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liger05

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Posts posted by liger05

  1. Posted

    I don't get this perceived software drought at all.

     

    Sure, there are no games being released at present or in the near future, but I for one have too many to play at present. I am currently ploughing my through Nintendo Land, Tank, Tank, Tank, Nano Assault Neo, and ZombiU (not much time to play this as my son's off school for 4 weeks over the Chinese New Year). I have Batman currently being shipped (18 quid), and I know this will have to be put on hold until ZombiU is truly completed. I have the possibility of buying AC3 and ME3 now they are coming down in price, but don't think I'll have the time to put in, not to mention a few e Shop releases.

     

    I very much doubt I'll finish everything before the March releases of Lego City and MHU, of which I'll pick up both.

     

    I don't see a drought, I see a Tsunami!

     

    And if one already bought those games when they were originally released on other consoles? Then what?

  2. Posted

    Its still quite amazing that Nintendo have made a sequel to one of the best selling consoles of all time, a console that broke so many sales records and yet the response to the Wii U from people has been so apathetic.

     

    I feel like maybe some of the things Nintendo did/didn't do with the Wii has come back on them and has led to this reaction. More specifically the software droughts in the Wii's life between big releases.

     

    From a personal stand point I got sick of it and in the end picked up a 360 to tie me over between those big Nintendo games. I almost feel like Nintendo are unreliable when it comes to console support, you're at the mercy of their games only with almost zero third party software, so the stream of games isn't anywhere as consistent as it is for the other consoles. I also didn't like that they pretty much abandoned the Wii two years ago outside of skyward sword.

     

    I think killing the wii of two years ago was massive. A new console should come at the end of the previous consoles life. The wii died a very slow death and people moved on to other things.

  3. Posted

    Really wish Nintendo had been more conservative with their projections. I am so sick of seeing Nintendo is doomed articles. They're all erroneous. The Wii U's launch was better than the 360 and PS3's for crying out loud

     

    Nintendo doomed articles have been going around for years and I dont think anything will stop that.

     

    For me its too early to say which direction the wii u will go long term. Short term there will be more pain as they still have plenty wii u consoles to shift with no software to do just that so expect those articles to ramp up even more when the Q1 financials come out as they wont be pretty.

     

    Long term as long as the big ip's do what they usually do then the console should be fine.

     

    I would like to see more articles talking about things like 3rd party support. As a Wii U owner thats my major concern right now.

  4. Posted

    Which is precisely why I don't believe the time is right for Nintendo to release Wii U Sports and expect it to perform as a system selling title. They can't drop the price, and have said they won't, but the cost is still too much right now when even casual games machines owners are leaning toward multimedia capabilities over the games that can also be used - games are no longer to sole priority and the other systems offer just as much if not more since the PS3 is also a Blu Ray player.

     

     

     

    And I believe that Wii Fit will also end up falling into this same category - the only saving grace being you don't have to buy a new balance board if you already have one but if not... well, it's almost out the question. The Wii Remote is a difficult one. These games are really relying on selling to pre-existing Wii owners and anyone outside that is going to face a costly barrier to entry - more so than the one that already exists. But these games aren't really targeting the crowd prepared to make that level of investment.

     

    They'd be better saving such games for next year when they can reduce the price of the console, and have an idea of the cost of the competitor machines. If they release them now, they will be forgotten come next year.

     

    I dont have a balance board so thats me out.

     

    Is the Gamepad going to be an obstacle when they want to reduce the price?

  5. Posted

    That would have to be a minimum - I still think it would need a price drop by $50 to come back in line with the Wii's cost when it launched. And whilst that isn't inflation adjusted, when Mom and Dad are walking around Walmart, they don't look up the RPI and adjust past purchases to re-assess current asking prices.

     

    And it really requires you to already be in the ownership of a few Wii Remotes from a past Wii device although if they aren't Motion Plus equiped, that's another expense you will have to endure. I don't think this game would come off quite so lightly in the single player department with just a GamePad like NintendoLand does. It becomes more expensive for people investing in this as their first Wii console.

