Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) From GameSpot: Nintendo president says Wii Music, Animal Crossing disappoint with 2.65M, 3.38M sales, explains rationale behind Vitality Sensor, and still-forming plans for the system's successor. In light of declining Wii sales, analysts have been projecting a price cut for the system for months. However, Nintendo has stood its ground, refusing to drop the price on its latest console, which has retailed in the US for $249.99 since its launch in November 2006. Still waiting for a price drop to pick one up? In a transcript of Nintendo's post-earnings conference call translated by GameSpot, Iwata said there were no plans for price cuts at the moment, saying that price hasn't been the reason for declining hardware sales. Instead, he pointed to weakness in the system's recent lineup of titles. For example, in the same quarter that Nintendo launched Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii last year, the publisher had no major releases. Nintendo expects that situation to be remedied shortly, as the company's slate for the rest of the year is being forecast favorably against last year's launches. Iwata said that last year's big Wii launches in the back half of the year--Wii Music and Animal Crossing: City Folk--failed to live up to expectations, selling 2.65 million and 3.38 million copies worldwide, respectively. By contrast, the publisher expects its 2009 lineup--the recently released Wii Sports Resort and the upcoming Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii--to each surpass the 10 million units sold worldwide milestone in its current fiscal year (12 months ending March 31, 2010). Iwata also shed a little light on the company's decision to pursue the Wii Vitality Sensor pulse-monitoring peripheral. He said the company likes to challenge itself with such unproven concepts at least every two years, and explained the reasoning behind the sensor's E3 unveiling. "At this year's E3, there was a danger that we were being perceived as a company that creates many sequels," Iwata said, adding, "As a time frame, we would like to bring this to [retail] not too late into next year but as mentioned before, in software, the last bit of effort is very important so we'd like to withhold a exact time frame." Looking beyond the Wii, Iwata answered a question about the next generation of Nintendo console hardware, and how it won't be coming any time soon. "We [don't believe] we are currently approaching the end of a cycle and must start thinking about releasing the next piece of hardware at all," Iwata said. "And so we are not setting a determination on how long this console should remain active. Of course research into hardware is ongoing and we are developing the next console. When we determine that the ideas of our employees match the flow of the world and we can provide the appropriate amount of stock at a reasonable price, that is when we can start talking about when to release the next piece of hardware. But we feel that this is not something that will happen at any time in the near future." Edited August 4, 2009 by Dante Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 4, 2009 all wiff waff goes here http://n-europe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22100 oh and Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 1:ok first of all... nintendo will NEVER admit a price-drop, announce a new version of a system.. until they themselves say it and NOT in an interview with gamespot.. 2:"At this year's E3, there was a danger that we were being perceived as a company that creates many sequels," yes forget the last 20 years only NOW your mad on sequels... 3:Wii Music and Animal Crossing: City Folk--failed to live up to expectations, selling 2.65 million and 3.38 million copies worldwide, respectively. By contrast, the publisher expects its 2009 lineup--the recently released Wii Sports Resort and the upcoming Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii--to each surpass the 10 million units sold worldwide milestone in its current fiscal year (12 months ending March 31, 2010). wii music was so shit even the casual wasn't falling for it and animal crossing... you may laugh but it's still mostly a game for the hardcore audience... and the problem with that is they didn't change the damn game from previous installments. yes nintendo the sequel to technically the best selling game of all time and a sequel to a mario game will sell better than wii music and animal crossing :yamn I'm not trying to be a bitch here but he's an idiot.. they're looking for answers in all the wrong places.. the vitality sensor is NOT the way to go..! There are already too many add-ons for the wii that for a console that prides itself on being accessbile to a non-gamer it's CONFUSING to the hardcore.. they should be using this time to focus on motion-plus because that it their future.. at the moment they are coming close to doing a sega.. and releasing all hardware at once! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 wii music was so shit even the casual wasn't falling for it and animal crossing... you may laugh but it's still mostly a game for the hardcore audience... and the problem with that is they didn't change the damn game from previous installments. yes nintendo the sequel to technically the best selling game of all time and a sequel to a mario game will sell better than wii music and animal crossing :yamn I'm not trying to be a bitch here but he's an idiot.. they're looking for answers in all the wrong places.. the vitality sensor is NOT the way to go..! There are already too many add-ons for the wii that for a console that prides itself on being accessbile to a non-gamer it's CONFUSING to the hardcore.. they should be using this time to focus on motion-plus because that it their future.. at the moment they are coming close to doing a sega.. and releasing all hardware at once! This must be the reason he is disappoint with AC:Wii sales. Animal Crossing GameCube = 2.32 million DS = 10.79 million Wii = 3.38 million Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 WHAT!?!! 