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

[Candescence]

While I agree with that, I still wish Nintendo would attempt Online play for something like Mario or Metroid.

Metroid Prime Hunters.

Also, using Metroid isn't a terribly good example - Metroid is not a series that meshes well with multiplayer. Metroid Prime 2 had it, but it wasn't terribly good, and Retro dumped it in MP3 to focus purely on single-player. Metroid Prime Hunters had a great online multiplayer component, but its single-player suffered terribly as a result.

[Xenos]

Metroid Prime Hunters.

Also, using Metroid isn't a terribly good example - Metroid is not a series that meshes well with multiplayer. Metroid Prime 2 had it, but it wasn't terribly good, and Retro dumped it in MP3 to focus purely on single-player. Metroid Prime Hunters had a great online multiplayer component, but its single-player suffered terribly as a result.

Yeah, maybe I should have used a series I have a lot of experience with instead...

Then again, a lot of Nintendo's IP's don't mesh that well with Multiplayer I guess. The only thing that could really work is Mario, or Kirby. Or they could bring back some of their other franchises that could use Multiplayer well. Like F-Zero.

And personally me and my friends got a lot of enjoyment out of Metroid Prime 2's multiplayer. But we were pretty young so that might be different now.

[Nintendoga]

I just want them to try with Mario online. Doesn't even have to be 4 player online, can even be 2 players.

Hell I'd even be okay if it was like Generations 3DS where you race the other person but can't interact.

Just something.

[Nintendoga]

An Ubisoft Rep already said the Wii-U may launch in November, and so did a few other reps. And now Sega thinks (or knows) so too.

http://blogs.sega.co...ng-transformed/

"“Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo’s Wii U, and Windows PC Digital Download this November.”"

We all know it's probably gonna come in November, but it's still nice to get some more semi-confirmations

Edited July 15, 2012 by Nintendoga

[Dobkeratops]

An Ubisoft Rep already said the Wii-U may come during launch, and so did a few other reps. And now Sega thinks (or knows) so too.

[Conando]

Yeaaah, I think you mean November? I mean, the Wii U would launch with it's own launch (lol), so I think you made a mistake with that post. It's pretty obvious it's coming in November, though.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Crow T. Robot

[LunarEdge]

Honestly, I really wouldn't care either way. Nintendo's devs are some of the only devs in this industry who do local multiplayer right, the huge focus on online these days has left something severely lacking in most multiplayer offerings these days.

Yeah, but if Nintendo were to explore online a bit more, we could have a totally different experience these days opposed to those offerings you say are lacking these days.

For example, a game like LoZ: Four Swords would work great with either online or local, something they should have done a generation ago. MPH may have lacked a good single player experience due to the multiplayer online one, but that can be worked out and tweaked. Another MPH-like game with better connectivity, less lag and a better single player experience isn't that unbelievable for the Wii U/3DS. Hell, maybe even F-Zero would probably sell significantly better if it supported online multiplayer. Kirby, Smash Brothers (better online pwease) and other Nintendo IP's will fair well if not spectacular online.

[Nintendoga]

Wii-U news here and there, blah blah blah.

Iwata has said"Being first is not important at all, Pricing very important

"Being first in the next generation race is not important at all," he told Gamasutra. "One of the reasons we believe this is the time for Nintendo to launch the Wii U is it's going to be important for the world." A big claim indeed.

According to Iwata, pricing will be a much more important factor than any perceived first mover advantage.

"The pricing of Wii U is going to be one of the most important elements when it is going to be launched," he said. "The environment is different. Wii U is going to be launching in a different environment than when the Wii was launched. Also, the involvement surrounding [mobile and social] businesses is different than several years ago."

"When something unique comes up, it's difficult for people to understand it at the beginning," he said. "A lot of misunderstandings and pessimistic observations, like, 'Will a product like this really spread in the market?' prevail and then after some time, after being able to experience it, the atmosphere changes."

In slightly off topic news, but I found it kinda funny,

Nintendo is bored with people saying they should quit the hardware business

“Even when we were going to launch the Wii system, there were a lot of voice saying ‘Nintendo should stop making hardware.’”The reasoning behind that was Nintendo would not have any chance against Microsoft and Sony. The fact of the matter was: I did not think Nintendo should compete against these companies with the same message and same entertainment options for people.”

Nintendo cares more about smiles then other things.

