By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Frogger on 08 May 2014
Edit Thread
superchunk said:
spemanig said:


It's not selling. I obviously know that it's selling something. It's not sell "just not really well." It's sales are abysmal. Shameful. Terrible. Atrocious. Bad.

Marginal isn't good enough when your system is selling as poorly as the Wii U. I love Smash and Kart, but they aren't going to change people's minds about the thing if their minds are already made up. I don't think the Wii U's not worth $300, but the vast majority do. Nintendo can't afford to cut the price as is. Releasing a cheaper Wii U along side the original with cheaper parts and, sorry, no gamepad would allow them to sell the system for cheaper while acrewing more profit. Bundle that with a redesigned pro controller plus with new NFC capabilities and a software patch update, and they have the Wii U's version of the 2DS, only more people would buy this one.

Nintendo has also never posted three years in a row of losses. We need to get out of the mindset that the Wii U will have a "long life." I still think their new hardware will be out by 2016. Nintendo's not going to say that the Wii U is ending soon. That would be stupid. No one would buy a console with an expiration date, but there is one.

Wii U will get great games. It's a great console, but it's stupid to keep thinking that a company as big as Nintendo will continue a console expected to sell 3 million units in the next year for many years to come. You can't even say it's the new Dreamcast. It's selling less than that. Nintendo is not even expecting it to outsell the Dreamcast by this time next year. That kind of failure can't be allowed to continue "because it's finally starting to sell at a profit."

Two Wii U models. Side by side. Wii U Deluxe includes the Gamepad as per usual for $300. "Wii U Pro" includes Pro controller and no gamepad for $200. Gamepads are now sold separately for like $100. Both sell at a profit. Nintendo pleases everyone. The end.

I'm going to basically repeat part of my OP as it completely answers your entire point.

EVEN WITH NO GAMES WII U IS NOW MAKING MONEY. That means if it sells 4m a year for the next two years, that is still a profitable venture even with a zero game attach rate. Of course that won't happen so they'll make really good money, especially when MK8 and SSB and more than like this new NFC figurine platform.

Fact is that it makes more sense to make money now on what is out there AND not piss off your actual paying customers while proving that you will always stand behind your products so others will hopefully jump in or definitely consider jumping in when you do decide to move on.

Its also absurd to think a console that requires the gamepad to fully work amd has a new game being shown at E3 to prove its gameplay value will be altered to release without a gamepad.

Wii U as is, with only possible change being increased memory/better battery for gamepad/more bundled game options... will remain as is for now.


4 million isn't enough. That's my point. Staying in a failing console cycle for too long is not a sucessful business venture. Who will it piss off? Who was pissed when the 3DS XL came out? Who was made when the DS Lite came to be? Wii Mini? If they can sell a more profitable version of the same console for less, they'll do it. Especially if the Wii U needs to make up for the 3 years of losses the company gained because of it. Releasing a remodel of the Wii U is making money now.

The console does not fundamentally need the gamepad to "work." That's a bold faced lie. A marketing falacy. 99% of Wii U games can be played with out the gamepad and the entire UI can be patched to work without the thing. The only "unique" things that will be missed out on are Miiverse drawing and Nintendo land. Everything else can be patched to work fine or be labled as "gamepad required" the same way some games for the Wii were labled "motion plus" or "wii balance board" required.

Nintendo aren't stupid. There are people who won't but a Wii U with a gamepad, but will without it. Just like with the 2DS, they will do what is financially right for the company.