestly do find the discussion interesting though, and any console warrior-ing in my posts is intended satirically.
The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 03:44
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OLIVIAS WILDE RIDER posted:This conversation about your favorite anime games sure is about Nintendo being unable to put out console that stands up to modern standards, or advertise it in an clear manner as not to cause brand confustion. At least tomorrow we'll get an actual earnings release.
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Jul 30, 2013 12:54
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Kewpuh posted:Nah I like this thread. I would just prefer that it didn't generate a bunch of reports because some people don't know how to post without getting into slapfights. There's a lot of great discussion to be had about how not to launch a console or how not to sit on the success you had from a previous console and then blow it all on horrible marketing and a weird controller, but that can be done without talking down to people like they're a piece of poo poo. FWIW, I like this thread too.  Some console warrioring was inevitable I suppose, but I do genuinely take interest in sales numbers, developer support and so on. If a handful of posters could show some restraint, we'd be golden.
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Aug 1, 2013 19:29
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WendigoJohnson posted:I'd really like the Wii-U to at least be doing better than the Xbox One. Unlike Nintendo, Microsoft is very willing to spend money and I'd imagine they'd spend their entire warchest to avoid such an embarrassment.
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Aug 2, 2013 02:35
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Toady posted:The Dreamcast has become a symbol for any console released early that struggles to gain ground before getting permanently overshadowed by more powerful hardware, which is a real risk with the Wii U. Yeah, the thread title was really intended more symbolically, I didn't intend to stir so much actual discussion of the Dreamcast but it's been mostly interesting (albeit somewhat off topic). Something more appropriate might have been "Is the Wii U the next Virtual Boy?"
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Aug 2, 2013 18:52
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Strange Matter posted:If it is, it's going to be a lot more destructive than the Virtual Boy ever was, since that was designed to be a seperate product line from either Nintendo's flagship console or its handhelds, whereas the WiiU is Nintendo's console successor. If it goes the same way as the Virtual Boy then heads are going to roll. Nintendo fired the guy who invented the freaking D-Pad over the Virtual Boy. I can't imagine the carnage that would result from the WiiU going down the same way. #IwataSays Who's hiring?
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Aug 3, 2013 00:07
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Syfe posted:Should they rebrand it? Yeah, they should. The Wii U is an awful, awful name. I have to wonder if they're contemplating this. Consumer awareness is currently near zero (or worse, they think it's an accessory), so a price cut/rebrand/relaunch once 3D World/Smash/Kart/Zelda are out (maybe with one or two packed in) would make sense. Then again, not many of the decisions in the Wii U's life have made sense, so I'm not holding my breath on that one. Alternately, they could launch a new SKU at a lower price with the Pro controller packed in, and make the tablet an optional accessory. 
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Aug 3, 2013 19:57
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fivegears4reverse posted:In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Nintendoland WAS supposed to be the Wii Sports of the console. It's a showcase of the different things you can do with the GamePad, which doesn't have that same draw in a party setting as a bunch of folks on their feet waving their arms around. I don't know if I'm communicating my point well though. Nintendoland was the 'Wii Sports' of the Wii U in that it's a showcase for the gamepad concept, but I think we can all agree it's been pretty limp as far as generating excitement and sales goes. Wii Sports was the runaway biggest seller for the Wii (obviously aided by being a pack in), and to this day the game most consumers think of when they think 'Wii', so there's no reason to not put it out there. It's the same reason they're putting Wii Fit U out, even though the gamepad doesn't really offer anything fitness related. It sold 20 million copies and drew in casual gamers, so there's no point to not put it on Wii U. (Not to say I think Wii Fit U will have sales anywhere near the original, or do much to turn around the Wii U's fortunes)
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Aug 3, 2013 21:23
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Louisgod posted:It's okay, the inventory in stores now should last 5 years. I do kinda wonder how much unsold inventory Nintendo has just sitting around in warehouses. Probably not as bad as the Blackberry Playbook situation or Microsoft's Surface, but they were originally estimating ~5.5 million consoles sold this year, and right now they're just over 3.6 million sold (or shipped?).
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Aug 4, 2013 20:12
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univbee posted:Grand Thefts Auto from 3 onwards are also likely contenders. Anecdotal, but GTA IV was when I jumped on the current gen wagon. MGS4 was the game that really sold me on PS3, but GTA IV was when I actually purchased one, so I guess it gets the credit. 
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Aug 4, 2013 23:42
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Srice posted:I think the problem with that is if the consumer base is not guaranteed to have the gamepad, then developers will have to assume they don't own one so that they can reach more consumers. The hilarious part of this is when games don't support the Pro controller for any good reason, like NSMBU until a few weeks ago. Nintendo could just make a base requirement that all games must at least have basic gamepad support (akin to Sony requiring Vita compatibility for PS4 games) if they did hypothetically move to an SKU that only had a Wiimote or Pro controller included. In practice that'd mean every third party game would just have screen mirroring or minimaps, though. This is probably the way things are headed anyway if major third party efforts like ZombiU continue to be unprofitable. I'm really baffled by the expense of the gamepad, too. Low-res resistive touch screen, small battery, no SoC or cellular radio, build quality more akin to Fisher Price than Apple, and yet the thing apparently costs 3/4 the cost of a Nexus 7? I remember pre-launch expecting they'd eventually have gamepad controllers for sale by themselves, since the system apparently can support two at once, but it's a moot point since you can't get a second one without buying a second console.
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Aug 5, 2013 17:36
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Not to mention the current generation took so long to price drop across the board because Sony and MS were taking a pretty significant loss on each console sold. The loss leader concept applied to previous generations too, but I don't think as severely. It's also a good part of why the current generation has lasted as long as it has.