'A company that creates sequels...' DIdn't they do just that this years E3? Mario sequels, Metroid Prime sequel, Wii Sport sequel.......??? Help me out here, I'm confused. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 WHAT!?!! 'A company that creates sequels...' DIdn't they do just that this years E3? Mario sequels, Metroid Prime sequel, Wii Sport sequel.......??? Help me out here, I'm confused. It probably wasn't translated very well. The original text was in Japanese. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 Why would the Wii need a pricecut? Its not like its expensive... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 Why would the Wii need a pricecut?Its not like its expensive... Sales aren't what they used to be. If they brought it down to $199 they would probably go up a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 Probably everyone which the Wii targets too already has a Wii and those who will buy it don't care about the price falling and aren't probably even thinking on that. Nintendo is smart, falling the price won't help them in any way. The only guys who could buy it if the price falls are the "hardcore gamers" that saw some good games for the Wii now and want to buy it, but understand the business well and are waiting for a price drop. However, in the long run, Nintendo would just lose money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 WHAT!?!! 'A company that creates sequels...' DIdn't they do just that this years E3? Mario sequels, Metroid Prime sequel, Wii Sport sequel.......??? Help me out here, I'm confused. I think he meant because they were showing Mario, Metroid, Wii Sports etc, they also wanted something new. As for the price cut, well, I've always thought it was too expensive for what it is, but the market decides the price, that's the way it is. I've noticed ASDA reduces its price quite regularly, and I can't imagine sales would surge enough to truly bring its value up to £180 again. What would be nice is an official new SKU, perhaps with Wii Sports + Resort, and what I'd really like to know, personally, is when the supposed cooler, quieter models are out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 On a selfish note, with already owning a Wii I'm not worried about if/ when the price gets reduced cos its not like I'm gonna run out and buy a second one. What I really want is a nice big price cut on DSi's! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 Probably everyone which the Wii targets too already has a Wii and those who will buy it don't care about the price falling and aren't probably even thinking on that.Nintendo is smart, falling the price won't help them in any way. The only guys who could buy it if the price falls are the "hardcore gamers" that saw some good games for the Wii now and want to buy it, but understand the business well and are waiting for a price drop. However, in the long run, Nintendo would just lose money. I agree, cutting the price is a last resort. They have a lot of other ways to boost sales they haven't used at the moment, and we'll see those first. But when sales start to drop a lot, they may cut the price. I was, in my last post, trying to explain why they might cut the price. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 5, 2009 Why would the Wii need a pricecut?Its not like its expensive... It is for what is essentially 10 year old technology. Remember, the GC was £130 when it came out. But they won't cut the price. It's selling more than the other two. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 6, 2009 Lol, I like the idea of it being ten years old. If it was ten years old, why weren't we playing Wii in 1999? I like made up numbers, anyone remember Solitanze? He uses to do stuff like this. 100% GUARANTEED THAT THEY DONT NEED TO CUT THE PRICE, THE WII HAS SOLD 1,000,000,000,000+UNITS IN ONE WEEK, BUT HAS YET TO SURPASS THE GREATEST SELLING GAME OF ALL TIME GTA3 WHICH IS TOTALLY OVERRATED! (In all seriousness, I thought it was obvious they wouldn't be cutting prices any time soon, they're still selling plenty of units and although the figures may have gone down slightly, Iwata still goes home each night, rolls in a pile of money and then sleeps on a bed made of gold. He may be uncomfortable, but he's rich. I mean, compare these sales to that of the GameCube at the same point in it's life?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 6, 2009 Lol, I like the idea of it being ten years old. If it was ten years old, why weren't we playing Wii in 1999? Who said anything about the Wii being 10 years old? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 6, 2009 The thing is, obviously, 10 years ago, we'd probably be paying a lot more for one than we are now if it had been created back then, and it probably would have failed due to price point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 6, 2009 Who said anything about the Wii being 10 years old? Apologies. I thought when you said '10 year old technology' you were talking about the Wii. Y'know, seeing as we were talking about the Wii. So what were you talking about? What I meant was, clearly the technology in the Wii is not ten years old. If it were, we would have been playing the N64 very differently (with motion controls and much better graphics). I refer you again to my point above - why would they drop the price when they're making plenty of money? No point. Great business, Nintendo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 8, 2009 They will only drop it when the end of it's lifecycle approaches. It probably won't be soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
