Wii U General Discussion

[Serebii]

If Nintendo were to release a home console RPG on the Wii U, or hell, bring GBA or DS ones to the Virtual Console, that would act as a very big selling point to the console and would drive sales, especially the former, no matter how much I object.

 

It's illogical to assume they have shown their hand now.

 

I'm still confused as to why they didn't focus on releasing their system sellers at the front end of the Wii U's lifecycle, just as they did with the Wii. A single player 3D Mario, Metroid, Zelda and other core I.P (and maybe a game that really shows the Gamepad as a game changer, just as Wii Sports did for the Wii) would have got people off their backsides. It's odd that they went down the route of releasing games with high attach ratio's first (i.e. the types of games that you buy if you already own the system, but wouldn't necessarily buy a system for), especially as the multiplayer Mario games and Donkey Kong would have sold equally well, if not better 2 years or so into the Wii U's lifespan.

 

Their strategy for the Wii worked very well; release the system sellers asap (Mario Galaxy, Metroid and Zelda were all out within 12 months I believe, and Wii Sports was at launch) and then they supplemented those games with the 'high attach rate' games later in the lifespan, hence the incredible sales of titles like NSMB Wii. There weren't many core gamers complaining about the Wii back in 07; it was well after that before people flocked to the other consoles.

Because they're trying to spread it across the life of the console so it doesn't die a year or two before its replacement is ready, like the Wii did.

[Retro_Link]

@King_V I don't really see what you're saying.

 

I wouldn't/don't buy lower quality third party titles either. Buy the high quality ones. Or are you saying the Wii U would likely only get the lower quality ones? In which case that's a specs issue again.

[Kav]

If Nintendo were to release a home console RPG on the Wii U, or hell, bring GBA or DS ones to the Virtual Console, that would act as a very big selling point to the console and would drive sales, especially the former, no matter how much I object.

 

It's illogical to assume they have shown their hand now.

 

 

Because they're trying to spread it across the life of the console so it doesn't die a year or two before its replacement is ready, like the Wii did.

 

It's already dead before it's replacement is ready!

[Goron_3]

If Nintendo were to release a home console RPG on the Wii U, or hell, bring GBA or DS ones to the Virtual Console, that would act as a very big selling point to the console and would drive sales, especially the former, no matter how much I object.

 

It's illogical to assume they have shown their hand now.

 

 

Because they're trying to spread it across the life of the console so it doesn't die a year or two before its replacement is ready, like the Wii did.

 

The only way to do that is to have more I.P/new I.P to fall back on, like Sony and to a lesser extent Microsoft do. That isn't a valid reason; ALL Nintendo consoles have died way before successors have come out because Nintendo's library of games that can develop growth is relatively small. Hell, N64 peaked fisal ending 99...!

[Sheikah]

I don't really see myself buying (what I perceive to be in most cases or at least 50% of the time) lower quality third party games just to tide over games.

 

Maybe the casuals do who knows... but then aren't these the same casuals who jumped on the Wii wagon then vanished quicker than a Sheikah in Kakariko Village? :p

 

Don't get me wrong - I understand the less choice argument @Clownferret

 

But this is why I've been pretty much a mono Nintendo gamer, because when the games come it's of a certain weight and pedigree that I could never really trust the other consoles on producing consistently.

 

Of course more games won't be a bad thing, but personally I only buy games of a certain calibre, which aren't that many anyway.

 

A question: if there was a choice what would you prefer - more third party games of varying quality or better first party games with more online/better longevity?

 

I have no disagreement with the 'at least 50% of the time' they're lower quality comment. But even still, that's a ton of games that are amazing, even if it's less than 50% that are even that good.

 

Rather than trusting consoles to release good games (which doesn't really make sense), it's the developers that I put faith it. Bethesda, From Software and Ubisoft for instance, you can trust to usually put great games out. Well, the latter do most of the time, anyway.

 

Because they're trying to spread it across the life of the console so it doesn't die a year or two before its replacement is ready, like the Wii did.

 

They need to satisfy both conditions - great at the start, and great at the end. Spreading out the same amount isn't going to work.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

@King_V I don't really see what you're saying.

 

I wouldn't/don't buy lower quality third party titles either. Buy the high quality ones. Or are you saying the Wii U would likely only get the lower quality ones? In which case that's a specs issue again.

 

Its more in response to Liger´s opinion of third parties being there to pad out the releases of better games. As in buying them to at least have something to play as opposed to nothing at all.

