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

[VO.SUPER]

Funny that this thread went on 666... Anyways let me help keep conversations out of the other thread.

This was the news that was starting the big discussion:

The following comes from a Polygon interview with Toys for Bob co-founders Fred Ford and Paul Rouse...

"We had been directed towards thinking about something that would play well with Nintendo. I think there was some co-marketing money and the Wii was doing well. They had some success with peripherals." - Ford

"They (Nintendo) spent a long time looking and looking. They were just like 'we have never seen anything like this before.' I've always wondered about the full meaning of that comment [laughs]. We have no idea why (Nintendo turned it down). Clearly, they have got properties well suited to this world. Why it is that they didn't rush in here will probably haunt them for the rest of their days. Nintendo could have kicked Disney's ass. If I was running Nintendo I would have jumped on this." - Rouse

Well we all know that this was a dumb decision. But still the Skylabders was an untested concept.

[Sami]

It's just another instance of Nintendo's isolationist business practices coming back to bite them in the ass. Once again, brushing off a potential business partner has created a major competitor. They'd be smart to stop this shit, but I doubt they will.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

It's just another instance of Nintendo's isolationist business practices coming back to bite them in the ass. Once again, brushing off a potential business partner has created a major competitor. They'd be smart to stop this shit, but I doubt they will.

Honestly, very few could see what skylanders would become, even within the company

Also, it kinda goes against Nintendo's policies, and would have pissed off a ton of the userbase

[Candescence]

Yeah, a lot of people hate the very concept of Skylanders and Disney Infinity on principle - the whole figurine thing feels like physical DLC. And Nintendo had no real way of knowing if that risk would've paid off, they don't have the 20/20 hindsight we have now.

[PSI Wind]

And while you might think that no one cares what people on the internet thinks, you have to realize that the gaming journalists would've had a field day with calling Nintendo out for agreeing with it and putting in Nintendo characters most likely and calling them sellouts.

[Candescence]

And lest we forget that Activision ran its other peripheral-based franchise, Guitar Hero, straight into the ground, and the uDraw killed off THQ. So, yeah, I can see why Nintendo would've been hesitant to back that sort of thing regardless.

[Sami]

Is Nintendo not the company people love to hail as the bringer of fun and innovation to the gaming space? Considering the Wii U literally comes built in with an NFC Reader I can't fathom how this is offensive and outside their MO.

Beyond that, while it's true that nobody knew it would be a surefire success, that's just how business works. Sony and Microsoft turned down the technology behind the Wii before Nintendo got their hands on it, and were very likely kicking themselves for it for years.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Everyone is surprised.

I'm not. I actually saw it coming.

[Candescence]

Is Nintendo not the company people love to hail as the bringer of fun and innovation to the gaming space? Considering the Wii U literally comes built in with an NFC Reader I can't fathom how this is offensive and outside their MO.

Well, to be fair, this was after Skylanders became a hit, and Nintendo did try their hand at the whole thing with the Pokemon Rumble figurines. Which I'm pretty sure haven't really become a hit, though that is more of a demo than a proper thing.

[PSI Wind]

Is Nintendo not the company people love to hail as the bringer of fun and innovation to the gaming space? Considering the Wii U literally comes built in with an NFC Reader I can't fathom how this is offensive and outside their MO.

Beyond that, while it's true that nobody knew it would be a surefire success, that's just how business works. Sony and Microsoft turned down the technology behind the Wii before Nintendo got their hands on it, and were very likely kicking themselves for it for years.

When the "innovation" is basically physical DLC, it's disgusting.

Well, to be fair, this was after Skylanders became a hit, and Nintendo did try their hand at the whole thing with the Pokemon Rumble figurines. Which I'm pretty sure haven't really become a hit, though that is more of a demo than a proper thing.

Also the fact that unlike Skylanders, there are only 10 figurines that aren't possible to get in-game and they're optional. Skylanders for 100% REQUIRES you to buy at least one of every element the figure has.

[Sami]

Well, to be fair, this was after Skylanders became a hit, and Nintendo did try their hand at the whole thing with the Pokemon Rumble figurines. Which I'm pretty sure haven't really become a hit, though that is more of a demo than a proper thing.

I think Rumble was on too small of a scale to matter, honestly. Had Nintendo turned Activision down and then went on to beat them at their own game (with actual effort of course), they'd has seen enormous success. Coming into the market before Disney would have been smart, and the signs after they turned Activision down were there that this was a great opportunity for them.

When the "innovation" is basically physical DLC, it's disgusting.Also the fact that unlike Skylanders, there are only 10 figurines that aren't possible to get in-game and they're optional. Skylanders for 100% REQUIRES you to buy at least one of every element the figure has.

So disgusting that Nintendo built the function into their newest controller. Scandalous.

Look, man. It's an extremely popular product that reviews well and has a huge fanbase. Sorry it doesn't appeal to you. I'm not really a fan of either. Let's not be ridiculous about this.

