Global HW & SW Up! 19th January

[Scisca]

Pavolink said:

Scisca said:
Sad.

People were saying Wii U will overtake Vita in a matter of weeks after the launch. We may have to wait for quite some time for that to happen...

I'm not worried about Wii U though... not just yet. Nintendo has interesting games coming so the console will be doing better in Q3-4. They have to resist the urge of making it a Mario-box by releasing other games, I'm really sick of even hearing about more Mario games being released every 3 months! This would kill all other games on Wii U and 3rd party games especially. They have to get their crowd used to playing different games, so they have to push Pikmin 3, Bayo 2, X, Metroid, Zelda and some good 3rd party games asap and finally give Mario a break! We'll get MK and SSB and that should be all Mario games for quite some time.

Vita... Is in a worse spot, but it can grow as well. I think it will get over Wii U in weekly sales quite soon for a few weeks when Japan-oriented games get released (there are a few coming). After all, Famitsu said it's the most desired console in Japan. They just have to start taking care of the Japanese market more and cut the price. It's really strange that a handheld sells best in Europe.


Wii U is selling bad, but it's not a problem. The sales are appropriate - there are no games and I can't see a single reason somebody would want to buy it. A 10th Mario released in a year's time really isn't much of a reason. Situation should improve once we get some software though.
Vita has a bigger problem, since there are many awesome games on it, it had the best launch year in history when it comes to SF and it still tanks. This is a problem, I just hope a price-cut and a few new games can solve the problem.


I wonder what pricing policy will Nintendo have for Wii U. Are they going to follow the 3DS and cut the price this year, which may improve sales but will hurt every single future console they release? Can you imagine being an early adopter after something like that? Or will they try to go Vita's way and keep the price longer (probably until early 2014) hoping for software to convince people to buy the console?

Interesting point. But I disagree in 2 aspects.

First, Wii U is in bad shape. There's enough stock at retailers, not supply constrained, so 40k a week is beyond what I call "bad shape". One of the worst enemies for Vita was the bad press because its awuful sales. Same with 3DS. And Wii U will have the same. Once this quarter earnings at the end of the month happen and bad sales go public and cuts their forecast the first wave of bad press articles will come. The second wave will come at the end of the fiscal year when they announce that Wii U not even matched the previously cut forecast.

Second, Wii U is not in a position to wait for Q3-Q4 to start to sell better. They need to improve the userbase numbers in order to make the holiday lineup to sell at least decently, just like happened with 3DS. If they don't manage to solve this problem, big games will come and nothing will change.

I agree that Wii U is in bad shape, but what I was saying is that Wii U sells bad, but everybody knows why - there are almost no games, the only really big one being a Mario, but we've been given so many Marios recently, that even his magic is starting to faint. Are there any big games announced for Q1-2 apart from Pikmin? Cause if not, then Nintendo has no choice but to wait for games in Q3-4. Nobody is in a possition to sell bad for half a year, but they may have no choice. Now the question is, do they follow the 3DS or Vita pricing model? Can you imagine what a price-cut in Q2 would do to the console? Especially if the sales don't improve anyway due to the lack of games. The press would destroy it and it would be in a worse spot than Vita.

The problems with Vita is that there are great games available and the console still isn't selling. There is no easy cure here, unlike with the Wii U, though a price-cut is the obvious next step now. I have a feeling that Soul Sacrifice (released in March I believe) will be the last game sold with Vita at the current price. Sony will want to sell as many $250 consoles in Japan as possible with the first hot Japanese title and cut the price after that to allow the next big release - Killzone to sell big. They should cut the price before PS4 (and Xbox 8 as well...) are announced, so that it gives Vita some time in the spotlight.