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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Satoru Iwata Cites Poor Basic Wii U Sales To Rule Out Price Cut Benefits

 

So...

Iwata, y u so smart!? 23 14.11%
 
Iwata, y u so stupid!? 30 18.40%
 
IsawYoshi for President! 16 9.82%
 
No, seriously, he's right 42 25.77%
 
No, seriously, he's wrong 52 31.90%
 
Total:163
Kresnik on 12 August 2013
justinian said:

I have been arguing this for so freakin' long it's insane. How much longer will it take before they wakeup and realise that if they continue on their current path of releasing non-standard hardware developers will not be interested regardless of sales - as with the wii.

Open a new Nintendo studio, call it Nintendo Hardcore or whatever so people will know it is a Nintendo game but not the cartoony kids games. Not everyone is into Mario and Zelda. What sells a billion today wont necessarily sell more than a quater that tomorrow.

You would have thought that the success of the wii and it's first party titles would have pushed them to expand their genres into FPS, Driving Sims etc., They need their hands in more pies where software is concern.


I'll probably get ganked for saying this ("It's a waste of resources; we don't want third parties, we want Nintendo games!"), but:

I've always thought Nintendo could potentially look into investing in two studios - one in Japan; one in Europe/US, to do porting work for them.  Then approach the bigger publishers who aren't bringing their titles across (say: approach Konami about MGS5 and Rockstar about GTA5) and offer assistance in porting the games across.  

I know that it shouldn't have to come to this, but I think it has the potential to help.  If they can get some of the bigger names to come across; and then advertise them when they do; it might kick-start some other titles to come over other than Call of Duty & Assassin's Creed.

I suppose the potential downside is that it may cause some developers to expect Nintendo to offer assistance in the future.

I dunno, just an idea.



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IsawYoshi on 12 August 2013
justinian said:
Conegamer said:
I agree. People will jump on board if it's got the games to justify the price. But a few more will jump on with a price cut.

It still is a short-term solution though, a price cut. Whereas SW is long term.

Nintendo have money, so why not invest it in studios? It'd help avoid these droughts, for sure...


I have been arguing this for so freakin' long it's insane. How much longer will it take before they wakeup and realise that if they continue on their current path of releasing non-standard hardware developers will not be interested regardless of sales - as with the wii.

Open a new Nintendo studio, call it Nintendo Hardcore or whatever so people will know it is a Nintendo game but not the cartoony kids games. Not everyone is into Mario and Zelda. What sells a billion today wont necessarily sell more than a quater that tomorrow.

You would have thought that the success of the wii and it's first party titles would have pushed them to expand their genres into FPS, Driving Sims etc., They need their hands in more pies where software is concern.

I feel that if they backed up their older franchises with new IP's the sales of the older ones would go up more. It would give more variety to the console, and they could give Mario breaks more often, and make him sell more when it really needed to.



TheLastStarFighter on 12 August 2013
Viper1 said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
He's probably right, but Basic models always have the stigma of being a "basic" model. No one wants an inferior product. A Deluxe model for $299 may actually sell much better than a Basic at the same price. But I agree that games are needed more than a price drop, especially with other next gen systems being $100-200 more expensive already.

However, the Vita's basic model outsells the deluxe model by a wide margin.

When I here Vita Wifi or 3G, I'm honestly not sure which one is the better model without looking into it.  Once I do, I realise that 3G is nothing I need.  On the flip side, "Basic" and "Deluxe" are very clear about what is better, and more storage, a game, 10% of digital purchases and a nice black colour are clear advantages for $50.



Mr Khan on 12 August 2013
Kresnik said:
justinian said:

I have been arguing this for so freakin' long it's insane. How much longer will it take before they wakeup and realise that if they continue on their current path of releasing non-standard hardware developers will not be interested regardless of sales - as with the wii.

Open a new Nintendo studio, call it Nintendo Hardcore or whatever so people will know it is a Nintendo game but not the cartoony kids games. Not everyone is into Mario and Zelda. What sells a billion today wont necessarily sell more than a quater that tomorrow.

