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

[Willsy]

Thought UK owners might want to know this;

Splinter Cell Blacklist is now £19.99 on the eShop permanently. It's a really good port, and I'll probably be downloading it soon.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 What we DO know is that most multiplatform releases haven't sold well.

 

We have unnecessary watering down, not to mention explicit exclusion of features found on everything but the Wii U for that. Surprise, surprise, gamers aren't really viable  to purchase their products when they get dicked with like that.

At one point you're going to have to consider what's financially viable. 

 

When it comes to the videogame industry, with stunts like Sonic 06 and Legends 3, "financially viable" isn't so cut and dry. I've seen that term lead to more bad than it has good.

[Solkia]

I wouldn't even use the Batmobile in Arkham Knight as an example. 180MB of RAM for a fucking character model of a car is obnoxious no matter what way you look at it.

 

And this isn't even a matter of speculation or "What mysteries does the hardware of the Wii U contain? Find out here on H2!", there are things the Wii U factually cannot do that the PS4 and Xbone can.

 

You can actually listen to what Wraith is saying or we can have another 200 pages of spouting a load of shit at each other again. But there's one very fucking important thing that is for certain that people need to fucking accept already: It's Nintendo's job to appeal to third parties, not third parties job to suck Nintendo's corporate schlong.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 It's Nintendo's job to appeal to third parties, not third parties job to suck Nintendo's corporate schlong.

I understand that. But that doesn't condone third parties occasionally crippling Wii U installments and then using lack of sales, because god forbid consumers not want the table scraps edition, as an excuse. Not to mention when they shit likethe Rayman Legends affair.

And this isn't even a matter of speculation or "What mysteries does the hardware of the Wii U contain? Find out here on H2!", there are things the Wii U factually cannot do that the PS4 and Xbone can.

 

The extent of which has yet to be seen.

[The Disney Dork]

Does anyone know if it's possible to change your Nintendo Network ID? I really hate the name I chose and can't seem to change it :/ if not it's no big deal.

[Solkia]

6 times the RAM and nearly 10 times the processing power as well as a more than twice as strong GPU is "yet to be seen"?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

6 times the RAM and nearly 16 times the processing power as well as a more than twice as strong GPU is "yet to be seen"?

To its full potential, outside of "take my word for it" territory, and in full action, yes.

[Solkia]

Does anyone know if it's possible to change your Nintendo Network ID? I really hate the name I chose and can't seem to change it :/ if not it's no big deal.

 

You're most likely going to have to contact Nintendo's support hotline and ask them to delete your account. There may be another way, so you should ask them that beforehand.

[Brad]

Does anyone know if it's possible to change your Nintendo Network ID? I really hate the name I chose and can't seem to change it :/ if not it's no big deal.

 

Nope. You'd have to delete your account and make a new one, unfortunately. Sorry!

[The Disney Dork]

Nope. You'd have to delete your account and make a new one, unfortunately. Sorry!

Ah well, it's no big deal, I guess. Thanks!

[MegasonicZX]

You're most likely going to have to contact Nintendo's support hotline and ask them to delete your account. There may be another way, so you should ask them that beforehand.

Can't you change it by tapping on your mii icon from the wii u menu and then tapping user settings?

[Sami]

Jovah, can you please read before making brash claims about technical specs? I mean no disrespect; you're a good guy, but you're really highly misinformed on the subject and you're brazenly throwing claims around using "prove me wrong" as your only argument. I worked several hours typing and compiling information so we can all be well-informed when we have these debates. 

 

I notice you never linked an example of a developer grossly exaggerating the spec difference as you claimed, maybe you overlooked it? Regardless, I really am curious to see what you're talking about here as you've brought this up numerous times and I've never once had any idea what you were referring to. If you could link a few examples (as you said several companies have become "too addicted", I'm sure you're thinking of many instances) that would be great!

 

If we're going to use Arkham Knight as an example, then that's easy. I can very easily imagine the Batmobile driving being impossible on Wii U due to the lack of RAM (it needs to have enough space in bytes to store all the data needed for the city and architecture) and weak GPU (won't be able to load data fast enough while driving, let alone load it at all depending on how technically proficient the game is). 

 

Jovah. I know you mean well, but seriously, if we're going to talk specs, then please learn about them.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Jovah, can you please read before making brash claims about technical specs? I mean no disrespect; you're a good guy, but you're really highly misinformed on the subject and you're brazenly throwing claims around using "prove me wrong" as your only argument. I worked several hours typing and compiling information so we can all be well-informed when we have these debates. 

How am I misinformed when I haven;t even said outright, I'm certain the Wii U could run Arkham Knight? Granted not even Rocksteady themselves said it couldn't but that's besides the point. If such really is proven to be the case, then no hard feelings towards Rocksteady (to be honest I don't even harbor disappointment towards them currently) after all they're just playing it safe with the money.

Sorry if I take a while with a few of these replies; I'm starting to get sleepily tired.

[Sami]

How am I misinformed when I haven;t even said outright, I'm certain the Wii U could run Arkham Knight? Granted not even Rocksteady themselves said it couldn't but that's besides the point. If such really is proven to be the case, then no hard feelings towards Rocksteady (to be honest I don't even harbor disappointment towards them currently) after all they're just playing it safe with the money.

Sorry if I take a while with a few of these replies; I'm starting to get sleepily tired.

 

I'm saying you're misinformed because you're constantly arguing that developers simply aren't trying hard enough and defending this claim by asking people to prove you wrong. What exactly are you asking for here? A video showing a Wii U version of FF XV chugging at 10 fps?

 

Also, again, you have yet to link any examples of your exaggeration claim. I would seriously like to discuss this, so please do.

[Gabz Girl]

Still doesn't explain the fact that developers lied about Frostbite not working on Wii U but okay.

