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

[Chooch]

And for the record, I'd be very interested in the Wii U if they did show a new Star Fox.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Chooch

[LunarEdge]

And for the record, I'd be very interested in the Wii U if they did show a new Star Fox.

I'd be interested in the Wii U after a few months (or even a year) after release and it actually has something worthy to add to the table. Such as good online play, no friendcodes and a nice library of games

Edited June 13, 2011 by LunarEdge

[Patticus]

Friend Codes have been ditched according to Ubisoft, replaced by Xbox-style profiles. This indicates that huge improvements in Nintendo's online infrastructure have been implemented, though how much of an improvement it'll prove to be remains to be seen. The library's always a problem early in any new system's life; only time can change that.

[LunarEdge]

Friend Codes have been ditched according to Ubisoft, replaced by Xbox-style profiles. This indicates that huge improvements in Nintendo's online infrastructure have been implemented, though how much of an improvement it'll prove to be remains to be seen. The library's always a problem early in any new system's life; only time can change that.

[Yong]

Friend Codes have been ditched according to Ubisoft, replaced by Xbox-style profiles. This indicates that huge improvements in Nintendo's online infrastructure have been implemented, though how much of an improvement it'll prove to be remains to be seen. The library's always a problem early in any new system's life; only time can change that.

[SuperClassic]

And for the record, I'd be very interested in the Wii U if they did show a new Star Fox.

If they were to release a new Mother, I'm not sure how well it'd work in 3rd person, but I think a Mother 4 on 3DS would work rather well with a top down view, I can't imagine a game that's top down and doesn't have voice acting on the Wiiu, which seems to be a very powerful console, selling very well. Star Fox on the Wiiu would be amazing, I'm just waiting for Pikmin.

[Carbo]

Never mind Pikmin or a Star Fox.

F-Zero, man.

[Sean]

Itoi isn't going to make another Mother game, it's probably a personal choice.

I do want him to make another game though. Not a Mother game, just a game.

[Detective Shadzter]

Nintendo's having a showing of some sorts on Jimmy Fallon on Friday. Hopefully it's Wii U related.

http://kotaku.com/5811440/fallon-kicks-off-gaming-week-tonight-with-modern-warfare-3

[Conando]

Never mind Pikmin or a Star Fox.

F-Zero, man.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Hero Of Fate

[Detective Shadzter]

Wii U to have refined friend codes, third party exclusives talk, and 3DS third party support

June 13, 2011 by RawmeatCowboy Filed Under: Nintendo in general, 3DS, Wii U

The following comments come from Nintendo UK marketing manager Rob Lowe...

Concerning Wii U online...

"I think that in a similar way that we waited until HD technology was almost ubiquitous before we went in there with an HD console, it's similar with the penetration of wi-fi. I think now almost every home has wi-fi or broadband. It's a universal truth that everybody is connected online and that wasn't the case when the Wii came out five years ago. If you look at 3DS and the online of that you'll get an understanding of where we're going with Wii U and we're taking that even further. We can't talk about the details yet as Mr Iwata will announce those slightly later. But with the online of 3DS it's obviously a massive leap on from where we were with DSi and DSi XL. It's smooth, robust, it doesn't drop in and out. The friend code system has also been refined. It still exists but in the same way that you'd need to pair up with friends on PSN or Xbox live. Now it's much closer to that kind of online gaming experience than what it was before. We always try and strike a balance. Because we do have more younger consumers than any other hardware manufacturer or games brand we need to protect them while also making it as accessible as possible for the more active and hardcore consumers to go online. With Wii U I think that we've already hinted that we're looking at getting people in that know and understand online gaming as it's something that perhaps we've struggled with in the past."

On third party support and exclusives...

"It's absolutely fundamental to the success of Wii U to have better third party support than we've had in the past for our previous consoles. I think Mr Iwata totally recognises that. That's why we had a Ubisoft round table session [during E3], that's why John Ricitiello was on stage at our conference. And even at a local level we're doing everything we can to support third parties much more than we have done in the past. It goes all the way through the company, from Nintendo Japan, to Nintendo Europe, to Nintendo UK. It's very different for us to act like that because traditionally we would invest our time and money more into first party. We have a sightly different business model to Microsoft and Sony, who will obviously invest more money or marketing support in third party titles. It's almost the opposite for us but I think we realise now we have to invest in a much bigger way in third party partners because there are certain types of games that we're just not specialists at. If we want to create a console that will appeal across boundaries to all different types of gamers we're going to need their support more than ever before. We're hoping we'll get a lot of exclusives as well because of the unique way the console is made. It is much easier for third parties to move their products across from Xbox 360 and PS3 to Wii U. However, the way that the controller has to make you think and make the developers think will hopefully mean that titles that are ported over will hopefully have individual features that aren't on the other systems."

