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

[Dejimon11]

Fuck "Hey You Pikachu!". That asshole never got angry when I yelled Sony like he was supposed to.

Your doing it wrong your meant to shout "playstation"

[redhellc]

I must have missed this news. Seems it was announced last month that Mario toys are soon going to be in McDonald's Happy Meals in the UK.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/super_mario_hopping_into_mcdonalds_happy_meals_in_the_uk

 

This Mario fun day must be to celebrate the launch of those, so I expect they'll be holding them at other restaurants, too.

I don't know about you guys but we had Mario Toys here in Portugal a few months ago.

 

I even grab a Mario and Luigi. If you guys didn't got them, maybe they are the same ones.

[Marcello]

Your doing it wrong your meant to shout "playstation"

 

You're right. It's been a while since I've played it. I did say PlayStation.

[Doctor MK]

Super Mario Kart is hitting the European Wii U eShop on 27th March

 

This coincides with a special promotion for Mario Kart 8 - namely, download Super Mario Kart before 30th June and get a £5.49 discount off a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 from the eShop.

 

Also, there's a Mario Kart 8 Limited Edition, but I've left discussion for that over in the game's respective topic.

 

EDIT: There's also some news regarding GBA titles hitting the Wii U Virtual Console. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Mr Driller 2 as well as Super Mario Ball/Mario Pinball Land and Pac-Man Collection have been rated by the Australian Classificartion Board, meaning they should see a release on the digital download service soon enough. Not necessarily the most exciting of titles, but at least we know some new ones that are on the way!

[Autosaver]

Wii U Deluxe $200

https://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=212209&catalogId=10001&storeId=10001

 

Just right before Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8. Come on, price isn't that big of a problem with this deal. Do it!

[Indigo Rush]

Every time a deal like this crops up I regret buying this thing at Gamestop more and more.

[PaddyFancy]

Every time a deal like this crops up I regret buying this thing at Gamestop more and more.

 

I would say the same thing about Smyths Toystore. My Mario+Luigi pack was slightly reduced but because I had the funds on me and it was nearly December on a special trip out I just threw caution to the wind and bought the damn thing. Maybe I shouldn't regret it because I think I got plenty of mileage out of it so far.

[Autosaver]

Every time a deal like this crops up I regret buying this thing at Gamestop more and more.

>buying ANYTHING at gamestop

[Willsy]

>buying ANYTHING at gamestop

"Here, we're giving you $10 for your used game that you bought new for $40 last month.....oh no, my mistake, what I meant to say is that we're giving you $5 for your game."

[PSI Wind]

It's called supply and demand. A game like Pokemon Battle Revolution had high demand but low supply so I got $20 for it.

[Silencer226]

I guess it depends on who's running your store. The Gamestop I go to greets me, talks to me about rpgs, knows me by name and treats me well. I don't do trade ins down there by any means but I as far as getting in and buying what I want, no problems. But alas I've gone off topic so I'll stop.

[VO.SUPER]

 

So; this set of tweets bring up an interesting topic. Should it be Nintendo's responsibility to market third party titles, or should it be entirely on third parties? 

 

I feel like Nintendo has the responsibilities of doing this for their console launches. It should be their job to advertise every important title in the first year, even if they are third parties, so that way they can still have their early userbase, from there third parties are pretty much on their own.

[Conando]

Do Sony and Microsoft have to spend out of pocket to advertise 3rd parties? Not that I know of, but I guess this is a special case since most games released on their platforms are 3rd party.

[Sami]

 

So; this set of tweets bring up an interesting topic. Should it be Nintendo's responsibility to market third party titles, or should it be entirely on third parties? 

 

I feel like Nintendo has the responsibilities of doing this for their console launches. It should be their job to advertise every important title in the first year, even if they are third parties, so that way they can still have their early userbase, from there third parties are pretty much on their own.

 

What's the context here? I have no idea what these tweets are referring to.

[Conando]

It's the late port of Need For Speed: Most Wanted. I honestly have no idea why it's even been brought up a year later (yes, these tweets are recent). The dev is blaming Nintendo for not giving them a marketing push from what I gather, but he's not exactly saying EA wasn't responsible for it bombing either. Honestly, I think it's more of it being a port of an old game that no one wanted, as great of a port it was.

[VO.SUPER]

What's the context here? I have no idea what these tweets are referring to.

 

The port of Need For Speed Most Wanted which this guy helped develop. This guy now runs an indie studio I believe, and his fans were asking if he'd port over to Nintendo consoles. All the same, I think he's being unfair in not supporting Nintendo, but he brought up some interesting facts about how no one bothered to market it even.

[RK64]

 

So; this set of tweets bring up an interesting topic. Should it be Nintendo's responsibility to market third party titles, or should it be entirely on third parties? 

 

I feel like Nintendo has the responsibilities of doing this for their console launches. It should be their job to advertise every important title in the first year, even if they are third parties, so that way they can still have their early userbase, from there third parties are pretty much on their own.

 

Well, its quite clear that Nintendo really needs to push their remaining 3rd party parteners more after their games not selling compared to Nintendo's own games...

 

I mean, Nintendo promised us when the Wii U was announced that "We WILL have strong 3rd party support" and to accomplish that, they have to promote 3rd party games as much as Nintendo games.