 

If the third party releases were suspect, I would rather wait for the better games than buy shoddy ones to tide me over. Just a matter of opinion.

[Serebii]

The only way to do that is to have more I.P/new I.P to fall back on, like Sony and to a lesser extent Microsoft do. That isn't a valid reason; ALL Nintendo consoles have died way before successors have come out because Nintendo's library of games that can develop growth is relatively small. Hell, N64 peaked fisal ending 99...!

 

Who says they aren't?

[Sheikah]

The only way to do that is to have more I.P/new I.P to fall back on, like Sony and to a lesser extent Microsoft do. That isn't a valid reason; ALL Nintendo consoles have died way before successors have come out because Nintendo's library of games that can develop growth is relatively small. Hell, N64 peaked fisal ending 99...!

 

Have to agree and that's why I really think Nintendo need to develop some more new IP, in the same scope as Zelda and Mario (ie. budgeting and appeal). Xenoblade is a good start, but I'd like to see more. With Mario Kart it's literally one per console, and while it continues to sell, it doesn't ever produce the massive boosts that a new really exciting game does. Nor does it mean new games for people waiting for them.

[canand]

No FIFA game this year confirmed.

 

#FIFA15! Subscribe to see the first trailer on June 9th: http://bit.ly/1oEVKBL #FeelTheGame

 

Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

 

There should be handheld versions there allways is

[Cube]

Did anyone else get a GamePad flashing notification light in order to show them an advert for the Mario Kart 8 free game promotion (part of the quick menu thing)?

[RedShell]

Did anyone else get a GamePad flashing notification light in order to show them an advert for the Mario Kart 8 free game promotion (part of the quick menu thing)?

Yep.

Still no E3 message though.

[nekunando]

No FIFA game this year confirmed.

 

#FIFA15! Subscribe to see the first trailer on June 9th: http://bit.ly/1oEVKBL #FeelTheGame

 

#NoLoss

 

I'd actually rather have a new Mario Strikers game, something I think we have a relatively decent chance of getting. Charged was fantastic online

[bryanee]

I really have no desire to keep playing Mario Kart 8. I think I need something with a bit more to do, might start that sexy ass free Wind Waker.

[Wii]

Did anyone else get a GamePad flashing notification light in order to show them an advert for the Mario Kart 8 free game promotion (part of the quick menu thing)?

 

Yep. Got it this evening. I switched if off and it started flashing almost immediately. I guess this will be the new thing when games are released. It's not bad. They should allow that flashing blue light for other features.

[Cube]

I really like how the Nintendo Network Premium points thing works. It seems like Nintendo coded it wrong, as I now have £10 credit from:

 

Wind Waker (free with the console)

Super Metroid (£1.25)

Wonderful 101 (£8.95, but I got points as if it was a full priced game)

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (free with Mario Kart 8).

[Rummy]

20k in Japan is a doubling of the weekly sales rate, Europe as a whole also saw an eight fold increase in sales, with 10 times as many sales in France AND Germany, over 6 times as many in the UK and US.

 

That is phenomenal, on a worldwide outlook. The real proof will be how long, and to what extend, this boost continues.

 

2x0=0. 8x0=0. 10x0=0. 6x0=0.

 

Yes, I'm being facetious with it, but talking about sales in multiples when you're down in the gutter is just not really appropriate in my opinion. It is, and needs to be, about raw and solid numbers.

 

On an unrelated note - what the fuck is up with system updates. Are they all built on previous ones? I haven't updated my Wii U in ages, and so I just decided to crack on for the new one - I'm still here at least 90 fucking minutes later with less than half a progress bar and according to the gamepad still 10 hours to go. Or maybe 5 and a half. Possibly even 4h20m. Depends how/when it wants to make up its mind.

 

Is it installing every single update and then each after that? Only rational possibility I can think of right now to explain it. JEEZ.

[Serebii]

2x0=0. 8x0=0. 10x0=0. 6x0=0.

 

Yes, I'm being facetious with it, but talking about sales in multiples when you're down in the gutter is just not really appropriate in my opinion. It is, and needs to be, about raw and solid numbers.

 

On an unrelated note - what the fuck is up with system updates. Are they all built on previous ones? I haven't updated my Wii U in ages, and so I just decided to crack on for the new one - I'm still here at least 90 fucking minutes later with less than half a progress bar and according to the gamepad still 10 hours to go. Or maybe 5 and a half. Possibly even 4h20m. Depends how/when it wants to make up its mind.

