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Forums - Nintendo - Iwata still believes that one piece of software could turn around their fortunes

The_Yoda on 24 February 2015
RolStoppable said:
The_Yoda said:

- proof ? I could say the lack of fresh Sushi was the cause.  I seem to remember you scolding others for such leaps without proof.

I would say the idea that "The notion that products sell well if we run big TV advertisements or make attractive (discount) offers in sales seasons is no longer accepted." is more likely the reason for an anemic launch advertising campaign surrounding the Wii U.  That said I have no proof to offer either so it is kind of moot.  Another thing neither of us has addressed is "in sales seasons" which to me would equate to the Christmas season. Was the advetising for the NN3DS durring the "sales season" ? Alas it was not so my interpretation has not been condradicted, so sorry.

Both the Wii U and 3DS had TV ad campaigns at launch, and both systems tanked quickly afterwards. I have no record of how many ads were run and how much they totaled in costs, but I think it would be disingenious to say that these two systems didn't have reasonably big TV ad campaigns. (Anecdotal evidence will differ for individuals depending on which channels they watch.)

I very much agree with the bolded which is why I reiterated the nature of my observation in one of the first posts. Again it is anecdotal but many would disagree with "I think it would be disingenious to say that these two systems didn't have reasonably big TV ad campaigns." I thought their advertising campaign was rubish.

I already addressed the latter half of Iwata's quote, although I didn't make it clear that I was talking about the holiday seasons in 2012 and 2013. Also note that Iwata's quote consists of two separate parts (hence the "or") and the New 3DS obviously doesn't qualify for either of the two things mentioned in the latter half (discounts and holiday season).

-if I'm tracking what you are getting at I'd say it could be interpreted either way, broken down as such:


"The notion that products sell well if we run big TV advertisements or make attractive (discount) offers in sales seasons is no longer accepted." Would be one way.

"The notion that products sell well if we run big TV advertisements or make attractive (discount) offers in sales seasons is no longer accepted." would be another.  I went with the first.

This has become a battle of semantics and I don't think there's anything more to say. From here on out I expect both of us to just reiterate what we've already said. You are free to believe that Nintendo won't run any big TV ad campaigns anymore, but I don't think that that is what they are going to do. It's more of a realisation that marketing or attractive discounts can't save ailing products, and that's a good thing because it means that Nintendo are giving more thought to the products they create.

-I can agree to that so instead we can find common ground - well after I point out the price cut that helped the 3DS ... (which I wlll admit I could be completely wrong on as I haven't had much interest in hand helds since the original gameboy.  Since then I had my own home and my own TV so i had little use for a hand held. If you feel I'm wrong on that point I won't argue it)

Please bear in mind I'm not saying I totally disagree with you on all points.



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bunchanumbers on 24 February 2015

Monster Hunter 4 for Wii U, Pokemon U, Metroid Prime with competitive online, and a game like Disney Infinity/Skylanders that takes advantage of Amiibo.

Also making a starter pokemon line for Amiibo would be huge.



zorg1000 on 24 February 2015
HyrulianScrolls said:

I don't agree with him that they need that "one" software title and Wii U will do blockbuster business. That seems like such an impossible goal. Pokemon was 20+ years ago, and they haven't created a new IP phenomenon like that since, so I wouldn't hold my breath for it now. What they do need to keep doing though is building their strong first party software lineup. MK8 helped sales a bit, Smash helped them even more. I think another 2-3 titles on that level and the Wii U would be in completely fine shape. Hopefully some combination or all of Zelda, Star Fox, Xenoblade, Splatoon, and Mario Maker does that for them by the end of this year.

Though back on the topic of that "one" title Iwata mentions...I have to hope there is some kind of new Amiibo focused IP in the works. That would be their best bet to create that killer IP for the system that could propel huge sales, with how well Amiibos have sold despite their relative useless-ness. An addicting and fun game centered around them could definitely be huge.

It's taken totally out of context, he's not implying that the goal is to find one single game that revitalizes Wii U sales, he wasn't even specifically taking about Wii U by the way. He's just using Pokemon as an example that u can't rule out a platform until it's all said and done.

His point is that just because 3DS has started to decline and Wii U hasn't had strong sales doesn't automatically mean that they can't improve.



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

zorg1000 on 24 February 2015
nomad said:
Everytime Iwata talks, people take just a small piece (usually something that make him or Nintendo look bad), then ignore everything else he said. For example this, just cherry-pick a small part of what Iwata said and ignore the part about Nintendo needing to do more work and learning.
Sensationalist sites like mynintendonews love to cherry-pick and people are quick to read headlines and make judgments without reading the full source.


Lol exactly what I was thinking, this article could easily be titled, "Iwata admits to making mistakes and plans to learn from them", since that was an important part of his answer as well.



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

heyjew on 24 February 2015

First of all, Nintendo will NEVER create another Pokemon. Maybe taking Pokemon out of the stone age and making a proper console RPG with it would help? I don't think there's much hope for the WiiU since they've already released their 2D and 3D Mario games and Smash, and Zelda and Metroid have never been their most commercially successful games either so I think the WiiU is destined to be another Gamecube.



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Illusion on 24 February 2015
MohammadBadir said:
theprof00 said:
Nintendo board meeting:
We know the wiiU isn't doing well everyone, but it's cool, we just need to make a game like pokemon. Any suggestions?

That's... actually very clever


It's actually kind of sad because if Nintendo went all-out and created a full-fledged Pokemon RPG based on the first season of the anime and got the voices, etc... this game could easily move millions of Wii U consoles.  Iwata has the answer he is looking for right in his own sentence but sadly I doubt Nintendo will ever recognize it.



bunchanumbers on 24 February 2015
Illusion said:
MohammadBadir said:

That's... actually very clever


It's actually kind of sad because if Nintendo went all-out and created a full-fledged Pokemon RPG based on the first season of the anime and got the voices, etc... this game could easily move millions of Wii U consoles.  Iwata has the answer he is looking for right in his own sentence but sadly I doubt Nintendo will ever recognize it.


I think that's up to the Pokemon Company. I would want that more than anything, but I also wanted it on N64 and on Gamecube.



The_Yoda on 24 February 2015
RolStoppable said:
The_Yoda said:

Please bear in mind I'm not saying I totally disagree with you on all points.

We have no record of how many ads Nintendo ran during the Wii U launch period, so I don't think we can form any solid conclusion either way. I'll give you that the campaign was rubbish in its execution, but I am a person who thinks that the Wii U was a flawed product from the start, so I don't believe that the quality of the execution was Nintendo's biggest problem.

Skipping past the semantics, the early price cut in August 2011 for the 3DS did help, but that's not really what Iwata was getting at. While sales had stabilized at a reasonable level after that point, it wasn't good enough. The discounts they ran during 2013 were something like $140 for a regular 3DS with a free copy of Pokémon X or Y (the big holiday title), but sales still fell far short of their expectations, so they had to revise their projections for the fiscal year down.


Ah the common ground

 

@ the bolded, I am a little to close, as I really enjoy the Wii U (over all my other consoles even) so I have a hard time seeing it as majorly flawed from my perspective ( i mean ultimately very little in this world is not flawed in some form or fashion).  That said, from a mass market perspective ... the sales would seem to support your notion.

As to the second paragraph I will bow to your knowledge (seeming or otherwise ;) on the subject) as I stated earlier I don't know too much about their handhelds (not of too much personal interest).



HollyGamer on 25 February 2015

Well that's truly a real Iwata, one game that can turn the tide of competition and depending so much on meta score is very much Iwata.



Locknuts on 25 February 2015

The irony is delicious.