Wii U Just Needs to Sell One Title to Be Profitable

[alidan]

[citation][nom]Wolley74[/nom]Its not a bad system, but they need to get some of their titles on it, like Legend of Zelda and maybe Pikmin 3, get those out there and you're going to be selling a ton more[/citation]

they 100% sold out, and by the time they get volumes of the console out, the launch window will be over and they will have all of their games out there

[citation][nom]A Bad Day[/nom]If I do recall, the Wii's sale dropped off partially due to an overload of shovelware for the console.[/citation]

no, it was total market saturation. everyone who wanted one had one.

[citation][nom]SneakySnake[/nom]Nintendo has never been about specs. The new WiiU though has decent one's (as far as Nintendo's standards go). It handily beats the 360 and PS3 in the spec department, and will be capable of 1080p gaming just fine. As it has been shown time and time again, Nintendo's games are about the gameplay and experience, not the technical stuff.Why else is it that Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart for N64 (whether it be through emulators or a legit n64) are often the most played video games on my floor in university. They're just so bloody fun[/citation]

you know that up till the wii, nintendo was among if not the best graphics in the console realm that was a relevant console (im excludeing things like the neo geo) their hand held, that is the only place they suffer, and if you had a gameboy and a gamegear, you appreciate not having to use 6 batteries that die in 2 hours in a time when rechargeable batteries are either non existent, or seriously expensive.

[citation][nom]kinggraves[/nom]LoZ and Metroid are their mid cycle hitters. I wouldn't expect them until next year or even two when sales start to suffer. When they do hit though, the possibilities are fantastic. No more constantly pulling up the menu to switch items for the next puzzle. At least this time they put out a Mario game from the start and some other interesting titles. Hopefully some of the 3rd party titles will sell as well so it encourages more 3rd party devs to return.What I'd like to see more than anything though isn't any of these, but rather a new Earthbound/Mother title. Still quite curious as to how Konami and Squenix see the new console.[/citation]

id rather see all 3 of them get localized wait, are there 3 of 4... one minute while i wiki this... ok, i believe that there was an earthbound (mother) for the nes, was localized, and never released, we got earthbound (mother 2) and than a mother 3 was made which again, never came over. its one of the few games that has a creator sign off on the emulation community for translation and release, as they know there is no way in hell its ever getting released in english.

[citation][nom]bison88[/nom]I'm still at a loss at how Nintendo can sell the Wii-U for $299 with hardware that barely compares to the 360/PS3 and do so at a loss. Something just does not compute here. What are you doing so very wrong Nintendo?[/citation]

how much does a base controller cost for the 360 or the ps3... 10-20$ at most in parts and labor
what does the wiiu tablet come in at... 75-125$

keep in mind that the games comeing out now are the first wave of games, look at the first wave for the 360 and ps3... and look where they are now.

in 2-4 years the wiiu will look absolutely stunning for the hardware it has, what i want to see is if game play with the next 360 and ps4 changes, or if it will just be a graphical overhaul... because if its just that, i could see the wiiu still being relevant with the next gen hardware.

 

[tipoo]

[citation][nom]alidan[/nom] in 2-4 years the wiiu will look absolutely stunning for the hardware it has, what i want to see is if game play with the next 360 and ps4 changes, or if it will just be a graphical overhaul... because if its just that, i could see the wiiu still being relevant with the next gen hardware.[/citation]


Yeah, that's my thought as well. The GPU isn't going to be as different from the Nextbox/PS4 as the Wii was to the current consoles, but the CPU may already be a bit behind the current. So I wonder if that tradeoff will be worth it. It will be able to handle pretty shaders and effects, but not things that are more CPU intensive and can't be offloaded to GPGPU functions. So, for instance, some developers already complained about the CPU limiting number of enemies on screen. It may *LOOK* similar to the next gen consoles, but maybe some gameplay concessions will have to be made.

