Wii U General Discussion

[Rummy]

I'm with Happenstance on it, I just don't think there's enough in the WiiU to make a rebrand/remodel viable, and especially not at a similar price point. People simply aren't buying it - go to the heart of what the customer loves...a bargain! Consider how much they'd add to the price per console with a remodel(design, new manufacture etcetc) why not use what they have already, take advantage of the cheaper cost of production now, and pass some of it on to the customer?

Edited April 14, 2015 by Rummy

[Hero-of-Time]

I'm with Happenstance on it, I just don't think there's enough in the WiiU to make a rebrand/remodel viable, and especially not at a similar price point. People simply aren't buying it - go to the heart of what the customer loves...a bargain! Consider how much they'd add to the price per console with a remodel(design, new manufacture etcetc) why not use what they have already, take advantage of the cheaper cost of production now, and pass some of it on to the customer?

 

I'm not saying it would work, just saying it could.

 

It's certainly an option for them but i'm firmly in the camp of Nintendo just riding the generation out with what they already have.

[Happenstance]

£50 Wii U & Super Mario 3D World bundle and they'd be sorted

[Hero-of-Time]

£50 Wii U & Super Mario 3D World bundle and they'd be sorted

 

You'd still get people complaining it was too much.

[Kav]

I reckon £129.99 with Nintendoland or ZombiU (for a Gamepad showcase) would be reasonable would it not? I honestly believe that rising above that it's not worth it.

[Happenstance]

I reckon £129.99 with Nintendoland or ZombiU (for a Gamepad showcase) would be reasonable would it not? I honestly believe that rising above that it's not worth it.

 

I would maybe say £149.99 but £129.99 would be interesting. At this point though I just dont think there are many people left who would want one. I dont think Nintendo are necessarily dead but I think interest in the Wii U pretty much is.

[dazzybee]

The thing is a new, cheaper, smaller Wii U and showing all the exclusive games would surely attract a lot of people! Mario Kart 8, Mario, Smash, Bayonetta, Zombi U, Lego, Pikmin, Xenoblade, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Yoshi, Splatoon - all these games and more will be out for the end of the year. How would that not appeal to gamers for a cheap second console?

[Rummy]

I think £150-£180 is the mark really. Some smash packs at £180 with WiiU+NintendoLand+Smash would definitely sell a few - I know people who'd bite on Smash at that price. The only downside is the lack of GC adapters. If they could do WiiU+Smash+GCSmashPad+Adapter for £200(or £180 for WiiU+Smash+Wiimote&Pad) I reckon it'd jump sales a bit.

 

EDIT:My other concern is I can't recall the size of Smash as a downloadable title. Or Nintendoland even? Having them as digital titles than retail takes another edge off the cost of Ninty's part, but obvs the current size of internal storage could prove a problem.

[Mr-Paul]

They'd probably only sell loads if they really ramped up advertisements for it. In the Wii/3DS era it felt like you had a Nintendo ad almost every break. Now, hardly anything, outside a short period when a big game is released. Among the other mis-steps they made with Wii U, they really dropped the ball in advertising their product, and now it's probably too late to make a big difference, unless there is a massive turnaround/exclusive game with the level of hype of Minecraft etc that suddenly gets lots of people buying.

[Serebii]

They'd probably only sell loads if they really ramped up advertisements for it. In the Wii/3DS era it felt like you had a Nintendo ad almost every break. Now, hardly anything, outside a short period when a big game is released. Among the other mis-steps they made with Wii U, they really dropped the ball in advertising their product, and now it's probably too late to make a big difference, unless there is a massive turnaround/exclusive game with the level of hype of Minecraft etc that suddenly gets lots of people buying.

I'd argue that the marketing is the big thing that they messed up. Everything else, even if it's deemed "bad" by people here, could be ignored. Power, for example. However, if everything was the same as it was but they had properly marketed it with a cool thing to show off the GamePad, it'd have done so much better

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'd argue that the marketing is the big thing that they messed up. Everything else, even if it's deemed "bad" by people here, could be ignored. Power, for example. However, if everything was the same as it was but they had properly marketed it with a cool thing to show off the GamePad, it'd have done so much better

 

It's been 2 and a half years and we're still waiting to see what the GamePad actually does.

 

The controller has killed the machine, tbh. Nintendo could have gone for a cheaper system from the start had the GamePad not been there or they could have gone with a machine that was on par with the others.

[Sheikah]

Yeah, we can't really put too much down to marketing. Ultimately a bad/undesirable product (which I believe the hardware is) isn't going to sell that well even with great marketing. Things that are amazing that aren't advertised well have a way of taking off eventually; word of mouth. That such hasn't happened already shows that this isn't mostly the fault of marketing - it's what's on offer.

[Serebii]

It's been 2 and a half years and we're still waiting to see what the GamePad actually does.

