Topic: Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge Confirmed as Wii U Launch Title

[NWR_pap64]

Hayabusa-san's bloody journey continues on Nintendo's latest console.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/28409

Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge has been confirmed as a launch title for the upcoming Wii U, based on Tecmo's marketing material.

In an earnings presentation, Tecmo Koei presented their plans for their upcoming releases. They explained their worldwide plans, which include handling systems based on regions. In a slide, they show future titles, which confirms Ninja Gaiden 3 as a launch title for the Wii U.

The presentation also confirms sales numbers for one of their first 3DS titles, Dead or Alive Dimensions. Worldwide, the game sold 310,000 units.

[Adrock]

This is great news even though I'm not going to buy the game (I prefer games that don't slap me around until I make it a sandwich and do the dishes). It gives Wii U some hardcore cred right out of the gate. Hopefully the game comes out on all 3 consoles on the same day.

[Ceric]

I thought DoA Sold More.  Did you see anything about a Monster Rancher?

[DanielM]

This is great news even though I'm not going to buy the game (I prefer games that don't slap me around until I make it a sandwich and do the dishes). It gives Wii U some hardcore cred right out of the gate. Hopefully the game comes out on all 3 consoles on the same day.

Actually, its coming out of the other two consoles earlier, but the Wii U version will have several more features that the others don't. The same goes for Arkham City. I think I'm going to buy it because I told myself I'm going to buy every launch title that day so....time to start saving that money.

[KDR_11k]

I'm not sure all those late ports will do the Wii U any good. What Nintendo needs to offer is new games, not just existing ones with minor updates.

Never mind that I'm probably not the only one who has no interest in a series of brutally hard brawlers. Ninja Gaiden is an extremely niche game.

[NWR_insanolord]

Assuming there are going to be new games, it doesn't really make sense to announce them now. All that stuff is most likely being saved for the big E3 blowout.

[Chozo Ghost]

Is 310,000 considered a good number for worldwide sales of a game? Obviously, every company hopes their games become multi-million sellers, but that rarely happens. Is 310K enough to be profitable? Is it respectable? I'm just asking because I have no idea.

[Shaymin]

The only real point of comparison is an old (like, 2006) piece from Namco saying you need to sell a half million on the PS3 to make a profit.

Given the lower dev costs of a 3DS, I would think 310k would be profitable, but not wildly so.

[Kytim89]

Assuming there are going to be new games, it doesn't really make sense to announce them now. All that stuff is most likely being saved for the big E3 blowout.

GTA 5 will be announced as a Wii U launch title.

[Chozo Ghost]

Assuming there are going to be new games, it doesn't really make sense to announce them now. All that stuff is most likely being saved for the big E3 blowout.

GTA 5 will be announced as a Wii U launch title.

That would be a very big milestone, because it would mark the very first time a GTA game has appeared on a Nintendo console. I know there was Chinatown wars on the DS (I bought it) and a few on the GBA, but those are handhelds. Consoles are another story. Let's hope it happens, because if it does it would do a lot to help shake off Nintendo's image as being the Little Jimmy system.

[Kytim89]

Assuming there are going to be new games, it doesn't really make sense to announce them now. All that stuff is most likely being saved for the big E3 blowout.

GTA 5 will be announced as a Wii U launch title.

That would be a very big milestone, because it would mark the very first time a GTA game has appeared on a Nintendo console. I know there was Chinatown wars on the DS (I bought it) and a few on the GBA, but those are handhelds. Consoles are another story. Let's hope it happens, because if it does it would do a lot to help shake off Nintendo's image as being the Little Jimmy system.

If Nintendo could just get GTA 5 onto their system and it sold well on the Wii U then more third party games would follow.

[King of Twitch]

Assuming there are going to be new games, it doesn't really make sense to announce them now. All that stuff is most likely being saved for the big E3 blowout.

GTA 5 will be announced as a Wii U launch title.

A bold pronouncement with no facts, reason, or precedent to back it up. Classic Kytim.

[Caliban]

GTA 5 will be announced as a Wii U launch title.

No, thanks. Polyphony Digital can keep their trash on the PS3/4/5/6/7/8/Ad infinitum.

[Adrock]

No, thanks. Polyphony Digital can keep their trash on the PS3/4/5/6/7/8/Ad infinitum.

GTA = Grand Theft Auto. You're thinking of Gran Turismo which is a Sony owned IP anyway so Polyphony Digital, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, has no choice but to keep it on Sony consoles.

[Caliban]

D'oh. My bad. Hahahahahahahahahahaha, so embarrassing.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Is 310,000 considered a good number for worldwide sales of a game? Obviously, every company hopes their games become multi-million sellers, but that rarely happens. Is 310K enough to be profitable? Is it respectable? I'm just asking because I have no idea.

I haven't played the game, but I hear it's mostly reused assets and almost nothing new, so I would imagine that the dev cost were pretty low. and considering that there was probably ~4Million (or less) systems sold WW when the game came out, they weren't expecting much and budgeted properly.

[abe]

this game will probably keep more casual gamers away from the WiiU than it will attract hardcore gamers to the WiiU

[TJ Spyke]

I fail to see how a game existing on a system could turn AWAY customers. Honestly, who says "I would buy this system if only "Game A" wasn't on it"? It's not like people would have to buy it, and to me it would be like saying someone who hates porn won't buy a DVD player because porn is on DVD.

[Ceric]

I fail to see how a game existing on a system could turn AWAY customers. Honestly, who says "I would buy this system if only "Game A" wasn't on it"? It's not like people would have to buy it, and to me it would be like saying someone who hates porn won't buy a DVD player because porn is on DVD.