     

    They need to pack in a wiimote as well.

     

    I think Wii Sports 2 will do good numbers just as wii u fit will but neither will have the same impact as last time. Thats a not a criticism as the Wii was lightning in a bottle and would be near impossible for nintendo to replicate that.

  6. Posted

    In more positive news, it looks like Fire Emblem Awakening is doing really well in the US!

     

    It has sold out at Gamestop and managed to take the number 1 spot on Amazon across all platforms! (though I think it now sits at around No6 or 7 - but still ahead of both versions of Dead Space 3!)

     

    Looks like it's continuing the trend of outperforming the series' Japanese sales in the west :) (and considering that it's the 2nd best selling game in the series on public record in Japan, it looks like it's gonna blow every other FE game out of the water in terms of US sales :D)

     

    I hope that NOE give it as much of a push as NOA have, cause it seems to be working wonders for the game!

     

    Been saying forever that nintendo need to localise so many more games. Not all of them will sell huge amounts but there is enough of a core 3ds audience who will get those games.

  7. Posted

    Those aren't gaming devices so are more easily explainable

     

    Not really. If the argument is people are not spending money on essential items and penny pinching then they wouldnt be spending £400 on ipads. The difference is people have more choice now so its up to all those fighting for the consumers money to make there product desireable.

  8. Posted

    But despite all this it still outperformed the PS3 for the same period of its life cycle.

     

    However there is a much bigger issue that no one's talking about, and it's not tablets, smart phones or dickheads pretending Angry Birds or Cut the Rope will replace home gaming. It's all about the mindset of the public at this moment in time.

     

    When the Wii was out in around 2007 it seemed people had a lot more money. People were out spending and buying new things, a purchase like a games console would be made on impulse without a second thought. Things are VERY different now. People are being more conservative with their spending and watching their pennies. It's not a time when people are running out and spending large sums on expensive things non-essential items.

     

    A combination of a poorly managed launch and the current economic climate have hurt Nintendo. But to say it's flopped is a long way off the truth.

     

    Yet people are buying Ipads, Nexus tablets, Kindle Fire tablets etc so to pin it on the economy really doesnt cut it.

     

    People say the Wii U was bad marketing due to the name, but you forget the power of the brand, especially in America. That's why the Pokémon logos have been like this:

     

    Its not simply about the brand. The console looks similar to the Wii. If a person walks into a game shop and sees the demo unit with the nunchuck and wiimote attached you can see why they could think its a wii. Same logo, similar looking console, same controllers. I have seen media reports calling it the Wii. We saw the confusion with the 3DS/DS and after that I dont think they should of left it to chance again.

     

    Prior to the 3DS every piece of Nintendo HW had a different logo. If Nintendo had no problem dropping thre Gameboy Brand which was huge there is no reason why they couldnt do the same with the Wii.

  9. Posted

    I do have a question.

     

    Other than the online issues of the Wii U, how would you have done the launch? Most people just say about adding more games, but that'd have caused more issues.

     

    So yeah, do tell

     

    The name for starters. We saw what happened with the 3DS/DS. People may be silly for not knowing the difference but a different name totally seperate from Wii leaves no doubt that this is no wii add on.

     

    E32012 was a mess. I dont think anyone can claim otherwise. What we saw last week with the direct should of been the sort of thing showed at the last E3 before launch. To bang on about a 3rd party port and calling it a different game was insulting.

     

    The lineup should of been different. The lineup wasnt bad but when you take into account so many were old games then its a problem. Expensive old ports are not going to make people lay down £300 for a new console. The Japanese one even worse considering they have no new games until March. Thats crazy!!

     

    Addressed the lack of demo units in stores and lack of consistency. Some stores had them on, some didnt. Some had a demo, some didnt. The ones that did have a demo had no demo's of the titles that were actually out.

     

    A real aggressive marketing campaign just to get the product out there. I saw more Vita adverts before christmas than wii u. That isnt right when one of them is a brand new device.

