Both the Wii U and 3DS are now projected to sell fewer units than initially predicted.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/36375
Nintendo has adjusted its 2013 fiscal year predictions, cutting the forecast for Wii U sales from the original figure of 9 million units worldwide to a meager 2.8 million.
On the software side, Nintendo has cut its prediction in half from 38 million units sold to 19 million.
During the holiday sales period, known for being the most profitable time of the year for companies in the game industry, software sales were significantly lower than the predicted numbers. Nintendo attributes this fact to lower-than-expected Wii U sales.
In the first two quarters of this fiscal year, the Wii U sold only 460,000 units worldwide, a mere 6% of its projected sales. Even with a strong December--Wii U is rumored to have sold somewhere between 450,000 to 500,000 units last month--reaching the initial projection was going to be nearly impossible.
Despite being the best-selling console of 2013 in the US, sales predictions for the 3DS have been readjusted as well. Nintendo has dropped the expected 18 million units sold to 13.5 million, while also moving software sold to 60 million from 80 million.
"We cannot continue a business without winning," Iwata said on Friday during a press conference attended by Bloomberg. "We must take a sceptical approach whether we can still simply make game players, offer them in the same way as in the past for 20,000 yen or 30,000 yen, and sell titles for a couple of thousand yen each.
"We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata added. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone."
Oh ****, I just realized that if the Wii U gets discontinued then X might not get translated for the Western market! Arrrrgh!!!! I mean if your console is a bust why would you bother localizing a niche game that would probably end up one of the last games released for the system?
Oh ****, I just realized that if the Wii U gets discontinued then X might not get translated for the Western market! Arrrrgh!!!! I mean if your console is a bust why would you bother localizing a niche game that would probably end up one of the last games released for the system?
If the Wii U is discontinued, X will either just get released for the Wii U anyway or get retooled for the 3DS (aka "the only system Nintendo actually cares about anymore"). Nintendo's spent way too much time and money on X at this point to simply cancel it.
Oh ****, I just realized that if the Wii U gets discontinued then X might not get translated for the Western market! Arrrrgh!!!! I mean if your console is a bust why would you bother localizing a niche game that would probably end up one of the last games released for the system?
If the Wii U is discontinued, X will either just get released for the Wii U anyway or get retooled for the 3DS (aka "the only system Nintendo actually cares about anymore"). Nintendo's spent way too much time and money on X at this point to simply cancel it.
I'm not talking about canceling it, just not localizing it for North America.
I don't see how that would be at all feasible. I'm not sure if it's possible at this point, but I think that might make things even more confusing for consumers.
I don't see how that would be at all feasible. I'm not sure if it's possible at this point, but I think that might make things even more confusing for consumers.
They are already confused by the "Wii" in the console's name. If it was re-named to something more catchy that differentiated it from the Wii then sales might pick up.
I can't believe the name change suggestion is still a thing. Nintendo had roughly a year and a half to change the name. Once the console launched, they can't change it anymore. What might help is if Nintendo launches a redesigned console.
If Nintendo had not named the console "Wii U" then it would probably be setting at ten million units. It might still have had the software issue, but that can be alleviated. If the console sales pick up so will its software support.No, it wouldn't. And the lack of compelling software can be fixed without a name change. I'm baffled that we're even still talking about this. All changing the name after a console launches does is confuse people even more. Nintendo would need to recall and rebrand every single unsold accessory and game. All "Wii U" references in Miiverse the shop would have to be replaced. That sounds like a nightmare.
If Nintendo had not named the console "Wii U" then it would probably be setting at ten million units.
If Nintendo had not named the console "Wii U" then it would probably be setting at ten million units.
Should I post my facepalm GIF again? I'm not quite sure if it's worth something as stupid as this sentence.
If Nintendo had not named the console "Wii U" then it would probably be setting at ten million units.
Should I post my facepalm GIF again? I'm not quite sure if it's worth something as stupid as this sentence.
Is your sarcasm detector broken? I hate the Wii U name.
Making the GamePad optional would require Nintendo to rewrite pretty much all code in the system software including the eshop and Miiverse. Additionally, several games wouldn't even work without it and making a once included controller optional complicates things. Wii U IS the GamePad. It's too ingrained in the console's DNA to be sold separately as an optional purchase. Nintendo could make the GamePad optional in a successor. However, I think it's more likely that Nintendo improves upon it and continues making it slimmer and lighter. And no, kytim, they wouldn't make it Vita-sized.