On Eastern Vs. Western 3DS development...

"I think because we're a Japanese company we automatically have those connections with companies like Konami and Capcom built up over many, many years, so it makes it easier for us to get those franchises off the ground first. But I think with EA in particular we recognise that we've had a very rocky relationship in terms of products and quality of their products on our systems. Sometimes its been great, sometimes they've done bespoke stuff for us and sometimes they've very much focused on the other consoles. I think with this brave new dawn with EA its great for us and it was fantastic to see a few slides [during our E3 conference] with all of their key properties coming out, and I think that will be across both 3DS and Wii U as well."

Link, Link

[Conando]

If the friend codes are just background numbers to let me use whatever tag I want, then fine by me. If not, goddamnit. They need to make sure the friends list actually fucking does something, unlike 3DS'.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Hero Of Fate

[Detective Shadzter]

Actually, now I've reread it, I think he's actually referring to the 3DS' friend code system and not the Wii U.

[Patticus]

Friend Codes' continued use instead of Usernames would be akin to using IP addresses to access specific websites after the introduction of domain name resolution; which masks the complicated numbering of IP addresses behind easier to remember names. Why can't they simply mask the friend codes behind easier to remember usernames?

[Spooky Mulder]

Maybe I'm misreading it, but I don't think he's saying they've refined friend codes for Wii U, I think he's talking about the refined friend codes they're already using for 3DS.

We already know Wii U won't use friend codes.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Shadzter

Edited June 13, 2011 by BD3

[Chooch]

Here's to hoping that they really don't do Friend Codes again.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Chooch

[Conando]

Oh well then, that's fine. Carry on, then.

[Patticus]

Maybe I'm misreading it, but I don't think he's saying they've refined friend codes for Wii U, I think he's talking about the refined friend codes they're already using for 3DS.

We already know Wii U won't use friend codes.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Shadzter

Yup, in no way does that refer to the WiiU's system. Poor GoNintendo journalism. *Facepalm*

[Carbo]

YES.

PLEASE.

MAKE IT HAPPEN SUDA.

[Detective Shadzter]

No DVD playback for Wii U

http://www.videogamer.com/news/no_dvd_playback_for_wii_u.html

Wii U will 'melt away' third-party hurdles

http://www.videogamer.com/news/wii_u_will_melt_away_third-party_hurdles.html

Iwata on Wii U controller range

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/27849/iwata-on-wii-u-controller-range/

Wii U controller 'doesn't have a name yet' - Nintendo

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/27853/news/wii-u-controller-doesnt-have-a-name-yet-nintendo/

Metroid Wii U: Nintendo 'sure' it will happen

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/27887/metroid-wii-u-nintendo-sure-it-will-happen/

Call Of Duty publisher excited about Wii U

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/27895/call-of-duty-publisher-excited-about-wii-u/

Iwata: We may look at games that use two Wii U controllers

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/27897/iwata-we-may-look-at-games-that-require-two-wii-u-controllers/

[Your Vest Friend]

No DVD playback for Wii U

http://www.videogamer.com/news/no_dvd_playback_for_wii_u.html

STILL?! How long have DVDs been mainstream, 10 years now? It's stupid that there still isn't any support for them from Nintendo.

[Candescence]

STILL?! How long have DVDs been mainstream, 10 years now? It's stupid that there still isn't any support for them from Nintendo.

Stupid? Including DVD playback functionality is COMPLETELY POINTLESS. Everyone and their dog has a DVD player in some shape or form, for pete's sake, I cannot fathom how a game console not having DVD playback is actually an issue in this day and age. I don't buy my game consoles for playing movies, and if I ever bother to get a PS3, it won't be for the Blu-Ray, either (my laptop already does that shit).

Edited June 15, 2011 by Masaru Daimon

[Detective Shadzter]

Iwata outlines Wii U online direction

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-15-iwata-outlines-wii-u-online-direction

Nintendo hopes you'll wait for Wii U

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-15-nintendo-hopes-youll-wait-for-wii-u

[Candescence]

So Nintendo's online system won't be like Live or PSN in the way of a singular, "fixed" system, Nintendo will allow third parties to do whatever the hell they want, as far as online infrastructure goes, probably all of it tied together via a "Wii U Gamertag" system. Valve is gonna love this.

Edited June 15, 2011 by Masaru Daimon

[Detective Shadzter]

So Nintendo's online system won't be like Live or PSN in the way of a singular, "fixed" system, Nintendo will allow third parties to do whatever the hell they want, as far as online infrastructure goes, probably all of it tied together via a "Wii U Gamertag" system. Valve is gonna love this.

It'll certainly be interesting to see what each third party does with the online system without restrictions in place. Maybe the third parties could even come up with something to keep the kids out of 18/M rated online games