You would have thought that the success of the wii and it's first party titles would have pushed them to expand their genres into FPS, Driving Sims etc., They need their hands in more pies where software is concern.


I'll probably get ganked for saying this ("It's a waste of resources; we don't want third parties, we want Nintendo games!"), but:

I've always thought Nintendo could potentially look into investing in two studios - one in Japan; one in Europe/US, to do porting work for them.  Then approach the bigger publishers who aren't bringing their titles across (say: approach Konami about MGS5 and Rockstar about GTA5) and offer assistance in porting the games across.  

I know that it shouldn't have to come to this, but I think it has the potential to help.  If they can get some of the bigger names to come across; and then advertise them when they do; it might kick-start some other titles to come over other than Call of Duty & Assassin's Creed.

I suppose the potential downside is that it may cause some developers to expect Nintendo to offer assistance in the future.

I dunno, just an idea.

Lots of publishers seem to expect handouts already anyway, so you may be onto something.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

Mythmaker1 on 12 August 2013

Price is definitely a problem. It simply isn't THE problem.



I believe in honesty, civility, generosity, practicality, and impartiality.

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TripleMMM on 12 August 2013

If the consumers are paying for the deluxe over basic, that's telling you to stop making the basic and go for the deluxe alone, Nintendo!!!



 And proud member of the Mega Mario Movement!
famousringo on 12 August 2013
justinian said:
Iwata seems a decent enough guy but this is getting ridiculous.

It's the same old excuse from him over and over again since 2002 Do some research and you will see my point.

1) Slow Gamecube sales a few years back. The excuse: "Lack of software".
2) The Lackluster start to the DS: The excuse: "We should have considered more software with the launch".
3) The wii midlife crisis: The excuse: "Software".
4) 3DS slow start: The excuse: "Not enough software to sell system".
5) The Wii U....you get the point.

I like Nintendo but the gods must surely be getting angry.


And yet, nothing in your post suggests that lack of compelling software wasn't behind each and every slowdown.



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Gamerace on 12 August 2013

IF the lack of software is a chronic problem for their hardware then it's long past time Nintendo invested in more studios or focused on only a home or portable system since they are clearly incapable of sufficiently supporting both adequately.

If they know lack of software is going to hinder hardware sales (which then hinders software sales) why don't they actually do something the (expletive) about it? More than a temporary influx of games like WiiU is getting.



 

Scisca on 12 August 2013

It's obvious they need games, but it's equally as obvious they need a big price cut once next gen rolls out on the market. I want a Wii U, but if I'm to pay 350 Euro for a Wii U or 400 Euro for a PS4, it's never gonna happen for me. I'm taking the PS4 and waiting for Wii U to finally gain some value and reach a price a PS3-level console should have at point in time. For me it's around 200 Euro and I refuse to pay more for such an outdated console, if Iwata thinks the price is ok - I hope Wii U remains well under Vita in weekly sales for a long, long time.



Wii U is a GCN 2 - I called it months before the release!

My Vita to-buy list: The Walking Dead, Persona 4 Golden, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, TearAway, Ys: Memories of Celceta, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, History: Legends of War, FIFA 13, Final Fantasy HD X, X-2, Worms Revolution Extreme, The Amazing Spiderman, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - too many no-gaemz :/

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TripleMMM on 12 August 2013
RolStoppable said:
Gamerace said:
IF the lack of software is a chronic problem for their hardware then it's long past time Nintendo invested in more studios or focused on only a home or portable system since they are clearly incapable of sufficiently supporting both adequately.

If they know lack of software is going to hinder hardware sales (which then hinders software sales) why don't they actually do something the (expletive) about it? More than a temporary influx of games like WiiU is getting.

They did things to do something about it, it's just that those measures have fallen flat, because they always revolve around getting third parties on board. Since the industry keeps shouting that you need third parties to be successful and because Iwata is a nice man, that's what Nintendo has been trying to accomplish. Investing in more first party development capacity would have gone against the narrative, because it's said that first party software hinders third party software sales.

And Nintendo took the bait, twice... in bloody successions! I hope to God they finally learned. :/



 And proud member of the Mega Mario Movement!