The simple announcement won't do the job unfortunately.

The Wii U is not a desirable machine, sorry Nintendo fans, its just that plain and simple. No amount of Nintendo directs is going to change that since its audience is too narrow.

Nintendo, like many of the fans it has, became way too arrogant (and somewhat greedy). I believe Nintendo tried to leverage their popular Wii brand while at the same time try to exploit Sony's weakness in NA and Japan by releasing a console first with the capabilities to run the third party games sony needs on it system to stay relevant and its currently falling on its face.

In that short span of time the Wii went from being affordable, accessible and inclusive to the Wii U being expensive, restrictive and exclusive. No wii game cost more that 49.99 (outside special editions and games with included controllers), people got value when they bought a game like wii play (in the form of another controller to have more people join in). I cant image soccer moms and grandma sitting down with the gamepad on their lap gearing up to play the new X, it just isn't happening.

Iwata seems hell bent on continuing the gamecubeification of the Wii brand, which in itself is odd. I can easily see a massive incoming loss from the Wii U once the price cut kicks in.

The Wii U is not a desirable machine, sorry Nintendo fans, its just that plain and simple. No amount of Nintendo directs is going to change that since its audience is too narrow.

Nintendo, like many of the fans it has, became way too arrogant (and somewhat greedy). I believe Nintendo tried to leverage their popular Wii brand while at the same time try to exploit Sony's weakness in NA and Japan by releasing a console first with the capabilities to run the third party games sony needs on it system to stay relevant and its currently falling on its face.

In that short span of time the Wii went from being affordable, accessible and inclusive to the Wii U being expensive, restrictive and exclusive. No wii game cost more that 49.99 (outside special editions and games with included controllers), people got value when they bought a game like wii play (in the form of another controller to have more people join in). I cant image soccer moms and grandma sitting down with the gamepad on their lap gearing up to play the new X, it just isn't happening.

Iwata seems hell bent on continuing the gamecubeification of the Wii brand, which in itself is odd. I can easily see a massive incoming loss from the Wii U once the price cut kicks in.

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.

wow @ Wii its completly irrelevant the 90 odd million sold is meaningless imo and has been last few years

ps360 is where all the games is at, lets hope nintendo can turn thier console round this gen.

vita needs a price cut asap

can 360 drop below 70k?

things will be tough for WiiU, i hope it does well its a nifty machine but simply hasnt got the cheap price to net in casual crowds theres a huge difference between when i bought Wii at £175 and WiiU at £249 had it been sub £200 it would have done very well so far

Yep. Everyone who saw this as an obviously bad choice, have been proven right.

The Wii U is now in a 3DS situation.  It must climb out of a deep hole.  

Price-cuts are coming quickly.  Nintendo will now post 2 Annual losses in a row - that's an unprecedented blow to Nintendo.  Before 2011 they had NEVER, not once lost money annually.  Now they're going to do it twice in a row.  Really sad.

And no - I am NOT saying Nintendo is Doomed.  Long-term, they'll be fine, only because of the Billions in cash they have in the bank.  And, it's not game over for Wii U.  Nintendo will just continue to lose money, until they prove the Wii U's comeback, or open up other revenue streams.

And I have to admit I was wrong about Wii U and Nintendo.  I defended it quite a lot.  But - I would be an insane person to ignore the facts of the sales numbers, and the overall situation, and to not admit the reality.  But I am not an insane person, and yes - Nintendo is defeated this round, yet again.

I just can't imagine Satoru Iwata staying on as President for much longer.  Nintendo Direct's and announcements are nothing.  Talk is cheap.  Nintendo has already failed to come through on many a previous announcement...their words mean nothing.

ninjablade said:



Train wreck said:

The Wii U is not a desirable machine, sorry Nintendo fans, its just that plain and simple. No amount of Nintendo directs is going to change that since its audience is too narrow.

Nintendo, like many of the fans it has, became way too arrogant (and somewhat greedy). I believe Nintendo tried to leverage their popular Wii brand while at the same time try to exploit Sony's weakness in NA and Japan by releasing a console first with the capabilities to run the third party games sony needs on it system to stay relevant and its currently falling on its face.

In that short span of time the Wii went from being affordable, accessible and inclusive to the Wii U being expensive, restrictive and exclusive. No wii game cost more that 49.99 (outside special editions and games with included controllers), people got value when they bought a game like wii play (in the form of another controller to have more people join in). I cant image soccer moms and grandma sitting down with the gamepad on their lap gearing up to play the new X, it just isn't happening.

Iwata seems hell bent on continuing the gamecubeification of the Wii brand, which in itself is odd. I can easily see a massive incoming loss from the Wii U once the price cut kicks in.





wii would have sold mazing even at 299$, peope wanted the motion tech, nintendo knows they need something fresh to get the casual crowd, they chose teh tablet, the casual crowd is tough to crack, i mean look at sony they tried with move which is a better then the wii mote but nobody cared, even kinect nobody cares about that anymore even though it was a short success.

Wii WOULD NOT HAVE SOLD aswell had it been set at a high price point, it was a cheap and cheerful console that parents flocked to shops to buy as a family console especially with the new controls