Topic: Wii U - e3 is over... now what?

[Mop it up]

the console will need three things: a competitive price, compelling first party launch titles, and compelling third party launch titles.

The Wii proves that the system won't need the last one, though the 3DS shows that it will need the first two.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Isn't the Wii U essentially the infamous "Wii HD" Pachter whined about forever and ever?  Or does it not count now because it's "too late" or whatever?

Wii U is NOT WiiHD

WiiHD would have been a simple Wii relaunch that allowed for HD resolutions (More Fillrate, More Ram). Wii U is a next-gen system regardless of what Pachter has to say about it. Don't let him fool you into thinking he was right all along. He's been saying WiiHD was gonna happen backnin '08, '09 & 2010. That moment has passed and he he 0 for his last 27 when it comes to "insider" predictions.
I think the safe bet nowadays is to bet against what Pachter has to say and you will profit.

1. Pachter makes prediction
2. bet on the opposite
3. ? ? ?
4. Profit

In the end you will likely make more than you have lost, and that's really all you can ask for.

[Stogi]

I think the simple fact that you can take your game away from the Wii U means that it's not just a WiiHD.

[Adrock]

I think the simple fact that Pachter is always wrong is proof that Wii U isn't Wii HD. To his credit, that's still a better name though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

The Darkness II may be getting a Wii U version
http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/08/the-darkness-ii-gameplay-videos-are-full-of-death/

The game is out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in February 2012, with a Wii U version planned.

[Chozo Ghost]

For one thing, didn't Packturd predict the WiiHD was going to come out in 2009? The Wii U won't be out until 2012, so that's quite far off the mark. Everyone knew Nintendo was going to release an 8th generation console sometime down the road and that it would have HD graphics. Its the safest bet anyone could make. The only way it wouldn't happen is if Nintendo left the console business. But that's not what he predicted with the WiiHD, though. This is a whole new console entirely, not just the Wii with HD duct taped onto it.

[Shaymin]

The only analyst who ever got it right with Nintendo was Billy Pidgeon and he gets about 1/1000 of the press.

[Stogi]

The Darkness II may be getting a Wii U version
http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/08/the-darkness-ii-gameplay-videos-are-full-of-death/

The game is out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in February 2012, with a Wii U version planned.

*Drools*

That game looks amazingly dark.

[BlackNMild2k1]

The Wii U isn't likely to be the lead platform anytime soon for any 3rd multi-platform party title, just like the PS3 wasn't the lead platform on 360/PS3 titles most of the time except for a handful of multi-platform titles.  The lead platform tends to be either whatever the developer is most comfortable working on or the one that will likely have the most sales.  This generation, that was the Xbox 360.  When the Wii U releases, the lead platform will likely remain the 360 until Microsoft and Sony's new consoles release, especially because it's so relatively easy to simply up the texture resolution and whatnot for the Wii U version while keeping the lower spec-ed 360 and PS3 as the baseline.  Then the lead platform will shift to whatever new platform meets the criteria I've already listed.

Digital download titles would be a different story, but the only way the Wii U would be a "lead platform" there would be if they were timed exclusives or were designed to use the Wii U tablet's unique features.

I think that if the Devs have the choice, Wii U will be the lead platform assuming 720 doesn't launch at the same time and is more powerful. These devs have been working on the same hardware for the last 6+ years and are probably itching to get their hands on something new that is more powerful than what they've been working on since it allows them to do more stuff than they have currently been doing.

If porting is as easy as they say it is, then I bet they would rather downport to the PS360 and remove the special controller screen features than to up-port to the Wii U and add them. They would want to push the Wii U as far as they can and then scale it back for the other consoles, not the other way around.

[broodwars]

If porting is as easy as they say it is, then I bet they would rather downport to the PS360 and remove the special controller screen features than to up-port to the Wii U and add them. They would want to push the Wii U as far as they can and then scale it back for the other consoles, not the other way around.

Except that if the Wii U will be as abysmal for 3rd party sales as the Wii was, developers would probably rather focus their full attention on the version that they think will actually cater to their largest audience.  Go ask the developers of Dead Space Extraction, Madworld, Zack & Wiki, etc. how it worked out for them putting their full attention on a game marketed to an audience that didn't care.

Creatively, perhaps, devs would want to stretch out and play with whatever creative ideas strike them with the Wii U version of a game.  But that's not the reality of the market.  Devs barely have the time, resources, and manpower to make versions of a game that are the same across all platforms, and that's not likely to get  any better as the world economy continues to decline.  If the market doesn't justify the extra expenditure of giving the Wii U version special attention as lead platform, developers aren't going to do it because it doesn't make sense.  I said that the Wii U could be the lead platform if it had the sales to justify it.  We'll just have to see if it does.

[Chozo Ghost]

Except that if the Wii U will be as abysmal for 3rd party sales as the Wii was,

The Wii was only abysmal for 3rd party sales because 3rd parties treated the Wii as a toilet and shat on it. The PS360 got the awesome titles while the Wii got casual dance rabbids and things like that, or on-rails RE spinoffs whereas the PS360 got RE5. I don't think history is going to repeat itself because already its been confirmed some high profile 3rd party games like Battlefield 3 are not only coming to the Wii U, but the Wii U is actually getting a superior version. So as long as that holds up 3rd parties will do well. You can't create only shovelware on a system and then expect it to sell millions. The 3rd parties failure on the Wii was of their own making.