[Sami]

Still doesn't explain the fact that developers lied about Frostbite not working on Wii U but okay.

 

"FB3 has never been running on WiiU. We did some tests with not too promising results with FB2 & chose not to go down that path," - DICE Technical Director, Johan Andersson

 

I don't see how this is a lie. EA later officially said that it's possible to do, that doesn't mean they've actually done it.

[Gabz Girl]

"FB3 has never been running on WiiU. We did some tests with not too promising results with FB2 & chose not to go down that path," - DICE Technical Director, Johan Andersson

 

I don't see how this is a lie. EA later officially said that it's possible to do, that doesn't mean they've actually done it.

Oh I see, so they basically tried it but didn't think it worked very well on Wii U. My mistake!

[PSI Wind]

How can FB3 not run on the Wii U, but CryEngine 3 can AND FB3 run on an XP machine? FB3 is a terribly optimized engine. And here's the thing I still find strange. Wii U can run 1080p games yet apparently the Xbone can't. Hell, SOURCE can't run at 1080p 60 FPS on the Xbone. SOURCE! 

[Patticus]

It could probably be made to work very well on the platform, I'm sure. However, the company's finance guys have more than likely run the numbers (cost of optimizing, the time/resources it'd take, likely sales, profit margins etc) and decided that the likely monetary returns at this point would not justify the investment required.

 

If somehow the platform gets a surprise killer app that drives sales into Wii territory for a while, I am sure that many developers and publishers (not just EA) would happily re-run those financial calculations and seriously reconsider their positions as to Wii U development. I can't see that happening though.

[Sami]

How can FB3 not run on the Wii U, but CryEngine 3 can AND FB3 run on an XP machine? FB3 is a terribly optimized engine. And here's the thing I still find strange. Wii U can run 1080p games yet apparently the Xbone can't. Hell, SOURCE can't run at 1080p 60 FPS on the Xbone. SOURCE! 

 

...

 

There are a few 1080p games on PS3 as well, that doesn't mean it's anywhere near comparable to the Xbox One in power. This is such a silly false equivalency.

 

If FB3 is terribly optimized as is, one can only imagine how badly that would affect the dismal CPU built into the Wii U (as I recall, FB3 is a very CPU heavy engine). It likely took a ton of work optimizing it to even run on the 360/PS3 at all, and even then it runs horribly regardless. Getting it to work on Wii U is possible, yes. It'll be very difficult to actually program, however, and it won't run anywhere near as well as it does on the other two systems. It's not a goal worth pursuing.

 

Seriously, what is your point about the Xbox, here? It's several times more powerful than the Wii U. This is a fact. If Source runs like ass on the Xbox, it'll run even worse on Wii U.

[Solkia]

Wait wait wait, back up.

 

How can FB3 not run on the Wii U, but CryEngine 3 can AND FB3 run on an XP machine? FB3 is a terribly optimized engine. And here's the thing I still find strange. Wii U can run 1080p games yet apparently the Xbone can't. Hell, SOURCE can't run at 1080p 60 FPS on the Xbone. SOURCE! 

 

PC games only need the assigned OS to RUN the game. The engine and everything that MAKES the game run is dependent entirely on the hardware.

 

Windows 7 is essentially a better optimized version of Windows XP with some bells and whistles thrown in anyways. If we were trying to run FB3 on say, Windows ME, we'd have some problems.

 

or does "XP" refer to something else?

[Willsy]

I think the a Wii U could have turned out better if they just made it slightly stronger with a smaller gamepad. A couple of gigabytes more RAM, better GPU, a gamepad with a 3DS (minus 3D) screen that's slightly bigger than the pro controller, etc.

[PSI Wind]

...

 

There are a few 1080p games on PS3 as well, that doesn't mean it's anywhere near comparable to the Xbox One in power. This is such a silly false equivalency.

 

If FB3 is terribly optimized as is, one can only imagine how badly that would affect the dismal CPU built into the Wii U (as I recall, FB3 is a very CPU heavy engine). It likely took a ton of work optimizing it to even run on the 360/PS3 at all, and even then it runs horribly regardless. Getting it to work on Wii U is possible, yes. It'll be very difficult to actually program, however, and it won't run anywhere near as well as it does on the other two systems. It's not a goal worth pursuing.

 

Seriously, what is your point about the Xbox, here? It's several times more powerful than the Wii U. This is a fact. If Source runs like ass on the Xbox, it'll run even worse on Wii U.

You do realize that Source is one of the easiest optimizable engines around, right? The fucking thing is a decade old. If the Wii U can run CryEngine 3, it should run Source at 1080p 60 FPS. Most likely, Respawn is just extremely bad at optimization. Also, you just said that even though it didn't run very well, FB3 worked on the PS3/360. If it couldn't run on the Wii U, a machine with better specs, then why could it run on the 360? I know why it worked on the PS3 because Cell and all.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

It could probably be made to work very well on the platform, I'm sure. However, the company's finance guys have more than likely run the numbers (cost of optimizing, the time/resources it'd take, likely sales, profit margins etc) and decided that the likely monetary returns at this point would not justify the investment required.

 

If somehow the platform gets a surprise killer app that drives sales into Wii territory for a while, I am sure that many developers and publishers (not just EA) would happily re-run those financial calculations and seriously reconsider their positions as to Wii U development. I can't see that happening though.

This is basically what I'm getting at. It's not the power, but the sales really that help fuel the cycle.

[Gabz Girl]

If somehow the platform gets a surprise killer app that drives sales into Wii territory for a while, I am sure that many developers and publishers (not just EA) would happily re-run those financial calculations and seriously reconsider their positions as to Wii U development. I can't see that happening though.

Hopefully that killer app is going to be Mario Kart 8. It's already selling out on Amazon.com. Go figure.