“If you enjoy playing the game then what the specs are under the hood, from our perspective, doesn’t matter a whole lot. We’ve never hung our hat on being the most powerful system. We do like to make the claim that our games put smiles on people’s faces, and they’re really fun and innovative.”

Speaking of which, Iwata also said the Wii-U is going to be important for the world.

Iwata explained that portable touchscreens, such as tablets and smartphones, are common household items that consumers use on a regular basis. Iwata believes that the Wii U GamePad, which will be bundled with the Wii U console, will be an important device for people who use electronic devices at their homes.

Nintendo explains the Wii-U e-shop puchase options. I'm not even gonna bother to quote, it's the exact same way as the PSN/XBL/Steam methods. Credit Cards, Download Codes, or Pre-paid download cards.

1st party Nintendo games may run at 720p during Launch, but 3rd party games will run at 1080p. A shame Pikmin 3 and NSMBU and other Nintendo games won't run at 1080p till probably next year.

In the spoiler, it's just Ubisoft and EA praising the Wii-U. I spoilered it because I don't want to make this post too big.

Ubisoft

“I think Nintendo has very often surprised us, so you never know. I think they’ve created something good, if the customer uses everything they have created, I think we can see a good success with that machine. That type of collaboration can be fun and also challenging at the same time. It’s something has never been done before. … Those guys are taking lots of risks with the games they create — and they’re extremely successful.”

EA

“It’s pretty exciting actually. I’ve been talking to a bunch of the guys about the games that they’re working on here, and about what they want to do with Wii U or with SmartGlass and stuff like that. And if you look at it from a different perspective, I’m not going to tell you exactly what because it’s kind of competitive advantage, I think there were a few kind of ‘wow, that’s a pretty cool way of looking at it’ moments, so that idea of a second screen, I think it has some really, really big positives.”

A Gamestop release sheet says the Wii-U version of Ben 10 Omni-whatever the fuck they're doing now, and Rise of the Guardians will be available November 14th, and priced at $40.

Nintendo hopes to sell 10.5 Million Wii & Wii-U Sales by the end of this fiscal year. Wow, they must really be hoping that New Super Mario Bros. U is gonna be a kickstarter for the Wii-U. If the Wii-U does launch in Novemeber, then that's 4 months. Not quite impossible, but very very ambitious.

Nintendo has learned from expensive prices.

“The handheld console market is shifting and there is no doubt that competition from mobile and tablet games are stealing playtime and consumer wallet share,” he said. “It’s a tough environment and I have no doubt that expensive lessons were learned.

“Nintendo has always turned to changing form factors, both physically and aesthetically, as a strategy to increase both visibility and purchase intent. Nintendo has sold over 150 million Nintendo DS and I doubt that was to 150 million unique consumers.

“Our data shows that well over 20% of Nintendo DS purchases were to multiple users either replacing or upgrading their DS. It’s an excellent strategy and one that can realize incremental revenue from their loyal install base.”

Edited July 27, 2012 by Nintendoga

[Milo]

Considering that it's the New Super Mario Bros. series, I'm pretty sure the Wii U at launch will do fine in sales, considering that New Super Mario Bros. U is a launch title for the console.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Zinos

[Nintendoga]

No news today.(Well there actually is and I'll probably post it later tonight, but it's nothing special or really new so it can wait)

Just some thoughts I've been having lately, and felt like ranting.

Was gonna post this on Gamefaqs but it overwrote the character limit, so I'll just copy-pasta here

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This Game Doesn't Need Online And People Who Think It Does Is Stupid."

I'm so sick of hearing this statement across the internet.

Before I start on NSMBU, let's take a look at the Wii-U.

How does Nintendo describe the Wii-U at E3?

"A Social Interactive Console that connects people all over the world in thier living rooms. It's a new way to bring people together and not have them feel alone when playing by themselves."

Next Day, Pikmin 3 (One of their First Party Games) is announced to not have online. Dissapointing, as Miyamoto says this game was originally created on the Wii, and all that was changed from the Wii to Wii-U change was mainly the controls and a slight graphics update, along with HD obviously. I would have accepted this as an excuse for Pikmin 3 not having online, almost. But then he says this,

"We didn't do online in Pikmin 3 because we didn't want any lag in the game."

Really? Really.

Of course people came to Miyamoto's defense and said "Well the pikmin would've made the multiplayer to confusing, also it doesn't NEED online"

That effin word, "need". What I NEED to know is why do people say this? If we go by this factor, then no game on earth needs online. Halo Reach doesn't NEED online. GTAIV doesn't NEED online. SSBB doesn't NEED online. Hell future games like Halo 4, GTAV, SSB4, Rayman Legends, Persona 4 Arena, and WatchDogs don't NEED online.

