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Forums - Nintendo - Is price a major factor in poor 3DS/Wii U sales compared to GBC/N64 & GBA/GC?

StuOhQ on 10 June 2015
chakkra said:

Talking for myself, Yes. I want to buy a Wii U at some point, but I do not have $300 to spend in a console that I know is going to be my secondary (for my gaming tastes).

The Wii U has many games I want to play (Zelda WW, Splatoon, Mk8, Lego City, SM3DW, Bayonetta, Zombie U, Zelda U, Metroid series etc), but it is also missing WAAAAYYY TOO MANY games I'm not willing to give up on (Mortal Kombat, FarCry, Assasins Creed, Witcher, Shadow of Mordor, Dragon Age, Batman, Tom Raider, Uncharted, Bloodborne, Killer Instinc, Street Figther, Metal Gear, The Division, COD, Star Wars, Battlefield, etc, etc, etc.)

I suspect most gamers see it as a secondary console nowadays, but are not willing to shell that much money for it.

I know at least a dozen people who are simply waiting for that magic $199 price point. There are enough games now that a large portion of the gaming community would be willing to pick the U up as their 2nd console - just not at $300.



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Soundwave on 10 June 2015
oniyide said:
zorg1000 said:


2DS releasing 2.5 years after 3DS is the equivalent of the original Gameboy releasing 2.5 year after Gameboy Color or the original Gameboy Advance releasing 2.5 years after the Gameboy Advance SP. They would be destined to low sales regardless of price because they are seen as inferior devices (worse screens/form factors).

i remember when people swore it would boost 3ds sales a lot

Yup the cheaper 2DS + Pokemon X/Y was supposed to cause 3DS sales to skyrocket. Reality said nope. 



oniyide on 10 June 2015
Soundwave said:
oniyide said:

i remember when people swore it would boost 3ds sales a lot

Yup the cheaper 2DS + Pokemon X/Y was supposed to cause 3DS sales to skyrocket. Reality said nope. 

common sense shouldve said nope



Augen on 10 June 2015

From my experience it did have a major effect on parent's buying habits. When I was a kid parents weren't thrilled, but they'd buy their kid a $100 hand held and a $30-40 game. Now, many parents I see view this as an even greater waste of money, especially if they can just download some free mobile game on their phone and hand it off to their kid. To these parents the quality of games is irrelevant, it is just a way to keep kids occupied. Phones also have added benefit of other features kids want and parents can keep tabs on them via text or calling.

In essence Nintendo pushed the price point at the exact time outside factors were and are squeezing the value of games in many sectors.



Soundwave on 10 June 2015
Augen said:
From my experience it did have a major effect on parent's buying habits. When I was a kid parents weren't thrilled, but they'd buy their kid a $100 hand held and a $30-40 game. Now, many parents I see view this as an even greater waste of money, especially if they can just download some free mobile game on their phone and hand it off to their kid. To these parents the quality of games is irrelevant, it is just a way to keep kids occupied. Phones also have added benefit of other features kids want and parents can keep tabs on them via text or calling.

In essence Nintendo pushed the price point at the exact time outside factors were and are squeezing the value of games in many sectors.


The problem is though, why even bother with a dedicated handheld in the first place then?

Even if the 3DS was $100 right now ... why should I as a cheap parent even bother when my kid is just as happy with the hand-me-down tablet I've given him/her with free/$1 games versus $30 games and having to pay another $100 on top of that? 

A low cost, rinky-dink handheld in the modern market is just going to look like a cheap piece of sh*t too in the modern market next to even a cheapo tablet that has a nice big screen HD display. Even with kids you'll get called out for releasing a cheap product. 

The sad irony is the first portable HD Nintendo games are going to be on the iPhone and Android, not on a Nintendo handheld. 

The "lets release something with 10 year old hardware and an absolute turd of a screen" thing worked in the GBA era ... but Nintendo has no competetion back then and consumers had no frame of reference for anything better so they just accepted it. I mean the original GBA is such a piece of shit honestly I can't believe now Nintendo ever got away with it. You couldn't play the thing in anything other than direct sunlight and games like Castlevania were so dark that you could barely see the game (lol) because Nintendo cheaped out on the screen at the last minute (so the developer didn't have time to re-adjust the graphics). 



