Wii U

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I would be excited except it doesn't mean they'll be out any time soon. they've mentioned new zelda in a direct by simply saying they are in the planning stages and it won't be seen for years without so much as a piece of concept art. not to mention thy seem very happy to keep repeating themselves with the information they give out in Directs rather than sticking to new information.

[Mr. GOH!]

Nintendo knows it had better release some system-sellers pronto. If Nintendo is serious about making the Wii U a viable platform for third-party developers (and it MUST be viable for third-party developers in the next few fiscal quarters, or it will die), these games should be announced for Christmas 2013.

 

That said, I'm not sure which of the games is the best for selling systems. Probably Mario 3D, but having three Nintendo games drop in a short period of time will hopefully (for Nintendo) boost the Wii U install base.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, if I had to guess it would be either 3D Mario or Mario Kart, but definitely the three of them combined would make for a hefty incentive.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I know a lot of people said they won't buy a Wii U until there is a 3D mario out but they're probably the kind of people who won't actually buy it anyway and are lost to nintendo now. Mario Kart Wii sold more than twice as many copies as Galaxy 1 and 2 combined. If they can advertise the hell out of a new mario kart and show a compelling reason why it's better than the Wii one then I think that will be most likely to sell most systems.

[TheMightyEthan]

Mario Kart Wii sold more than twice as many copies as Galaxy 1 and 2 combined.

 

Well that kind of statistic is definitely hard to argue with.

[Mr. GOH!]

Just because a game sold a shitload does not mean people will pay $350-$400 on it and a new system on which to play it. Especially if they already have and enjoy Mario Kart Wii.

 

Think of it this way; nobody, really, buys any platform to play Angry Birds, and I'm sure it's outsold Mario Kart.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Angry Birds is available on every platform.

 

Mario Kart isn't.

 

Madden or something would be a better example.

[TCP]

I think you also need to look at the audiences. Mario Kart is a good party game, so all the people who picked up the Wii for exactly that reason had good incentive to buy Mario Kart Wii. The 3D Mario games on the other hand, are probably more enticing to the hardcore gamer who at this point are the only people who own the system or are even aware of it. Releasing both this holiday season would be a smart move, as you might remember, the price drop alone didn't save the 3DS, it was releasing a fantastic 3D Mario game along with Mario Kart at holiday season. If Nintendo can ship both in 2013, with the promise of Smash Bros and Zelda in the horizon  I could see them moving a few more systems.. maybe. Either way it's going to be tough with PS4/720 hype this Christmas... this system really should have come out a few years ago.

[FMW]

Okay, here's a question:  Does the Wii U need to be a viable platform for western third parties?  Because Nintendo is working overtime to secure third party ports, exclusives, HD remakes... from Japanese development studios.  That's the path forward I see - at this point I don't think the Wii U will become a viable platform for the graphical heft and online intensive designs of the next generation of software from the biggest budget western studios.  But Japanese games, by and large, haven't pushed online design or fancy graphics the same way.  They also don't do shooters so much.  So I can see the Wii U being a successful system for the traditional Japanese game designs.

 

The list of studios and IP Nintendo has secured in some form is larger than it seems.  Yakuza and Sonic from SEGA.  SMT from Atlus.  Dragon Quest from Square Enix (and also Deus Ex from Square Enix which is really poorly conceived).  Tekken and Dynasty Warriors from NamcoBandai (and presumably more after Smash Bros).  Resident Evil from Capcom.  Platinum Games' two games.  They've got Silicon Software optimizing their engine for the hardware (Silicon's engine is used by From Software and Square Enix).  Monster Hunter from Capcom.

 

These don't seem like the games to turn a system's fate, and they aren't!  Not outside Japan at least.  But in Japan this is quite the murderer's row of IP and talent.  So the path they seem to be following is to double down on partnerships and exclusives with Japanese developers and try to become THE machine in Japan.  And then you take those games and expand out from there.

 

Can this work?  Could the Wii U find a place in the market as a Japanese games box?  Without call of duty it'll never be the top console, but is this niche large enough to keep it afloat do you think?  I mean, assuming they can even execute on this which is not a certain thing.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

That's an interesting read FMW. I think the games market is too big now to just concentrate on one region and succeed though.  Hopefully mass appeal in Japan plus enthusiast support in the west is enough for them to carry on in the hardware business. Also, with the main draw in Japan being handhelds I don't know if this is the best plan of attack. Unless they are worried about the drain to smartphones and are hoping they get people back to home gaming. Maybe the threat of smartphones is overstated - at least in the short term.

 

 

...unrelated...

 

The posts by 100 year old gamer (the OP) whether they are true or not make for interesting reading.

 

Link

[Mr. GOH!]

I wonder two things: whether the Japanese home console market is still there in the face of the alleged massive shift to handhelds; and that Nintendo can compete with the PS4 in Japan.

 

I think it's more likely that Nintendo thinks the Wii U can't succeed anywhere if it can't succeed in Japan. I also think success in the Japanese market alone in the next year or two will not be enough to support the Wii U.

[Thursday Next]

Depends on your definition of success I guess. The console+software business is probably going to end up profitable. So it's a success in that they will make money. But, it won't be as profitable as the Wii was and with a smaller market share it will have much lower revenue to make that profit on.