But you know what, the developers know this, and they don't care. They incorporated online modes into each of those games, because not only are we in the generation where we're going digital, we're evolving multiplayer games by going online. This has been done since the Dreamcast days, and we're only going higher on up from there.

A game that focuses on Single player experince, that doesn't NEED online, but a game such as Pikmin that has already focused on multiplayer before, that NEEDS online If I say so myself. Sequels are meant to feel like an evolution, and while P3 adds some new singleplayer assets, the multiplayer experince is left um-attoned for. It feels like such a disappointment that most gamers won't be able to experience Pikmin 3 to it's full potential, because on no online.

Some gamers say "Well I have someone to play local with, so I don't care" What about the millions of other gamers who don't have anyone to play this with. Sure I have a brother, sure I have some gamer friends, but they're not into Pikmin. Shall I go to the little neighbor boy that's 4 years old and ask him to play Pikmin 3 with me? Because he's the closest thing I've got to a "Local Pikmin" player, and I'm sure tons of other gamers are in the same situation as me.

Before someone says "Well online RTS games don't work well on a console" Halo Wars. An Xbox 360 game that had great online and tons of more polygons and characters that probably had to be programmed then Pikmin 3 will ever have. And Lag is morstly depended on servers, akin to Brawl, so if Nintendo was serious with this "We're going hardcore, we want hardcore gamers back" shtick they've been saying for the past year, well it's not going to work if you don't fix your servers.

"But they changed Nintendo Wifi to Nintendo Network!" A simple name change with tiny adjustments does not and will not ever put it on the same level on Online-ness (yes I made that word up) as the Playstation Network or Xbox Live. We know how bad their servers are, and a tiny upgrade to a horrible 7 year online program isn't going to make it better, yet they don't realize this for some reason?

"Off topic much Nintendoga?" No just providing a little backstory.

NSMB2 is announced. Local multiplayer is announced. No Online. Now let's jump back to E3 2011, Kid Icarus Uprising is shown, what does it have? Online multiplayer. Mario Kart 7, Online Multiplayer? And I guess StarFox 64 3D can be applied to this topic because yes, even though many people are still denying it, that game needed online, and it didn't bring it because "they wanted to make the graphics look purdy, heh heh". Well what a testament of holyness, graphics really don't make the game Nintendo, and you learned the hard way because StarFox 64 3D Bombed (It's barely making 500K) and many critics and fans agree, it needed online. Command even had online for goodness sakes.

So wait why doesn't NSMB2 have online? Well In last month's Iwata Ask about NSMB2, the game director stated he felt that an evolution from NSMBWii to NSMB2 should be made. So cutting back 2 players is an evolution? Then this month he says "We really wanted to harness the full capabilities of the 3DS". No no, Kid Icarus harnessed the full capabilities of the 3DS. Resident Evil Revelations harness the power of the 3DS. Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater harness the full power of the 3DS. This game does not.

You're honestly telling me that after 6 years and two games the best "evolution" you can make is Local 2P co-op? Multi-cart too instead of Single-cart local? That's just incredibly sad. Just pahethic, and I'm really ashamed to call you the great Nintendo that I know from the 90's. The ones that tried and incorporated new fresh ideas and creativity and originality into each and every sequel. Especially for Mario.

So here we are 4 months before the launch month of the Wii-U (Everyone's almost 90% positive it will launch in Novemeber) and no mention of NSMBU having online. I've given up hope because let's face it, Online multiplayer in a Mario game would indeed be a big huge freaking deal. They could even pass it off as the main "gimmick" of the game. And in some way they are, but just in the wrong way.

So let's say the confirmation comes. The day we Mario U fans are almost expecting to come any day now. The day when we go onto our favorite gaming news site and see the headline "New Super Mario Bros. U confirmed to be Local only". What will the excuse be?

"It doesn't need online"

The Wii-U is trying to change the world, by putting players together, making us all feel as one big community rather then one player in his house. We can see other players talking about what stages they're stuck on, we can give them advice, information, but we cannot, as a person HELP them. We will still feel sepperated as with all our mights we cannot truly help them beat "that World 5 Castle" or "Find the secret exit in World 3-B". Because of this it feels like a paradox, online focus is the system's main gimmick, yet their first party games don't have online? Even worse is that both 1st party launch titles will only run at 720p, while every other 3rd party game, not just talking about ports, I'm talking about Zombi-U and Rayman Legends, will have 1080p.

