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

[KrazyBean]

So, the Wii U is outselling the PS4 in Japan.

 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/03/13/wii-u-sales-outpacing-playstation-4as-in-japan

 

I have no idea why there is this stupid white highlight which I can't get rid of...

[PSI Wind]

Holiday for Wii U compared to PS4 + PS4 being in very low supply = less sales.

[KrazyBean]

There are no games on the PS4 which appeal to the Japanese, that's why.

[Autosaver]

Maybe Sony realizes that western audiences is the bigger/more profitable market thus they have less of a focus in Japan?

[Sami]

There are no games on the PS4 which appeal to the Japanese, that's why.

 

Well, yes, but the holiday point is still the most important when we're comparing sales. If you want a better comparison you have to wait a while for there to be an equal playing field. 

[Conando]

The fact of the matter is that there are no games on PS4 that appeal to Japanese gamers yet. I honestly don't see it changing until FF XIV.

[VO.SUPER]

Holiday for Wii U compared to PS4 + PS4 being in very low supply = less sales.

 

The supply is there. Plus, the Japanese don't celebrate Christmas consumerism like we in the West do. 

 

Now the lack of games is a better excuse, and the fact that Japanese gamers are moving away from console games and to portables. Even experienced devs are noticing this:

 

 

 

Coming from Hideo Kojima, as pertaining to the gaming scene in Japan...

- era of buying a game and spending a huge amount of time with it is no longer the norm

- most gamers there have moved over to mobile and portable games

- these games are easier to pick up and are more user-friendly

- they can also be completed quicker

 

(That was from his twitch event.)

 

On another note; Sakurai has this to say:

 

 

 

The following comes from Masahiro Sakurai...

“Let me begin by saying that I don’t care for faction wars like Nintendo versus SCEJA. PlayStation 4 is good-looking, the DualShock 4 is light and using it feels good, Remote Play can reliably handle even action games, and the network functionality is well done. The machine power is another attractive factor, there is no loss of detail in the image, and it looks so natural and spontaneous that you often forget that you’re playing a game.

It’s a good thing if creators can make stylish games without putting in a ton of time on that. I hope that a masterpiece will come with bells tolling. This is definitely not a period that will leave us without the possibility of playing rich games.”

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

well this is interesting http://www.gonintendo.com/s/224153-nintendo-australia-announces-attendance-at-oz-comic-con-events-around-australia-in-2014

 

 

Nintendo Australia announces attendance at Oz Comic-Con events around Australia in 2014â

Mar 13, 2014 by RawmeatCowboy

 

14th March 2014 - Nintendo Australia announces that it will be attending Oz Comic-Con at all 5 events around Australia in 2014, with the upcoming shows in both Perth on 29th and 30th March, and Adelaide on 5th and 6th April offering attendees the opportunity to play some of the most anticipated titles for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U right throughout the weekend. 

On Wii U, fans will be able to enjoy a range of games including Mario Kart 8, releasing 31st May in Australia and New Zealand. For Nintendo 3DS, among others you’ll be able to tee off in Mario Golf: World Tour or test out Kirby’s new Hypernova ability in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

In addition to these upcoming titles, Nintendo booth will be brimming with multiplayer and StreetPass fun, so bring along your Nintendo 3DS and enjoy all your favourite titles like Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, Mario Party: Island Tour, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi's Mansion 2 and Mario Kart 7 with other Nintendo fans.

Nintendo Australia also recently launched both a Facebook Page and Twitter Account where fans can be kept up to date with all the latest in the world of Nintendo in Australia and New Zealand.

Thanks to Luke for the heads up!

 

 

 

MARIO KART 8 is going to be there, and PLAYABLE!

[Willsy]

Bought Rayman Legends off the Nintendo eShop, it's currently downloading in sleep mode. Gotta love that feature...

Btw, I heard that the Wii U version of Legends also features online multiplayer, is this correct?

[Autosaver]

Nope.

 

It has leaderboards.

[Willsy]

Nope.

It has leaderboards.

Really? I heard that it has online multiplayer in a review (only on Wii U though). The eShop also says that it has it...

[VO.SUPER]

Reposting from the other threads. 

 

Strong new releases helped sales of Wii U software and Nintendo 3DS software in February increase by more than 180 percent and more than 25 percent, respectively, over the same month last year. Wii U software sales were driven by the Feb. 21 launch of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which sold more than 130,000 combined physical and digital units in its first eight days on the market. This helped sales of Wii U hardware increase by nearly 25 percent over the same month last year.

In early 2013, Fire Emblem Awakening launched for Nintendo 3DS and became one of the surprise hits of the year. Bravely Default, which launched for Nintendo 3DS on Feb. 7, improved on the launch of Fire Emblem Awakening by more than 10 percent, selling more than 200,000 combined units in just over three weeks.

