Topic: Is the lack of Wii U sales exactly what Nintendo fans need?

[NWR_insanolord]

The PSP sold something like 60 million units worldwide; the only reason it's seen as a big failure is the DS sold almost three times that. Software sales numbers are hard to come by because so many people buy Vita games digitally (I own about 20 retail Vita games and all but one of them were digital purchases).

As you'll hear on this week's Connectivity, Neal and I made a pretty good case for the Vita, and I'd advise you not to mindlessly bash the system as a way of making the Wii U look less bad.

[Khushrenada]

, or be happy with being a somewhat niche product in comparison.

NO! We do not use that word anymore in this thread! How dare you, sir! Trying to stir up more trouble.

[shingi_70]

I remember hearing that most of the Vita's software purchases were Digital and that it has a small yet dedicated base that constantly buys software. Isn't that the main reasons why the GDC survey had it above both the 3DS and Wii U. I mean if I were making a Game I'd taget Vita before any Nintendo platform.

[Khushrenada]

This is now becoming a crossover of the handheld forum but I still find it surprising that the Vita would have a higher software adoption rate than the 3DS. If I don't include the free titles given early on and by the Ambassador program and just strictly any game I've bought with my own money, I have 8 retail titles and 8 digitally downloaded games. And yet there's a bunch more I could easily buy but have been putting off to finish up what I already own and keep up to date. (Over halfway there! Yay me!).

To me, I just think that would be a similar case with most 3DS owners but maybe not. I suppose it could be demographics. If parents are buying it for their kids, they don't have the income to be purchasing many games and usually if I see anyone playing a PSP (whatever version), they are late teens or young adult and chances are, they have more income available and ability to buy more games.

[the asylum]

I'm actually a little scared by the lack of Wii U sales.

Well, not scared about the lack of sales, but rather, Nintendo's reaction to it.

The whole speech about "Give it time, we will show the people what an amazing machine the Wii U is!"

and then they snub E3

[Adrock]

I'm still not worried at all. This happens every time. People say Nintendo is finished or in trouble or whatever then Nintendo releases X or Y and those same people are the first to buy X and Y. Rinse and repeat.

The problem is simply that Nintendo shouldn't even let it get to that point. It's as if they enjoy being a perpetual underdog which is silliness. 2014 should have been their 2013 and we shouldn't even be having this conversation. Unfortunately, it isn't and we are having this conversation. Nintendo isn't in any danger; they're just walking when they should be running. I'd like to see a little more urgency from them, act like they want to win rather than just finish the race.

[nickmitch]

Oh, Nintendo will be dropping X and Y alright!

[pokepal148]

I remember hearing that most of the Vita's software purchases were Digital and that it has a small yet dedicated base that constantly buys software. Isn't that the main reasons why the GDC survey had it above both the 3DS and Wii U. I mean if I were making a Game I'd taget Vita before any Nintendo platform.

But Vita hardware and software sell like horse dung covered in rotting corpses, so I don't see the Vita version doing that well at all.

You were saying?

[Luigi Dude]

I'm actually a little scared by the lack of Wii U sales.

Well, not scared about the lack of sales, but rather, Nintendo's reaction to it.

The whole speech about "Give it time, we will show the people what an amazing machine the Wii U is!"

and then they snub E3

They snubbed E3 by showing the newest installments in some of their biggest franchises for the Wii U at the event?  They showed that this Fall they'll be publishing 6 games for the Wii U that are all from popular million seller series.  And then off course they have the newest Mario Kart ready for Spring 2014. 

You can't get a stronger reaction to try and improve poor Wii U sales then that.  In comparison, the 3DS only had Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 to improve its sales in Fall 2011 and then Kid Icarus: Uprising in Spring 2012.  The Wii U is having a much stronger lineup then that system did.

[NWR_insanolord]

But it's also facing much stiffer competition than the 3DS has seen. As much as I love my Vita and all the games I have for it, it's not doing all that well for itself.

I do think the Wii U is headed in the right direction, but I'm not sure that it's moving that way quickly enough. At the end of the day, though, Nintendo has to go with the lineup they have. You can't make a AAA game in six months, and whatever they did put in the works when they saw the current state of the platform won't see the light of day until next year's E3 at the earliest.

I'm confident that Nintendo can turn things around if they can keep the system afloat long enough for the reinforcements to arrive.

[toddra]

I am not sure if Nintendo fans benefit from lack of sales, I mean low sales means fewer games. I also don't think it benefits Nintendo because then they get desperate and when they get desperate they get weird and turn more people off then they attract. I don't think Nintendo can ever win no matter how hard they try, if winning means selling the most hardware then okay yeah sure but if winning means getting every game on their console they deserve not ever gonna happen, 3rd party companies still dislike Nintendo for various reasons and nothing is going to change that, Wii was a massive success and nothing changed there. You basically have to really like Nintendo games at this point to keep buying their systems because if you also really like 3rd party games you will always get disappointed.


It is different with Wii U than 3DS because it doesn't have as much competition is a joke, besides Vita there is also all the Smartphones and Tablets they need to compete with. They might not be dedicated gaming platforms yet but they are certainly viable and growing. Give them a couple more years and they might get up to PC gaming levels. I got Sonic 4 on my phone and so far it's good enough for me. I wish I had a real gamepad sure but for quick sessions it's not too bad.