Nintendo's global president cannot understand why the company's stock has declined over the past few days.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/26735
Shares in Nintendo fell nearly 10 percent following the announcement of the Wii U on Tuesday.
The decline left some people puzzled, including Satoru Iwata. In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Iwata commented on the drop by saying:
"Honestly speaking, the reaction to (Tuesday's) presentation and what I heard from people I met and the mood of the convention did not chime at all with what happened in the stock market. It's very strange."
Nintendo, however, realizes the obstacles that they have to overcome with the Wii U. One of their main goals for the console is to attract both casual users who jumped on with the Wii, as well as core gamers, many of whom wandered away from their current console.
"At the moment, there is a barrier between the Wii, which is seen as for casual users and the other companies' consoles, which are seen as for core gamers. We are questioning whether that barrier needs to be there," said Iwata.
The Wii U will be released sometime in 2012.
Well I remember that last time Nintendo got a great reaction at E3 they jacked the price up for the 3DS and now it isn't selling so hot. So maybe it's better for them to not get a big head and make arrogant mistakes.
In another thread Insanolord posted about how people actually turned off their monitor as soon as they heard the name and wouldn't even give it a chance to see the video of what it could do. If people literally gave up on this just by hearing the name isn't it possible that the stock holder people might have done that as well?
http://blogs.Forbes.com/benzingainsights/2011/06/08/did-nintendo-just-screw-up-the-launch-of-wii-u/ (http://blogs.Forbes.com/benzingainsights/2011/06/08/did-nintendo-just-screw-up-the-launch-of-wii-u/)
Did Nintendo Just Screw Up the Launch of Wii U?
Jun. 8 2011 - 1:40 pm | 6,396 views | 0 recommendations | 2 comments
posted by JASON RAZNICK
Who knew it could be so hard to unveil a new console?
At last year’s E3, Nintendo (NTDOY) made the impossible possible: it unveiled the Nintendo 3DS, the world’s first glasses-free 3D device, without confusing the audience. The company did so with a slate of promising games and a plethora of Nintendo 64 ports that left us dreaming of the day the handheld would be released.
(To see why the Wii U’s line up of games should cause investors to be wary, click here (http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/11/06/1150377/warning-investors-should-be-wary-of-fad-read-bad-decisions).)
Considering the success Nintendo had last summer, few would have believed that the company would struggle to properly promote the console once known as Wii 2 and Project Café. But when Wii U – the official name of the new Nintendo machine – made its debut in Los Angeles this morning, the Mario maker left more questions than answers, some of which the company didn’t intend for us to ask:
“Is this a new controller for the old Wii?”
“Do I have to purchase a Wii to use Wii U?”
The confusion stems from Nintendo’s gameplay presentation, which showed one consumer with a Wii U controller, three consumers with old-school Wii Remotes, and several other peripherals from the Nintendo Wii family. Nintendo executives explained that all of the old Wii games would be compatible with the Wii U, which made it sound like Wii U could be a new system. But that was not a confirmation.
Nintendo execs hyped the prospect of HD graphics, but all of the initial gameplay images were akin to those of the original Wii, adding to the confusion.
When Nintendo demonstrated how the Wii U controller could be used with the Wii Zapper and the Wii Balance Board, it really began to appear that the company had simply unveiled a new controller – not a new system.
I'm hoping this is all some big misunderstanding and the Wii U is just the official name for the tablet, and the name of the console itself is something else entirely.
"Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstandings," he said. "We should have made more effort to explain how it works."
"We haven't made any kind of blunder, but I should have shown a single picture of the new console, then started talking about the controller," he continued. "The console is not drastically different, and Wii U is about the controller. The console itself will be almost invisible."
"There have been two groups of people writing about our announcement - those who have been able to experience the Wii U, and those who have not, and are simply writing about it from wire stories and pictures," he mused.
Gamecube was ridiculous,
It actually appears that Nintendo knows exactly what they did wrong at E3 and I hope they right that wrong at both GDC Europe and GC Liepzig in August.Quote from: Iwata"Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstandings," he said. "We should have made more effort to explain how it works."
"We haven't made any kind of blunder, but I should have shown a single picture of the new console, then started talking about the controller," he continued. "The console is not drastically different, and Wii U is about the controller. The console itself will be almost invisible."
I agree completely that they should have shown that it was an all new system that was not a Wii and then started to discuss the controller and how that set it apart from any other console and controller we've used to date.Quote from: Iwata"There have been two groups of people writing about our announcement - those who have been able to experience the Wii U, and those who have not, and are simply writing about it from wire stories and pictures," he mused.
And it's those who have not that are all confused about what it was they saw and what it was supposed to mean. It was a member of those who have not that wrote that forbes article, I quoted in a previous post that, that is read by investors and directly influences their perception of how to invest.
So I agree that Nintendo should have done a much better job of presenting the Wuu to the audience. By not showing off the actual system and showing a bunch of games using wiimote and the balance board, it looked like the uScreen might have been the new console or something that was supposed to be used with the Wii.
The name certainly didn't help in that confusion as a SuperWii would let me know that it was a new system and not an add on for the old one. As far as most of the non attending non-gaming audience was concerned Wiiu was the controller as that box in the background looked exactly like a Wii at first glance (and they never gave you a better look at it).
I strongly disagree. The Gamecube name was excellent, because it was concise and it described exactly what it was. I loved the Gamecube, moreso than the Wii actually.
Many seen it as indicating the GC was a child's toy.
The problem with the name "Wii" is that it does not describe a physical object.
The problem with the name "Wii" is that it does not describe a physical object.
Actually, it does. But.... uh, you know...
Actually I think the name did affect the stock price, but not because it's called WiiU, more directly because Nintendo never actually defined what WiiU was.
The majority of people thought WiiU was the new controller and not an actual new system.
I've detailed it in my previous post with comments from Iwata too.
Actually I think the name did affect the stock price, but not because it's called WiiU, more directly because Nintendo never actually defined what WiiU was.
The majority of people thought WiiU was the new controller and not an actual new system.
I've detailed it in my previous post with comments from Iwata too.
In one argument, that is a bit ridiculous since Nintendo announced before hand that they will show off the new system. They also said the system will be playable on the show flow which means they would be showing off the new system's new controller as well.
Regardless, it was in Nintendo's best interests to make clear distinctions so it is a shame they confused so many people.
I think a bit if this would be mitigated by naming the controller.
I think a bit if this would be mitigated by naming the controller.