 

[fuzzion]

Saving money/time for xbox 720. Sorry Nintendo, but im not 7 years old anymore although donkey kong rocked on my snes !

 

[DRosencraft]

Nintendo's sale philosophy has always been quality of the end experience, not necessarily with the upfront specs. Their systems aren't usually the most powerful, and don't usually have the greatest hardware. But they excel at being unique and putting out something that will get people excited. The games are all about fun. As a result, IMO, they tend to experiment a lot and get a lot of misses.

The Wii had an amazing potential, but it drowned in mediocre, boring, terrible games. The motion controls that were meant to be a new way of gaming became more of a gimmic in a lot of games. Late in its life cycle more and more games just didn't use motion control anymore, or very sparingly. Not to mention the very, very, bad release cycle that had multiple fairly long periods of time where no new games were released. Some of the appeal of the WiiU is already lost thanks to the ability to do essentially the same thing with the Vita and a PS3 (although Sony's own problems limits that as well). I've no doubt the WiiU will have fairly big opening numbers for the first 3-6 months, maybe even a year. But they haven't shown the ability to have a steady, meaningful, release cycle of games to really bring back the hardcore gaming base. Virtually everyone has a Wii, but they only dust it off every now and then when something interesting finally comes out. I feel that WiiU will be somewhat lucky if they can achieve that same thing, because I just don't see a whole lot there at the moment.

 

[clonazepam]

When I was in the army, we all drank and killed each other playing Goldeneye. Sometimes we even fought over who was next (alcohol may have been a factor). I thought I was so slick putting proxi-mines on the ceilings...

 

[kinggraves]

[citation][nom]fuzzion[/nom]Saving money/time for xbox 720. Sorry Nintendo, but im not 7 years old anymore although donkey kong rocked on my snes ![/citation]

Sorry, but I'm not 17 years old anymore so I don't care what's "hip". Plenty of my adult gamer friends play Pokemon. Why shouldn't they? It's been around since their childhood and still has old school 2d gameplay. Plenty of kids play CoD, thanks to their ignorant parents who insisted on a maturity rating just to ignore it and expect the stores to enforce it. I like shooting a hooker in the face to steal her car and run over a cop as much as the next guy, but a Mature rating does not equal a mature game.

It isn't Nintendo that typecasts their system as kiddy, it's the consumer. Even video games in general are still looked at as nerd culture. Why do people play games on their phones instead of on a DS/PSP? They don't want to do it in public. Playing on a phone is hip, playing a game boy isn't. Even though the games are of a better quality, they stick with the phones.

The Wii had plenty of mature titles, Dead Space, No More Heroes, CoD, just to name a few. There are titles out now that could rival any RPG from the other systems in plot, but they aren't selling that well because they aren't major franchises. Clearly it's the market that doesn't want these mature games. If you want Nintendo to take mature games more seriously, buy your mature games on Nintendo and maybe check out some of the 3rd party titles that are out. Not all of them are garbage, some are the most creative titles out. They have to be to stand out without a big name backing them. Stop buying games just because they're a sequel to a game you liked years ago. A lot of franchises have turned into trash because they know they can.

 

[jdwii]

naysayers were already predicting the company's doom

Really people? Nintendo isn't going anywhere why do people think such stupid thoughts. Even if the Wii u doesn't sell as good as the PS4 and next xbox it will be cheaper to make most likely. Not only that but the Wii U has some pretty good games all ready really the PS3 and the xbox 360 are holding it back with lousy ports.

 

[jdwii]

[citation][nom]bison88[/nom]I'm still at a loss at how Nintendo can sell the Wii-U for $299 with hardware that barely compares to the 360/PS3 and do so at a loss. Something just does not compute here. What are you doing so very wrong Nintendo?[/citation]

For one things the system does have better graphics then the PS3/Xbox 360 and it has more Ram but as for costs it probably the tablet that adds a dent into the cost.

