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

[G-Force]

You never know, some people might buy the deluxe bundle specifically because it comes with a game. I mean, think about it. To the average consumer, you're basically paying an extra 50 bucks for a game, and getting a bunch of other extra stuff pretty much for free. That kinda sounds like a bargain.

[Tails spin]

You never know, some people might buy the deluxe bundle specifically because it comes with a game. I mean, think about it. To the average consumer, you're basically paying an extra 50 bucks for a game, and getting a bunch of other extra stuff pretty much for free. That kinda sounds like a bargain.

the average consumer is cheap, they want something that has everything they want at a cheap price. I work selling point and shoot cameras. The customers come in tell me what they want, I show them the product, they see the price tag and imediately ask for a cheaper product and that they well be willing to drop a feature in order to get a lower price.

[Autosaver]

You never know, some people might buy the deluxe bundle specifically because it comes with a game. I mean, think about it. To the average consumer, you're basically paying an extra 50 bucks for a game, and getting a bunch of other extra stuff pretty much for free. That kinda sounds like a bargain.

Keep in mind that you're also saving $10 on the game while getting a huge memory expansion.

But yeah, I do understand the hardcore comment. Just look here, not many want to play a minigame expansion because they have no friends it isn't really something they would go back to and may just play it a couple times. The HDD/SD Expansion also may appeal to hardcore gamers since I know many like to replace/add onto small memory units when they first get it. Why settle for a 200GB 360 when you have a 1TB Harddrive in the back?

Edited September 19, 2012 by Autosaver

[Thrippa]

I don't know what Bill Trinnen actually said,but that's not quite the official line - although it certainly ends up sounding that way:

The logic behind offering two Wii U sets, for instance — the Basic and Deluxe — is to give consumers as much flexibility as possible when they decide to enter the Wii U experience. Offering the Basic set gives them a lower cost of entry and really the flexibility to choose any game they want. Nintendo Land is a great game that we think really showcases the Wii U’s uniqueness, but there are some people that may really want ZombieU on day one, and some people who’ll want Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Cindy Gordon, Nintendo’s V.P. of Corporate Affairs

I thought when I read it that that was a strange choice of game alternatives, since the people I believe most likely to want those are also the people I see saying the 8Gb (and even the 32Gb) memory is ridiculous. (Plus in Japan and Europe they HAVE a ZombiU set as an alternative to Nintendoland, although it also includes a Pro controller.) I think the real reason is they have the basic set out to appease the folks who think $350 is too much, but they don't plan on really selling a lot of them. For another $50 you get a game ($60) and the charging cradle and stand for the Gamepad ($20), plus the Wii U stand which I haven't seen separately yet. Plus the e-shop point reward thing. So $80 of stuff + free stuff (including extra memory) if you pay just another $50, but they can say they didn't go over $300 to start at launch.

I really think Nintendoland should have packed in to all of them; WiiSports may have been a genuine (independent) top seller in Japan, But I really don't think it would have been here if anyone had been able to buy the system without it.

[Detective Shadzter]

Something’s Not Right Between Nintendo And Amazon, But Neither Side Is Talking

http://kotaku.com/59...side-is-talking

Doesn't appear to be affecting Amazon in other countries outside of the US, though.

EDIT:

Oh, it's been like this for roughly a year with Amazon.com? Weird...

[Conando]

Yeah, it's been brought up before on here. I remember discussing it in the 3DS Topic, when talking about XL pre-orders. I don't really know what's up, the whole issue with the first shipment 3DS systems must have pissed some people off in either, or both sides of the relationship. I would have honestly preferred to pre-order my Wii U off of Amazon but, what are you gonna do? At least I can get the games for 3.99 or Free shipping.

[Carbo]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=492825

なお、Wii Uにはプレイできる地域が制限されるリージョンロック機能が搭載されており、その地域で販売されたソフト以外はプレイできない。

"What can be played on the Wii U is restricted by a region-lock feature; software not sold in the same region cannot be played."

Not unexpected but shitty all the same.

[VO.SUPER]

I give it less than a month before that is cracked.

[Blue Blood]

Was just coming here to post that, lol. It really sucks, but after Nintendo decided to enforce it with the 3DS I can't say I'm surprised. I just wish that it didn't apply to titles that were only released in certain regions at least.