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zorg1000 on 10 June 2015
oniyide said:
zorg1000 said:


2DS releasing 2.5 years after 3DS is the equivalent of the original Gameboy releasing 2.5 year after Gameboy Color or the original Gameboy Advance releasing 2.5 years after the Gameboy Advance SP. They would be destined to low sales regardless of price because they are seen as inferior devices (worse screens/form factors).

i remember when people swore it would boost 3ds sales a lot


Cool? Pretty much every game, revision, price cut, etc. has people claiming sales are going to skyrocket for any platform.

I actually made a thread back when it was announced asking if it would be a Gameboy Micro, Gameboy Advance SP or Nintendo DS Lite type success. Some said it would have little affect on sales, some said huge, and some said somewhere in between.

I don't know what type of response ur looking for......they were wrong?



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Augen on 10 June 2015
Soundwave said:
Augen said:
From my experience it did have a major effect on parent's buying habits. When I was a kid parents weren't thrilled, but they'd buy their kid a $100 hand held and a $30-40 game. Now, many parents I see view this as an even greater waste of money, especially if they can just download some free mobile game on their phone and hand it off to their kid. To these parents the quality of games is irrelevant, it is just a way to keep kids occupied. Phones also have added benefit of other features kids want and parents can keep tabs on them via text or calling.

In essence Nintendo pushed the price point at the exact time outside factors were and are squeezing the value of games in many sectors.


The problem is though, why even bother with a dedicated handheld in the first place then?

Even if the 3DS was $100 right now ... why should I as a cheap parent even bother when my kid is just as happy with the hand-me-down tablet I've given him/her with free/$1 games versus $30 games and having to pay another $100 on top of that? 

A low cost, rinky-dink handheld in the modern market is just going to look like a cheap piece of sh*t too in the modern market next to even a cheapo tablet that has a nice big screen HD display. Even with kids you'll get called out for releasing a cheap product. 

The sad irony is the first portable HD Nintendo games are going to be on the iPhone and Android, not on a Nintendo handheld. 

The "lets release something with 10 year old hardware and an absolute turd of a screen" thing worked in the GBA era ... but Nintendo has no competetion back then and consumers had no frame of reference for anything better so they just accepted it. I mean the original GBA is such a piece of shit honestly I can't believe now Nintendo ever got away with it. You couldn't play the thing in anything other than direct sunlight and games like Castlevania were so dark that you could barely see the game (lol) because Nintendo cheaped out on the screen at the last minute (so the developer didn't have time to re-adjust the graphics). 

I wasn't blaming parents I see who do this, just remarking on said observations.  I know I am some out lier 1% that would actually care about game my (hypothetical) child plays because I am passionate about the medium.  The current state of the industry make it hard for me to see a way forward for dedicated hand helds.



JRPGfan on 10 June 2015

"Is price a major factor in poor 3DS/Wii U sales compared to GBC/N64 & GBA/GC?"

Yes.



Soundwave on 10 June 2015

The 3DS would be selling 100+ million IMO if it wasn't for smart phones.

Smartphones are the issue. Not price.

For Wii U price is somewhat of an issue, but it shares the same problem as the GameCube ... it's a console being sold largely on Nintendo games without the benefit of a crazy fad controller/casual craze to go with it.

Hence it's market is limited to (well) hardcore Nintendo faithful and virtually no one else is interested.

So that's a demand issue. Not really a price issue. The Wii U is the cheapest of the new consoles but it is by far the worst selling of the three new consoles. 



JRPGfan on 10 June 2015
Soundwave said:

The 3DS would be selling 100+ million IMO if it wasn't for smart phones.

Smartphones are the issue. Not price.

For Wii U price is somewhat of an issue, but it shares the same problem as the GameCube ... it's a console being sold largely on Nintendo games without the benefit of a crazy fad controller/casual craze to go with it.

Hence it's market is limited to (well) hardcore Nintendo faithful and virtually no one else is interested.

So that's a demand issue. Not really a price issue. The Wii U is the cheapest of the new consoles but it is by far the worst selling of the three new consoles. 

 

Easy solution.... next nintendo handheld... is also a smart phone.... :) problem solved.