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

[SuperLink]

Let's be fair, Nintendo never forget their franchises. Just recently we had new Donkey Kong Country, Punch-Out, Kid Icarus, Golden Sun, Pilotwings, etc (franchises everyone thought Nintendo had forgotten), as well as Wonderful101 and Xenoblade which while not 100% in-house Nintendo's IPs are still fantastic new Nintendo IPs.

 

It's been a while since we've seen F-Zero or StarFox but I seriously doubt they're never gonna appear again, the wait for Pikmin 3 was 9 years, other series' even longer, and Nintendo is only one dev. They have priorities, maybe not always the best ones, but it's unfair to say they forget about franchises. More reboots with new ideas will come in the future, no doubt. Kid Icarus' reboot may as well be a new franchise.

 

So, Nintendo don't make tons of new IPs, which is kinda a bad thing, but when they do they're usually pretty special. They usually have gameplay that isn't really seen anywhere else, and they'll stay around forever. More franchises means more series' to make games and new ideas for, and that means that some will inevitably be left out because there are way too many popular Nintendo franchises to make them all all the time. I've still never seen another game anything like Pikmin, and most games anything like Zelda have toted Zelda as amongst their primary inspirations.

 

Also I'm not comparing them to Sony, I'm pretty happy with Sony's new IPs though I think Knack looks disappointing gameplay wise. I have nothing but praise for Tearaway and LBP. I generally don't like gritty games but I think the Order looks great because it's so full of interesting and crazy ideas.

 

EDIT: Oh yeah we're getting a new Chibi-Robo too. Somehow.

Edited August 29, 2013 by SuperLink

[KrazyBean]

We know next to nothing about 086, and judging from its CG reveal trailer it's probably going to be yet another fps.

 

It's a third person action-adventure shooter actually.

Edited August 29, 2013 by KrazyBean

[Chooch]

Nintendo's so fucking wacky I'd expect a fresh take on the Ice Climber franchise before something to get the awful taste of Star Fox Command out of my mouth.*

 

Kid Icarus is a special, one of a kind case because Sakurai specifically wanted to work on it. It's quite obvious that there's no one with ties to Nintendo that gives a damn at this point outside of.. Kamiya? Pfffffffffft.

 

* Star Fox 64 3D doesn't count

 

I think a new Ice Climber game would probably be godlike

Edited August 29, 2013 by Chooch

[Chili Dawg]

Nintendo's so fucking wacky I'd expect a fresh take on the Ice Climbers franchise before something to get the awful taste of Star Fox Command out of my mouth.

 

Is that necessarily a bad thing though?

[Sami]

Kid Icarus is a special, one of a kind case because Sakurai specifically wanted to work on it. It's quite obvious that there's no one with ties to Nintendo that gives a damn at this point outside of.. Kamiya? Pfffffffffft.

 

With good multiplayer, a single player story focus, quality voice acting, and dialogue that's actually enjoyable KIU hardly feels like a Nintendo game anyway.

 

Probably why it's one of my all time favorite games.

[Red Cap]

At least with Sony you're getting new IPs in the midst of the old faithfuls. Some of those IPs become major franchises themselves. See: Resistance, Uncharted, and inFAMOUS (which is the first of these to be making the jump to PS4)

Nintendo does the same thing to a lesser extent. Animal Crossing and Pikmin are two fine examples.

One thing you have to realize is that Nintendo does all of that stuff themselves. But SONY owns a ton of development studios, so they have the time and manpower to make a billion new IPs and still make new games for their existing franchises.

[SuperLink]

Kid Icarus is a special, one of a kind case because Sakurai specifically wanted to work on it. It's quite obvious that there's no one with ties to Nintendo that gives a damn at this point outside of.. Kamiya? Pfffffffffft.

Didn't Nintendo also want him to make a new Kid Icarus?

 

With good multiplayer, a single player story focus, quality voice acting, and dialogue that's actually enjoyable KIU hardly feels like a Nintendo game anyway.

 

Probably why it's one of my all time favorite games.

It both does and doesn't feel like a Nintendo game. Its writing isn't dissimilar to Mario RPGs, though I will agree that it was weird to have so much quality voice acting.

 

Nintendo games always have good multiplayer though, just.. not good online multiplayer usually.

[Chooch]

Is that necessarily a bad thing though?

I was actually in the middle of editing my post to say that would not actually be such a bad thing, haha.

 

I still want more zero-g racing (Don't bring up Mario Kart 8 I'll bash yo' fuckin' 'ead in I swear on me mum) and talking animals flying space ships tho'. Studio Liverpool is dead so I'm not sure what will happen to the WipEout franchise. Having Ratchet is all well and good but there's nothing wrong with more smoking hot talking animals.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Chooch

[Tornado]

One thing you have to realize is that Nintendo does all of that stuff themselves. But SONY owns a ton of development studios, so they have the time and manpower to make a billion new IPs and still make new games for their existing franchises.

 

At least half of Sony's development studios are Sony's through and through rather than pseudo-second party ones.

[Red Cap]

At least half of Sony's development studios are Sony's through and through rather than pseudo-second party ones.

Really? I had a look at how many studio's they own on Wikipedia and it seemed like they have quite a few.

[Tornado]

SCE Japan, Polyphony Digital, SCE Santa Monica, Sony Online Entertainment, SCE San Diego, SCE Foster City (which is what is left of Sony's original development studio from the Genesis days, Sony Imagesoft) and SCE London are all internal development studios that were founded purely as Sony studios. They are just organized and given some autonomy like Sega's studios were in the Dreamcast era. Naughty Dog, Evolution, Guerrilla Games, Media Molecule, Sucker Punch and SCE Bend are all subsidiary developers which were bought by Sony after originally being independent; as was the recently closed Studio Liverpool.

