Topic: Official Sales Thread

[Stratos]

I would love to see a port/remake of Mario 64 DS on a platform with actual analog control. I thought a lot of the new content was pretty good.

You may get your wish

But I want it to be the DS version. I am concerned that these will be upgrades/ports/remakes of the originals and they toss aside the advances made in more recent remakes.

[azeke]

But I want it to be the DS version. I am concerned that these will be upgrades/ports/remakes of the originals and they toss aside the advances made in more recent remakes.

Have you tried playing Mario 64 DS on 3DS. Circle Pad kinda sorta adds "analog" control into the game retroactively. You can still feel it's 4–way underneath it but at least it's a bit more convenient.


On the othe other hand i started playing with DS port and didn't had too many problems even with D-pad.

[Stratos]

The D-Pad feels uncomfortable on my thumb when I use it for 3D movement. And I've tried it with Okamiden and it is a bit frustrating to have to deal with the '4-way' underneath in that game. Plus Mario 64 DS still runs for $25-30 so I'm fine waiting for a bit to see what we get in the near future. I'm just hopeful we get something in the near future.

[azeke]

I really doubt that should remake happens it will be cheaper that that. Your best bet is waiting for M64 hitting Wii U VC which is gonna be 10$ but then you'd lose additional stars and slight graphical upgrade from DS game.

[Stratos]

The point isn't price for me. I don't want to spend 25-30 to get the DS version if we get a 3DS or WiiU port in the next year. I technically own the N64 version but it is on long-term loan to a friend (he's had it for years, I really should try and get it back). I mostly want the DS version for the new content.

[Mop it up]

This might be relevant:

http://www.p4rgaming.com/hundreds-of-japanese-gamers-return-lightning-returns-after-finding-out-its-not-a-dress-up-sim/

[Stratos]

That is hilarious. It almost feels like an Onion article. Especially with the guy talking seriously about setting up for his 'happy time'.

[Shaymin]

Congrats, you guys just got Play4Real'd.

[Stratos]

Oh, wow, that site is Onion for gamers.

[shingi_70]

So with both the PS4 and Xbox One apparently outselling the Wii U's LTD does this mean the console is royally screwed? Nintendo is dead last in the the two biggest market's and only have the Japan market which is not doing well for consoles in general.


Mario 3D world alongside remkaes of all the big Wii software has failed. Where's does nintendo go from here with the only thing on the horizon being Mario Kart.

[ShyGuy]

Probably in the UK. I blame the chavs.

[BranDonk Kong]

Wii U is gonna be another GameCube, if we're lucky. It probably won't even do as well as the GameCube. The Wii U is what the Wii should have been back in 2006, and there's really no reason they couldn't have done it (maybe without the GamePad). They aren't using any new processing technology, it's the same chipset (basically) that they've been using since the GameCube. If Nintendo would have released this more powerful console when they should have I bet the current console market would be vastly different.

[NWR_insanolord]

It didn't even need to be instead of the Wii, if they'd just had it ready to go as soon as the Wii ran out of gas instead of letting it hang around basically dead for a couple of years it could have been a lot more successful, giving it more of a head start on the consoles we just got.

[BranDonk Kong]

That too. But 2012 was way too late for a 2006 console. I regret buying one, at least when I did.

[regin]

I would probably feel bad for Nintendo if I didn't expect the first six months of 2014 to be a complete joke when it comes to game releases. Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart and yet another awful Mario Sports Spinoff would make it the typical Nintendo spring lineup.

[Ian Sane]

It didn't even need to be instead of the Wii, if they'd just had it ready to go as soon as the Wii ran out of gas instead of letting it hang around basically dead for a couple of years it could have been a lot more successful, giving it more of a head start on the consoles we just got.

I agree with this.  Release the Wii U in 2010 and it would probably have been quite successful.  But a PS360 equivalent released a mere year before everyone and their dog knew the PS4 and XB1 were coming out?  You know how the Dreamcast lost out largely because of the looming release of the PS2 a year later?  Now imagine if the Dreamcast's hardware was the equivalent of the N64 and you have an idea of what the Wii U realistically is.  And Nintendo did so little with their year head start they might as well have come out at the same time.

[Luigi Dude]

Releasing the system earlier wouldn't have solved the biggest issues the Wii U had which is price and lack of games.  Nintendo released the 3DS when the DS was still selling great and yet the higher price tag and lack of games still hurt that system as well.

If Nintendo had released the Wii U in 2010 or 2011 at $350 with the only title with mass appeal being NSMB U and then having no other major releases until Mario 3D World, a full year after launch, probably wouldn't made sales that much better then they are now. 

The best thing Nintendo could have done was invest more in creating new studio's and expanding their older ones back in 2008/2009 so when the Wii U was released in 2012, there wasn't the insane droughts.  People have to remember that the Wii U actually had a good launch in America and Japan during holiday 2012.  Games like Pikmin 3 while lacking in huge appeal, at least would have done better right after launch and helped to still give the system some more momentum after the good holiday versus literally having nothing like Nintendo did.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think an earlier launch would have resulted in better third party support. If there had been more time left for the 360 and PS3 I think publishers would have been more likely to devote the resources to being able to put multiplatform releases on the Wii U.

[Ceric]

I'm really tired of the whole "Wii U price be too much in <insert Year>" argument.

