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

[Candescence]

If EA are being whiny babies because Nintendo stood up to them and opposed implementing Origin as the sole online system (and Nintendo were right to do so), that's their problem, not Nintendo's.

 

And quite frankly, EA can go fuck off.

 

 

But is this really all about Nintendo having some backbone when it comes to publishers' demands?

When the Wii U was first announced, remember the "unprecedented partnership" thing? Next thing we knew, the whole thing suddenly collapsed with no explanation and EA was suddenly bad-mouthing the system. Around the same time, it was leaked that EA basically threw a hissy-fit over Nintendo not letting them have control over the Wii U's online infrastructure, which explained why things broke down, and the system has only gotten token efforts from EA (well, aside from NSF:Most Wanted on Wii U being the best console version). The writing is on the wall at this point.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Masaru Daimon

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

I respect Nintendo for standing up to EA and Origin, I really do. I expressed how much I hate Origin, and I will never buy a EA game again (well unless a good Burnout game is out, then I have to figure out) until Origin gets removed.

 

But let's be honest with ourselves. Who will get hurt more from this broken partnership? Nintendo or EA? Obviously it has to be Nintendo. You have to have 3rd party support. A lot of it. EA are one of the two biggest publishers. If you don't have EA, you'll lose a lot of games. 

 

Wii U looks unattractive right now, and them not having a partnership with EA makes it worse. If you live in Europe, FIFA is like the CoD of sport. Wii U not having FIFA? Dang, it will seriously hurt Nintendo when other consoles have it.

 

Sometimes even though you are right, you just have to give in. And Nintendo has to do that, otherwise this console will sink. 

 

Nintendo's marketing for this console has been extremely poor, they can't go on to make it worse by losing 3rd parties.

[Carbo]

The whole "Origin" shebang didn't stop EA from funding a supercharged version of Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Which uses Origin connectivity. So does Mass Effect 3.

[Autosaver]

With the amount of hate EA gets right now, I think it would be best for EA NOT to have control over any Wii U infrastructure. That could have backfired horribly as many people hate Origin.

[SuperLink]

EA are pissy because they want to be able to control their users completely and Nintendo won't allow that.

 

Sure it's bad that Nintendo aren't getting EA support, EA support is important.

But jesus christ someone had to stand up to EA before their shitty philosophies got any worse because it's seriously getting bad. I know it could hurt Nintendo support majorly for this, but I'm almost a little thankful that they're actively standing up to EA's bullshit.

 

Hopefully others will follow suite eventually.

[Carbo]

Iwata posted on Miiverse today and said that Nintendo Direct announcements would be held there. Looks like we might be having a Nintendo Direct coming soon.

http://nintendoeverything.com/117247/iwata-posts-message-about-wii-u-update-on-miiverse-reconfirms-that-software-launching-will-be-faster/1/

Satoru Iwata has posted his first-ever message to Miiverse. The Nintendo president took to the Miiverse Announcements section to provide details about the Wii U’s upcoming update.

An official video released last night – which can be viewed directly in the message – shows a significant improvement in load time when exiting a game. Iwata reconfirmed that Nintendo plans to reduce the time it takes to load software as well.

According to Iwata “it will take a little more time until we can release the update.” Nintendo still plans to provide the update sometime next month.

Finally, it was mentioned will be sharing announcements regarding Nintendo Direct through Miiverse.

You can find Iwata’s full post below.

[Komodin]

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Makes Its Debut in UK Top 10

 

Taking a bite out of the sales charts

 

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate hit Europe late last week, landing on Wii U and 3DS to accommodate all gamers with a current Nintendo platform. It's a high-profile release that's had a fair bit of attention — as well as broadly positive reviews — while the Wii U version has been seen by some as the first step in a much-needed improvement of the home console's fortunes. The first sales results are in, and while they may not be quite as headline grabbing as the biggest optimists would hope, they're positive nevertheless.

 

The data from UKIE has come out, and MH3U has come into the UK charts in 7th place; 55% of sales are for the 3DS version, while the 45% of Wii U units also account for nearly 50% of the value of Wii U software sales across the board. Rather discouragingly, widely slammed The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is at number three, but a small sign of encouragement is given for Wii U hardware sales with the presence of Nintendo Land, which sneaks into the top 40.

 

We're not sure the Monster Hunter result will bring out the balloons and party poppers, but considering some comments on social networks about relatively limited availability, it's not a bad result. These results also take no account of online sales, with Capcom's beast occupying second place in the UK Wii U eShop chart at the time of writing.

 

[via ukie.info]

 

Hm, it's nice to see some good news for this console for once.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Komodin

[Autosaver]

Why do bad games keeping hitting the top 5 for the UK? Aliens, Walking Dead.. lol

[Conando]

Aliens was probably due to SEGA, you know how it is in Europe. I have no idea about the Walking Dead, though. It's pretty cool that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is in the top 10 when it's only on Wii U and 3DS, though.

[Autosaver]

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=199096

 

Nintendo is now making iOS --> Wii U transfer even easier!

[Patticus]

Please forgive my ignorance, but have any Nintendo Direct events so far been made available to watch or live stream on the Wii U itself? Am I right to suppose that simply utilizing the Wii U's browser or YouTube apps will enable viewing on the couch?