 

[jdwii]

you know that up till the wii, nintendo was among if not the best graphics in the console realm that was a relevant console (im excludeing things like the neo geo) their hand held, that is the only place they suffer, and if you had a gameboy and a gamegear, you appreciate not having to use 6 batteries that die in 2 hours in a time when rechargeable batteries are either non existent, or seriously expensive.

Did you take a look at their sales during that time? Nintendo wont survive as long as they compete head on with Sony and Microsoft Nintendo saw this and that is why they changed their strategy. As soon as they did this Nintendo out sold both the PS3 and xbox 360 and still has more worldwide sales and guess what? They did this with a system that could probably sale at 100$ and still make a small profit like the gamecube.

 

[xpeh]

[citation][nom]jdwii[/nom]For one things the system does have better graphics then the PS3/Xbox 360 and it has more Ram but as for costs it probably the tablet that adds a dent into the cost.[/citation]

I think the tablet might be one of the main selling points. Nintendo was almost always about innovation and experience rather than specs. I also think that with the shitty manufacturers complaining about the Wii U's "supposedly terrible CPU," there will be less shovelware.

 

[aggroboy]

[citation][nom]tipoo[/nom]What "tech reveal" would there be, any modern GPU is GPGPU capable, obviously in chosing a modern-ish AMD chip it would have GPGPU capabilities. A lot of pro applications still aren't taking advantage of that though, game developers will take the path of least resistance for the most part, I'd be surprised to see more than a handful of studios use it, perhaps even just Nintendos future first party games. But considering that many games already have to run on 720p on it, I don't think the GPU could handle something graphics intensive plus many GPGPU calculations at the same time.[/citation]
Currently the GPU is way beefier than the CPU, and current developers complained about being CPU-limited. Invested developers can offload CPU functions such as physics into the GPU, but that involves porting their functions to a new API first which takes time.

 

[NiPPonD3nZ0]

nintendo is and allways will be a kid's playtoy... not anyting else!
No growup will buy a shitty system like a nintendo!
Nintendo will allways be a kids toy and if its sold so good so far its because there are alot of kids (or big kids) in the world!
nothing else!!!! Real men use a keyboard/mouse... the rest? just wannabe's!

Who cares about console crap in the REAL computer world anyway?

 

[jdwii]

[citation][nom]NiPPonD3nZ0[/nom]nintendo is and allways will be a kid's playtoy... not anyting else! No growup will buy a shitty system like a nintendo! Nintendo will allways be a kids toy and if its sold so good so far its because there are alot of kids (or big kids) in the world!nothing else!!!! Real men use a keyboard/mouse... the rest? just wannabe's!Who cares about console crap in the REAL computer world anyway?[/citation]

Some of those games have something called a good story line unlike most 4 hour games that PS3 and the xbox 360 has. To many want to play violent games all day if you ask me that is the most immature thing to do cant just giggle or laugh with a nice game.

 

[assasin32]

[citation][nom]NiPPonD3nZ0[/nom]nintendo is and allways will be a kid's playtoy... not anyting else! No growup will buy a shitty system like a nintendo! Nintendo will allways be a kids toy and if its sold so good so far its because there are alot of kids (or big kids) in the world!nothing else!!!! Real men use a keyboard/mouse... the rest? just wannabe's!Who cares about console crap in the REAL computer world anyway?[/citation]


Lets just be blunt, consoles have most of the good RPG games. Not all but most, especially when it comes to turn based ones.

They also excel at getting a few friends to come over an and beating the crap out of each other in a fighting game. Not too many fighting games for PC that will let you do the same thing as a console in this regard.

And in terms of casual games and multiplayer games Nintendo will beat a PC quite easily. For example on the Wii bust out Wii Sports, Wii Play, etc while you have friends over I can guarantee you have a good time. Do the same thing with the Wii U with Nintendo Land and same story.

