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OceanJ on 08 February 2013
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JGarret said:
OceanJ said:
Soundwave said:
Sh1nn said:

Nintendo shares drop to new 52 weeks low


Fairly predictable. Two horrible launches in a row. They had two years to get the Wii U one right and blew it.


They absolutely blew it.  There's been enough time now since the launch, to look back with some perspective.  And I have to say - I believe it was arrogance that cost Nintendo.  ...Arrogant, how, you ask?  Well, I see a Nintendo that was overconfident so as to be arrogant - in the Wii brand, and in shipping consumers a half-baked machine.  On that last point, not just the Day-1 Patch, but also the missing TVii feature.  

Of all the issues and topics we can bring up regarding the failed launch, these are the two that stick out in my mind as the most important.  The Wii brand despite its sales was tarnished and greatly eroded the last several years of its sales-cycle...and please understand me I'm stating this focusing on the public-at-large, not just Nintendo fans & gamers.  The name Wii U is both bad in and of itself, but also carries on a brand Nintendo should have left behind.  The Half-Baked software though - again, for the public-at-large, just sunk the machine from the get-go.  The reviews, and negative publicity, were overwhelming and no-one, outside of the hardcore Nintendo faithful bought the machine largely because of it.  I think these two reasons are even more important than the utter failure of the bad marketing / advertisements.

We live in a world of extraordinarily high-standards of user-experience with technology, and we now have enormous access to peer-reviews and media-commentary/reviews...that they outweigh any Advertisement you can put out there. Especially for technology.

Anyhow, I see Iwata losing his job.  And I see Nintendo making a major strategy shift as a company.  I just don't know what that will look like.  

I along with everyone else in the world - was shocked to see that 54k Wii U sales number roll in...followed by 39, now 33.   

I don't think we've seen the bottom of Nintendo's stock-price.  Q4 is going to be ugly.

I think there was a story a few days ago where Iwata apparently implied they might go for a true handheld/home console hybrid, not sure if that story is correct though.

Anyway, I agree, they blew it...go back to E3 2005/2006, there was the whole controversy surrounding the name 'Wii', but the system itself had that 'I get it' feeling immediately, very good marketing, whereas Nintendo just can´t get the "listen, this is why Wii U rocks" message across to the public ever since the system was first unveiled at E3 2011.

When not even Nintendo can tell you why their machine is awesome, it's not only a problem - it's a sign.  It's symbolic of a lot, and mostly a lot going wrong inside of the company.  A bad sign for investors.