General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[Tornado]

Do you mean N64 and GC? They may not have done amazingly sales-wise but they made Nintendo a lot of money

Sales-wise is much more important then whether or not it makes money in the immediate short term. It has to do with publisher confidence (which is why most of the publishers who hadn't already left in 1996 vanished after the N64), consumer perception of the strength of the console (which is why Nintendo couldn't do anything to turn sales around on the Gamecube when they went into a tailspin in 2003 even when they dropped the price down to $100 with a game) and ability to garner titles that make the system stand out amongst its peers (which was so bad on the Gamecube that publishers cancelled exclusive games for the system because they couldn't justify the expense of putting them on shelves and backed out of exclusivity agreements on others).

The Gamecube was, regardless of if Nintendo profited on it from the start, bad for them as a company. They barely made it through that generation with the system when publishers started abandoning it en masse before the 360 even came out. Nintendo even knew this, which is the entire reason why they made the Wii the way it was rather than compete with Sony and Microsoft.

So, no. The "Nintendo Cycle" is a load of shit, and the skepticism leveled at them with the Wii was completely justified at the time. The skepticism leveled at the DS really wasn't justified so much considering how much of a juggernaut Nintendo's publisher support for the system was, but the 3DS blew up in Nintendo's face anyway despite how much of a sure thing everyone was treating it so you could just transfer it.

Speaking of which, did I miss something? Maybe I was under a rock (or simply hiding from the gaming community) last year, but I was always under the impression the 3DS, while not doing amazingly, was never doing as terribly as people act it did here.

3DS sales dropped off the same cliff in 2011 that the Vita fell off of in 2012. Sony sold less than a million Vita systems over a 4 month period from the end of February to June, almost immediately after the launch fervor died down. After the launch rush of the 3DS was over from March up until June, Nintendo hadn't even sold that many (700,000 sales in three months is not good at all). Nintendo slashed their projected profits for the year by 80% (admittedly also because Wii and DS sales tanked at the same time); plus they... slashed 30% of the price off the system.

Until they slashed the price, it was doing as terribly as people are acting it was. The only difference between it and what the Vita is doing now is that Sony is trying to play the long game and have refused to cut the price, which probably won't work this time like it did with the PSP for a variety of reasons.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Tornado

[Badnik Mechanic]

Wii Mini,

The console nobody asked for, and nobody wanted, now in house brick colour.

[Blue Blood]

It's not appealing in any colour except the black-red combo where it looks really retro. Everything else is bleh.

[\gunther]

The ones with the red give off a Famicom vibe to me.

[Carbo]

I actually really like the brick color ones. It's got the Famicom color scheme, pretty much my favorite "retro" color scheme. Last time they homaged that I think was with a super cool GBA SP limited run that was in Japan.

Honestly, I would have preferred having that design. It wouldn't have fit as well on the shelf as my Wii does right now but I think it's slick as hell. Tingles my nostalgia bone kind of.

[Autosaver]

GUYS GUYS

The system has no internet connectivity options

...No Mario Kart Online, No Goldeneye, No Monster Hunter.. NOTHING. This is more of a family package I guess.

[Stritix]

Oh Nintendo... I really have nothing to say.

[Tornado]

No internet connectivity options built in. Does that mean that the big doofy looking Ethernet adapter Nintendo made won't work with it, though?

Edit: Wait. It doesn't even come with a game?

Edited November 27, 2012 by Tornado

[Debug Ring]

Holy yay! My Wii U is being shipped. I also have a day off school Friday, so, I'm occupied that that day.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Debug Ring

[Blue Blood]

Zavvi's estimated dispatch date is Friday. But that's fine. I'm more bothered about saving money than getting it dead on release.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Blue Blood

[The Kid]

The Wii Mini is cool. Im totally going to buy it. My bed is a little wobbly and this looks like it'll be the perfect stand for one of the legs.

As for the sales aspect, Im pretty sure Nintendo has figured out how fucked up the 3DS launch went. Scared Nintendo is best Nintendo.

[Thigolf]

My guess why they release a Wii Mini: They want to make the Wii look even shittier so everyone rather buys a Wii U.

That's the best reason I could come up with.

[Barry the Nomad]

Wii Mini has so much potential, like the GBA Micro, but it fails so hard. No Gamecube support and no online functions? That's nonsense!

[Detective Shadzter]

Back from Currys PC World. Found a guy in there with a bit more Wii U knowledge this time who actually used the computer, too. Still no price yet, unfortunately. He says it will likely be released online Thursday night. He showed me the last update sent to staff on the computer and it said they will have short supplies of the Wii U and to stop taking pre-orders November 24th because of that. Also, due to this, their launch supplies outside of pre-orders will be sold online only. He says my pre-order is safe and will be in store on Friday.

[SuperLink]

Zavvi's estimated dispatch date is Friday. But that's fine. I'm more bothered about saving money than getting it dead on release.

Aww man :c that means I won't get it til the week after! That's depressing I was looking forward to Friday.

(but it's worth it for that price..)

[Blue Blood]

Aww man :c that means I won't get it til the week after! That's depressing I was looking forward to Friday.

(but it's worth it for that price..)

I've never pre-ordered from Zavvi before though. Have you? I'm not sure if they ship pre-orders before release dates like most other places do.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Blue Blood

[Detective Shadzter]

I've never pre-order from Zavvi before though. Have you? I'm not sure if they ship pre-orders before release dates like most other places do.