[Wraith]

With good multiplayer, a single player story focus, quality voice acting, and dialogue that's actually enjoyable KIU hardly feels like a Nintendo game anyway.

 

Probably why it's one of my all time favorite games.

 

 

cough

[SuperLink]

Oh yeah FE:A is proof that even Nintendo's most formulaic and samey series' can be reinvigorated and be one of the best-rated games of the year.

 

And also proof that something that was once really niche can be pretty damn successful.

 

Oh yeah also I dunno if this was posted here yet but Wii U price drop is confirmed for Europe too, €299 for the Premium Wii U now.. and Basic models are supposedly being phased out. I imagine UK retailers will reflect this by lowering their prices too.

[Solkia]

The dialogue in Awakening hardly represents a Fire Emblem game in any way shape or form.

[Jolt_TH]

Oh yeah also I dunno if this was posted here yet but Wii U price drop is confirmed for Europe too, €299 for the Premium Wii U now.. and Basic models are supposedly being phased out. I imagine UK retailers will reflect this by lowering their prices too.

Well from the look of the GAME website it look alike the drop is going to be £30 as the new bundles released October time are both £250 , the same price as amazon UK have the premium edition now, so wether or not they lower the price more is in the air, but yeah price seems to be dropping to £250

Credit to Shadster for the info

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jolt_TH

[SuperLink]

Well from the look of the GAME website it look alike the drop is going to be £30 as the new bundles released October time are both £250 , the same price as amazon UK have the premium edition now, so wether or not they lower the price more is in the air, but yeah price seems to be dropping to £250

Credit to Shadster for the info

That's not bad. Hopefully it'll get the marketing push it needs though.

[Tani Coyote]

With the Wii U dropping from 350 to 300, it has become even easier to seal the deal for me. Between the three Sonic games, Rayman, and probably Bayonetta 2... this is sounding easier and easier to approve of by the day. They've got my sale, hands down.

 

Now the long wait until September 20th...

 

America investors aren't happy though; Nintendo's dropped 6% in response to the news it seems. Hopefully the cut will improve sales and prove them wrong.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Eciruam Eivligo

[SuperLink]

I think that price drops show uncertainty within the company so investors dropping seems likely.. I do hope that this leads to increased interest and stuff.

[Patticus]

They'll need to further drop the price and fill in the glaring genre gaps in their lineup before sales, and investor confidence, pick up.

[Tani Coyote]

They'll need to further drop the price and fill in the glaring genre gaps in their lineup before sales, and investor confidence, pick up.

 

I really hope they do. Being down nearly 9% on them isn't exactly my idea of a fun time.

 

But I'm guessing push will come to shove come holiday season... who knows, maybe the drop will give them an edge. Either way, I'm bummed about the fact I'm effectively stuck with them for a while. I guess I'll be buying a Mario game for the first time ever this year after all...

 

If nothing else the Nintendo booth at Expo 2013 looked promising enough, even though it looked clear to me that Sony were the ones ruling that roost.

[SuperLink]

They'll need to further drop the price and fill in the glaring genre gaps in their lineup before sales, and investor confidence, pick up.

I don't think there will be another price drop within the next 6 months.

[Patticus]

I don't think there will be another price drop within the next 6 months.

 

I wasn't expecting one this year at all actually, so I guess we should be thankful, but the U's problems are not going to be solved with a $50 price cut alone.

 

What else is Nintendo doing to salvage the situation? Where's that huge marketing campaign; is it nearly here yet? Are they going cap in hand to developers and publishers yet?

[SuperLink]

What else is Nintendo doing to salvage the situation? Where's that huge marketing campaign; is it nearly here yet? Are they going cap in hand to developers and publishers yet?

I don't know, it probably hasn't started yet, I assume Christmas with all the Mario and DK and Wii Fit and stuff will have tons of ads.

As for the second thing, I don't think they ever said they were gonna do that so I wouldn't get your hopes up. For now they're wooing indies, in recent interviews Reggie always says they have "great third party titles on the way" and then name like one game. So yeah, I dunno if they plan on doing anything about third parties at all.

Edited August 30, 2013 by SuperLink

[azoo]

You know, I'm in full support of Nintendo this year, but I myself have this feeling I can't shake off that all they're releasing isn't that big of a deal.

 

I mean when you think about it, we're getting it good. Pikmin 3's already out, Wonderful 101 is coming, Wind Waker HD is on its way, and a 3D Mario, the next Sonic, and another Donkey Kong Country are right around the bend. A lot of people will say the lack of "hardcore" games is what makes this feel so casual, but its not really that (these all sound pretty 'hardcore' to me). Its how they market it.

 

You see I think Nintendo would get a lot more attention on these games if they would actually go the distance to show their highest points, make big well-done cinematic trailers of it (like how they did the first Galaxy), and would actually advertise these games as the next biggest blockbuster titles. The problem is that.. Nintendo is just doing a shit job at that by just advertising them as plain old games. And its really disheartening because its like they want to be in the competition but just have no ambition for it.

 

That's my problem. I can see all these games and understand they're gonna totally rock, but Nintendo doesn't seem to want to make a big deal out of them enough to where others will care. I know they don't wanna be like the competition, but its not really good that they're treating their products exclusively as video games and not something more like it was before.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Azookara

[SuperLink]

Yeah all the games they're releasing are pretty big deals, we had to wait for half the Wii's lifespan for most of these games, but Nintendo don't seem to be hyping them up to "AAA" proportions. Maybe.. maybe Nintendo just don't do that.