Topic: Reggie Comments on Slowing Wii Sales

[NWR_MattB]

As PS3 sales continue to increase as Wii sales fall, Reggie comments on how Nintendo hopes to maintain a lead, even with SonyÂ’s new PlayStation Move.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=23483

 At a recent investor relations meeting held on June 16, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime commented on how Nintendo hopes to combat the rising sales of the PlayStation 3 and its new motion controls.    

When asked about how they are going to respond to PlayStation Move, Reggie was confident in saying that they have a clear path in front of them. “We want to provide compelling experiences for the consumer. We want to do that in a way that has tremendous value for the consumer and that one-two punch, we believe, is going to continue to drive our business. The consumer today can get a Wii configuration that has two fantastic pieces of software and a Wii MotionPlus for $199, and the consumer is responding. We believe that the consumer will respond to Metroid: Other M, Wii Party, KirbyÂ’s Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and to all of these fantastic franchises that weÂ’re bringing to bear.”    

While it remains to be seen whether or not Nintendo can have another successful holiday period like that of 2009, Reggie commented that if they manage to execute their goal, they will be able to widen the gap versus the other home consoles despite the availability of their new motion controls. He also went on to say that by driving the console's install base, software  sales will increase as well

[Sarail]

Iwata's problem that he's not understanding is that none of those games are going to push ANYONE to go out and buy a Wii console (even if all of those games minus Wii Party are going to be amazing).  People just keep buying a Wii because of Wii Sports... that blasted casual audience that has been screwing over Nintendo's reputation since the beginning of '07.

I'm glad Nintendo showed what it did at E3.  It looks like it has gotten its feel for the core audience back, and with the games mentioned above, it looks to be back on track.

If Nintendo really wants to compete with Sony's more "core" focused Move experience, then it's time to beef up the system components and give us a faster, smarter, stronger home console with all of the current console's abilities.  Nintendo, YES, you CAN have the best of both worlds. Let's not blacklist a particular group of gamers like you did with the Wii.  PLSKTHX.

[Spak-Spang]

Rachetman:  I have to disagree.  Casual Gamers have responded to almost each of the Wii game series, buying Wiis for those experiences.  And if Wii Party is good, it will be more of the same. 

But, the casual crowd has already responded to Nintendo and will not respond to PS3...where most of the hardcore gamers have responded to PS3, and move will not make them respond to SONY.  However, those games you listed save Wii Party are hardcore games.  Games, that gamers love, and games that they absolutely will respond to.  Now, will they respond in enough numbers to have a good holiday season?  I dunno.  Hopefully, because it looks like a great year of games for Nintendo.

[Sarail]

Oh, I agree. It should be a fantastic holiday for Nintendo "gamers". I can't wait, actually!

I, for one, am really excited about using the Move with my PS3 for more core games. Sorcery looks like a dud, and I'll be buying Tiger Woods '11 on the Wii again.. but there are several more games that I'm excited about that will use it.

It's funny.. 'cause it seems like I've played a heck of a lot more core focused games on my Wii in the last year or so than I have on my PS3.

[AV]

I think MOVE and KINECT will be too expensive for casual gamers to jump on board. (about $400+ investment if they don't already own a PS3 or 360 which most casual gamers probably don't have) However next year I think those prices will go down and so will PS3/360 and Nintendo is going to be screwed. Next E3 Nintendo better show off a new console to release Christmas 2011 that advances gameplay and graphics of wii. This year they bought time, with some great games but I think Sony and Microsoft has boxed Nintendo in a corner.

[Louieturkey]

Nintendo will bring out a new system when Nintendo feels like they need to bring out a new system.  So my guess is 2012 for the next Nintendo console and the Wii will just get a price break to $150 in 2011 which will help it continue to be the #1 console in sales for that year.  When the next console comes out, the Wii will drop to $99 and it'll keep selling at that price for 2-3 years like PS systems have in the past. 

[Guitar Smasher]

By the time Move/Kinect drop in price, they'll be competing with 3DS.

