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Forums - Nintendo - The Wii U's Name Isn't The Problem

Cobretti2 on 13 April 2013

Well considering even some game sites which SELL games still confuse DS and 3DS by grouping them together, I will not be surprised the general public still think its just an expensive addon for Wii.

I too had a similar story where a friend come around and we were playing COD on Wii U. He asked how much was the gamepad. I'm like it is a new console. He said oh i didn't know. Now all he has ever played is Wii and no HD Twins, so I said you cannot tell form the significantly better graphics? He said no, so is this proof that general people don't care about graphics? or is it proof we as a society have lost the ability to connect the dots and don't think past each point lol?



 

 

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KungKras on 13 April 2013

Of course it's not THE problem.

It's A problem out of MANY problems.



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VGhippy on 13 April 2013
Mythmaker1 said:

Let's assume that a significant portion of consumers think it's a Wii accessory, rather than an upgrade to the Wii. Let's further assume that these are people who own a Wii; otherwise, the point is moot, since to a non-Wii owner the distinction is largely meaningless. Finally, let's assume that these Wii owners have both a passing knowledge with Wii accessories and a working brain. Such a Wii owner would probably expect the accessory in question to be $80, $100 at the outside. 


Hmmm to be honest if I hadn't seen E3, and found out exactly what it was I would have expected it to be about $200-300 myself. I mean it 'looks' like a small tablet with buttons so I would probably have expected it to be midrange tablet price. Without knowing that all the processing is done on the WiiU which I found out at EA I think it's a pretty reasonable assumption to me.

Just my thoughts =/



Mythmaker1 on 13 April 2013
Chark said:
Mythmaker1 said:

Entirely possible. Like I said, It's possible I just lack perspective here. I suppose it could be that Nintendo is trying to market the system in a traditional way, without accounting for how the system is named. I own neither system, so it's mostly speculation for me.

It seems to me, though, that it isn't the name that's the problem, it's the concept. Even if the name misleads consumers, the concept of a touchscreen controller, either for the Wii or the Wii U, doesn't seem to have caught the public interest. It could be that the Wii is too dead for anyone to care about a new accessory, which is kind of shocking for a system with a 100 million install base, but it's certainly possible


Well the name is just part of the confusion. Their marketing of the controller first, and argueably only, is the biggest problem in perception. Even if people hear Wii U and don't get it, Nintendo's marketing doesn't tell them otherwise, so people walk away with the wrong idea. The name is what it is and it is staying, they just need to market it better and the actual console while they are at it.

That 100 million install base isn't comprised of a large percentage of core consumers. There are two strong competitors for core gamers and the majority of core gamers are going to want a system with modern hardware to match where the industry is going. The Wii had mass market appeal. Motion controls become a fad and Nintendo reapped more beneifts than any one from that. But now the honeymoon period is over and they aren't becoming core consumers, and if they did they probably moved to PS3 or 360 and recent sales trends could support that theory. The Wii U probably came out a year too late to take advantage of the Wii's popularity. The Wii hasn't sold very well these last two years. The casual gamer is interested in smartphones and tablets and there is a lot of competition in those. You could even argue Kinect took a lot of those consumers from Nintendo. These consumers are loyal to purchasing one thing or another and if they don't know what the Wii U is they won't be buying.

As a core gamer myself, my biggest gripe with the Wii U is hardware related. Not every core gamer cares, but quite a few do. So it is a mix of lack of successful mareketing to casual consumers and lack of business direction with core consumers. The Wii U is probably selling to all markets....but only reaching a small amount of each.

Fair enough. I don't think there's anything wrong with the name, in principle, but the way they're marketing it could probably lead to some confusion.

I'm definitely with you in saying it came out a year too late. They seem to be trying to have the best of both worlds; the popularity of the Wii and the gap between generations when the competition is weakest. Only it bought them the worst of both worlds; a lot of Wii owners have already moved on, and they weren't prepared to take advantage of the lull leading up to the next gen.



I believe in honesty, civility, generosity, practicality, and impartiality.

DaRev on 13 April 2013

It's not a problem. People are just idiots and some haters make it out to be a problem. It's almost like saying people mixed up Xbox and Xbox360, and don't even get me started about PS, 2, 3 and 4. Oh crap some dude just when in the store and saw Bioshock Infinite and asked why do they still have a 5 year old game on the self.



Nintendo Network ID: DaRevren

I love My Wii U, and the potential it brings to gaming.

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VGKing on 13 April 2013
zippy said:

VGKing said:



Mythmaker1 said:




VGKing said:




sethnintendo said:
Problem is they haven't released the next Smash and Mario Kart for it yet.



Because those titles worked wonders for the Gamecube......
While its true that Wii U needs games, it needs new IP. Another Mario or another Smash Bros isn't going to be the killer app people are hoping for. The Gamecube is proof of that. It also needs a price cut but that didn't work that well for Gamecube either. But considering the year headstart Nintendo has, it could make a difference.





In fairness, the Gamecube came out more than 11 years ago.  A lot can, and has, changed since then. 