[Autosaver]

What is the idea over region locking anyways? Seems like a waste of time and money to program extra code.

[Solkia]

Waste of OUR money.

Which is the idea. Want Japanese games? Buy a Japanese console.

Or get a modchip and tell Nintendo to shove it, like I'm going to.

[Chooch]

What is the idea over region locking anyways? Seems like a waste of time and money to program extra code.

Likely the same reason Persona 4: Arena was region locked. The Japanese yen is stronger than the US dollar so Japanese would import the US version of the game at a much cheaper cost making the sales of the game suffer in that region.

You also have to think about English speaking gamers in the PAL region importing games from the US. They don't want to wait.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Chooch

[Thigolf]

Another example: The Wii U (Premium) costs 350 € (in germany, at least). In $, that would be over 450 bucks.

And that's why they region lock things. To rip us off.

[Conando]

I remember region locking being explained before. Something like the businesses of the region whine about losing sales to the cheaper American prices. When, you know, they could remedy that by making things not cost nearly 200 dollars more in European countries.

[Solkia]

Likely the same reason Persona 4: Arena was region locked. The Japanese yen is stronger than the US dollar so Japanese would import the US version of the game at a much cheaper cost making the sales of the game suffer in that region.

You also have to think about English speaking gamers in the PAL region importing games from the US. They don't want to wait.

Then lower the price.

I wouldn't have a problem with region locks if a lot of the titles I wanted to play made it outside Japan

[Carbo]

Then lower the price.

I wouldn't have a problem with region locks if a lot of the titles I wanted to play made it outside Japan

You act as if this is something developers can just do on a whim.

Despite the fact that I'm actively against region locking, the above "solution" is a lot easier said than done and an issue that you can't single out Nintendo for. This above issue has far less to do with mere game developer practices and more with how the industry is shaped and how countries handle pricing with their selective currency, development costs, just how much products are taxed in individual countries etc.

This doesn't just happen because developers choose to. Prices on products like these are almost always inflated depending on select countries. The fact that the dollar is currently insanely cheap nowadays is not helping this issue. Complaints like these need to be directed towards the industry and the government, but I doubt "video games" is exactly a valid reason to put a lid on these things.

[Solkia]

I realize it's not that simple, it just frustrates me to no end.

[Autosaver]

Neogaf is believing it. The Card can support modern features and it is 4x more powerful than the ones used in the 360.

[Tornado]

So a 4750 with twice the VRAM. That's a pretty good compromise for cost/power, I'd say. That was a real popular budget card when it came out, too.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Tornado

[Toby]

Completely paid off my console today, as well as NSMBU, ZombiU, and Sonic Allstars Racing Transformed. Apparently, I was the first one to preorder at my Gamestop, so that's pretty awesome knowing I was guaranteed a system. =)

[Solkia]

Isn't a 6760 a last-gen GPU? Radeon just released their 7k series this year :I

I'd think that'd put off a lot of heat.

Edited September 25, 2012 by 2-Dollar Solkia

[Tornado]

Isn't a 6760 a last-gen GPU? Radeon just released their 7k series :I

Ever since the RV700 series ("HD4xx0") debuted 3 years ago, ATi has been operating on a "wait 6 months, then rename, lower power consumption and lower prices" development strategy for their midrange cards.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Tornado

[Autosaver]

Isn't a 6760 a last-gen GPU? Radeon just released their 7k series this year :I

I'd think that'd put off a lot of heat.

Notice the e before the numbers? It is going to be an efficient edition of the card and much smaller too. It will give off a fraction of the heat while using low power. The Wii U doesn't need to have a RROD.

It will still pack a punch even thought it is smaller.

[Wraith]

So basically what I'm getting from this is that the Wii U is not the underpowered piece of shit everyone was SAYING it would be, correct?

[Tornado]

It basically uses a slightly pared back (for reliability reasons, I'm guessing, rather than power concerns) version of a midrange card design that ATi has been continuously tinkering and improving with since it debuted in mid-2009. It's probably the Mobility Radeon 6750 directly repurposed (and renamed) for its use here. It's not the latest and greatest of things like the card in the 360 was when it came out, and there are some things developers are going to have to program around as it gets on in years, but it's perfectly capable of playing PS360 ports at native 1080p with all goodies turned on.

Now we just have to see whether developers take advantage of it.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Tornado