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

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I guess we'll see in practise. A lot of devs, even the ones who seem to hate Nintendo sometimes (Cliffy grew up on Nintendo systems and would kill at the change to use their vision on a Nintendo franchise. Third party games don't sell on Nintendo but Nintendo games do, and so many devs are calling for Nintendo to go third party, partially because they don't feel they can be on equal footing otherwise. If Nintendo let other devs make Nintendo games and give them profits from those, I think a lot of devs would be pretty up for that.

 

I don't know if Nintendo will be literally be letting other devs make core entries in their franchises though. Especially western devs, but the presentation did imply that Iwata knew western devs loved console development more than handheld development.

Waita sec, arent Insomaniac a third party now? Now I know which IP they would go for is a big question, but I wouldnt be surprised if they have a Nintendo IP they would love to work with

 

Imagine them doing a rachet and clank style game with a Nintendo IP (or perhaps a F-zero Captian falcon adventurer spinoff?)

[SuperLink]

If it were any other big company doing the health thing people would be all for it I think, people just think with Nintendo that they're only allowed to do video games (which is wrong but I guess people aren't used to them doing more than video games anymore)

 

It's like SEGA running casinos and pachinkos and stuff in Japan, it's really not that "quack" at all it's just unexpected when Nintendo have been almost completely game-focused for over 20 years, if it works it could actually be pretty huge.

 

 

Waita sec, arent Insomaniac a third party now? Now I know which IP they would go for is a big question, but I wouldnt be surprised if they have a Nintendo IP they would love to work with

 

Imagine them doing a rachet and clank style game with a Nintendo IP (or perhaps a F-zero Captian falcon adventurer spinoff?)

Insomniac are third party now iirc, but I don't think they like Nintendo very much given their interviews on the subject.

[Candescence]

For God's sake, Nintendo, make a deal with Valve. They're not nearly as controlling and petty as EA, and I'm sure any number of the fellas there would jump at the chance to work on a Nintendo IP. They did include a promotional 'demo' for the Super 8 film in Portal 2, so they're not adverse to working on licensed material.

[azoo]

Working with Valve may make complications with their Steambox proposition (which is pretty dumpy if you ask me), but it would be a really cool thing to see them work together.

[Candescence]

Working with Valve may make complications with their Steambox proposition (which is pretty dumpy if you ask me), but it would be a really cool thing to see them work together.

Unless the Wii U itself could become a Steam Machine - a streaming type that can play PC games from a PC to a TV or on the Gamepad. That would actually be an interesting idea.

 

I don't think Valve really sees Steam Machines as competitors to consoles, honestly.

[azoo]

Making Steam and Nintendo's eShop into sorta one thing for Wii U would be a very questionable, improbable, interface-overhaul-requiring, amazing idea. I can't see it working with the architecture they have set up now (nor can I see Nintendo agreeing to having PC games work on their console just like that), but if it did work then it'd be absolutely amazing.

[Jolt_TH]

Am I the only one interested in these rewards for buying games? The way he is talking, about enabling regulars to buy more games without making their expenditure too high, makes it sound like it'll be a money off sorta thing, maybe Nintendo points or stars could actually be used to take money off!

[SuperLink]

That's what it sounds like, but it's so vague that it feels hard to get excited about.

[Candescence]

As they say, "strange minds think alike", and Nintendo and Valve are the strangest bunches in the industry. While having streamed PC games is a bit different from your usual multiplatform titles, it certainly adds value to the system. Mixing Steam and the eShop is less of a kooky proposition. Valve seems to be supporting underdogs lately (Lunix, OpenGL) as a way of providing consumer options when the top dog(s) get too complacent (such as Microsoft in the PC space).

[azoo]

Putting it that way, I'd certainly hope Nintendo's partner is Valve and not something like Disney.

 

What I'm really excited for is price drops though. But the question is, what's getting the drops? Virtual Console games? Controllers and peripherals? The console (again)? Not sure what will happen, but price drops are always good2me.

[Dejimon11]

For God's sake, Nintendo, make a deal with Valve. They're not nearly as controlling and petty as EA, and I'm sure any number of the fellas there would jump at the chance to work on a Nintendo IP. They did include a promotional 'demo' for the Super 8 film in Portal 2, so they're not adverse to working on licensed material.

Wait when did this happen?

[Candescence]

Wait when did this happen?

It's buried in the extras menu, last I checked, in the PC version at least, it's a short linear demo centered around a train crash, focusing on the monster (which doesn't appear but you do hear it), and when it ends, you get the trailer for the film. Funnily enough, the monster was the least interesting part of the film.

