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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Nintendo May Be In Trouble When It Comes To Wii U's Initial Demand. (Updated With A UK Auction

This is an interesting point, but that graph especially is a tad misleading.

Regardless, as far as demand is concerned there certainly is one, as the new shipment here has almost been sold already. Closer to Christmas prices online will sore because of this.



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

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Mummelmann said:
Majora said:
I don't really get the basic set - everywhere I go (I'm from Cardiff in the UK) the Premium bundle seems sold out but they have plenty of basic left. This seems to be harming sales of the console even though its the cheaper package!! Maybe people just prefer the black console (my WiiU is the best thing ever invented IMO =p).


The basic pack is basically (pardon the pun) a very bad idea. It appears to be moving slowly or not at all all over Europe and America. It will be fazed out within the year, mark my words.

It probably needs a price cut. It would make a lot more sense if they sold it for $269/$349 than with only a $50 difference. Besides this most of the early sales will be early adopters who'll want the 'best' version. I suspect if they adjust the price a little and once the mainstream audience starts buying it the basic pack will start to move a little better.



Tease.

500$ for resale value? I call bullshit on that one. There is no profit to be made with Wii U, which clearly indicates that the demand does not meet the supply.



The stuff about ebay sales and walking to stores is irrelevant. All that matters is actual sales.



They should have waited with releasing the Basic Pack until like spring or something...



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

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nintendo is using pulse shipments (Gamestop said they are getting new shipments daily) to keep supply up. There is no way of knowing if this is a demand issue without seeing the sales...



Squilliam said:
Mummelmann said:
Majora said:
I don't really get the basic set - everywhere I go (I'm from Cardiff in the UK) the Premium bundle seems sold out but they have plenty of basic left. This seems to be harming sales of the console even though its the cheaper package!! Maybe people just prefer the black console (my WiiU is the best thing ever invented IMO =p).


The basic pack is basically (pardon the pun) a very bad idea. It appears to be moving slowly or not at all all over Europe and America. It will be fazed out within the year, mark my words.

It probably needs a price cut. It would make a lot more sense if they sold it for $269/$349 than with only a $50 difference. Besides this most of the early sales will be early adopters who'll want the 'best' version. I suspect if they adjust the price a little and once the mainstream audience starts buying it the basic pack will start to move a little better.

I would say cut the basic to 250 and premium to 300 next holiday season.  That should make the Wii U more attractive around the time a competitor will be releasing their new system.  If MS or Sony releases for 350-400 then having the Wii U at 250/300 would seem like a pretty good deal for the price savvy shoppers. 



Squilliam said:
Mummelmann said:
Majora said:
I don't really get the basic set - everywhere I go (I'm from Cardiff in the UK) the Premium bundle seems sold out but they have plenty of basic left. This seems to be harming sales of the console even though its the cheaper package!! Maybe people just prefer the black console (my WiiU is the best thing ever invented IMO =p).


The basic pack is basically (pardon the pun) a very bad idea. It appears to be moving slowly or not at all all over Europe and America. It will be fazed out within the year, mark my words.

It probably needs a price cut. It would make a lot more sense if they sold it for $269/$349 than with only a $50 difference. Besides this most of the early sales will be early adopters who'll want the 'best' version. I suspect if they adjust the price a little and once the mainstream audience starts buying it the basic pack will start to move a little better.

Remember what happened to the 360 "Core" pack? It was fazed out not only because people didn't buy them but also because the hardware in the version itself put major restrictions on the application of the system, much like the Wii U basic bundle (tiny storage with no guarantee for 3rd party product working, only support for USB 2.0 and a complete reconfiguration of the HDD itself so it works only on the Wii U, hardly a flexible solution for anyone). The more "casual" buyer is the least probable to start using external storage and start reconfiguring harddrives for Wii U use, it makes no sense at all as a product, the basic bundle that is.



superchunk said:
The real questions won't be answered until later on in January and we know what it sold this first quarter.

Wii remained sold out and pushed out well nearly 4m units.
WiiU can be found most of the time in stock. Its launch week was relatively the same as Wii, but if it can't push 3-4m units before January, then it clearly does not have the same appeal/demand.

I wouldn't say its cost, as that Ebay chart shows Wiis were selling well over $350 on Ebay by the truckload.

However, its likely a combination of things, foremost a complete lack of retail based advertising. When Wii launched every retailer ran ads for it from launch day to every Sunday thereafter. While I've see a couple TV spots, I've seen zero paper ads for WiiU.

From my local Walmart (which is very very busy..i.e busiest Walmart in southern half of state), Its stock fluctuates. I go in there every couple of days. One day I see one in stock, another I see 4 or 5 of mixed bundles. I have yet to see it out of stock since Black Friday.

I think it has games and good word of mouth. I just think its missing retail advertising and potentially that killer casual game as many of the more core gamers may be waiting to see what MSony are doing. Nintendoland could be that killer game as it is a blast. On Thanksgiving everyone really wanted to keep playing it. However, that word of mouth growth isn't enough.


i think you hit all the right points.  holiday's won't mean much compared to january/february sales when we can see how sales drop off.  i think wiiU will follow more of a "traditional" console sales pattern.  not bad by any means, just not fanatical like the wii.

and advertising is a huge part too.  i was floored when i opened my black friday ads and only saw ps360wii mentioned.  i don't know if sony/ms bought all the space or what but i couldn't believe there wasn't even a mention of the new console release. 

add to that that the "wii would like to play" ads on tv were about a bajilion times better than anything i've seen for wiiU.  the screechy "how U will play next" ads are almost ... insulting? maybe not quite insulting but something.  something not very friendly or inviting.  i don't like them.



This means nothing as its getting a free pass on next xbox and PS4.



Xbox: Best hardware, Game Pass best value, best BC, more 1st party genres and multiplayer titles.