[BlackNMild2k1]

By the time Move/Kinect drop in price, they'll be competing with 3DS.

Seriously. Wii is no longer worried about KinectiMove moving in their Motion Territory. But KinectiMove better be worried about 3DS stealing the attention of the entire audience they were late to attempt to attract.

We already know that if 3DS launched this year (Like Iwata recently said it would as of yesterday) IT WILL BE the MUST HAVE item for the Holidays and the advertising blitz for that and the buzz surrounding 3D and DS in 3D will absolutely drown out Wii wannabes 1 & 2.

Do I spend $150+ on Wiimote 2.0, Nomote 360 or the new 3D DS2?

I think the consumer attention will have flocked to the latter, especially if the launch lineup is anything like what was shown at E3.

[King of Twitch]

They could try releasing more than one motion plus game. That would be enticing.

[Ian Sane]

I think this E3 lineup will do little to increase Wii sales because there is nothing different than what the Wii already has.  As usual Nintendo is all about the franchises.  Well if those franchises didn't interest someone enough to buy a Wii before why would they convince them now?  They did this all last gen and it drove me crazy.  Nintendo wondered why no one bought a Gamecube so they just released more of the same franchises that people were already not buying a Cube for.

As a franchise becomes older it is less of a system seller and more of a game the people who already own the console buy.  The Wii sold on Wii Sports.  What does Wii Sports have that virtually no other Nintendo games have had this gen?  A new experience.  You couldn't get that Wii Sports experience anywhere else.  Realistically that applies to most of the Wii Series.  Zelda? Mario? Metroid?  I never needed to buy a Wii to play those.  I needed it for that specific game but for the general experience, it's unnecessary.  Hell, as times goes on competitors enter the genre and you longer provide a unique experience.  On the N64 with Super Mario 64 it wasn't just Mario that was exclusive but, for a time, it was 3D platformers period.  On the Cube with Super Mario Sunshine it was just Mario that was exclusive.  By that point other good 3D platformers were being made on other consoles.  Now we're at the point where Wii Sports' experience can and will be duplicated.  You will longer require a Wii to experience the genre.  It's even possible that competing games may best the Wii Sports series.  If they want something to sell Wiis they need something new.  Nothing at E3 fit the bill.

Why would anyone buy a Wii for Donkey Kong Country Returns if New Super Mario Bros Wii didn't convince them?  It's like the same thing.

Though at this point I think selling consoles is of less importance.  The Wii has been very successful and sales are going to drop at some point as everyone who wants a Wii already owns one.  What's important is if that large userbase is buying the games.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think franchises will do a better job of selling Wiis to core gamers who already own a 360 or PS3 or both than new stuff would. New stuff might be better, but it's not going to catch their eye like a familiar, nostalgic franchise game will. For these kinds of people it's not always one big game that convinces them to buy a console, but they get to the point where there are so many games there they want to play that they cave in. That's how I ended up buying a PS3.

[BlackNMild2k1]

slowing wii sales....

In the last six months of NPD data…

Counting from the beginning of November last year through April of this year…

consumers in America have purchased as many Wii consoles as PS3’s and Xbox 360’s combined — in the last 15 months!

That’s more sales for Wii in half a year…than the other home consoles combined …in more than a year.

The relative impact is seen best by comparing sales of Wii during its first four years on the market…to the track record for other leading home consoles.

As you can see, the PS2 is the only other meaningful competitor.

But Wii continues to extend its advantage. After year two, Wii had outsold the PS2 trendline by one-point-two million units in the U.S.

After year three, the difference grew to one-point-seven.

But after last year’s record holiday, Wii has now outsold the PS2 by nearly five million systems at the same point in its life cycle.

And of course, the other current home platforms are losing ground even more quickly.

[NWR_Lindy]

What always cracks me up is how journalists pit the PS3 vs. Wii, like they somehow want it to be a competition.

A more appropriate question is, "How do you feel the sales of the new iPhone will affect 3DS sales?"