[Gligar13]

Just letting you know, Valve is extremely unlikely to work with Nintendo, especially since unlike Xbox/PS3 games just don't sell on Nintendo, no matter the dev. EA had a better chance, and Nintendo (if the rumor was true) blew a big chance. Then again, Nintendo blew a major one by making the WiiU use outdated hardware.

[SuperLink]

Outdated hardware has little to do with the Wii U's failure. Most of the most successful consoles of all time used tech that was inferior to the opposition's.

 

Of course I could be wrong considering how well the Vita is selling (lol).

[Candescence]

Not to mention Valve's games tend to both efficient and scalable. Considering their recent output, they don't give a rat's ass about trying to top everyone else in production values and flashy shit, they just make amazing games with fantastic (and hilarious) writing. They make so much cash from Steam alone (to say nothing of the money they make with TF2 and DOTA2) that working with Nintendo for even a bunch of titles isn't much of a risk.

 

 

Outdated hardware has little to do with the Wii U's failure. Most of the most successful consoles of all time used tech that was inferior to the opposition's.

 

Of course I could be wrong considering how well the Vita is selling (lol).

Am I missing something here? Because the Vita selling abysmally in favor of the weaker 3DS does prove your point.

[Dejimon11]

It's buried in the extras menu, last I checked, in the PC version at least, it's a short linear demo centered around a train crash, focusing on the monster (which doesn't appear but you do hear it), and when it ends, you get the trailer for the film. Funnily enough, the monster was the least interesting part of the film.

No I'm talking about the partnership

[Candescence]

No I'm talking about the partnership

You mean with EA? It's more rumored than anything, but apparently EA was working with Nintendo on the Wii U's online infrastructure... And tried to bargain to make Origin be a core component of said infrastructure. Nintendo sensibly said no, and EA scrapped their partnership with Nintendo, which does mostly explain why their 'unprecedented partnership' with Nintendo was more or less out the window by E3 the year after they announced said partnership when the Wii U was first announced.

 

Though considering that recent anonymous comment from an EA employee about how "Nintendo is dead to EA", it's fairly apparently that EA is likely rather spiteful anyway.

[Dejimon11]

No the Nintendo valve partnership sorry I should of been more specific

[Candescence]

There isn't one? Not one that we know of, anyway. I never said there was, I just said it would be a good idea.

[SuperLink]

Am I missing something here? Because the Vita selling abysmally in favor of the weaker 3DS does prove your point.

You're not missing a thing besides the sarcasm ;p

 

My entire point was that high-end tech doesn't equate to sales if a console doesn't have its own sale angle that differs it from other systems in a consumer environment where you have to assume everyone is an alien who doesn't care about concepts like exclusive IPs and whether it can play Titanfall or not. The N64 and GC sold like shit for a reason, a reason that at least 90% of the people harkening for Nintendo to go back to how they were back then completely overlook.

[azoo]

Although I still think of it as impossible until I see it, a Nintendo Network / eShop with Steam integration would probably sell the console very well (and definitely sounds SUPER appealing), what with the massive library of variety Steam gives plus Nintendo's goodies. Plus, enhanced multiplayer capabilities ahoy!

 

However, it'd raise questions on how they'd handle account systems, which games would be deemed compatible in the eShop, and how much it would change the eShop's layout and functionality; since changing all of that may be a bit extreme to expect. 

 

That said it still leaves me curious who they'd possibly team with. Hopefully not something dumb..

[Gligar13]

You mean with EA? It's more rumored than anything, but apparently EA was working with Nintendo on the Wii U's online infrastructure... And tried to bargain to make Origin be a core component of said infrastructure. Nintendo sensibly said no, and EA scrapped their partnership with Nintendo, which does mostly explain why their 'unprecedented partnership' with Nintendo was more or less out the window by E3 the year after they announced said partnership when the Wii U was first announced.

 

Though considering that recent anonymous comment from an EA employee about how "Nintendo is dead to EA", it's fairly apparently that EA is likely rather spiteful anyway.

 

Companies don't act like playground children last time I checked. Here's a more reasonable reason: Devs have stated the WiiU is underpowered, along with the fact that EA's WiiU games sold poorly.

[azoo]

Are we really doing this all over again? :\

 

I'd rather talk about things yet to come, not things meant to cause an endless cycle of arguments again. Geez, it's like someone's always just waiting for a good moment to lash out all the tellings of great doom and gloom aplenty. Wii U Can't Catch a Break™ indeed.

[Junko]

Companies don't act like playground children last time I checked. Here's a more reasonable reason: Devs have stated the WiiU is underpowered, along with the fact that EA's WiiU games sold poorly.

It only ever tried 4 games though, 3 being sports games and one being a re-release. 

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

It only ever tried 4 games though, 3 being sports games and one being a re-release. 

 

 

...and they all sold poorly. This included FIFA, EA's #1 franchise.