 

So the success will be vastly reduced from the Wii highs. Nintendo being publicly traded, this is bad news as "massively reduced profit" is almost as bad as a loss. Especially if it looks like the start of a trend.

 

Personally, while I haven't grown out of gaming, I have grown out of 3D Mario, Mario Kart and Zelda (which I came to realise is the same game over and over to an almost CoD level), so the announcements from Nintendo do nothing for me. I wouldn't bother taking a WiiU if they were giving them away.

[FMW]

It's maybe worth throwing in for comparison that the 3DS is also at this point a Japanese games box.  And the list of development IP and talent working on that hardware is far more imposing than for the Wii U.  And the 3DS is, I understand, doing pretty okay!  I mean, it's always gonna look good next to the Vita, but even beyond beating the competition it's selling quite well.  They're expecting to move 15-16 million units this year.

 

So the 3DS is almost a test case arguing that Japanese software can indeed carry a relatively successful console.

[TheMightyEthan]

The question remains: how important is the fact that it's portable to its success?  Obviously it's not enough by itself to be portable, but can a home console truly succeed in Japan anymore?

[Mr. GOH!]

Most 3DS handhelds were sold outside of Japan. Not sure about how much revenue from 3DS game sales and license agreements comes from within Japan versus without. Also consider that a Japanese-centric system may mean more Japanese games of quality that will not be translated because the non-Japanese market for a particular Japanese game is too small.

[FMW]

I don't follow.  I mean, I'm sure you're right, but I don't understand.  It seems to me that if this hypothetical of mine plays out and one or two game devices become largely Japanese game boxes, then that would encourage more localization on those platforms because whatever audience exists is going to be conveniently concentrated there.  That's happened in the past hasn't it?  The PSP kinda bombed outside Japan, so it's only software support for the second half of it's lifecycle was Japanese stuff.  So the latter day PSP library has a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't expect to find on any other platform.  From JRPGs like Legend of Heroes, to visual novel hybrids like Corpse Party, to straight up date sim visual novels like that super weird one Aksys picked up recently.  Since that's all that was releasing for the system and there wasn't any big western developed competition, those games actually got localized.

 

So I postulate that EA and presumably Activision bailing out on the Wii U, as well as Nintendo as a publisher going out of their way to lock in Japanese third party support, could lead to MORE stuff getting localized than would have otherwise.  I mean, a lot of it will be particularly Japanese stuff that will only have a very limited appeal, but that was the same with the PSP.

[Alex Heat]

I'd say this is pretty conveniently timed.  Right after the Microsoft press conference!

 

Hilarity!

[Thursday Next]

Any port in a storm.

[CorgiShinobi]

I like to think of Iwata tuning in to the Xbox One reveal while simultaneously keeping a live feed of all the feedback. Then, as the press gather all the post-show information, the staff directly under Iwata gather it. He spends time analyzing it all, seeing the frothing rage shooting forth from gamers' mouths.

 

He pushes an intercom button and calmly says, "It is time to strike."

 

The recipient was Reggie Fils-Aime, and he has gathered an elite team. The star agent: a dog.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Atomsk88

[TCP]

Wow, that Nintendo Direct was pitiful. Everything about it. When your only surprise is your best studio is doing a sidescrolling game, you know things aren't good. This would be like Sony getting Naughty Dog or Sony Santa Monica to do a sidescrolling Sly Cooper game.
Even the stream itself!!! The first 20-25 minutes were so laggy they were almost unwatchable. Then, the stream calmed down for me around the time of Wind Waker HD, and part way through the trailer it skips ahead to the Wonderful 101. Then!!! FINALLY, we get to Smash Bros, and right when Megaman appears, it skips ahead again to the end of the broadcast. What the hell? Sony and Microsoft were debuting new consoles and likely had WAY more viewers (they also weren't broadcasting at a stupidly early hour) and their streams didn't stutter for me once.. and they were doing it live, in a theatre, infront of an audience. Pre-recording your press conference is suppose to eliminate technical errors.

At the end of the day, the majority of these games aren't coming out till 2014, none of them were a surprise, and none of them would make me, if I didn't buy one at launch (I'm a sucker), want to buy a Wii U.

[TCP]

Also Nintendo's fucking crazy if they think selling the Wii U for 349 against a 399 PS4 is a good idea. FUCKING CRAZY!!!

[Strangelove]

Yeah, they played it incredibly safe. Im not sure what theyre thinking anymore. 

[deanb]

Maybe the $399 wasn't expected, so they didn't have any price reductions announced. Likely something comes Gamescom.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Yeah, they played it incredibly safe. Im not sure what theyre thinking anymore. 

 

 

Playing it safe would be Zelda, proper new-ideas 3D mario, starfox game etc.

 

I... don't know what this was other than absolutely depressing feeling of deja vu from all the other exact same directs they've done for the last year. Even the 2 new games (3D mario and Donkey Kong ffs) do not look or feel new at all.

[Strangelove]

There HAS to be a price cut, right? Now that the PS4 is $400 and theyre $350, they cant expect better sales. Theyre fucking up if they dont drop the price soon. Like, real soon. Not during the holidays or anything like that, but now.