Other sales milestones achieved by Nintendo in February include:

Bravely Default and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze finished as the No. 2 and No. 4 best-selling software SKUs for the month of February.
Pokémon X and Pokémon Y for the Nintendo 3DS system sold more than 130,000 combined units in their fifth month on the market. This brought the life-to-date total to more than 3.4 million combined units in the United States alone.
Over the next few months, Nintendo will launch a series of games from fan-favorite franchises including Yoshi’s New Island (Nintendo 3DS, March 14), Disney Magical World (Nintendo 3DS, April 11), Mario Golf: World Tour (Nintendo 3DS, May 2), Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Nintendo 3DS, May 2) and Mario Kart 8 (Wii U, May 30).

 

[Sami]

Dunno if this has been posted yet, but we have NPD sales for February - 

 

PS4: 258,000 / 0.9 = 286.7K (Though XB1 is "over 90%" of the PS4's sales, so it might be a bit lower.)
Xbox One: 258K
Xbox 360: 114K (-62.2%)
Wii U: Nearly 82.5K (+~25%)

PS3: >82.5k

[canderson]

^Adding to that, someone in the NPD thread on NeoGAF posted: 175K > 3DS + PSVita > 180K. Not sure what to  say about that.

 

So Wii U has improved this month. That's great I guess, but I worry for the next 3 months.

[Sami]

^Adding to that, someone in the NPD thread on NeoGAF posted: 175K > 3DS + PSVita > 180K. Not sure what to say about that.

So Wii U has improved this month. That's great I guess, but I worry for the next 3 months.

Vita and 3DS combined are between 175k and 180k. Even if the Vita sold 0 units, this is bad for 3DS. 3DS sold more than 180k last year, so the downward trend is continuing.

Bad for Vita too obviously, but the system's dead anyway so it's not like it matters.

[Gabz Girl]

I think it's both things; not enough PS4's (so pretty much another Wii situation) and not enough Japanese games. Like VisionaryBlur said, Christmas in Japan is more akin to Valentine's day where people go out on dates and stuff. So I'm not even sure it would have sold loads if it came out the same time as the American and European release date.

Once FFXV and KH3 come out, that's when the console sales skyrocket in Japan. And back to the topic at hand.

[VO.SUPER]

I think it's both things; not enough PS4's (so pretty much another Wii situation) and not enough Japanese games. Like VisionaryBlur said, Christmas in Japan is more akin to Valentine's day where people go out on dates and stuff. So I'm not even sure it would have sold loads if it came out the same time as the American and European release date.

Once FFXV and KH3 come out, that's when the console sales skyrocket in Japan. And back to the topic at hand.

 

But why would the supply shortage affect Japan? The system has only just released there.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

There actually isn't a supply shortage of PS4's there. There is still however the aforementioned lack of Japanese attracting games, JPRGS, etc.

[Sami]

There actually isn't a supply shortage of PS4's there. There is still however the aforementioned lack of Japanese attracting games, JPRGS, etc.

Where did you hear it isn't supply constrained? I've been at work and unfortunately haven't been able to keep up.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Where did you hear it isn't supply constrained? I've been at work and unfortunately haven't been able to keep up.

Many places, but in particular, the source Visionary Blur presented as well.

 

Ignore that.

 

But what I meant to say is that there's still quite the supply, but the demand has not come anywhere near to overtaking it in Japan.

[VO.SUPER]

Many places, but in particular, the source Visionary Blur presented as well.

 

What source did I provide? I just provided Nintendo sales, not PS4 sales.

[Sami]

Many places, but in particular, the source Visionary Blur presented as well.

 

Ignore that.

 

But what I meant to say is that there's still quite the supply, but the demand has not come anywhere near to overtaking it in Japan.

And again, I ask, where did you hear that there's plenty of supply?

[VO.SUPER]

Vita and 3DS combined are between 175k and 180k. Even if the Vita sold 0 units, this is bad for 3DS. 3DS sold more than 180k last year, so the downward trend is continuing.

Bad for Vita too obviously, but the system's dead anyway so it's not like it matters.

 

My goodness man, the system has released a plethora of games already and isn't really selling anything of note at this moment, so why should we expect the thing to be selling hotcakes now? It's made huge profits already and is nearing the end of its lifespan for sure, so there's nothing wrong with it slowing down at this point.

[PSI Wind]

Just wait until they announce Pokemon Z next year.

[Sami]

My goodness man, the system has released a plethora of games already and isn't really selling anything of note at this moment, so why should we expect the thing to be selling hotcakes now? It's made huge profits already and is nearing the end of its lifespan for sure, so there's nothing wrong with it slowing down at this point.

Because last time I stated the system was on decline and that a successor should be in the making, people said that it was still doing awesome and will continue to sell for years.

I'm only repeating what I said last month - sales are on decline and the system will need to have a successor by early 2016 at the very, very latest. 3DS has peaked.

Not that this has anything to do with Wii U, anyway.