Not much has changed within Nintendo though.They got lucky with the Wii and now they're trying to replicate that but it isn't working.




zippy

I hate it when people say Nintendo got lucky with the Wii, Nintendo thought outside the box and it paid off quite nicely.It was smart planning and innovation that bought the Wii success, not luck. On topic, games will help sell Wii U, you can argue as much as you want about it not helping Gamecube sales way back when. The market has since changed and Mario and company have been exposed to a much wider audience thanks to Wii. A sequel to 2 of the most critically acclaimed games (Galaxy 1&2) is going to push hardware units on its own.

You think the moms/dads/grandmas that used the Wii for Wii Sports or Wii Fit will lineup to buy the Wii U? It's clear this isn't going to happen. Mario games sell well and they sold in record numbers on the Wii because the Wii sold well. If the Wii U doesn't sell well, Mario games won't back a difference. Mario Kart and Smash bros didn't sell Wii's, Wii Sports did.



Soundwave on 14 April 2013

Even on the 3DS, the Mario games will likely see a large drop from last generation.

Mario Kart 7 is not going to put up Mario Kart DS numbers, and NSMB2 is going to end up nowhere close to NSMB1 (I don't think NSMBU + NSMB2 combined will match NSMB1 actually).

Mario definitely benefited by the explosive popularity of things like Brain Training, Nintendogs, Wii Sports, and Wii Fit which brought in lots of casual/fringe players.



sethnintendo on 14 April 2013
TheFallen said:
The problem is you can't rely on the fickle mass market to purchase your console gen after gen. MS and Sony have showed they have a large core consumer base. Nintendo have yet to show this. Why woulda casual want wii fit HD when they have Wii fit already and especially when graphics aren't a priority to them? Wii Sports U? Wii Play u?

Nintendo needs to start makeing some inroads in funding new, exciting first party exclusives, because their relying on their existing franchises since I played Snes is not going to expand their core consumer base.

I agree on new IPs (they have a lot of new IPs on 3DS eshop but not too much at retail, still more than people usually assume).  However, I disagree with you on core consumer base.  How has Nintendo yet to prove it has a large core base when their IPs outsell Sony and Microsoft IPs by a large margin?

1 Wii Sports Wii 2006 Sports Nintendo 40.46 28.40 3.77 8.54 81.18
2 Mario Kart Wii Wii 2008 Racing Nintendo 14.54 12.23 3.63 3.22 33.62
3 Wii Sports Resort Wii 2009 Sports Nintendo 14.85 10.52 3.18 3.02 31.57
4 Wii Play Wii 2006 Misc Nintendo 13.84 9.11 2.93 2.84 28.72
5 New Super Mario Bros. Wii Wii 2009 Platform Nintendo 13.39 6.50 4.66 2.26 26.80
6 Wii Fit Wii 2007 Sports Nintendo 8.91 8.15 3.60 2.08 22.74
7 Wii Fit Plus Wii 2009 Sports Nintendo 8.83 7.95 2.53 1.86 21.17
8 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii 2008 Fighting Nintendo 5.91 2.28 2.48 0.94 11.61
9 Super Mario Galaxy Wii 2007 Platform Nintendo 5.71 3.15 1.20 0.72 10.78
10 Just Dance 3 Wii 2011 Misc Ubisoft 5.64 3.17 0.00 0.98 9.79
11 Just Dance 2 Wii 2010 Misc Ubisoft 5.69 2.79 0.01 0.91 9.39
12 Wii Party Wii 2010 Misc Nintendo 1.68 3.29 2.46 0.67 8.11
13 Mario Party 8 Wii 2007 Misc Nintendo 3.69 1.96 1.58 0.68 7.91
14 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii 2007 Sports Nintendo 2.55 3.77 0.66 0.90 7.87
15 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii 2010 Platform Nintendo 3.38 2.05 0.98 0.61 7.02

 

1 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 PS3 2011 Shooter Activision 5.47 4.71 0.47 2.02 12.67
2 Call of Duty: Black Ops PS3 2010 Shooter Activision 5.68 3.97 0.47 1.79 11.91
3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PS3 2009 Shooter Activision 4.85 3.37 0.38 1.53 10.13
4 Call of Duty: Black Ops II PS3 2012 Shooter Activision 4.24 3.74 0.45 1.59 10.00
5 Grand Theft Auto IV PS3 2008 Action Take-Two Interactive 4.40 3.39 0.39 1.50 9.68
6 Gran Turismo 5 PS3 2010 Racing Sony Computer Entertainment 2.24 4.23 0.80 1.59 8.86
7 FIFA Soccer 12 PS3 2011 Sports Electronic Arts 0.78 4.03 0.11 1.41 6.33
8 Battlefield 3 PS3 2011 Shooter Electronic Arts 2.53 2.46 0.30 1.03 6.33
9 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare PS3 2007 Shooter Activision 2.93 2.12 0.28 0.97 6.30
10 FIFA Soccer 13 PS3 2012 Action Electronic Arts 0.88 3.95 0.09 1.39 6.29
11 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves PS3 2009 Action Sony Computer Entertainment 3.05 1.96 0.21 0.92 6.15
12 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception PS3 2011 Action Sony Computer Entertainment 2.45 2.22 0.19 0.94 5.80
13 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 2008 Action Konami Digital Entertainment 2.55 1.59 0.83 0.79 5.76
14 Red Dead Redemption PS3 2010 Action Take-Two Interactive 2.36 2.03 0.17 0.83 5.39
15 Assassin's Creed II PS3 2009 Action Ubisoft 2.31 1.99 0.21 0.87 5.38

