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Forums - Nintendo - Is Donkey Kong a system seller?

EricFabian on 21 June 2013
JWeinCom said:
Ok. I had a big sarcastic response to this threat typed up, but I'll try some common sense.

Most people do not buy a system for one game. There are of course exceptions, but in general, people wait until there are multiple games they want for a system before they buy it. One game may be especially enticing, but there are almost always other considerations.

Think about how you buy your systems. Is there one game you buy them for? For me, no. I bought my XBox 360 because I wanted to play Bio Shock, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, and Devil May Cry 4. I bought my PS3 because of Heavy Rain, Infamous, Uncharted, Street Fighter IV (my friends played it on PS3), and others.

Few people are going to pay 360-410 for Donkey Kong Country, or Wii Party, or Mario 3D Land, or even Mario Kart. But a lot of people (about 6 million) played DKCR and I would assume a good deal of those players liked it. When they see a commercial with DKCTF they'll say "oh cool a new Donkey Kong game". Then, they're more interested in the Wii U. They look into it a bit more, and they say "hey that four player Mario looks really fun" and "oh there's going to be a new Mario Kart for this" and "oh a new Wii Fit. I need to get back in shape..." and so on. Then eventually, assuming they liked those Wii games, have the money, etc, they'll buy the system.

So, to answer the question, it depends what you mean by system seller. If you mean system seller in the sense that people are going to pay 350-400 dollars just to play DKCR, no. I'm sure that somewhere there is someone who loves DK that much, but those people are few and far between.

On the other hand, if you mean,"will DKC factor into the decision to buy a Wii U for many people", then the answer is yes. Just like all of the other sequels to franchises that people enjoyed on the Wii will factor into the decision to buy the console.


well done Sir



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zorg1000 on 21 June 2013
JWeinCom said:
Ok. I had a big sarcastic response to this threat typed up, but I'll try some common sense.

Most people do not buy a system for one game. There are of course exceptions, but in general, people wait until there are multiple games they want for a system before they buy it. One game may be especially enticing, but there are almost always other considerations.

Think about how you buy your systems. Is there one game you buy them for? For me, no. I bought my XBox 360 because I wanted to play Bio Shock, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, and Devil May Cry 4. I bought my PS3 because of Heavy Rain, Infamous, Uncharted, Street Fighter IV (my friends played it on PS3), and others.

Few people are going to pay 360-410 for Donkey Kong Country, or Wii Party, or Mario 3D Land, or even Mario Kart. But a lot of people (about 6 million) played DKCR and I would assume a good deal of those players liked it. When they see a commercial with DKCTF they'll say "oh cool a new Donkey Kong game". Then, they're more interested in the Wii U. They look into it a bit more, and they say "hey that four player Mario looks really fun" and "oh there's going to be a new Mario Kart for this" and "oh a new Wii Fit. I need to get back in shape..." and so on. Then eventually, assuming they liked those Wii games, have the money, etc, they'll buy the system.

So, to answer the question, it depends what you mean by system seller. If you mean system seller in the sense that people are going to pay 350-400 dollars just to play DKCR, no. I'm sure that somewhere there is someone who loves DK that much, but those people are few and far between.

On the other hand, if you mean,"will DKC factor into the decision to buy a Wii U for many people", then the answer is yes. Just like all of the other sequels to franchises that people enjoyed on the Wii will factor into the decision to buy the console.

I agree 100% with this, very few games will sell a console on there own and thats why I think the end of this year will see a decent turnaround for Wii U.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Mohasus on 21 June 2013

He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well.



curl-6 on 21 June 2013
RolStoppable said:
curl-6 said:

You're probably going to reply to this with "case in point" or something along those lines, but seriously, it's plain to see why none of Wii U's 2013 games are big hardware movers; Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 are niche, DKC:TF is one of a surplus of platformers, 3D World is the 4th Mario platformer in 2 years and looks plain uninspired. 

That said, you really don't think their combined power will improve Wii U's situation? I find that hard to believe. They're not going to turn it into the Wii, but they'll definitely boosts its sales out of Vita territory.

If even games that can and will sell 5m+ copies in their lifetimes (SM3DW should manage that for sure) aren't expected to be big hardware movers, then it should be clear that the hardware itself is also a problem.

What I mean by "the Wii U's fortunes won't change" is that the system will continue to border on irrelevance. There is a lot of room between Vita territory (25k weekly) and Wii (400k weekly). Getting into the range of (what I expect to be) 75-125k weekly will hardly be something to be happy about, unless you have already lowered your expectations for success tremendously. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. 4 aren't going to change that either. The Wii U will continue be there, but it won't be more than a Nintendo fan machine.

