Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis
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Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis
Rhemsis Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:46 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/nintendo-wii-u-problems-turn-crisis-202924144.html
In just a week, the problems Nintendo’s (NTDOY) new home console is facing have cascaded into something sinister. The traditional post-New Year slump hit Nintendo’s home market in the week ending January 12 and exposed cruelly how weak the consumer interest in Wii U truly is. According to Famitsu, Wii U sales slumped from a pace of 70,000 per week to just 21,000. The ancient PlayStation 3 sold the exact same number of units, which is nothing short of a debacle for Nintendo. The hot portable console 3DS saw its sales slow down from 305,000 units to 106,000 units. This means that Nintendo’s portable machine is now outselling the brand new home console by a 5-to-1 margin in Japan.
No matter how weak the Wii U sales are now, they are likely to get worse. The launch dates of key games seem to be slipping from March quarter to June quarter, including the important Pikmin, Wario and Wii Fit franchises. The Wii U now must depend on Rayman and Lego City in coming months.
This is a scary prospect, because it now seems that Sony (SNE) is planning to unveil the PlayStation 4 in May and Microsoft (MSFT) is expected to announce the Xbox 720 in June. Nintendo rushed its console out in late 2012 to get a running start before the big guns of the home console industry grab the consumer interest with their new machines. That gambit may now be about to backfire in a spectacular manner. As demand for Wii U is already fizzling in Japan and key games slip from the first quarter of 2013, Wii U faces a very hard January-March period. Sony and Microsoft are then inevitably going to start leaking information about their new consoles in April-May time frame in the run-up to their big unveilings in the second half of the spring quarter.
The clock is ticking for Wii U. If consumers start smelling the scent of the grave emanating from the console just when Sony and Microsoft roll out their new gear, Wii U could face a sudden rejection in the market place by early summer. Nintendo needs some big new titles to revive its home machine very soon.
This article was originally published on BGR.com
Rhemsis- Admin
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Re: Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis
Samson089 Sat Jan 19, 2013 2:49 am
i think the largest problem with the nintendo platform is that they havent found a suitable market to attach their products to with poor popular game titles. Back when we were growing up it was totally kosher to only offer Mario based games on your console with a game like Banjo-Kazooie or Zelda that kinda strayed from the Manufacturer's owned product. This was only successful because there was nothing else to rival it in the market (other than pc). I know for one, that consoles were a whole lot easier for me as a kid than playing on PC. The trouble now is that there is SOO much more competition in the market and Nintento just cant preserve it's share that it once had. Most of the people in their original segment pools have grown and have graduated to games like COD. Fuck yes i go back and play N64 from time to time to relive my fond memories of wasting my time away from that oppressive prison called school, but it doesnt get my rocks off any more. The brand in general is going through a crisis where they havent found their identity and thefore are struggling. It doesnt help that their platforms are like the plastic toy things my baby niece puts in her mouth between the mashed peas and the stuffed bear's ear.
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Re: Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis
Rhemsis Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:39 pm
Nintendo needs to change the game up in a big way. I feel like they started straggling right around the release of the Gamecube. Nobody wanted another controller that looked and felt awkward.
When the current generation console push began, it was huge. Microsoft had established themselves as a major player alongside Sony and Nintendo, and the PlayStation and Xbox were about to duke it out harder than before.
I think Nintendo saw this, and opted for a totally different route. Instead of fighting the other console giants head on, they tried to introduce something new, and capture not only an existing audience, but a new one as well with motion gaming. It really was neat, but the flaws of graphics and sometimes awkward motion incorporation into games really held the console back.
The Wii hardware was only slightly better than the Gamecube, and to be honest, I feel like the Wii U is Nintendo's current gen console released a few years late to the game. Unless they plan on booting out another console for serious gamers that also allows the family friendly casual games that many have come to love on the Wii, I doubt they're going to see any revenue increase once the next generation of consoles comes out.
I really feel like Nintendo may soon drop out of the console race now that Sony and Microsoft have quickly encroached and improved upon their golden goose of motion gaming. However, they seem to remain a fairly dominant producer of handheld systems. Again, they released the 3DS, which was something we've never seen before, and pretty neat. Unfortunately, it seems to fall into the same rut that Nintendo always sinks into which is: It just isn't as powerful as its competitors.
Nintendo could corner the handheld market, but they really need to give their consoles some juice to keep up with the competition, and let's maybe cut down the Mario releases to one or two a year...shit's getting old. While the 3DS is nifty, it's going to have a rough run against Sony's PSP Vita.
As for me, I think it's all a crock of shit next to the almighty Sega Gamegear:
When the current generation console push began, it was huge. Microsoft had established themselves as a major player alongside Sony and Nintendo, and the PlayStation and Xbox were about to duke it out harder than before.
I think Nintendo saw this, and opted for a totally different route. Instead of fighting the other console giants head on, they tried to introduce something new, and capture not only an existing audience, but a new one as well with motion gaming. It really was neat, but the flaws of graphics and sometimes awkward motion incorporation into games really held the console back.
The Wii hardware was only slightly better than the Gamecube, and to be honest, I feel like the Wii U is Nintendo's current gen console released a few years late to the game. Unless they plan on booting out another console for serious gamers that also allows the family friendly casual games that many have come to love on the Wii, I doubt they're going to see any revenue increase once the next generation of consoles comes out.
I really feel like Nintendo may soon drop out of the console race now that Sony and Microsoft have quickly encroached and improved upon their golden goose of motion gaming. However, they seem to remain a fairly dominant producer of handheld systems. Again, they released the 3DS, which was something we've never seen before, and pretty neat. Unfortunately, it seems to fall into the same rut that Nintendo always sinks into which is: It just isn't as powerful as its competitors.
Nintendo could corner the handheld market, but they really need to give their consoles some juice to keep up with the competition, and let's maybe cut down the Mario releases to one or two a year...shit's getting old. While the 3DS is nifty, it's going to have a rough run against Sony's PSP Vita.
As for me, I think it's all a crock of shit next to the almighty Sega Gamegear:
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Re: Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis
VonDielmeister Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:32 am
I actually really like the WiiU. Not to the point where I'm advocating purchasing of it. The second screen has such great potential. Now from my experiences it's nifty. But anything my WiiU does my PS3 does better
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