Topic: Nintendo Learning from E3 about Best Way to Sell Wii U

[Kairon]

Also, Global President Satoru Iwata admits to not talking about future first-party projects due to fears of being copied.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30742

Asked directly about whether consumers could understand what made the Wii U a desirable purchase, Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata said the company was still working on the issue. 

"Even here at the E3 show, I would say that the way we introduced [the Wii U's] unique game play hasn’t been absolutely perfect, " Iwata said at the company's E3 analyst event last week, "we do have people who have responded very positively to the Wii U, we also have some who are still somewhat skeptical of it."

Nintendo will be examining what worked and what didn't so it can apply those lessons "for the time when we do announce the launch details, such as the launch price and the launch date," according to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime.

One thing the company still seems reticent to do, however, is talk about its game projects beyond the Wii U's launch and the several months following. Iwata admitted that both he and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto are at work on new and existing franchises for the Wii U, but since "similar proposals can be made by the others just one year after," Iwata asked that analysts "please understand that we really can't say much about what else we are planning."

[broodwars]

Good.  Nintendo has a track record of good results basing the marketing and sales strategy for their devices based on "feedback" from E3.  Just look at a couple of years ago when hype around the 3DS reveal caused them to hike the price of the handhel----OH WAIT.   

Seriously, though, Nintendo apparently needs all the help they can get figuring out how the market the Wii U, because clearly they've put very little thought into the matter.  If E3 feedback helps them figure out what their focus is with the Wii U, then at least E3 was good for something this year.

[Plugabugz]

CHEAPER! FASTER! MORE POWER!

[Adrock]

This isn't terribly surprising considering Nintendo has practically gone out of their way to make marketing Wii U as difficult as humanly possible.

[lenny]

Not sure if thats a good thing or not. A lot of the feedback they get is from maniacal fans that want a system that runs ur4, faster better online, and all major ip available at launch, in Full HD for $250 Thats just obsurd. I wish i could market and make commercial for them. I'.ve had some really great ideas!

[Chozo Ghost]

Good.  Nintendo has a track record of good results basing the marketing and sales strategy for their devices based on "feedback" from E3.  Just look at a couple of years ago when hype around the 3DS reveal caused them to hike the price of the handhel----OH WAIT.   

That makes it all the better that the reaction to this year's E3 was lukewarm at best. It would be good for Nintendo to realize they have their work cut out for them, and that it is going to take some elbow grease to convince consumers that the Wii U is worth their money.

[Pixelated Pixies]

"Asked directly about whether consumers could understand what made the Wii U a desirable purchase, Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata said the company was still working on the issue."
 
They're still working on the issue of how to make consumers understand what makes their system desirable? That's a pretty big problem to have this close to launch. At this point Nintendo should have had a finely honed message, one which highlights exactly why you would want to own a Wii U. They should be shouting such a message from the rooftops not 'working' on it. It seems to me that Nintendo's whole approach to the Wii U has been ad hoc.

[Chocobo_Rider]

I think it's a great idea to keep things under wraps to cut down on competitors stealing ideas in a timely manner.  I mean, come on, does anyone think SmartGlass was going to be a thing before the GamePad was revealed?

Kinect, Move, Avatars, ModNation Racers, LBP Karting, PS AS Battle Royale, etc ... everyone rips off everyone else, but no one gets copied like modern Nintendo.  Might be a good idea to play things close to the vest for a while.

[Kairon]

"Asked directly about whether consumers could understand what made the Wii U a desirable purchase, Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata said the company was still working on the issue."
 
They're still working on the issue of how to make consumers understand what makes their system desirable? That's a pretty big problem to have this close to launch. At this point Nintendo should have had a finely honed message, one which highlights exactly why you would want to own a Wii U. They should be shouting such a message from the rooftops not 'working' on it. It seems to me that Nintendo's whole approach to the Wii U has been ad hoc.

*shrug* Nintendo's bringing something new into the world, I can understand if they're having difficulty describing it to 90+ million people. They had the same problem with the 3DS and it seems they were able to right that ship.

In fact, I bet they're applying a lot of lessons from the 3DS to the Wii U.

[Ceric]

I think it's a great idea to keep things under wraps to cut down on competitors stealing ideas in a timely manner.  I mean, come on, does anyone think SmartGlass was going to be a thing before the GamePad was revealed?
...

Actually yes because there been leaks of MS trying integrating this type of Tech into there system.

I personally see this like convincing Bean Counters to upgrade to the New Version of SQL.  The argument of it will make everything X faster and open up Y feature is normally not good enough in most company even though we all know that the X is really significant.  Whats the compelling non-niche argument?