[Ian Sane]

I think franchises will do a better job of selling Wiis to core gamers who already own a 360 or PS3 or both than new stuff would. New stuff might be better, but it's not going to catch their eye like a familiar, nostalgic franchise game will.

If it didn't work on the Gamecube why would it work with the Wii?  From a core gamer perspective the Wii might as well be the Gamecube 2.
 
If anything I think core gamers are less likely to buy a Wii now than they were a few years ago.  The Wii's casual image is very firmly established which wasn't as much the case a few years ago.  The Wii has no future potential.  Core gamers know exactly what to expect from it.  For a core gamer all the Wii offers is Nintendo franchises with waggle controls.  Unless you're some Donkey Kong megafan who for some reason isn't interested in other Nintendo franchises, nothing at E3 is going to change your mind if you were already not interested.
 
The only exception I can see is if you're into Zelda and bought the Cube version of TP so you never ended up buying a Wii because you didn't need to.  This is the first Zelda that absolutely requires a Wii to own.  That might have some appeal.

[Mop it up]

I should have known this thread would contain more "casual" bashing and other misguided "hardcore" statements...

[ThePerm]

the one thing that is great this generation is, that Nintendo could have a failure next generation and it wouldn't hurt them that much financially.

The deal is 71 million Wiis have sold, where only 21 million Gamecubes sold. If Nintendo wanted to start another generation, they could potentially have kept consumers busy while they waited for a cheaper high end console to come out. I'm pretty sure both 360 and ps3 were overpowered consoles, they were pretty steeply priced at launch, and its only now they are getting cheap enough for most people to afford. I imagine if they keep their systems active they can keep them going for a long time. Whenever the next system does come out i expect it to be slightly more powerful than the ps3 or xbox 360, and i expect it to get a bunch of 3rd party support right out of the gate. I don't expect a huge leap over whats out now though, unless there is some technological breakthrough.  Console power is reaching a threshold though. Its hard to look that much better than amazing.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think franchises will do a better job of selling Wiis to core gamers who already own a 360 or PS3 or both than new stuff would. New stuff might be better, but it's not going to catch their eye like a familiar, nostalgic franchise game will.

If it didn't work on the Gamecube why would it work with the Wii?  From a core gamer perspective the Wii might as well be the Gamecube 2.
 
If anything I think core gamers are less likely to buy a Wii now than they were a few years ago.  The Wii's casual image is very firmly established which wasn't as much the case a few years ago.  The Wii has no future potential.  Core gamers know exactly what to expect from it.  For a core gamer all the Wii offers is Nintendo franchises with waggle controls.  Unless you're some Donkey Kong megafan who for some reason isn't interested in other Nintendo franchises, nothing at E3 is going to change your mind if you were already not interested.
 
The only exception I can see is if you're into Zelda and bought the Cube version of TP so you never ended up buying a Wii because you didn't need to.  This is the first Zelda that absolutely requires a Wii to own.  That might have some appeal.

People who aren't interested won't change their minds, but people who have no interest at this point are never going to have any interest; it's pointless to try to attract them. What Nintendo's E3 lineup may do, however, is get people who have some interest in the Wii, but haven't gotten one yet, to come off the fence.

[Fatty The Hutt]

 
 
I think DK Country Returns is the "killer app" for Nintendo over this coming Holiday period, just as NSMB Wii was last year. DK will not sell quite as gangbusters as Mario did, but that is expected and it'll do alright. I am a bit confused about the stategic value of launching Kirby's Epic Yarn around the same time of year as DKC Returns, since they are both family-friendly Wii platformers. Aren't they cannibalizing their own market?
Anyway, I dunno if NSMB Wii helped to boost system sales last Holiday period but if it did, I think DKC Returns will have a similar effect, though not as large. Then, in the following Spring, I expect to see systems with more game pack-ins. I wouldn't be suprised to see NSMB Wii chucked in as a bundle next Spring. I recall they did something similar in the latter days of Super Nintendo (that's when I got mine, in '94.)