I've pre-ordered games with them before and had them sent out Tuesday/Wednesday and arrive by Thursday/Friday. As for consoles, I'm guessing they might be using a courier, which would be fine to dispatch Friday and still arrive on the same day.

[SuperLink]

I've never pre-order from Zavvi before though. Have you? I'm not sure if they ship pre-orders before release dates like most other places do.

Honestly it's not consistent, sometimes from Zavvi I've gotten things a week late, sometimes a day early! But I usually, usually get them for product launch. If it's different this time, I'm guessing the reason is the wealth of orders they have to deal with and they don't want any slip ups.

[TheNicollette30]

There should also be a shortage of sales due to hurricane sandy. At least I know in New Jersey, many people lost their homes, and finnancially couldn't afford a Wii U due to all the damage.

[Blue Blood]

Ah right, that's cool. We'll have to see what goes on. I've got two orders with them- one for the console and an entirely separate one for NSMBW and the controller.

Fuck! Just realised that my console order is being shipped to my Dad's office. I did that in case I was up late, out or otherwise unable to take the delivery and didn't want to miss it. But I wasn't counting on my car breaking down on the way to Leeds last Friday. FFFFFFFFFF

[Milo]

Ha ha ha, oh wow. Nintendo, you never cease to amaze me. Of all the "budget" console/handheld revisions I've seen so far, this is by far one of the worst, the $99 PSP only beats it by a hair and a half.

I have no idea why companies think releasing heavily neutered variations of their original consoles and handhelds in exclusive countries/territories for cheap prices are good ideas these days. In this case, it's not only pointless, but it's rendered irrelevant by the pricing of it's (still available) predecessor models and is painfully one-two years too late.

The removal of GC compatability (and to a lesser extent the removal of an SD card slot) doesn't seem too bad to me, as I'm pretty sure anyone who is buying a Wii at this point would hardly care for the former and a little bit for the latter, but the lack of online capabilities (wireless or local Ethernet) is a huge deal-breaker. Aside from being unable to use the online capabilities on a good chunk of the Wii's library of games (i.e. SSBB, Mario Kart Wii, GoldenEye, etc.); a Wii without internet is also barred from use of downloading new updates and accessing the Wii Shop Channel; thus being unable to download WiiWare/VC games and DLC, Wii Shop chanels, and media streaming apps like Hulu Plus, Netflix, and YouTube (can't recall if there is a YouTube app for the Wii or not -I know there is one for the Wii U though-, but even if there isn't you could still access YouTube videos via the Wii's web browser-speaking of which, you wouldn't be able to use that either). I'm confident a lot of people would still care about having access to some if not all of these features.

You're better off getting a standalone regular Wii or Wii bundled with a game (both with wireless functionality included, and maybe even GC functionality if you're lucky) for at least $20-$50 more; and in a few cases I've heard, you can get the former for even less money (@Engadget I read you could get a regular standalone Wii for $89 at Walmart). Even just ponying up that extra $200-$250 and getting a Wii U is a better choice, because you're buying a new (next-gen) console that still retains full compatibility with Wii games and apps-retail and downloadable.

I think Nintendo should had sold this Wii Mini console with online capabilities and maybe the SD card slot intact back in 2011, when that large drought of big title Wii games and dwindling sales/support was affecting the system, or even back in 2010 just when a bunch of good Wii games were hitting stores during that holiday season-they could had even bundled the console with those aforementioned games and sold them as holiday bundles/special edition bundles (i.e. a Donkey Kong Country Returns bundle with the console featuring a jungle-themed color scheme or being pre-loaded with the original DKC trilogy.). Sure it likely wouldn't had been $100 (it would probably have been $150 in 2010 and maybe $120 in 2011), but it would had made a lot more sense than to release it now as it currently is.

The only reason I can see Nintendo doing this aside from making an attempt to cut costs is if Nintendo was going to terminate all of online servers and updates for the Wii sometime within the next 6-18 months or so, but I highly doubt they will do such a thing. That or just to boost sales of the Wii U by making it's predecessor look like shit in comparison like Thigolf said.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Gabe95

[Detective Shadzter]

They've added the Wii U online on Currys website and DAMN are the prices expensive.

White 8GB: £299.99

http://www.currys.co...665853-pdt.html

Black Premium 32GB: £349.99

http://www.currys.co...665932-pdt.html

Hopefully these prices are mistakes or the in store price is cheaper. I'm definitely not paying £50 more than everywhere else.

[Debug Ring]

They've added the Wii U online on Currys website and DAMN are the prices expensive.

White 8GB: £299.99

http://www.currys.co...665853-pdt.html

Black Premium 32GB: £349.99

http://www.currys.co...665932-pdt.html

Hopefully these prices are mistakes or the in store price is cheaper. I'm definitely not paying £50 more than everywhere else.

The Premium one there is really expensive. I'm paying £349.99 with GAME, but I'm getting the Zombi U edition! Christ. Edited November 27, 2012 by Debug Ring

[Detective Shadzter]

They do price match, but the problem will be finding a place with stock to price match with. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to see if I can get a refund on the deposit and look elsewhere or go without for a while.

[Blue Blood]

Holy crap that is BAD. Surely they must have made a mistake considering the Zombi U pack isn't listed, and those two packs are the price of their 'upgrades' so to say.