     

    Make sure things like VC, Tivo were up and running from launch and the Eshop had content ready to go. We saw the 3DS launch with no Eshop and for it to happen again where key features were missing was disappointing.

     

    Of course its a lot easier for me on the outside post launch to come up with these things but there are people employed to make sure things are right and with the 3DS and Wii U it hasnt been.

  10. Posted

    The thing with Sony and MS though is that there were/are potential candidates who could replace the likes of Stringer fairly easily, not to mention that Stringer's failings were far greater than Iwata - nor did he have any big success to call his own.

     

    Iwata's position is far from untenable, especially considering that the reasons for Nintendo's financial woes over the last couple of years were largely due to highly extrenuous circumstances with the 3DS price cut and Wii U R&D costs as well as an unprecedented strengthening of the yen. With all that out of the way, Nintendo have gotten through the worst of it. They're only making a small loss on the Wii U hardware and that'll be chipped away within this financial year for sure.

     

    Not to mention that this year will see the 3DS take off like a rocket in the west, as the release schedule finally catches up with Japan. They'll be printing pure money off that hardware, even if the Wii U chugs along at a sluggish pace :)

     

    Well the 3DS price cut was down to a badly prepared launch and lack of preparation.

     

    I like Iwata but its 2 bad launches on the trot now and the same mistakes being made. The Wii U seems rushed even though it wasn’t. They had 2 years to make sure the product would have the best launch possible and didn’t take advantage of that.

     

    In no way am I pinning it all on him as even in the US Reggie and co have a lot to answer for as well.

  11. Posted

    This is great news!!

     

    Rune Factory 4

     

    Nintendo 3DS, Summer 2013 – The first game in the Rune Factory simulation/role-playing series to be released on the Nintendo 3DS, Rune Factory 4 adds new romance options, the ability to select a male or female character at the game’s start, and has endless crafting, farming and cooking opportunities. The player becomes Selphia’s prince or princess and can manage the village, explore the countryside with townsfolk, or tame monsters in the wild to aid them in battle or help out in the fields.

     

    Europe?

  12. Posted

    Whilst Vita sales are below PSP sales, look at how close the numbers are. Since they first started reporting on Vita sales, Sony have consistantly said how they've struggled to convert PSP sales into PSV sales and this kinda shows.

     

    If they could get all customers to only buy the Vita, and so have the PSP drop off altogether, the sales wouldn't be that bad at all and would have been roughly inline with total PSP sales for 2011 which was before the Vita showed up.

     

    Certainly not an easy task given the Vita is 2.5x the cost of a PSP and a slim games lineup but if Sony can get the figures to that point, I'm sure they'll be more than happy as the 3DS isn't doing monumentally better.

     

    Maybe they need it cracked lol so people can get free games again.

     

    I dont see how sony turn the vita around. NFS. COD and AC did nothing to push hardware.

  13. Posted · Edited by liger05

    iKZlQHgak8IvY.jpg

     

    Really struggling in Europe. Every week during the holidays sales just kept going down and now in Q1 it cant be much better.

     

    ibavkmhQAhfr3q.jpg

     

    Vita is dead. PSP outselling it every week of the year. Looks the Wii U is selling similar to what the Vita is selling which is awful!!

     

    ibgAi5uwEF63eR.jpg

     

    i7D4YbiOC8sAD.jpg

     

    The 3DS really isnt do too bad in Europe and very strong in France!

  14. Posted

    I bring it up because he is always the first to play the mitigating circumstances card as to why somethings on the Wii U are not what would be expected - whether that be sales, system performance or the future games outlook. When people bring up that this also affected other systems, he concurs and yet the other systems still weren't plagued by the same faults despite some of the same mitagating factors.

     

    He brings up certain phrases from developers and often, these are just "official statements" designed to put a nice spin on their view of the system and to not piss off Nintendo. It's not really the truth and it's pretty darn obvious it isn't either. He's always there with an excuse and if he hasn't seen it, it doesn't exist full stop despite everyone else noticing.