Nintendo, you're not serious. Not at all. You say you are, you try to convince me and as a huge fan of your gaming company I really try to listen, I really try to defend you and I enforce all of my hope into you. But for you to almost lie in my face, or bring out one disappointment after the next, it shows me that you're not even ready yet. You're not ready for a new console, to take that leap into the next gen and evolve.

Many people say Nintendo doesn't have to evolve and staying where they are at is just fine. I think not only is it because they're scared, but they just won't try. Sony and Microsoft tried, they're doing fine now, they made mistakes and learned from them. Nintendo you're not perfect, and when you someday do try to evolve, you probably won't get it right. But that's OK, you must try try again. Learning from your past mistakes was what made you such an amazing company in the first place, but it's like you're totally different now,

Just like Rare means nothing to me now, I'm starting to think that the word Nintendo is just a different name now as well.

I'm not mad, nor angry, but despondent, I want them to try. They need to become dissident and challenge the gaming industry, challenge it and try to come out on top.

But of course my rant was probably for nothing, Nintendo will most likely stay the same route, always to try to go back to "retro" gaming, and it will always sell, again , again, and

again.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Nintendoga

[speedfreak]

IDK, the 3DS still isn't a beast except for in Japan and it seems like interest in the WiiU is pretty low overall. They've had two disappointing E3s in a row now and I think they're really going to have to step it up or else the WiiU will find itself in the same situation the 3DS was in when it first launched. I cant speak for everyone, but I'm a fairly huge Nintendo fan and I'm really not very excited for the WiiU. I really hope they have an upcoming Nintendo Direct soon that blows me away because as of right now the WiiU doesn't really excite me on either a hardware or software basis. Sure Mario and a few other games look cool but nothing that makes me want to run out and get the system ASAP.

As far as adding online goes, all I can say are Nintendo are WAY too stubborn for their own good.

[Ekaje]

The sad thing is, when you look at the list, the Wii U won't be in the same situation the 3DS had in its first few months. We won't be waiting forever for the first big game to come out, it's actually going to have a pretty decent launch and first two months. They just did a terrible job at presenting this at E3, doing shit like spending loads of time on one Nintendoland game, and completely ignoring things like P-100, which has left everyone with a much more negative opinion on the system than they should.

With online, that's another problem. The biggest being we have no idea how it will work. The only thing they've told us is the message board thing that will either be kind of neat or completely useless. We have no idea if the WiiU's online has a chance of being decent, or if it will just be Nintendo being bad at the internet yet again.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Ekaje

[Nintendoga]

Agreed.

Here's some stuff that's going on, kinda a slow week for Wii-U (surprise)

You can start to pre-order the Wii-U in September at Gamestop!?

http://nintendoevery...k-of-september/

According to a GameStop manager, consumers will be able to pre-order Nintendo’s upcoming console from GameStop stores by the first week of September. Nintendo said they would announce the price and release sometime this fall, with evidence pointing towards September, but maybe they pushed it forward to Late August? I still bet it's $300.

Wii-U Secracy Frustrates Developers

http://mynintendonew...tes-developers/

Do you wish Nintendo would just come out and say?

Haydn Dalton: “Oh, of course. Yeah. It’s awkward because when people ask questions about [Wii U] we’ve got to skirt around the answer. We obviously want them to come out with it because then we can just talk openly about the game. I’d rather just be open with people than spinning the answer back at somebody. As soon as they just come out and everything’s revealed it would take a little bit of weight off us as developers so we can be a little bit more open about the product.”

I don't always agree with Patcher (He only makes sense normally 2/10 times out of the assumptions he makes, but I gotta agree with him here about being frustrated.

“People love to beat me up for bashing Nintendo, but they bring this on themselves. They [Nintendo] give no information, and want us all to proclaim that their consoles will sell record numbers.”

The sad thing is, when you look at the list, the Wii U will actually have a pretty decent library at launch and in December. They just did a terrible job at presenting it at E3, doing shit like spending loads of time on one Nintendoland game, and completely ignoring things like P-100.