 

The controller has killed the machine, tbh. Nintendo could have gone for a cheaper system from the start had the GamePad not been there or they could have gone with a machine that was on par with the others.

I disagree. We've seen lots of awesome use for it. However, people seem to want this huge massive killer use for it to "justify", but it doesn't need it. It has many awesome, albeit small, uses.

 

It isn't a revolution as they intended, sure, but it's certainly an evolution and I struggle going back to games without it.

[Sheikah]

When a last gen spec machine launches at £300, you bloody better have something to properly justify it.

[dazzybee]

Yeah, we can't really put too much down to marketing. Ultimately a bad/undesirable product (which I believe the hardware is) isn't going to sell that well even with great marketing. Things that are amazing that aren't advertised well have a way of taking off eventually; word of mouth. That such hasn't happened already shows that this isn't mostly the fault of marketing - it's what's on offer.

 

This just isn't true. Bad products with marketing sell - hollywood is built on this. Even music and gaming is built on it.

 

Only 'some' great products with no marketing sell. Not all, and not even the majority.

 

Marketing is so so important in modern business. Well it probably always has been to be honest, but increasingly so.

[Sheikah]

Movies are cheap to see, games consoles are not cheap to buy. There's more people want and expect from a games console and ultimately if they can't play the games they want due to specs, or if it does not have the features they expect then it won't sell well. Marketing can glamorise what is there in the case of the Wii U but it can't tell people it has the features/games they want when it doesn't.

[Serebii]

Movies are cheap to see, games consoles are not cheap to buy. There's more people want and expect from a games console and ultimately if they can't play the games they want due to specs, or if it does not have the features they expect then it won't sell well. Marketing can glamorise what is there in the case of the Wii U but it can't tell people it has the features/games they want when it doesn't.

Give it a month after launch and most games are cheap to buy

[Sheikah]

Give it a month after launch and most games are cheap to buy

 

And yet games consoles, such as the Wii U (being discussed), are not. It is a commitment; a movie watch is (for many) a potentially throwaway choice.

 

People aren't going to buy a Wii U if they don't like the gamepad and want, after 7-8 years in the last generation, a technically upgraded machine capable of running the next generation of games. It's as simple as that; marketing isn't going to save it. A desirable gimmick could have, but a desirable gimmick they did not have.

[Wii]

Give it a month after launch and most games are cheap to buy

 

Give it years after launch and Nintendo games are expensive to buy.

 

Fixed.

[dazzybee]

Movies are cheap to see, games consoles are not cheap to buy.

 

Doesn't matter how expensive or cheap a product is, marketing is still all important. Way more important in 90% of the cases than how good something is.

[Sheikah]

Doesn't matter how expensive or cheap a product is, marketing is still all important. Way more important in 90% of the cases than how good something is.

 

Nobody said marketing "isn't important".

 

What I am saying is that there is not a cat in hell's chance that better marketing could have made this particular £300 product a winner. It's in the situation it is in because people wanted to leave the last gen after 7-8 years and play the next generation of games. Wii U has no such gimmick as the Wii did to save it. It's not poor marketing that's the real reason it failed. It's the product.

[Goron_3]

Marketing is not the problem with the Wii U, but it hasn't helped.

 

The main issue is the hardware and the software library.

[Serebii]

Marketing is not the problem with the Wii U, but it hasn't helped.

 

The main issue is the hardware and the software library.

First party wise, Nintendo's output has been the best it has been in such a condensed period in years.

 

I disagree on hardware, considering how before this gen, it was mostly the weakest one that came out on top.

[Mr-Paul]

I'd argue that the marketing is the big thing that they messed up. Everything else, even if it's deemed "bad" by people here, could be ignored. Power, for example. However, if everything was the same as it was but they had properly marketed it with a cool thing to show off the GamePad, it'd have done so much better

 

I agree, it is definitely the biggest problem in my eyes in terms of getting people to buy it. The only other thing I can think that would match would be a bit more power may have got more third parties on board, but that would have then pushed the price of the console very very high.

 

It arguably was already a too high price for a Nintendo console, it's crazy to me how people paid £350/£400 for the PS4/XBO after the failure of the PS3 at that price - I'd never spend that much on a console personally, but maybe that's just me!

[dazzybee]

Nobody said marketing "isn't important".

 

What I am saying is that there is not a cat in hell's chance that better marketing could have made this particular £300 product a winner. It's in the situation it is in because people wanted to leave the last gen after 7-8 years and play the next generation of games. Wii U has no such gimmick as the Wii did to save it. It's not poor marketing that's the real reason it failed. It's the product.

 

You spoke in general terms about marketing and great products etc. But whatever, not that important the discussion.

 

I DO think marketing would have helped, but maybe not much. I think the name, the lack of software and lack of 3rd parties were the biggest killers!

 

Personally I love the gamepad and hope the next console can USE the gamepad for off tv play.