 

1 Kinect Adventures! X360 2010 Misc Microsoft Game Studios 13.53 4.36 0.24 1.82 19.95
2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 X360 2011 Shooter Activision 9.24 4.10 0.12 1.43 14.89
3 Call of Duty: Black Ops X360 2010 Shooter Activision 9.08 3.42 0.10 1.30 13.91
4 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 X360 2009 Shooter Activision 8.27 3.39 0.08 1.26 13.00
5 Call of Duty: Black Ops II X360 2012 Shooter Activision 7.33 3.47 0.04 1.16 12.00
6 Halo 3 X360 2007 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 7.72 2.72 0.13 1.18 11.76
7 Grand Theft Auto IV X360 2008 Action Take-Two Interactive 6.21 2.87 0.13 0.99 10.21
8 Halo: Reach X360 2010 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 6.70 1.79 0.08 0.84 9.41
9 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare X360 2007 Shooter Activision 5.63 2.26 0.13 0.87 8.88
10 Halo 4 X360 2012 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 5.53 1.76 0.04 0.74 8.07
11 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim X360 2011 Role-Playing Bethesda Softworks 3.97 2.38 0.09 0.71 7.15
12 Call of Duty: World at War X360 2008 Shooter Activision 4.49 1.78 0.00 0.66 6.92
13 Battlefield 3 X360 2011 Shooter Electronic Arts 4.08 1.97 0.05 0.66 6.76
14 Gears of War 2 X360 2008 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 4.04 1.87 0.06 0.64 6.61
15 Halo 3: ODST X360 2009 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 4.20 1.29 0.06 0.60 6.14

Brawl is on par with Halo 3 sales.  Nothing can touch Mario Kart Wii.  Super Mario Galaxy sold better than any Sony PS3 IP.  Sony has 3 games in the top 15 that are their IPs, Microsoft has 6, and Nintendo has 13.  I'd like to see you spin these numbers.  Let me guess those Nintendo titles are too casual for you.



haxxiy on 14 April 2013
sethnintendo said:

I agree on new IPs (they have a lot of new IPs on 3DS eshop but not too much at retail, still more than people usually assume).  However, I disagree with you on core consumer base.  How has Nintendo yet to prove it has a large core base when their IPs outsell Sony and Microsoft IPs by a large margin.

Nintendo IPs sold well when the hardware did well. You can hardly say the same for the GC. 

Look at how NSMB Wii-U is doing when 2D Marios where supposed to have an Apple-like appeal when it comes to sales. 

Also, a polarized user base where the most of the top games are all owned by a single company isn't exactly an attractive environment to other devs, is it? 



 

 

 

 

 

sethnintendo on 14 April 2013
haxxiy said:
sethnintendo said:

I agree on new IPs (they have a lot of new IPs on 3DS eshop but not too much at retail, still more than people usually assume).  However, I disagree with you on core consumer base.  How has Nintendo yet to prove it has a large core base when their IPs outsell Sony and Microsoft IPs by a large margin.

Nintendo IPs sold well when the hardware did well. You can hardly say the same for the GC. 

Look at how NSMB Wii-U is doing when 2D Marios where supposed to have an Apple-like appeal when it comes to sales. 

Also, a polarized user base where the most of the top games are all owned by a single company isn't exactly an attractive environment to other devs, is it? 

I'd say 1.72 NSMB WiiU out of 2.92 systems sold = 59% of user base is pretty decent sell through.  Sure it didn't light the sales on fire like the one of the Wii, but it didn't fail completely when compared to Wii version (26.80/99.21 = 27%).  Sure you can attribute the higher sell rate due to it being a launch game with only a few decent titles to choose from.  However, I'd be more concerned if NSMB Wii U numbers were less than 40% sell through rate up to end of next holiday season. 

Can't blame Nintendo for releasing games that sell.  Sure a few third party developers put a few decent games but most were just shovelware or downgraded versions.  Third party companies were awarded sometimes if they actually put some effort into their game.  MH3 sold over 2m which makes it the highest selling MH home console title.  Epic Mickey sold 2.86m which has to be pretty good (their second titled failed though).  RE4 which was a decent port with added Wiimote+nunchuck controls sold over 2m.  All CoD titles sold over 1m (I know not the greatest feat but not too bad for downgraded ports) except MW3.   Basically, not too many third party companies even tried.