75k-125k a week isn't irrelevance; if it was, 360 and PS3 would be irrelevant at the moment.



curl-6 on 21 June 2013
RolStoppable said:
curl-6 said:

75k-125k a week isn't irrelevance; if it was, 360 and PS3 would be irrelevant at the moment.

I said bordering on irrelevance and that's exactly what the 360 and PS3 are at the moment. You have NPD analysts making up excuses that the current state of the industry isn't that bad and elsewhere it has been pointed out that entering the top 10 in the UK software charts has become a meaningless achievement, because the threshold to do so has become so low.

We'll have to disagree on that, I'd still say PS3 and 360 are very much relevant. 



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zorg1000 on 21 June 2013
RolStoppable said:
curl-6 said:

You're probably going to reply to this with "case in point" or something along those lines, but seriously, it's plain to see why none of Wii U's 2013 games are big hardware movers; Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 are niche, DKC:TF is one of a surplus of platformers, 3D World is the 4th Mario platformer in 2 years and looks plain uninspired. 

That said, you really don't think their combined power will improve Wii U's situation? I find that hard to believe. They're not going to turn it into the Wii, but they'll definitely boosts its sales out of Vita territory.

If even games that can and will sell 5m+ copies in their lifetimes (SM3DW should manage that for sure) aren't expected to be big hardware movers, then it should be clear that the hardware itself is also a problem.

What I mean by "the Wii U's fortunes won't change" is that the system will continue to border on irrelevance. There is a lot of room between Vita territory (25k weekly) and Wii (400k weekly). Getting into the range of (what I expect to be) 75-125k weekly will hardly be something to be happy about, unless you have already lowered your expectations for success tremendously. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. 4 aren't going to change that either. The Wii U will continue be there, but it won't be more than a Nintendo fan machine.

I dont think 75-125k is bad on an average week outside of the holidays and with no major releases. Thats 3-5 million in the first 40 weeks of the year, then double that number during the holiday season and youve got 6-10 million per year, a 5 year cycle gives that 30-50 million. Not enough to be market leader but surely enough to make a profit and sell alot of software.

3D Mario consistantly sells 7-12 million, Mario Kart 1/3 of install base so 10-15million, DKC 5-6million, Zelda 4-8 million, Metroid 2 million, Pikmin 1.5 million, Wii Sports/Fit/Play/Party should be able to sell 3-5 million, console Animal Crossing 3-5 million, Smash Bros 8-12 million, Kirby 2 million, Paper Mario 2-4 million, Mario Party 2 million, Star Fox 2-4 million, F-Zero 1-2 million, console Pokemon 2-5 million.

Nintendo will be fine and be the most profitable between PS4/One/Wii U even if it sells considerably less and has lack of third party support.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Thechalkblock on 21 June 2013

donkey kong is a system seller!

i must say it was smart of nintendo to re-release dkc:r on 3ds recently. since it has a bigger install base, there's a decent chance someone with a 3ds and not a wii u would want dkc:tf since it's the sequel. 

there's also plenty of people who thoroughly enjoyed dkc:r on wii. a new donkey kong game, alongside two mario games, alongside pikmin 3, bayonetta 2, the wonderful 101, sonic: lost world, X, mario kart 8, super smash bros, wind waker hd, and the promise of more exclusives to come, there has become more and more reasons to own the wii u. 



ironmanDX on 21 June 2013

Yes.



TheKoreanGuy on 21 June 2013

In my opinion, a system seller is something that people go for as one of their first game purchases along with their new console. Even if there are other enticing games you want for your system, you still end up prioritizing what games you want first. In that sense, I don't think current DK games constitute as system sellers, for the majority of people investing in Nintendo systems anyways.



Jumpin on 21 June 2013

Donkey Kong Country is probably Nintendo's second most popular platformer franchise, and it is considerably bigger than Metroid.

I am actually just glad it is getting the attention it deserved. Like Kirby, it was virtually ignored for two generations, getting some lowsy 3D iteration that was like a bad attempt at a Banjo-Kazooie style game. Now both are getting more the attention they deserve.

I think DKC, when done right, has the potential to sell 10 million units and sell consoles. Can DKCTF do it?

The major selling point for the original DKC trilogy was:
1. It had all the style of the coolest games at the time (Sonic series at that time)
2. The shine of a game a generation ahead of its time
3. The tight platforming of a Nintendo game on crack.

Does DKCTF have that? I think it has point 3 down. Point 1 is debatable. Point 2 might be somewhat unattainable at this point since a generation ahead is not really that shiny compared to the previous gen, but it can STILL be shiny using interesting art styles and effects.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.