 

Is it installing every single update and then each after that? Only rational possibility I can think of right now to explain it. JEEZ.

Jeez. Sounds more like your connection sucks

[Goron_3]

2x0=0. 8x0=0. 10x0=0. 6x0=0.

 

Yes, I'm being facetious with it, but talking about sales in multiples when you're down in the gutter is just not really appropriate in my opinion. It is, and needs to be, about raw and solid numbers.

 

On an unrelated note - what the fuck is up with system updates. Are they all built on previous ones? I haven't updated my Wii U in ages, and so I just decided to crack on for the new one - I'm still here at least 90 fucking minutes later with less than half a progress bar and according to the gamepad still 10 hours to go. Or maybe 5 and a half. Possibly even 4h20m. Depends how/when it wants to make up its mind.

 

Is it installing every single update and then each after that? Only rational possibility I can think of right now to explain it. JEEZ.

 

That's very odd, but on a positive note, the update makes the thing VERY fast.

[Serebii]

I really like how the Nintendo Network Premium points thing works. It seems like Nintendo coded it wrong, as I now have £10 credit from:

 

Wind Waker (free with the console)

Super Metroid (£1.25)

Wonderful 101 (£8.95, but I got points as if it was a full priced game)

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (free with Mario Kart 8).

Nope, that seems right.

[Pestneb]

2x0=0. 8x0=0. 10x0=0. 6x0=0.

 

Yes, I'm being facetious with it, but talking about sales in multiples when you're down in the gutter is just not really appropriate in my opinion. It is, and needs to be, about raw and solid numbers.

 

Fair enough.

In France the Wii U was no.1 selling console, selling around 15k consoles, about half as much again as PS4 which came in second.

 

In Germany Wii U was 2nd place, but within 1k sales to PS4, both consoles selling over 10k each. 3rd place went to 3DS which sold just over 3k.

 

In the UK Wii U again was second place with just short of 15k, but within 4k of the PS4 and sold more than double what 3rd placed X1 sold.

From press releases we know about 12k of the Wii U consoles sold were MK8 bundles.

That's 1 in 6 owners of MK8 in the UK bought a Wii U with the game.

 

Worldwide the PS3 was ahead by a small margin, that's to say that the PS4 sold 10% more than Wii U this week, compared to about 400% additional units the week prior.

Obviously that means nothing if momentum isn't carried forward, but MK8 boosted Wii U sales by 600%, Watch dogs boosted PS4 by 50%, and X1 by 25%. All in all, I would say MK8 is doing a fine job for Nintendo, and I am sure they are all hoping that it will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months!

Edited June 7, 2014 by Pestneb

[liger05]

Fair enough.

In France the Wii U was no.1 selling console, selling around 15k consoles, about half as much again as PS4 which came in second.

 

In Germany Wii U was 2nd place, but within 1k sales to PS4, both consoles selling over 10k each. 3rd place went to 3DS which sold just over 3k.

 

In the UK Wii U again was second place with just short of 15k, but within 4k of the PS4 and sold more than double what 3rd placed X1 sold.

From press releases we know about 12k of the Wii U consoles sold were MK8 bundles.

That's 1 in 6 owners of MK8 in the UK bought a Wii U with the game.

 

Worldwide the PS3 was ahead by a small margin, that's to say that the PS4 sold 10% more than Wii U this week, compared to about 400% additional units the week prior.

Obviously that means nothing if momentum isn't carried forward, but MK8 boosted Wii U sales by 600%, Watch dogs boosted PS4 by 50%, and X1 by 25%. All in all, I would say MK8 is doing a fine job for Nintendo, and I am sure they are all hoping that it will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months!

 

What is your source for the sales numbers outside Japan?

[Pestneb]

What is your source for the sales numbers outside Japan?

 

You know, when I quit Uni one of the things I hoped never to have to do was to quote my sources.

As a it's not a pass fail scenario I don't really care so much. I read a few articles, and through process of elimination I could get a vague idea on numbers.

I found one article fairly easily:

http://www.gameblog.fr/news/43423-france-mario-kart-8-booste-la-wii-u-nous-avons-les-chiffres

 

It doesn't tell you the numbers out right, but it gives a ball park figure, looking at the language used indicates sales are in the region of 15k upto, but not above, 20k.