That does happen.  I know I know it sounds weird.  Just think of it like this.  We'll use porn because its easy.

I'm a parent I feel no need to have a DVD player in the house.  I would get no use out of it.  My Son wants a DVD player.  After doing some research I determine that DVD Players can play Porn and other content I don't want to see and I definitely don't want my Son to have access to.  Instead of buying a regular DVD player I'm going to buy a Safe DVD player that can actively block the undesired content or just not get one at all.

It really becomes who is the purchaser.  If its the game player then yeah it really doesn't matter.  If its a benefactor of the game player they are making a decision on conflicting demands on there resources and it can become that arbitrary for the decision.

But yeah that's a small percentage of the extreme case.  A more likely case is if the advertisement for a game is so good that it becomes synonymous with the system itself.  Like XBox with Halo or Genesis with Sonic.  If those type of games don't appeal to you you'll steer away.  Being Nintendo they are firmly entrenched in what they offer so that wouldn't be a problem.  In fact they need to counter there image more then anything and bring balance to the For.. Platform.

[Chozo Ghost]

this game will probably keep more casual gamers away from the WiiU than it will attract hardcore gamers to the WiiU

To be honest, if casual gamers get driven away that would probably be a good thing. Then finally Nintendo could be Nintendo again. Just like it used to back in the good old days.

So yes, I hope the casual gamers are driven away, and good riddance.

[Luigi Dude]

To be honest, if casual gamers get driven away that would probably be a good thing. Then finally Nintendo could be Nintendo again. Just like it used to back in the good old days.

So yes, I hope the casual gamers are driven away, and good riddance.

It's comments like this that make me wonder if you're posting from Bizzaro world.

So I'm guessing Sin and Punishment 2 or Punch-Out for the Wii don't exist in your world?  Or the fact that Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros Wii and Mario Galaxy 2 were the hardest platformers Nintendo's released since the NES era.  Hell according to most reports they turned up the difficulty for Zelda and Skyword Sword is actually challenging to complete unlike Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

[Chozo Ghost]

I'm not saying Nintendo isn't making hardcore games anymore. What I am saying is that is no longer their focus, or at least its not their only focus anymore. Hardcore games are still there, but there isn't as much as there could be because time and resources are being allocated to casual shovelware now.

[Ian Sane]

A console's "identity" is established within the first year.  Despite any list of core games one can list, the Wii's identity and image is as a casual system.  Fair or not, that's what the majority see it as.

There's one way I could see a game like this scaring away the casuals.  It might be that the Wii's casual image that scared away core gamers might also have been inviting to casuals.  They might have felt that the Wii was "their" system and they could trust it would have games that appeal to them.  When I go the store and look at the Wii section I see lots and lots of dumbed down casual ****, with some great games hidden in between.  A casual gamer could look at the same thing and see tons and tons of games they want to play and then look at the Xbox 360 section and see lots and lots of agressive, violent, and complicated games that would appeal to teenagers.  They immediately assume "this system is not for me."  The Wii U, if it was early on associated with games like Ninja Gaiden, could have the same effect.

It won't though.  The challenge will be to NOT have the Wii U associated as a casual console.

[Chozo Ghost]

The game which will matter most to set the tone for the Wii U will be whatever game Nintendo decides to bundle with it (if any). Nintendo usually bundles a game with their console at launch (the N64 and GC being exceptions) and this game goes on to set the tone for that system for the rest of its life. With the NES, that game was Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt; with the SNES it was Super Mario World; and of course with the Wii there was Wii Sports. The NES and SNES were known as the Mario systems because Mario was the pack in game everyone who bought the system owned immediately from day one of purchase. Maybe part of the reason why the N64 and GC did relatively poorly is because they didn't have any pack in title at launch, so they weren't associated with anything in particular, so no tone was really set for their image.

When you look at what Wii Sports has done with selling the system to people who normally have nothing to do with video games like soccer moms and the elderly it makes sense that Nintendo would have every reason to want to repeat that success by bundling something similar in with the Wii U. They already decided they are going to keep the Wii brand name going and are determined to continue to win over the casual market, so why wouldn't they? So I have every reason to expect there will be a Wii Sports 2 or some casual tech demo thing like that to show off the Wii U's gimmick to elderly people and nongamers.  I don't particularly want that to be the tone set for the Wii U, but I believe that's what is going to happen. All signs seem to suggest that will happen. I'm just hoping that in addition to that obligatory casual pack in, Nintendo decides to also include a core game pack in as well. If you think about it, the SMB1/Duck Hunt cartridge that was packed in with the NES was sorta like that. You had Duck Hunt with the Zapper which was sorta like a casual game of its era, and on the same cart you also had Super Mario Bros which was a hardcore game. So you had a pack in which catered to both crowds. Maybe its no coincidence then that the NES was basically Nintendo's Golden Age. It was their best selling (until the Wii) system of all time, and pretty much a monopoly. It catered to everyone, so it deserved that status. Even though the Wii might have sold more, the Wii doesn't have what it takes to reach that same level of glory.

[broodwars]

I will be content for the rest of my days if this is the last generation I have to use the terms "casual" and "core"/"hardcore" to describe game content on a platform.  I am so utterly sick of having to use them.  And if Nintendo truly makes the Wii U to appeal to everyone (in the sense that there are games for everyone's tastes, not "only games everyone can enjoy" like it was this generation), hopefully I won't ever have to again.