     

    He then insults us by trying to say he's the only person who understands trends. Amongst all the doom mongering, his blind devotation without sound reason is equally frustrating.

     

    He will come out with some good points but it gets twitsed and lost amongst the fanboyism.

     

     

    Anyway, back to the sales chatter...

     

    The only interesting thing here is the European numbers.

     

    We already had the US and Japan sell through figures since they always get reported and Nintendo went so far as to release a statement about the US performance. Coupled to the shipped figures released yesterday, we could already see it's sell through was only about 67% in the US. Admittedly, I'm sure a higher percertage of those could well be the Basic model but it certainly puts pay to any idea about a lack of availablity that affected other launches.

     

    Japan launched well but this post New Year slump is starting to go below trends if it keeps up along it's current course.

     

    As for EU, hopefully, those numbers show that the UK isn't some sub 10% market share that we should be completely disregarding when talking about performance in the sector. We've had pages and pages of how the UK counts for nothing and yet that clearly isn't true.

     

    Looking through the investor slides, I did think it was a little unfair how they blamed so much of the total US market decline on the performance of the other systems when the biggest drops were caused by rapidly slowing sales of Nintendo's legacy systems. Otherwise they showed great humility as is typical for both Nintendo and Japanese companies in general.

     

    The mentioned the bundles by the competition as well which to me isn’t really something to blame as everyone knew that MS and Sony were going to offer cheap bundles when the wii u dropped. Just how Nintendo will probably do the same when they have a big IP when the next gen consoles launch.

  15. Posted · Edited by liger05

    Well Iwata did say that there was gonna be a Nintendo Direct focused on 3rd party titles later on during the last one at least...

     

    That being said I have to agree with you. It's looking pretty terrible...

     

    Hopefully we will get some good news with that direct and not just information about old ports. Need new third party games when they release for the 360/PS3.

     

    Outside of Ubisoft and Activision, I think that the western 3rd parties are a lost cause. They're just too set in their ways now and are determined to walk the path of industry destruction.

     

    The thing is third parties will decide if they need the Wii U to sell there games. They have the PS3/360 and beyond to do that so its a question of whether they believe the resources needed for a Wii U version is cost effective.

  16. Posted · Edited by liger05

    Those figures are meant for their shareholders, not you. It doesn't matter if you don't know the difference as long as they do...

     

    Anywho, that's one meaty transcript! With a lot of revelations in there! (some points probably could do with their own thread actually)

     

     

     

    So the UK accounted for 18.8% of their total EU sales. Pretty much the same as the 3DSxl then...

     

     

     

    I see why they dropped their forecast now. They've got 1 million units sitting on store shelves worldwide right now and no big game releases to sell them with...

     

    It's gonna be a rough Q1 for them... Good thing that this is when the 3DS starts its takeoff in the west!

     

    I think Iwata may resign. I am not saying he should go but it wouldnt shock me if he did.

     

    Q1 is going to be a bloodbath but nintendo have IP's to get things going in the right direction. Still does not excuse the shocking Q1 software release schedule.

     

    We need some news on th 3rd party situation as I am fearing the worst.

  18. Posted · Edited by Retro_Link

    http://nintendoeverything.com/111618/sniper-elite-v2-confirmed-for-wii-u/

     

    Looks like this is the real deal. GameStop has pre-orders running online here. Amazon also has a product page running and includes a May 21 release date, which makes much more sense. Both retailers list a $49.99 price point. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8305EA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00A8305EA&linkCode=as2&tag=nintendoeverything-20)

     

    Sniper Elite V2 has long been rumored for Wii U, but publisher 505 Games has never made any official announcements. But now it appears that the nearly year-old shooter will be coming to the console in just a few months.

     

    GameStop casually lists the Wii U version of Sniper Elite V2 in its weekly ad – boxart and all. Consumers can begin pre-ordering the title, which apparently releases on May 24. The only red flag I see is that May 24 is a Friday. In North America, games typically launch earlier in the week.