Another site indicated the sales gap between the PS4 and Wii U, another site gave a similar statement regarding PS4 sales. several sites agree on certain points, all the points don't conflict etc.

All said and done various sources gave me a general consensus of PS4 sales being somewhere between 12k and 10k, Wii U being within the 15-20k range, and the Wii U having sold about 1.5 times the sales of PS4. Those facts leave a possible range of PS4 10,000 sales, Wii U 15000, and PS4 selling 12000 and Wii U selling 18000.

I assumed the lower value for the Wii U, although tbh I would interpret the source above suggests a number closer to 20k than 15k due to their choice of words, so I believe the Wii U numbers are more likely to be around 17.5 - 18k personally.

 

I appreciate quotes are needed to validate, as well as to ensure I haven't misinterpreted the information I found, but tbh, even if I had collected all the sources I had used along the way AND they were deemed sufficiently reliable, I don't believe that would have been acceptable for the wanna be Uni professors round here.

Those numbers were intended for people wanting a general idea of the numbers involved. Hard numbers were requested, and to the best of my understanding those are broadly speaking correct.

I avoided stating specific numbers to indicate that I don't have access to hard and confirmed numbers (such as from media create), But is there anything in particular amongst what I have written that stands out to you as implausible, according to your own sources?

[Rummy]

Jeez. Sounds more like your connection sucks

 

My 31.17Mbps speedtest might suggest otherwise :p

 

Fair enough.

In France the Wii U was no.1 selling console, selling around 15k consoles, about half as much again as PS4 which came in second.

 

In Germany Wii U was 2nd place, but within 1k sales to PS4, both consoles selling over 10k each. 3rd place went to 3DS which sold just over 3k.

 

In the UK Wii U again was second place with just short of 15k, but within 4k of the PS4 and sold more than double what 3rd placed X1 sold.

From press releases we know about 12k of the Wii U consoles sold were MK8 bundles.

That's 1 in 6 owners of MK8 in the UK bought a Wii U with the game.

 

Worldwide the PS3 was ahead by a small margin, that's to say that the PS4 sold 10% more than Wii U this week, compared to about 400% additional units the week prior.

Obviously that means nothing if momentum isn't carried forward, but MK8 boosted Wii U sales by 600%, Watch dogs boosted PS4 by 50%, and X1 by 25%. All in all, I would say MK8 is doing a fine job for Nintendo, and I am sure they are all hoping that it will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months!

 

Interesting stuff. If the Wii U sold 15k though - does that mean the previous week was only 2.2k? By the whole 666% thing? If 82% of MK sales were those bundles that make the 12k, then MK sold what - 14.6k? I thought it was all much more than that really, so I'm sure I must be missing something?

[Serebii]

My 31.17Mbps speedtest might suggest otherwise :p

 

 

 

Interesting stuff. If the Wii U sold 15k though - does that mean the previous week was only 2.2k? By the whole 666% thing? If 82% of MK sales were those bundles that make the 12k, then MK sold what - 14.6k? I thought it was all much more than that really, so I'm sure I must be missing something?

That's nothing on my 154mbps :p

 

Sales in the UK always suck. Not just Nintendo, but everywhere. Numbers are frequently in the four figure range. Five figures are usually for launches if you're lucky.

[Pestneb]

My 31.17Mbps speedtest might suggest otherwise :p

 

 

 

Interesting stuff. If the Wii U sold 15k though - does that mean the previous week was only 2.2k? By the whole 666% thing? If 82% of MK sales were those bundles that make the 12k, then MK sold what - 14.6k? I thought it was all much more than that really, so I'm sure I must be missing something?

Knowing that there were 1.2Million sales of the game itself.

A large proportion of those sales would have been going to existing owners.

Then add on that US sales > than EU sales, and that the UK is only a portion of the EU market, it doesn't seem unreasonable. I think France is the most friendly market for the Wii U in Europe, and they only shifted 17k or so I gather. If sales were uniform across Europe (which we know them not to be) sales across Europe would be around the 75k mark, which isn't bad for a single week, considering world wide Wii U was selling about half of that each week.

 

I think the point is that at a comparable level of weekly sales, if they could maintain them (which remains the big question), the Wii U would now be able to compete against the PS4. Certainly it would strengthen it's hold on the second position. Either way, it is one week, so it's too early to draw too much from this, aside from the Wii U had a comparably excellent week.