I want to live in the land you guys live in.  Seriously.  I just had to drop $300+ at Home Depot to just wire 4 outlets, 3 Network Jacks, and my Speakers around the living room.  The PS3 AND XBox 360 were still selling around those prices.  We all love a $100 system.  If thats the case why don't you all have Ouya's and 2DS's?  I mean for $100 you can't really get a crappy desktop.  Shoot Smartphones are subsidized to $100.  The whole price argument is a Strawman argument at best.

[ShyGuy]

The average "hard core" gamer has really narrow tastes. They are the equivalent of somebody who only watches Summer Blockbuster movies.

The only "summer blockbusters" they will give five seconds attention to on a Nintendo platform are Mario, Zelda and Metroid. They don't think a handful of games is worth the platform cost. They ignore everything else.

Personally, it sounds like a horrible way to live your gaming life, but what do I know? Call of Duty Ghosts made a billion dollars.

[Ian Sane]

I think we've got a couple problems here.  I think part of why the Wii U is failing is because no one wanted a PS360 equivalent in 2012.  The Wii U is embarrassingly out of date and the time where such a thing might have been marketable was years before, around the time WiiMania started trailing off.  I think another factor is that Nintendo launched the Wii U after a good two years of being borderline irrelevant in the console market.  The last few years of the Wii were incredibly sparse which didn't do any favours in building up interest in a Wii successor.

And then there are the software droughts Luigi Dude mentioned.  They could have launched it at any time, really, and if they stuck of their slow trickle of titles it would have been an uphill battle though I agree that it probably have done better with third parties.  Nintendo went from releasing practically nothing on the Wii to practically nothing on the Wii U.  I still can't comprehend how Skyward Sword and NSMB U were so damn taxing on Nintendo.  So Nintendo learned the hard way that HD games take time and money to make, which is something literally every other console developer in the entire world learned years ago.

I think Nintendo has just bungled a lot of stuff involving the Wii U.  It's a combination of many very serious mistakes.

[shingi_70]

Nintendo made a half assed PS360 at that. They couldn't make a system that competed with the last gen systems, so most ignored it too wait on the PS4/Xbone.

to Ian's point i'm  a bit perplexed why didn't Nintendo decide to use some of their sweet sweet Wii cash to invest in more studios or try and build third party relations. Hell Microsoft went and invested a bit much into first party studios and working with second party developers in the last few years or so.

Finally I feel Nintendo shot themselves in the foot by launching last year. They put out a system that failed to impress and barley got any of what the other two systems at the time. So when a big third party release would hit like Bioshock or GTA the system was left out. At the same time MS/Sony announced their new hardware and since E3 they've been the main conversation ever since.

Nintendo decided not to bend to the third party Whims which was bad but made up for it with great indie support. Now the PS4 is the main indie console and the Xbox Team is making serious grounds to make up for not hitting indies.

Its a bit sad but the Wii U is the only major console that I would tell a person not to get.

[Mannypon]

I think I'm the only one that thinks this WiiU situation was unavoidable for Nintendo regardless of what they did.  All Nintendo could've done better was release their games and more of them on time to fill in the gaps and have system selling software earlier.  3rd parties, IMO, are dead on arrival for the WiiU and Nintendo home hardware in general (from the start).  Even if the WiiU was spec to spec with the PS4, it wouldn't have made a difference.  Sure, 3rd parties would've probably put in some more support at launch, but I highly doubt many people would have bought into them anyway.  Thus we would be where we are now again, with 3rd parties nearly abandoning Nintendo.  Most "hardcore" gamers made up their mind a long time ago on what systems they were buying, and that was either the PS4 or XboxOne.  I think Nintendo's biggest problem is not so much the hardware but their image.  Nintendo has not been looked at fondly by the general gaming crowd for years.  It might even stem back all the way to the Nintendo 64.  The gamers that flock to Madden and CoD never give Nintendo a second look regardless of what they are doing.  They are the "casual hardcore" which image matters very much.  They are the ones you hear talking nonsense at Gamestop proving their blind loyalty to Sony/MS.  Or they are the ones oblivious to anything else outside of their PS/Xbox world as their systems satisfy their needs so hey have not needed to look elsewhere. 
 
Nintendo matching the PS4/Xbone would have left them worse off IMO as that would've resulted in a slightly more expensive system.  Nintendo did what they had to do, which I believe was the only logical choice.  Release a system just capable enough to put out nice looking games within their budget.  Whats the point of having PS4 specs if Nintendo themselves will more than likely never tap into all of it due to their own design methods and because they'll never fund the millions it takes for AAA titles like The Last of US to really show off those specs? 
 
Nintendo was banking on the Wii crowd carrying over to the WiiU thus their decision to keep a similar name and design.  It burned them bad.  At this point, all they can do is put out there software and try and retain as much of the Nintendo faithful as possible while hoping to pull in a few new customers in the process.  I think if they break even or pull slim profits, that could be considered a win given the situation they are in. 

[Ian Sane]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that Nintendo was really blinded by the Wii's fad-like success.  The Wii was so successful and it didn't need up-to-date hardware, didn't need a steady release schedule and didn't need third party support.  So why should Nintendo bother improving any of these things they apparently don't need?  The problem is that they based this on the first few years of the Wii's life instead of the last.  They also made the naïve assumption that success means you did everything right.  Those three things I mentioned are things the Wii succeeded despite of.  It wasn't like bad third party was a key part of the Wii's success and that if it was better the whole Wii frenzy would never have happened.  In any success there are the things you did right and the things you screwed up that thankfully didn't do you in.

[ShyGuy]

Mannypon is spitting hot-fire truth!