[Ian Sane]

Nintendo's whole approach to the Wii U seems very strange for a system that is due out later this year.  We haven't been given the price or the date and they're still figuring out the best way to market it.  This isn't some far off product.  This is supposedly coming out in less than six months.  These aren't the extra details that should still need to be figured out.

[Enner]

Perhaps they are embracing a 3-4 month major marketing cycle to a fault. Iwata wants to play some things close to the chest, and that seems to have backfired in this E3.

[Shaymin]

Nintendo's whole approach to the Wii U seems very strange for a system that is due out later this year.  We haven't been given the price or the date and they're still figuring out the best way to market it.  This isn't some far off product.  This is supposedly coming out in less than six months.  These aren't the extra details that should still need to be figured out.

We didn't get the price or date for the original Wii until September 2006, though.

[Podings]

This is a fair an understandable move.


Historically, the hardcore hype machine has never helped Nintendo's sales much anyway, and companies HAVE been copying them quite directly over relatively short time.


Like when the Wii was fully unveiled in summer 2006 and the iPhone showed up half a year later with the EXACT SAME interface philosophy, tilt sensing, and accelerometer. The thing was basically a DS with a Wii inside it, and they're running away with the entire market.


Nintendo is not happy about that development, and right now with the Wii U there are a LOT of smart TV manufacturers looking to get the upperhand on the competition. Copying Nintendo has never been proven a bad idea, so they just might if they're allowed.

[Oblivion]

I seriously doubt Steve Jobs designed the iPhone with the Wii in mind. If anyone honestly thinks that, they are fools. Gaming in general, much less Nintendo, was barely a blip in Jobs' mind. He hated gaming, and begrudgingly put gaming on th iPhone.

[ThePerm]

Nintendo has already given Sony and Microsoft plenty of time to copy them. They announced the controller a year ago and it hasn't changed much. The Vita if packed with a ps4 could do what the wii u gamepad does and better. If Sony was smart they would just make a beefier ps3 like Nintendo made a beefier 360 and call it a ps4. That could also help Vita Sales. And Sony doesnt have a problem with charging people $600 for consoles anyways.

didn't Steve Jobs say in the 80s that the company to look out for was Nintendo?

[Kairon]

The Vita if packed with a ps4 could do what the wii u gamepad does and better.
...
And Sony doesnt have a problem with charging people $600 for consoles anyways.

LOL. /applauds

[Phil]

I think an ulterior motive is to not get the hype lost on launch titles, or having people wait for the more interesting titles to buy a Wii U and not do so at launch. My analysis on the situation at least.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Nintendo have been on the back foot ever since E3. Almost every news story seems to be someone from Nintendo being asked about why they did or didn't do something. Why have they not reveiled what Retro have been working on? Why are they retaining friend codes? Why are they not releasing any games at launch which support two gamepads? Why are they not including a hard drive? Why have they chose to introduce a draconian filter system? Do they have the ability to surpass their competitors online systems? Why does the gamepad not support multi-touch? Regardless of whether or not you're satisfied by their answers (and I'm more often not), it's really dissappointing to see Nintendo on the defense. Nintendo for me is always at it's best when it's pointing forward rather than being reactionary.
 

 

[Podings]

@Oblivion
I think you'd be a fool to NOT see the connection between the DS, Wii and the iPhone.

Whether or not Steve Jobs liked games, he saw from the press and public reactions to these devices that this was the way to control future devices. This was the natural next step in interacting with digital media.

And the way the iPhone has screens that you swipe between, with evenly aligned rounded-corner icons representing your programs, that zoom up to fill the screen when tapped? How is that NOT an (admittedly more elegant) imitation of the Wii system menu?

Not saying the Wii and DS are the only devices influencing Apple and Jobs when working on iPhone, but to dismiss any influence would be ludicrous.

[TJ Spyke]

Why are they retaining friend codes?

I have not seen any mention of friend codes, at the very least they never mentioned them at E3.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I have not seen any mention of friend codes, at the very least they never mentioned them at E3.

Yeah. They did not mention friend codes at E3, but it has subsequently been confirmed that friend codes will exist on Wii U in some capacity. It has been reported that the system will be streamlined, although it has not yet been announced what this means.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think the 3DS version of them works pretty well, and if it's further streamlined from that I have no problem with retaining the codes.

[tendoboy1984]

Are people really still wondering how the Friend Code system will be utilized on the Wii U?

Here's a highly probable answer: You send someone a friend request, and that message has their Friend Code listed.

[Oblivion]

That would be pointless.