And you know what? When you compare to other consoles in the past, and ignore that 1/3rd of the games will be available on other systems by then, The Wii-U has a pretty damn good launch line-up for a system since hell, the 6th generation. It's really a shame devs can't talk more about Wii-U features or about the games coming out near launch.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Nintendoga

[Xenos]

Speaking of which, do we even know anything significant about Nintendo Network?

I haven't really been following all the info about the U so far.

[Conando]

No, we just know from the 3DS that is finally means patching and DLC.

[Tails spin]

No news today.(Well there actually is and I'll probably post it later tonight, but it's nothing special or really new so it can wait)

Just some thoughts I've been having lately, and felt like ranting.

Was gonna post this on Gamefaqs but it overwrote the character limit, so I'll just copy-pasta here

*massive rant*

It is very odd that games like Mario Kart 7 and Mario Tennis Open support online multiplayer but NSMB2 and very possible NSMBU don't. Maybe since Nintendo also tries to cater to kids they don't bother making the main series titles online since they might not be able to do it. I know its probably a stupid excuse but that's what came to mind when I read your post.

[LunarEdge]

"This Game Doesn't Need Online And People Who Think It Does Is Stupid."

Agreed 100% If I could like that post more than once I would. I've been saying this since the launch of the Wii and the potential Nintendo had before we all knew what the Wii turned into.

Nintendo has so many opportunities and potential and they are wasting it by shying away from online.

[VO.SUPER]

Day by day, I am growing more and more frustrated with Nintendo. What happened to the company of innovations, and experiments? One of the earlier companies to experiment with online (even if it was very rough form).

[Xenos]

Well considering we know fuck all about Nintendo Network there is still a chance that future games might have proper Online.

Although with Pikmin 3, and NSMBU, I don't really understand why they shouldn't have Online. NSMBU definitely should. It has 4 player again, right? Wouldn't it be great to play with people experienced with the games instead of having to teach my cousins to play? And even then half the time they drag me outside instead.

Nintendo games would have a lot more fun potential with Multi-Player if Nintendo would actually just try it out.

[LunarEdge]

It's really the lack of online support from popular Nintendo titles that is keeping me from being excited for the Wii U to be truly honest. That and I jumped on the Wii blindly due to its "innovative" control scheme when it turned out to be nothing special at all.

Even if NSMBU and other launch titles don't support online, hopefully Ninty will get the hint and include it in future titles. Series such as F-Zero and even Star Fox will strive immensely if a decent online component was included

[Conando]

I'm still iffy on Star Fox because, only Assault had good multiplayer (though I can see why people would want it) but, F-Zero NEEDS online if it were to ever have another title.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Crow T. Robot

[Marcello]

I don't really need online, as I most likely won't play it, but Nintendo really needs to get their heads of their asses an do it right. They talk about how online is important on the Wii U, yet the refuse to put it into their games. I don't get them

[Carbo]

While I do agree Nintendo needs to put more focus on the online, I'm happy NSMBU doesn't have it since it's shitty co-op will systematically allow griefers to run rampant and fuck all that bullshit design and difficulty without me being able to spit my co-players in the face.

It's one of the few games I seriously think online would be absolutely fucking terrible in. The game is already too needlessly complicated in design and four players is a nightmare as is. It's not as intricate as in Rayman Origins where it can be played for laughs without punishment, hence why I hope the original Legends trailer holds true on the promise of online where 4-player platforming co-op would actually be awesome.

If Nintendo actually tries to switch up and evolve the 2D Mario formula to something better and actually "New", then I'll be happy to talk about online for that particular series.

[LunarEdge]

While I do agree Nintendo needs to put more focus on the online, I'm happy NSMBU doesn't have it since it's shitty co-op will systematically allow griefers to run rampant and fuck all that bullshit design and difficulty without me being able to spit my co-players in the face.

It's one of the few games I seriously think online would be absolutely fucking terrible in. The game is already too needlessly complicated in design and four players is a nightmare as is. It's not as intricate as in Rayman Origins where it can be played for laughs without punishment, hence why I hope the original Legends trailer holds true on the promise of online where 4-player platforming co-op would actually be awesome.

If Nintendo actually tries to switch up and evolve the 2D Mario formula to something better and actually "New", then I'll be happy to talk about online for that particular series.

I would imagine playing a game like NSMB online would be beneficial to play with friends opposed to randoms for the reasons you made.

[Nintendoga]

A Gamestop manager accidentally spilled the beans and revealed the wii-U Launch Line-up. Holiday means it's a Launch title, while Launch Window means from a few weeks to a few months after Launch.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Nintendoga