Topic: Iwata Confused by Nintendo's Drop in Stock Following Wii U Announcement

[NWR_MattB]

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.

[Adrock]

This is actually great news disguised as bad news. It keeps Nintendo on their toes, allows them to reevaluate what is and is not working and adjust accordingly. Universal or near-universal praise leads to mistakes due to complacency. WiiU has a few issues Nintendo needs to address and iron out. This sends the message loud and clear so, we'll see how Nintendo reacts. My hope is that they'll actually listen.

For consumers, core or casual, this is only a good thing since we'll get the best product possible in the end. I think back to E3 2010 and all the buzz 3DS got. What did we get? Nintendo bumped the price up and failed to address issues like battery life and launch lineup. It's one thing to increase the price based on public reception; it's another to admit you did so for that reason. That's a special kind of hubris that hopefully will not be repeated with WiiU.

[Chozo Ghost]

It was the name, mr. Iwata. Its not too late to change it, though. Please do!

[Ian Sane]

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.

[KITT 10K]

I agree with Chozo Ghost, the name isn't all that great. Personally, I would've gone with "Wii Touch" maybe, (mainly beaus of the touch screen on the controller). But if Nintendo REALLY wants to stay in the game, (no pun intended), they need to beef up the graphics, gameplay, and on line features as well. I am a die hard Nintendo fan, but that's how I look at it.

[Chozo Ghost]

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?

[BlackNMild2k1]

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.

Let's hope so. A tech bump to allow seamless dual uScreen support and a reasonable pricing that doesn't include a 40% profit margin would be very nice.

and I'm sure a slight change in name wouldn't hurt.
Wii Stream may invite more pee jokes, but that all worked out for the better last time as the name became very commonly known by even people that don't game. Although WiiU isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be, it's just not different enough.

[Enner]

Super Wii!

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?

I would hope that stock holders aren't that reactionary.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Also if Iwata is truly confused as to why stocks have dropped based on positive news, just show him the article in this quote

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.)

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?�

and that is just a sample of the article from a Forbes Blog

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.

To sum it up, everyone was confused on if they were looking at a WiiHD or a new controller meant to be used with Wii. This was only compounded by the Wii like graphics in the Chase Mii demo and NSMBMii.

The article then goes on about how E3 wasn't open to the public and how they didn't have any actual games to play... just "tech demos".

To summarize the whole thing so far, Nintendo didn't make it clear what the purpose of their unveiling was and that made it confusing to the uninformed as to what exactly they were supposed to be seeing or what they were supposed to be expecting.

[broodwars]

Well, let's see if we can think of reasons why stockholders would be abandoning Nintendo:

- The name is the worst ever attached to a video game system - already covered.

- Nintendo didn't even mention any upcoming Wii software outside of Skyward Sword, and the Wii U doesn't arrive for another year.

- Nintendo didn't show a single 1st party title for the Wii U.

- None of the 3rd party titles showed for the Wii U are going to be exclusive, and several are going to arrive later than other incarnations of the games.

- Nintendo did a pretty poor job of explaining why this controller is something to get excited about as a Nintendo investor.

[Morari]

"Nintendo stocks fall as company unveils even dumber controller setup than last time!"

[Chozo Ghost]

I agree with Broodwars that the lack of any Wii software for the rest of its life (except for Zelda) probably came as a huge blow to investors. The WiiU is a year to a year and a half away and the 3DS isn't doing so hot, so what positive thing does Nintendo have to show for the short term? Nothing.

The really shocking and sad thing here is that Iwata says he was surprised by this. He's in charge of Nintendo, so the fact he was surprised by this is VERY disturbing to me.

[Ian Sane]

Well if Iwata wasn't surprised by this then that means they expected stock to drop and if they expected that why wouldn't they do something different?  Surely they would never WANT this to happen.

[ShyGuy]

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I think the manner in which Wii U was shown during the press conference was too stingy on details and potentially misleading. A shame, because it's been all positive buzz since then. Obviously, the initial presentation is important though, and I imagine there are a lot of people who follow E3 only up to the conferences. Probably not going to make much difference in the long term, although now is definitely the time to buy if you're into investing.

On another matter, I'm surprised that so many still care so much about console names. The Giant Bombcast had a good discussion about this (and this was referring to the Vita) - going all the way back to the Dreamcast, console names have been pretty ridiculous. I will say, reading the overreaction towards Wii U has been one of the funniest stories coming out of E3. People say the darnedest things.

[Chozo Ghost]

That image reminds me of Riverdance.

[Lady Mushroom]

If I were  an investor I really would be taking this opportunity to buy into Nintendo.

[oohhboy]

Maybe they should have call it the Wii64?

The Nintendo Presentation was confusing as anybody on irc at the time would attest to. Compounded with the current Nintendo gaming gap, for anybody who doesn't game but invest isn't seeing any good numbers right now. The real smart money is still on Nintendo, but Nintendo this E3 had a lot of non-news for this quarter and the next. With investing more and more focused on quarters to the point of resembling gambling in all but name, even neutral news or long term good news is considered bad since you can't make money NOW especially when something isn't quantifiable.

[ShyGuy]

Atari 2600, 5200, 7800 - neutral name
Odyssey - good name
Colecovision - bad name
NES - neutral name
Super Nintendo - good name
Genesis - good name
TurboGrafx16 - bad name
Gameboy - good name
Lynx - good name
Gamegear - neutral name
Neo Geo - bad name
Gameboy Color - neutral name
Playstation - neutral name
Nintendo 64 - neutral name
Saturn - good name
Jaguar - good name
Gameboy Advance - neutral name
DreamCast - good name
Playstation 2 - neutral name
Gamecube - good name
Nintendo DS - neutral name
Xbox - bad name
Playstation Portable - bad name
Xbox 360 - bad name
Nintendo Wii - bad name
Playstation 3 - neutral name
Playstation Vita - badl name
Wii U - bad name

[Ian Sane]

Wii, Vita and Wii U are the only systems I can think of that have borderline embarassing names.  "Xbox 360" is a dumb name but it isn't embarassing.  "Wii U" doesn't even sound like a real product.  If I went back in time and told myself in 2001 that there would be a system called "Wii U" he would probably not believe me.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I can't believe anyone would seriously suggest the name has anything to do with the stock dropping, talk about irrational. I think it had more to do with lack of real games being demonstrated, confusion over whether it is a new console or not (I was even confused during the conference). Bad names are common in gaming, Xbox is stupid, Playstation is lame, Nintendo Entertainment System is generic, Gamecube was ridiculous, Wii was weird. The only company who had some neat names was Sega, and well, that is proof right there that the name of the system means jack.

Wii U is an extension of the Wii brand, a known brand, nothing new. If someone told me in 1998 there would be a console called Xbox I would have thought they were full of crap too, heck if I heard something would be called an iPad I'd think it was a joke. That is just the electronics and gaming industry.

[Chozo Ghost]

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.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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.

Keep dreaming. The name of the console is apart of the Wii branding. Get over it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

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.

"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.

"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 Wii^u 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).

[MaryJane]

Not showing off the console itself killed them.