 

Its not right to say they are not trying, as they did that Skylanders Wii U bundle with Activison, but they need to do more. Even if Nintendo funds the advertisement side of the deal or even fund the port themselves, at least help the 3rd parties out with getting their game to your console. Its hard to develop for and doesn't have strong sales, so do SOMETHING to get developers on the system...

 

[Willsy]

Nintendo should market 3rd party games like MS and Sony do. And Sony has less money than Nintendo so funds aren't exactly an excuse...

[Carbo]

Do Sony and Microsoft have to spend out of pocket to advertise 3rd parties? Not that I know of, but I guess this is a special case since most games released on their platforms are 3rd party.

Sony and Microsoft do put out money to advertise third parties. Not just in terms of exclusive downloadable content but certain marketing spaces and even console exclusive bundles like Watch Dogs and GTA V.

Nintendo aren't really in the position to ignore that, and it's not like they haven't done so in the past months either with bundles like Skylanders. Even if it's EA and you claim Nintendo had no reason to support someone who bailed on them, "pride" has very little space in a business where you need to be on the ball at all times.

Of course, EA aren't really getting off of here scot-free either, especially when they forced Criterion to pump out a really good version of the game which turned out to be a waste of everyone's time.

[Candescence]

Not to mention they announced a late port of ME3 and then later announced the ME trilogy pack for the other consoles. That's either complete stupidity or sabotage.

 

Granted, Konami did the same damn thing to the 3DS port of MGS3 with the MGS HD collection, but we know Konami aren't the smartest tools in the shed, so we can chalk that one up to stupidity.

[LunarEdge]

Not to mention they announced a late port of ME3 and then later announced the ME trilogy pack for the other consoles. That's either complete stupidity or sabotage.

 

Granted, Konami did the same damn thing to the 3DS port of MGS3 with the MGS HD collection, but we know Konami aren't the smartest tools in the shed, so we can chalk that one up to stupidity.

Yeah, that move confused me a bit, seeing how I had both a 3DS and a Vita. I was looking for games to play for both and I was like....."why buy MGS3 for the 3DS when I can get the collection for Vita?"

 

Those tweets though raise a good point....the man has a family to feed and needs to sell on a competent console. There we go ladies and gentlemen, we now see why the Wii U lacks 3rd Party for the most part. I wonder if any other developers had similar issues.

[Blacklightning]

This isn't really a problem you can pin on a single cause, because there are huge fuckups on multiple sides. Nintendo fucked up their launch window and a year-long head start, granted, but it's hard to feel any sympathy for publishers that send their titles out essentially to die against heavier hitters, oftentimes either enacting noticable delays and/or content strips to make them seem watered down in comparison to other platforms, essentially whine that Nintendo isn't doing their marketing for them and put all their developers in the metaphorical line of fire seemingly just to enact a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. And I think there's even something to be said of the consumers themselvers, who seemingly prefer buying consoles before there's even anything particularly interesting to play on them.

 

The one thing you can say for certain is that it's eerily reminiscent of the PS3 launch - and if it's anything similar, this will take the majority of the generation to recover from.

[Candescence]

Those tweets though raise a good point....the man has a family to feed and needs to sell on a competent console. There we go ladies and gentlemen, we now see why the Wii U lacks 3rd Party for the most part. I wonder if any other developers had similar issues.

Though, in this case, concerning not selling on the eShop, it actually makes no sense not to sell a downloadable title on there. Selling a title digitally is far less risky than retail, as the associated costs of retail are completely nixed, and you get a 70/30 split between yourself and the publisher. When it comes to digital games, selling on as many storefronts as possible is better.

 

Plus, Nintendo have actually been working hard on wooing indies and making it easier for indies to develop software for the Wii U, and apparently the eShop has been a boon for some indies. So I think the guy is just being unnecessarily bitter.

[LunarEdge]

This isn't really a problem you can pin on a single cause, because there are huge fuckups on multiple sides. Nintendo fucked up their launch window and a year-long head start, granted, but it's hard to feel any sympathy for publishers that send their titles out essentially to die against heavier hitters, oftentimes either enacting noticable delays and/or content strips to make them seem watered down in comparison to other platforms, essentially whine that Nintendo isn't doing their marketing for them and put all their developers in the metaphorical line of fire seemingly just to enact a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. And I think there's even something to be said of the consumers themselvers, who seemingly prefer buying consoles before there's even anything particularly interesting to play on them.

 

The one thing you can say for certain is that it's eerily reminiscent of the PS3 launch - and if it's anything similar, this will take the majority of the generation to recover from.

At least at that time, you were buying a cheap blu-ray player and an expensive video game console/dvd player. Even then, exclusive games and multi-plat games were coming out earlier in its life. Did those release warrant a buy of the console? No, but at least you had options. Given, MGS4 kept me busy for quite some time, especially MGO2.

 

I'm hoping momentum picks up after the release MK8 or at least Smash.

[Gabz Girl]

I don't know why he's solely blaming Nintendo. True they should've marketed it better, but wasn't EA the one who screwed up on the game too? Why is everyone so afraid of blaming EA yet are quick to say it's Nintendo's fault? ><