[broodwars]

The 3rd parties failure on the Wii was of their own making.

Not quite.  We both know that quality 3rd party games went unsold on the Wii, and that much of the reason why 3rd parties couldn't bring some of that "awesome software" from the HD platforms to the Wii was because the Wii simply couldn't handle it and it wasn't worth the time; money; and manpower to recreate those games into something the technologically-ancient Wii could handle.

But we've had this argument before, we'll probably have it again, and I'm not interested in going into this right now.

And just because the Wii U will have these titles, that doesn't mean they will sell on Wii U.  Since you brought it up, let's take Battlefield 3 as an example: if you care about this game, you already own a PS3; 360; or a capable PC and will probably buy one of those versions. If this is a game you care about, you aren't going to wait a year for the Wii U port, so who will be buying this game on Wii U?  I can say the same for so many other games from this year confirmed to be on the Wii U next year.  And before you bring up The Casuals, I'll remind you that this console so far has not seemed designed for them based on how Nintendo talked about it at E3.

[Chozo Ghost]

As someone (I think it was Stogi) pointed out earlier, the Wii U probably won't be a year off, and the fact these games are coming to it supports that. It could come out in the 2nd or 3rd quarter next year. I think possibly as early as March, but May or June may be more likely. Usually Nintendo likes to aim to launch their consoles late in the year, but this time around they have a chance to be the first on the market and I think they would want to seize that opportunity and have as much of a head start as they possibly can.

Would someone buy a game like Battlefield 3 on the Wii U? Well, I have a PS3, but now that I know its coming to the Wii U maybe I will just save my money and wait for the Wii U and get it on that system. Especially because the Wii U version is apparently superior. I suspect the Wii U version will have the larger battlefields and more simultaneous players like the PC version which would make it better than the gimped PS360 version which can't handle it due to lack of RAM.

I also would rather avoid giving Sony any of my business ever again if I can help it, but that's a separate issue. But my point is that I would buy it on the Wii U and I have a feeling a lot of other people would also just to have the superior version, if nothing else. Plus once the Wii U is out its out, which means from that point onward multiplatform games can hit the Wii U at the same time as the other platforms without people being forced to wait. So if Battlefield 3 and Darksiders II and whatever have a problem selling on the Wii U that would be unfortunate, but its not like future games will have this issue. Know what I mean?

[Adrock]

Any game released on Wii U months after the 360/PS3 versions has a chance of selling reasonably well as long as the publishers don't try to sell them for $60. Unless the Wii U version is released simultaneously with the other versions, it should be sold at a discount price. Maybe $40. That's probably how much the other versions will be lowered to by the time the Wii U version comes out. That's still a harder sell for the Wii U version because it requires the purchase of a brand new, presumably more expensive console.

Anyway, I get the impression that Wii U (and possibly 3DS through a future update) is getting a version of EA's Origin. That might explain why EA has been so high on the Wii U since they clearly have something to gain if it succeeds. Many of us wanted to see Valve's Steam but Nintendo stands to benefit more from an alliance with EA considering EA has far more clout in the console space.

[ThePerm]

Who the **** does Michael Packter think he is? Honestly, what type of bullshit job is an industry analyst, I've been following the console industry closely since 1997. Does someone pay him to make bullshit predictions, where can I sign up? Want to know when to buy and sell stocks? buy stocks now, and sell them 4 years from now, you'll make a killing. Nintendo has a 100+ year history with minimal debt, in the last nearly 30 years they have released a game console every 5, the initial 2.5 years were usually the most profitable, while the remaining 3 so stagnation and losses do to shifting priorities of third parties, in the last cycle they had unprecedented growth despite analyst claiming they would fold and develop for other systems. They managed to capture the majority of the market share and sell 80 million consoles and 100 million handehelds. Investors were woried about the new 3ds after it was only out for a month and didn't sell 100 million units, most investors were not investors when its predecessor came out and didn't sell because it was "ugly", the fact is Nintendo seems to have figured out that changing the aesthetics of its systems slightly (for instance color), and lowering its prices in 2 year intervals causes it to maintain sells. At the least one can expect any Nintendo system to sell at least 18 million units and at the most 100 million.  Annual profit for Nintendo software is about 15 billion dollars.

[Ceric]

The Darkness II may be getting a Wii U version
http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/08/the-darkness-ii-gameplay-videos-are-full-of-death/

The game is out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in February 2012, with a Wii U version planned.

That looked like a not particularly good looking GCN game.

On Battlefield 3, I think that is a game from the description that could warrant a double dip for some of the hardcore to get what the WiiU can offer.  Let's say all the versions can play together.  I would think the squad or what have you with a commander that has a WiiU would be able to get faster better strategy and the team that is all WiiU can communicate better.  That will be a series advantage.  Like raiding in WoW, you can do it without vent but, when learning new stuff why would you want to?  Another example is in MHTri, you can chat without the keyboard but man is it a pain.

