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Barozi on 26 January 2013
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Mummelmann said:
Scisca said:

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.

What is this about no games? Where were the fantastic launch titles for the 360 and PS3? The 360 used Perfect Dark: Zero and Kameo as advertisement around launch, CoD was not a big franchise yet, things like NFL doesn't sell outside of the US and the rest were mostly region specific titles or even niche, or parts of franchises that would only grow later in the gen. The 360 was also sold at 399$ at launch, which is quite a bit more expensive, especially when you factor in inflation (adds quite a bit since this is nearly a decade ago).

The PS3's launch line-up? CoD 3, Ridge Racer, same sports games as the 360 that year, Mobile Suit Gundamn and Genji, the new IP Resistance and some niche titles, hardly earth shattering. And it was sold at a ridiculous 599$ at launch. You know what's even worse? It did better than the Wii U currently is even without being available in its biggest market; Europe.

Neither the PS3 nor 360 had a launch line-up that is anywhere near the Wii U's, Assassin's Creed III, part of what has become a behemoth franchise, Batman Arkham City, the sequel to a game that has sold over 6 million units and is among the most critically acclaimed titles in the entire 7th generation, CoD Black Ops 2, the sequel to the biggest gaming franchise in history, FIFA 13, sequel to a long running and big series, especially in Europe where the Wii U is doing the worst, Just Dance 4, the sequel to the smash hit series on the Wii that has moved over 25 million units in three installations and the monolithic New Super Mario Bros U, sequel to the 26+ million selling monster hit and part of Nintendo's biggest franchise by far (Super Mario games), available right from the start.

The Wii U also costs 349$, a fairly low launch price, historically, below average for sure. It is also the heir to a market leader and generation winner both hardware and software-wise, unlike the 360, which has battled its way up from obscurity.

What, its the economy's fault then? Then why has Samsung grown into an absolute hardware giant in the last five years? Why do people willingly spend up to 600$ on tablets and phones? PC's and Mac's are still selling like gangbusters as well, same goes for HDTV's and stereo. People are obviously not only willing to spend money on electronics, they're spending more than ever since the line-up is so diverse and costly in total.

No, the Wii U's problem is the essence of the product; its chasing two markets and missing both. This is not something to remedy with remakes, small price cuts, promises of exclusives in the future or even Mario Kart. The Wii U was built from the ground up with a major design flaw; the whole design itself. With the core being mainly stationed on the older HD consoles and PC and the casuals flocking to tablets/phones and social games, there is little left to maintain hardware sales.

I can see where you're coming from, but there are some thinks I'd like to comment on.

WiiU does have a game problem. While AC3, Blops2 and so on are certainly big, there are just last gen ports. Merely Wii only owners last gen would really be interested in those. At 360 launch there were also quite a few last gen ports, but they were different enough to separate themselves from the PS2/Xbox/GC versions. Mostly in graphics, but also in content.
The big problem for the WiiU is currently the missing number of (good) exclusives. MH3U for Japan (which I wouldn't even call a "new" game), NSMBU (which definitely isn't THE reason for Nintendo fans to buy that consoles), Nintendo Land (which doesn't have the same effect as Wii Sports), ZombiU (which does okay considering the genre), Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013 and maybe Scribblenauts Unlimited (which is also on PC and 3DS).

360 had several (good) exclusives at launch: Call of Duty 2 (the PS2/Xbox/GC CoDs also managed 4m. It was also on PC obviously), Condemned (basically the ZombiU of the 360 launch. Also on PC), Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3 (for the European audience), Ridge Racer 6 (for the Japanese audience), Quake 4 (also on PC) and Amped 3. Adding to that the (mostly) superior multiplats I mentioned earlier.