     

    Perhaps we’ll be hearing something official from 505 Games soon?

     

    Yikes at that $49.99 price.

  19. Posted

    EA have always been graphic whores but yeah, their Nintendo relationship seems more strained than usual, already.

     

    I think they were burned with the Wii as they couldn't put their AAA titles on the console and milk their annual titles. Ultimately their casual titles were hit and miss. It was if they couldn't find their feet on Wii.

     

    With Wii U Nintendo promised the core gamer would be a focus which appeals to EA. The whole 'origin' rumour seems to have turned things sour though.

     

    There was nothing stopping EA and others producing core games on the wii but so many of them produced shovelware as they thought that was the easy cash in. The wii had such a huge userbase and it was crazy how 3rd parties didnt try harder to get a slice of the pie.

  21. Posted · Edited by liger05

    EA doesn't consider Wii U a next-gen console

     

    This blurb was spout out by EA during their fiscal earnings report...

     

    "What we're describing as gen four has yet to come."

     

    Nice to know that EA only considers graphical power the true next-gen qualifier with hardware. That's an opinion that'll surely take them far!

     

    http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=195217

     

    From the same conference: "40 minutes into this EA investors call and I don't think they've mentioned Wii U once".

     

    https://twitter.com/jasonschreier

     

    All is not well between nintendo and EA but I aint blaming Nintendo for that!!

     

    I wonder why they even mention shipped figures at all then. That'll be an interesting figure, this is pretty redundant.

     

    not really as they have to tell investors how many units they are actually producing. Retailers orders are an indicator of what the retailers demand is like from consumers.

  22. Posted

    It's all in the language. 'Shipped' is not a good sign. That's the kind of rubbish Microsoft resorted to with Kinect, though not as bad as Sony who just lump PSP and Ps Vita sales together.

     

    In a pretty unrelated note, this puts into perspective how absurd the number of iPad Apple sold last year, alone. Something like 97 million units. That's tremendous.

     

    Nintendo will announce the sales figures. They always release the shipped numbers first.

  23. Posted

    Can I just remind you that their advertising is not aimed towards us, and people like us. They've already made their decisions.

     

    Who is it aimed at then? The nintendo core may of made there decision but they still want to attract 360/PS3 owners.

     

    If its just aimed at the casual then it still falls well short. It blows. They can do much better than that.

     

    How about this video so? This is the latest video for Aliens: Colonial Marines. Still no mention of the Wii U boxart at the end. News on this game has gone dead lately. People are starting to fear this game has been cancelled. Surely it can't be cancelled?

     

    Its not coming out on the same day. Its got a later release.

  24. Posted

    Getting back to that irritating Wii U ad from the U.S. here it is in all it's glory:

     

     

    If you want to make the console look like a fisher-price toy and make peoples ears bleed, then mission accomplished.

     

    messed up dubstep music!! The marketing and advertising campaign needs a complete reboot from scratch but no point now as the software isnt there. Once more games are on the horizon they need to basically treat it as launch again.

     

    considering Reggie is a marketing guy he needs to step the fcuk up and make sure there is a real decent campaign!!

  25. Posted · Edited by liger05

    Interesting, thanks @Wii! This is where I get completely out of my depth - economics isn't my strong suit - but certainly worth noting all the same.

     

    Why 'lifetime' Wii U sales are relevant as a comparative distinction at this point though is anyone's guess.

     

    The thing I find rather frustrating about this discussion is that it seems to always be pulling in one direction, when the figures are resolutely in the middle. 3 mill vs 3.5 mill is by no means the disaster so many want it to be (mitigations or no!).

     

    There's also no doubt it's not peachy and Nintendo have a lot to do to make the console the roaring success they hoped it would be.

     

    You have to remember the 3 mil is shipped to retailers. We dont know just yet what the sold to consumers figures are like.

     

    I dont think anyone wants it to be a disaster. I'm just frustrated with how nintendo have gone about launching it and that goes as far back as E32011. So many mistakes and lessons not learnt from the 3DS launch.

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