Adrock, the idea of the Vita sized Gamepad was for the Wii U successor. Later in the decade wi-fi will have improved enough to allow Nintendo to make a smaller Gamepad about the size of a Vita that can play games anywhere via cloud streaming.The previous time you brought that up was most certainly the first time. You've been pushing that thought for a while now. I'm still not quite sure why you would want the screen to be smaller. To carrying around more easily? No thanks. I don't want a worse home experience for a better on-the-go experience.
The name, no marketing, very similar console design and complete focus on the GamePad is what led to lackluster initial sales, because a lot of the general public was confused as to what Nintendo was selling.
What's even more ironic is that Iwata discussed the up him battle with HD development before the gen started and said how they have been studying it and were ready. But did they flunk that test. Guess they grabbed the wrong book for that study session.
Dropping the system outright and rebooting with something else is gonna get ignored, much like the Dreamcast, and that will be hard to recover from. The trust will have been lost and the buyers will have felt burned.
Or we could do a true deluxe release with the Wii U XL and make the Gamepad capable of playing 3DS games.
Who here owns a Wii U and would be so offended by it being discontinued that they would not buy Nintendo's next console? And Nintendo did do this before with the Virtual Boy. They decided that killing the thing and pretending it never existed was the best course of action and it didn't seem to have any negative impact on consumer trust.
The hell with marketing and name changes, how about Nintendo do something to get some fucking games released and actually make the Wii U a decent product?
I have a feeling most of the existing Wii U owners are such Nintendo nuts that Miyamoto could **** in a box and they would buy it.
The Wii U is literally set up to be a 3DS player, and yet, that bit of obviousness (to us, since E3 2011 reveal) has yet to dawn on them, as I'm sure they surely could have capitalized on it in some way or another at this point.
if Nintendo was ready to drop new hardware this summer to replace the Wii U, it still wouldn't have any software ready to go till the maybe next year as 3rd parties would be slow to port and hesitant to support.
(I know, I know, not this damn hybrid talk again,
The Wii U is literally set up to be a 3DS player, and yet, that bit of obviousness (to us, since E3 2011 reveal) has yet to dawn on them, as I'm sure they surely could have capitalized on it in some way or another at this point.
I think the problem is that their are no expansion ports on the Wii U to allow for playing 3DS cartridges and their online systems are far from being able to allow people who own 3DS titles to be able to download them for free. Sure they could release 3DS games for $40, but what incentive would 3DS owners have to re-buy their games.
But it was apparent to us even before the system launched. Plenty of time for Nintendo to add a 3DS gameslot under the flap on the Wii U.I'm baffled every time I see this suggested. If this was anyone's expectation, consider reevaluating reality. First, Nintendo either raises the price of Wii U (which some people already balked at) or they essentially give a 3DS away for free. Why would anyone think Nintendo would do that? Second, enabling this functionality is likely a lot more work for Nintendo than people think it is. I'm not exactly sure what the payoff is for Nintendo. They want to sell two systems, not hurt 3DS sales to increase Wii U sales.
Here's something to think about: what impact is this piece of news going to have on the Wii U's future? Now I don't expect the average Joe to even know about this but any hardcore gamer knows and is probably thinking that the Wii U has no future and that they shouldn't buy one.
But it was apparent to us even before the system launched. Plenty of time for Nintendo to add a 3DS gameslot under the flap on the Wii U.I'm baffled every time I see this suggested. If this was anyone's expectation, consider reevaluating reality. First, Nintendo either raises the price of Wii U (which some people already balked at) or they essentially give a 3DS away for free. Why would anyone think Nintendo would do that? Second, enabling this functionality is likely a lot more work for Nintendo than people think it is. I'm not exactly sure what the payoff is for Nintendo. They want to sell two systems, not hurt 3DS sales to increase Wii U sales.
Nintendo's problem is that they didn't do a good job of communicating the value of Wii U. While I thoroughly enjoy my Wii U, I can admit that. It serves my purposes as someone who doesn't play a lot of video games. For everyone else, it's unacceptably inadequate. Even if one could play 3DS games via Wii U, the Wii U part of the console would still be lacking. A console should be able to stand on its own merits, not on the shoulders of another. If Nintendo ever wanted to introduce a 3DS Player, I would understand that more though I'm still convinced 3DS games would be significantly worse played on a TV/GamePad combo.