If the WiiU gives a clear tactical advantage in the more competitive genre and a better Quality of Life the WiiU will win the people looking for that slight edge.  Nintendo just really needs to make sure that it will play nice with all the other consoles so that advantage becomes apparent when you are being dominated in mixed system play by WiiU players.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Any game released on Wii U months after the 360/PS3 versions has a chance of selling reasonably well as long as the publishers don't try to sell them for $60. Unless the Wii U version is released simultaneously with the other versions, it should be sold at a discount price. Maybe $40. That's probably how much the other versions will be lowered to by the time the Wii U version comes out. That's still a harder sell for the Wii U version because it requires the purchase of a brand new, presumably more expensive console.

Actually, I think the Wii U versions will likely end up being the GOTY editions, or Collectors Edition or something special that comes with DLC included, extra features and exclusive content. It will likely have the same exact price as the game that came 4-6 months before it and people will buy it and not complain.

[Adrock]

That depends on the gap between when the 360/PS3 versions are released and when the Wii U version is released. If it's a couple of months, Wii U is getting the same exact game, save for tablet controller support. If that's the case, the Wii U version better not cost $20+ than the other versions.

And really? You don't think people will complain? Have you read some of the posts on these boards? People complain about everything. Even when they get what they want, they complain. "I don't like games that use motion controls. They're for rubes. I'm not buying those games but I'm going to bitch about it anyway." Ugh, you have too much faith in people, sir. People are bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling.

[broodwars]

Any game released on Wii U months after the 360/PS3 versions has a chance of selling reasonably well as long as the publishers don't try to sell them for $60. Unless the Wii U version is released simultaneously with the other versions, it should be sold at a discount price. Maybe $40. That's probably how much the other versions will be lowered to by the time the Wii U version comes out. That's still a harder sell for the Wii U version because it requires the purchase of a brand new, presumably more expensive console.

Actually, I think the Wii U versions will likely end up being the GOTY editions, or Collectors Edition or something special that comes with DLC included, extra features and exclusive content. It will likely have the same exact price as the game that came 4-6 months before it and people will buy it and not complain.

Eh, I wouldn't count on that.  With console exclusivity quickly becoming a thing of the past, the new battleground is DLC exclusivity, timed or otherwise.  Just ask PS3 owners how long they had to wait after the 360 got the Fallout 3 DLC before it was finally released on PSN (and 360 owners about the Joker DLC the PS3 version of Arkham Asylum got, which the 360 never got), and a Game of the Year edition with it all wasn't released till much later.  The Wii U versions might have 1 or 2 of the DLC packed-in, but I can't see publishers and developers closing off that entire revenue stream by giving away all the DLC for free.

Now, I could definitely see exclusive DLC with Wii U-specific content, though I wouldn't expect that exclusivity to last long unless there's tablet-oriented content (or Nintendo pays for DLC exclusivity).

[Ceric]

...
People are bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling.

In Adrock World, There is no Marriage and everyone is a pregnant Female wearing a Human skin coat which must be where the Males went.

...
Now, I could definitely see exclusive DLC with Wii U-specific content, though I wouldn't expect that exclusivity to last long unless there's tablet-oriented content (or Nintendo pays for DLC exclusivity).

Paying for DLC would be very American so, in the realm of NoA. Which we all know are working very hard in stealth to gain the title of "Worse Nintendo Branch" recently.  On launch titles I would not be very surprised at all to seen touch-pad exclusive new content.  Hopefully the later versions of games will contain some goodies.  Though a lot of people who normally wouldn't pick up those types of games would on a system launch.  Being fully polished would be helpful.

[Stogi]

Next e3 is going to be very interesting.

[Ian Sane]

The problem with a title like Battlefield 3 is that practically no one is going to buy a Wii U for it.  It's going to be on systems that have already been out for years and the target demographic already owns those systems.  Nintendo basically spent the last five years selling Xbox 360s and PS3s to core gamers.  So the Wii U launches and it has Battlefield 3 and you want it so... you buy it for the Xbox 360 you already own.  Why would you buy a Wii U for it?

You're going to buy a Wii U for exclusives.  Nintendo needs some big must-play title to get core gamers to buy a Wii U.  Not fuckin' Wii Sports or Warioware or some churn-it-out lazy titles like that.  It needs something BIG because no one is going to give this thing a chance.  Why should they?  The Wii scared every core gamer away and NOA has spent the last year completely poisoning the waters.  And the casuals?  Gone.  They own iPhones now and play Angry Birds.

Now if the Wii U has some big game at launch that every core gamer wants so that they're buying a Wii U anyway then they might get Battlefield 3 as well, unless the Wii U version is in some way inferior to the others.

[Stogi]

Ian, would Dragon Quest work?

[Ceric]

Ian, would Dragon Quest work?

I'll take that.
Dragon Quest fits the above example so I will say no.

[Ian Sane]

Yeah, Dragon Quest would work great... in Japan.  But, still, it would really help.