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Aug 5, 2013 21:58
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Handsome Ralph posted:Then again, I guess that begs the question what the definition of a totally failed system is, and at what point you can safely declare a system a failure? Probably early next year when Ubisoft announces they're dropping support for Wii U due to poor sales.
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Aug 5, 2013 22:43
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ImpAtom posted:I remember buying Phantasy Star 4 for... what $100? Yeah, I was about to post I remember my dad paying $80 for Phantasy Star 2 in 1989 or 1990, which included a whopping 6 MEGA MEMORY.
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Aug 6, 2013 00:54
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Joink posted:What if this lackluster sales of the WiiU is more of an indication that the home console industry as a whole is in a dire situation given the economic conditions. Or consoles and the economics supporting them just isn't a workable model anymore. People are still buying PS3s and 360s in the hundreds of thousands per month, though. Nintendo not knowing what customers want isn't proof that there aren't any customers. Given the trajectory of consumer electronics over the past few years, there is some argument to be made that the upcoming generation may be the last generation for console hardware as it exists today, but core gamers as a whole aren't going to decide they only want to play stuff like Candy Crush Saga from now on.
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Aug 6, 2013 02:30
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OatmealRaisin posted:Well the thing is they kinda did target core gamers this time around. They did it in the most incredibly halfassed way possible, but their initial E3 presentation had a whole lot of "Look at these core third party games we'll have that you played 12 to 18 months ago!" That major publishers are pulling support left and right is really loving bad for Nintendo. This isn't like the 3DS where it took a long time to get everyone on board. Everyone was ALREADY on board, and they're currently jumping ship. I think the EA situation is particularly damning. Two years ago, they took stage at Nintendo's E3 event to declare an "unprecedented partnership", then poo poo out a handful of ports for the launch and 6 months later declare they have no projects in development and oh by the way, the engine powering every single one of their next-gen releases won't support Wii U. Activision and Ubisoft were probably too far along in their upcoming fall releases to declare anything similar, but if the sales numbers are miserable I can see them making similar statements. Also, flyboi, of course devs won't write whole new engines for their next gen releases, they already exist - see Unreal Engine 4, CryEngine 3, Frostbite 3, Anvil Next... Obviously there will be tweaks and potential rebuilds down the line, but the groundwork for the next gen has been building for some while.
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Aug 7, 2013 18:05
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Shibawanko posted:some kind of headstrap peripheral. Have you ever used a Virtual Boy? They're pretty heavy, and the eye strain is bad enough without adding neck strain as well.
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Aug 7, 2013 22:39
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Astro7x posted:Isn't the XBox One name equally confusing though? Confusing in the expectation of 'sequential numbering for each generation', but as far as consumer electronics go it's not horrible. HTC's flagship phone is the HTC One. 'Xbox' itself has always sounded a little clunky/xxtreme to me, but it's established brand at this point. However, I would argue a key difference is that the Xbox One looks appreciably different from 360s that most people will look at it, whereas the Wii U looks like a slightly rounder Wii sitting horizontally. Combined with the fact that Microsoft is actually willing to advertise their new console, I don't think a significant number of people will be confused, at least any moreso than the number that get confused anytime a new generation launches. Famous TV Dad posted:Seriously. Thinking it was common belief in 2006 that cheap HDTV's were right around the corner is revisionist history. Its not like anyone knew that a bunch of South Korean tech companies heavily subsidized by their government and led by ex-Sony engineers was going to lead to a shitload of cheap HDTV's being produced in the following years. Actually, I'm pretty sure most people in 2006 were thinking "cool, I'll pick one up an HDTV in a couple years when they're cheaper." At least that was the common refrain from everyone I talked to. Expecting prices for new technologies to drop over the course of a few years isn't some outrageous notion. Plus, you could argue that HD consoles themselves were a driver for HDTV adoption. Another anecdote, but I purchased my first HDTV a little after buying a PS3, specifically to play games in HD and watch blurays. The Illusive Man fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 19:00
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Wii 2 would have been a fine name. 'U' doesn't automatically suggest 'next iteration' to most people, and combined with only seeing the tablet, it's easy to think it's just a peripheral.
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Aug 9, 2013 19:31
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Joink posted:To their credit how many software developers have closed down since the wii came out? And whats the cost of a AAA game these days? The rise of "indie" game developers and self published games is partly from the rising cost of making a game and publishers less willing to throw money into new IP's due to costs. HD isn't the doom of anything but it can be expensive as hell. I know it's all hypothetical at this point, but Mark Cerny's "time to triangle" statements about PS4 make me pretty hopeful for the upcoming generation.
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Aug 10, 2013 22:05
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Doesn't Nintendoland require at least two controllers for most (all?) minigames?
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Aug 11, 2013 07:35
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Edmund Honda posted:Ultimately (I'd guess) this is because the Gamepad doesn't actually render anything, so the console itself has to. So adding extra pads would mean extra work for the console, meaning extra fiddling with graphical quality settings to maintain a solid fps level. This is probably also limiting developers on how much you can do with the Gamepad without negatively affecting the on-TV graphics. Weird situation to be in. I remember pre-launch there was a lot of back and forth about "can the Wii U support two gamepads?" Apparently it can, but it doesn't matter since they're not selling them. The only possible way to play with two gamepads is a situation in which two people own Wii Us, and one person brings their gamepad to the other's house. Though considering they apparently charge $140 for replacements, I'd guess we won't be seeing them sold individually anytime soon, potentially several years until they can get the costs down.
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Aug 11, 2013 19:39
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 15:50 |
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Okay, aside from Super Luigi U, what makes this the 'year of Luigi' again?
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Aug 12, 2013 18:41
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