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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Pachter: Wii U won’t be “as popular as probably Nintendo thinks”

VG247

Wii U won’t be the popular juggernaut Nintendo thinks it will, Michael Pachter has said, adding the firm has “Dreamcast themselves”.

Asked if it was releasing Wii U prematurely by a viewer, the Wedbush Morgan analyst said in his GameTrailers show Pach-Attack: “The reason that you’re saying that it’s premature, I think you’re really trying to suggest that it’s not going to sell well.

“I think that if in fact it’s a lot like an Xbox 360 in terms of graphics, frame rate and control scheme, then it’s probably not going to sell well unless it’s priced a lot cheaper, and I don’t think they’re launching the console at $150.

“So, yeah I think they are about to Dreamcast themselves. I don’t think Wii U is going to be as popular as probably Nintendo thinks it’s going to be. Question is, what does Nintendo do next, and I don’t know the answer yet. Let’s see howWii U sells, and I’m not going to predict this demise until I know pricing and features. When I know more about it, I’ll offer a better opinion.”

Wii U is expected out in major territories in time for Christmas. Thanks, Nintendo Universe.



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I'm not sure saying they "Dreamcast themselves" would be an accurate critique. The Dreamcast was succeeding, but Sega didn't have the money to keep it going. The problem with selling a high power console at a loss, your business model only works longterm if you can survive the initial losses.... which Sega couldn't. If Sega had the money to keep the DC around, it would have been a huge success... and Nintendo has that money. Also, instead of releasing high end equipment like the DC, they're releasing(relative to release date) low end equipment that will be profitable day 1, just like the Wii. In every day opposite of the DC.



I wish Michael Pachter would Dreamcast himself....



People in general: Michael Pachter is a freaking idiot.

But seriously, was Sega going into the DC era on the back of a huge success in both handheld and home consoles? Were they sitting on a multi-billion dollar warchest? No. Just because Ninty's got a screen in the controller and is releasing ahead of it's rivals, doesn't mean it's going bust. Nintendo isn't stupid, they aren't going to price the Wii U at anything higher than $300, maybe $350 if that screen is more expensive than it looks. This is a company that made a profit on their lowest selling console of all time, Nintendo most certainly have not Dreamcasted themselves. I really wish people would stop listening to this idiot and giving him press.

dr3b said:
I wish Michael Pachter would Dreamcast himself....

 x'D



"if in fact it’s a lot like an Xbox 360 in terms of graphics, frame rate and control scheme"
Control scheme is completely different and makes most of the added value of the WiiU over the 360 or any other console. In terms of graphics, it will be between marginally better and sensibly better, so it's not the same, but anyways graphics alone don't sell a console, as history has proven every single time.
Finally, him mentioning frame rate makes you wonder if the guy knows anything about what consoles are and what makes people buy them. People don't know or care about frame rate as long as the game is playable, we wouldn't see so many games dropping under 30fps if people cared.
I don't understand how the guy can prove the console will sell or not without talking about games.



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“So, yeah I think they are about to Dreamcast themselves. I don’t think Wii U is going to be as popular as probably Nintendo thinks it’s going to be. Question is, what does Nintendo do next, and I don’t know the answer yet. Let’s see howWii U sells, and I’m not going to predict this demise until I know pricing and features. When I know more about it, I’ll offer a better opinion.”

 

Seconds after predicting the demise of Wii U/Nintendo, Pachter goes on to say he won't predict the demise of the Wii U. I think he's just spouting out phrases like "Dreamcast themselves" to get hits.



Jereel Hunter said:
I'm not sure saying they "Dreamcast themselves" would be an accurate critique. The Dreamcast was succeeding, but Sega didn't have the money to keep it going. The problem with selling a high power console at a loss, your business model only works longterm if you can survive the initial losses.... which Sega couldn't. If Sega had the money to keep the DC around, it would have been a huge success... and Nintendo has that money. Also, instead of releasing high end equipment like the DC, they're releasing(relative to release date) low end equipment that will be profitable day 1, just like the Wii. In every day opposite of the DC.


The dreamcast reference was actually pointing at the fact that the wii U's graphics will be dated a year or 2 after release, when the 720, PS4 arrive. The dreamcast lacked 3rd party support and the arrival of the ps2, gamecube and xbox which were in a complete different power bracket would have stolen all 3rd party support. The wii managed but it had a much bolder control and had instant appeal, especially to the casual crowd, whilst the Wii U is like a slightly augmented 360 control. Seeing as nintendo's main target market is the core gamer, they may have some trouble when ps4/720 arrive with graphics which are half a generation beyond what we think the Wii U capable off. But we'll have to wait till E3 as the specs may be very different and we may see amazing things done with that control.



Can we stop quoting every freaking thing Pachter says?



teigaga said:
Jereel Hunter said:
I'm not sure saying they "Dreamcast themselves" would be an accurate critique. The Dreamcast was succeeding, but Sega didn't have the money to keep it going. The problem with selling a high power console at a loss, your business model only works longterm if you can survive the initial losses.... which Sega couldn't. If Sega had the money to keep the DC around, it would have been a huge success... and Nintendo has that money. Also, instead of releasing high end equipment like the DC, they're releasing(relative to release date) low end equipment that will be profitable day 1, just like the Wii. In every day opposite of the DC.


The dreamcast reference was actually pointing at the fact that the wii U's graphics will be dated a year or 2 after release, when the 720, PS4 arrive. The dreamcast lacked 3rd party support and the arrival of the ps2, gamecube and xbox which were in a complete different power bracket would have stolen all 3rd party support. The wii managed but it had a much bolder control and had instant appeal, especially to the casual crowd, whilst the Wii U is like a slightly augmented 360 control. Seeing as nintendo's main target market is the core gamer, they may have some trouble when ps4/720 arrive with graphics which are half a generation beyond what we think the Wii U capable off. But we'll have to wait till E3 as the specs may be very different and we may see amazing things done with that control.


There wasn't a bigger gap between the Dreamcast and the PS2 than between the PS2 and the GC/Xbox, time wise or power wise.



ROFLMAO said:

People in general: Michael Pachter is a freaking idiot.

But seriously, was Sega going into the DC era on the back of a huge success in both handheld and home consoles? Were they sitting on a multi-billion dollar warchest? No. Just because Ninty's got a screen in the controller and is releasing ahead of it's rivals, doesn't mean it's going bust. Nintendo isn't stupid, they aren't going to price the Wii U at anything higher than $300, maybe $350 if that screen is more expensive than it looks. This is a company that made a profit on their lowest selling console of all time, Nintendo most certainly have not Dreamcasted themselves. I really wish people would stop listening to this idiot and giving him press.

dr3b said:
I wish Michael Pachter would Dreamcast himself....

 x'D

You win man. I love this post ^_^