By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sales Discussion - Wii U price cut hasn't improved sales enough, says retailer

happydolphin on 23 March 2013
OdinHades said:
happydolphin said:
People like to freak out, but really the system is not at its prime. Were retailers freaking out when the 360 sold slowly?


The 360 sold slowly because of supply issues. So the retailers were happy if they even got some systems they could sell. It didn't eat up any space in stores. The Wii U takes up valueable space while not selling at all. If something doesn't sell for weeks, retailers will get rid of it, even if it means they'll make a loss. But space in stores is too important to fill it up with stuff the consumer doesn't want. 

It's a major problem and Nintendo has to deal with it as fast as they can. It's totally normal, they are also giving Wonderbook away around here for 10 € because nobody wanted that damn thing. But if a console itself loses space in stores, you are in serious trouble. If the Wii U vanishes from stores completely, Nintendo will have a hard time in convincing retailers to buy systems once again. They are losing trust in Nintendo and that is very dangerous. Because if the Wii U is not present at local stores, people will even more forget about it. 

That's why releasing games sometime in the far future isn't enough. Nintendo has to do something fast. What would that be? I don't know and thankfully it's not my problem. But if Nintendo just sits around and does nothing, the Wii U will die faster than anyone expected. 

Was the PS3 supply constrained? If not then okay, your points are not only plausible but valid. If not, I'd prefer people did not get paranoid.



Around the Network
OdinHades on 23 March 2013
happydolphin said:
OdinHades said:
happydolphin said:
People like to freak out, but really the system is not at its prime. Were retailers freaking out when the 360 sold slowly?


The 360 sold slowly because of supply issues. So the retailers were happy if they even got some systems they could sell. It didn't eat up any space in stores. The Wii U takes up valueable space while not selling at all. If something doesn't sell for weeks, retailers will get rid of it, even if it means they'll make a loss. But space in stores is too important to fill it up with stuff the consumer doesn't want. 

It's a major problem and Nintendo has to deal with it as fast as they can. It's totally normal, they are also giving Wonderbook away around here for 10 € because nobody wanted that damn thing. But if a console itself loses space in stores, you are in serious trouble. If the Wii U vanishes from stores completely, Nintendo will have a hard time in convincing retailers to buy systems once again. They are losing trust in Nintendo and that is very dangerous. Because if the Wii U is not present at local stores, people will even more forget about it. 

That's why releasing games sometime in the far future isn't enough. Nintendo has to do something fast. What would that be? I don't know and thankfully it's not my problem. But if Nintendo just sits around and does nothing, the Wii U will die faster than anyone expected. 

Was the PS3 supply constrained? If not then okay, your points are not only plausible but valid. If not, I'd prefer people did not get paranoid.

It didn't launch in europe in 2006 because Sony didn't have enough units ready, so... Yes, I guess PS3 also had supply issues. But since I don't live in the US, I can't confirm that first hand. 



Official member of VGC's Nintendo family, approved by the one and only RolStoppable. I feel honored.

Playstationfan12 on 23 March 2013

In order for a price drop to work, you need to release games for it that people will want to play. Look at the vita for example. With a price cut and new games like Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and Soul Sacrifice not only were sales 6 times the week before, it even outsold the 3ds in Japan. The same will most likely happen to the
Wii u when Nintendo releases 1st party titles.



BloodyRain on 23 March 2013

A price cut on a system with few games probably isn't going effect sales much, unless they slash the price by a really ridiculous amount to compensate.



mutantclown on 23 March 2013

All this for "U". Replace it with a "2", and it would save Nintendo and the retailers lots of trouble. Of course they can't do that now. I'm not saying that's all that's wrong with Wii U, but it's done some serious damage, more than we give it credit for I bet.

And you know what? maybe even a 2 next to the name wouldn't help. People these days have iPones and iPads, they see the numbers next to the names and all they know is that's the new version, more powerful and whatnot but it basically does all the basic things the previous version does. Most people looking at the Wii brand are this same kind of people, they don't know much about console gaming and its conventions, they wouldn't know a PS3 can't play PS4 games either. So to them Wii U, Wii 2, or Wii whatever is just the new expensive version that now comes with a Tablet-controller, some figure they don't need that since they already have a tablet so they might as well go for the "camera console" (Kinect Xbox) or the PS3, or even the "regular" Wii which might as well meet their gaming needs. Others may simply be dissuased by the price and specs on the box : 8GB vs 250GB and packed-in games at lower prices. 500GB bundles for the same $350, and they see PS3 is also a blu-ray player and has tons of games at $30 or less. They see both running head to head and they don't notice much difference apart from the tablet controls. It's hard to argue the Wii U is worth its salt when the main and only selling point against all the Pluses on the other consoles is "hey, but this one has a tablet controller". 



Around the Network
Barozi on 25 March 2013

I might be a bit late to this thread, but I still have some things to add.

- Nintendo hasn't given an official price for the WiiU in Europe. They wanted the retailers to decide for what price they can sell the console
- The "price cut" is valid for both SKUs. Not only the Basic.
- The "price cut" is available in all European countries. Every SKU is about 50€ cheaper than last year.