[#EndyGate]

Yeah, you can just use the browser to find the stream you want to see and just watch it like any other video, even when live. I've been doing it with every Nintendo Direct since the Pokemon one as well as the Playstation 4 reveal stream huehuehue

[Wraith]

In addition, they usually have Nintendo Directs on the eshop after they air.

[YoshiUnity]

Besides trying to put even a dent into my massive PS3 and 3DS backlogs, I've been dipping into my Wii U a lot lately. I had ZombiU, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed for every since the launch, and while they are fun games, I've kinda shelved him until their patches became available. (And since ZombiU's patch is now available, I might dive back into that soon,)

If anything, the recent dips were made simply for my latest purchase, Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate. As it's name implies, it's Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii and so much more. There are more weapons, missions and monsters to beat to a pulp. Now anything, the single-player is fun, but it's basically a RPG with no story, so it won't appeal to everyone from a solo experience. Playing it online however, is VERY addicting; working together with other players to take down monsters in hunts that can last from five minutes to a full hour.

Taking down these beasts take much more wit than just hitting them. You really have to know the weapon you're using and prepare your gear properly or you'll just be signing your death warrant before you can even make your first strike. All the weapons vary from the quick and swift to the heavy hitters and they all play differently. And once you find that weapon that works for you, the game becomes a blast. Also, succeeding in a mission that took so much effort to complete just feels so rewarding once doing so. Again, some of these mission can take up to an hour, and the monsters all have varying A.I. to you have to adjust to how they act instead of just wailing on them all day.

As expected, the online setup is improved. It's much easier to add people onto your friend's list and to join their room. It also uses voice chat via Gamepad mic or Headset, and unlike the Wiispeak feature from the Wii version, this worked very well. I can actually understand what people are saying this time!

Just a quick thumbs up on the game. I know the Monster Hunter franchise doesn't grab everyone's attention, but if you're looking for something to play on your Wii U, I totally recommend this. You can always try the demo if you are not entirely sure.

Anyway, I've been on Miiverse a lot lately. Since I love to draw, I've been going to communities and just drawing here and there. I have to say, the drawing tools have a lot of depth to them for being something so simple. Seriously, if you consider yourself an artist then take some time to draw something nice or just go around Miiverse and see some of these pictures! I honestly wish Nintendo gave us an option to save them on the SD card.

Edited March 28, 2013 by YoshiUnity Never Dies!

[MykonosFan]

Some Game & Wario news that'll make a lot of people happy: in addition to the 16 mini-games, there are also 240 unlockable capsule toys, including "over 100" new unlockable microgames, and there's some other big unlockable if you collect all 240 capsules.

 

Ta da!

[#EndyGate]

Oh, that sounds pretty lovely. Can't wait to see how this turns out

[Cola]

Just thought you guys'd like to know that Darksiders II is getting pulled from the Euro eShop on the 31st of March.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/03/darksiders_ii_to_disappear_from_the_wii_u_eshop_after_31st_march

[Patticus]

Just thought you guys'd like to know that Darksiders II is getting pulled from the Euro eShop on the 31st of March.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/03/darksiders_ii_to_disappear_from_the_wii_u_eshop_after_31st_march

 

Is that related to THQ's departure and Vigil's sad demise?

[Cola]

Is that related to THQ's departure and Vigil's sad demise?

 

I would assume so. If I recall correctly, the IP is still in limbo.

 

 

 

Is it any good? I've been interested in scooping up a copy.

[Doctor MK]

Is it any good? I've been interested in scooping up a copy.

 

Darksiders II is a very nifty game, yeah. The Wii U version (and pretty much every version as far as I know) has a few technical niggles that could probably have done with being ironed out, but on the whole it's a solid experience that I for one thoroughly enjoyed. It'll help to tide you over until the next big Zelda game, if nothing else.

[Blue Blood]

Wii U sales increase by 125% following price cut in UK

 

Nintendo's got a fantastic system here, but they're doing it all wrong. It needs a lower price point, and it needs to be promoted much better. I don't have a clue what they're playing at.

[Patticus]

Frankly, I'm not sure even Nintendo's own marketing guys know quite how to sell it to the public, which is resulting in piss poor (if any) marketing and consumer confusion which I fear will shortly turn into a general sense of off-puttedness and people consequently moving on to Sony and MS' next systems. There's still time of turn it around, but if they can't do it this year, or before the PS4/NeXtBox releases, that already uphill struggle of bringing the Wii's userbase over to the Wii U is going to become nigh-impossible. If Sony or MS reveals a fitness game (or another game with true mass appeal) at E3, and Nintendo doesn't, it's going to be harder still.

[Carbo]

There's no point in cutting the price if there's no big software for it yet.

Nintendo of France already admitted this much.

[Autosaver]

There's no point in cutting the price if there's no big software for it yet.

Nintendo of France already admitted this much.

Exactly. I think big software falls in key with a price cut. Haven't European retailers already cut the Wii U price with little impact actually happening?

 

"Hey look, the Wii U. We should buy it!"

"It's too expensive and not much software is out for it."

"Hey look, price cut!"

"Well.. all it would do is collect dust."

[redhellc]

Yeah I feel the same here, when I go to a store there is near to none advertisement of the console and a lot more for the Wii. Even the Wii mini as more advertisement than the WiiU. And it doesn't help that there is no price cut in sight around here.

 

So yeah I think Nintendo is really missing an opportunity here, they should try to get head while they can.