[Candescence]

Well, for all we know, Nintendo might be making a NFC-based game with figurines that could potentially be a massive hit.

 

WHO KNOWS.

[Sami]

Well, for all we know, Nintendo might be making a NFC-based game with figurines that could potentially be a massive hit.

 

WHO KNOWS.

They very likely are, but it's too little too late in my opinion. Right now we've pretty much got a mirror of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band competition; I doubt anyone else will really be able to jump in when both competing brands have grown extremely strong. Skylanders has the head start advantage, and Disney has their vast brand power. I'd be genuinely surprised if Nintendo could break in, especially considering how hard it'd be to steal customers.

[Dejimon11]

Yeah it was a bad move on Nintendo's part despite it being a risky gamble it wouldn't hurt them to take a risk. However skylanders did sell the most on the Wii and when skylanders giants was announced Activision was interested on putting its success on the Wii U and where interested on the gamepads NFC's reader. Plus there's already a skylanders Wii U bundle so it all worked out in the end right and no harm was done. Not to mention that most skylanders commercials show off the wii U, 3DS and Wii versions.

[MegasonicZX]

When the "innovation" is basically physical DLC, it's disgusting.

Also the fact that unlike Skylanders, there are only 10 figurines that aren't possible to get in-game and they're optional. Skylanders for 100% REQUIRES you to buy at least one of every element the figure has.

Thats only like 7 different figures though. Three of which already do come in the box but I do see your point since activision does already charge a crap ton of money just to get the game (though after the second one it seems to have gone down a bit). I just think you should at least give the game a shot though cause trust me, I'm not a big fan of DLC either but it is a legitimately good game with some good gameplay and fun characters to use and if you don't care about 100% then the first 3 figures are all you really need to enjoy it and hey the figure's themselves are pretty nicely detailed so if you like having some accessories to put in your room they're pretty good for show too.

[Your Vest Friend]

A large part of why the figures are so successful is that it isn't just physical DLC, they're...well...figures. They can be played with perfectly fine without any sort of game attached, and we've seen multiple cases of them being used in imaginative ways by kids. It's like if all the old action figure sets that encouraged you to collect them all in the first place had a game attached.

[Sami]

We've gotten our NPD numbers for the Wii U, Wii, and DS!

https://mobile.twitter.com/gibbogame/status/457009449161347072

Wii - 28k

Wii U - ~70k

3DS - 159k

Poor numbers all around, unfortunately. Wii U has gotten a 4.5% increase from last year, but the number is rather poor regardless, and 3DS is down 30.9% from last year.

[Your Vest Friend]

And the Wii U and 3DS (and all gaming hardware, really) have been hit hard by the tax hike; the 3DS is down to about 23.5k, the Wii U is down to about 5.5k.

[PSI Wind]

Wait, tax hike? We talking US or Japan? Also, I really hope people smarten up when MK8 comes out and goes "Oh it IS a new console! I thought that even though the box was extremely huge that it was an accessory."

[canderson]

Wait, tax hike? We talking US or Japan? Also, I really hope people smarten up when MK8 comes out and goes "Oh it IS a new console! I thought that even though the box was extremely huge that it was an accessory."

The numbers he listed were from Japan. The numbers were higher for those 2 last week, as well as all gaming devices(which also plummeted this week).

 

As for the US, the Wii U only managed about 70K for the month, while 3DS managed 159K(not sure if this is bad or good), from what I see in the NPD thread on NeoGAF.

[Gabz Girl]

This will all change once Mario Kart 8 comes out next month. Sales will surely skyrocket, and considering they're even releasing a Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle, this is going to hopefully sell more consoles than ever before.

[PSI Wind]

Seriously though, I could understand before the release of the Wii U people would wonder if it was an accessory, but one look at how giant the box is should raise a flag that maybe this isn't an accessory.

[Jolt_TH]

Not only that but what sort of " accessory" would be higher than the price of the console at the consoles release?

[Sami]

The numbers he listed were from Japan. The numbers were higher for those 2 last week, as well as all gaming devices(which also plummeted this week).

 

As for the US, the Wii U only managed about 70K for the month, while 3DS managed 159K(not sure if this is bad or good), from what I see in the NPD thread on NeoGAF.

159K is pretty mediocre, but the reason why this is bad for 3DS is because it highlights how badly it's fallen from last year. The system peaked extremely quickly and is on its way out. I'm interested in what it'll look like next year.

Seriously though, I could understand before the release of the Wii U people would wonder if it was an accessory, but one look at how giant the box is should raise a flag that maybe this isn't an accessory.

There's also the possibility that people know what it is and don't care or want one. I find it amusing that you're essentially blaming the system's shortcomings entirely on people being too stupid to know what it is. Classy.

[PSI Wind]

I'm serious though. That box is WAY too huge to be for JUST an accessory. The marketing firm is still the number 1 problem, but it just boggles my mind.