(And BTW I am a PC gamer, and have no interest in buying the Wii U or any of the next gen consoles, but they do have their strong points.)

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]tipoo[/nom]Yeah, that's my thought as well. The GPU isn't going to be as different from the Nextbox/PS4 as the Wii was to the current consoles, but the CPU may already be a bit behind the current. So I wonder if that tradeoff will be worth it. It will be able to handle pretty shaders and effects, but not things that are more CPU intensive and can't be offloaded to GPGPU functions. So, for instance, some developers already complained about the CPU limiting number of enemies on screen. It may *LOOK* similar to the next gen consoles, but maybe some gameplay concessions will have to be made.[/citation]

- this isnt fully directed at you, i went off on a tangent after a bit -

the ps2 had a game with 65000+ enemies on screen at once.

i honestly cant imagine a game where the drawing in point of it is more enemies on screen than X game.
i honestly see that as lazy programming if they are limited by the cpu in that respect.

now keep in mind that on the console, all power is used to try and push graphics harder, what i would like to know is if these developers complaining are really using the cpu the way it was meant to be used.

but when i say gameplay, i'm looking at things that require physics or something that cant be done on current levels of hardware, or if games are really just going to be pumped out that only have prettier graphics.

i have talked infinitely about the possible capabilities on the current wiiu to outclass even the pc as the go to platform for fps games, i wont go into why here, but think about what a second screen and a hardware mount for it on a gun shape controller would do for it.

now if the wiiu does have legs and will get better like we saw the obvious difference between launch titles for the 360 and current titles for the 360, i could see the wiiu being a system even if it has 1/10 the processing power of the next gen consoles (sony and microsoft are being pushed for 3tflop minimum, which if amd is right, will be about 200-250$ with next gen cards) if they only push the graphics, i could see the tablet being a MAJOR draw for if you get it on the wiiu or the 720...

now, lets point this out, NO GAME currently uses the tablet in a way i see as a system selling experience, but i'm still betting that at some point we will get one, and it will make you see exactly what i am talking about.

[citation][nom]kinggraves[/nom]Sorry, but I'm not 17 years old anymore so I don't care what's "hip". Plenty of my adult gamer friends play Pokemon. Why shouldn't they? It's been around since their childhood and still has old school 2d gameplay. Plenty of kids play CoD, thanks to their ignorant parents who insisted on a maturity rating just to ignore it and expect the stores to enforce it. I like shooting a hooker in the face to steal her car and run over a cop as much as the next guy, but a Mature rating does not equal a mature game.It isn't Nintendo that typecasts their system as kiddy, it's the consumer. Even video games in general are still looked at as nerd culture. Why do people play games on their phones instead of on a DS/PSP? They don't want to do it in public. Playing on a phone is hip, playing a game boy isn't. Even though the games are of a better quality, they stick with the phones.The Wii had plenty of mature titles, Dead Space, No More Heroes, CoD, just to name a few. There are titles out now that could rival any RPG from the other systems in plot, but they aren't selling that well because they aren't major franchises. Clearly it's the market that doesn't want these mature games. If you want Nintendo to take mature games more seriously, buy your mature games on Nintendo and maybe check out some of the 3rd party titles that are out. Not all of them are garbage, some are the most creative titles out. They have to be to stand out without a big name backing them. Stop buying games just because they're a sequel to a game you liked years ago. A lot of franchises have turned into trash because they know they can.[/citation]

lets start out and say that the people who instead the rating system were a loud minority. i have heard more parents complain than praise the system that enforces that people be 18 or older to buy a game, because their 16 year old is mature enough to play cod, or halo, but they cant buy it which forces the parent to get the game for them.

also personal maturity is a major factor here too. are you telling me that everyone under 17 shouldn't play something as harmless as halo? i would say that there are some games like GTA that yes, a warning label is needed because of content and mature themes, but because of all the halo like games (would say cod but sense mw2... they have some dark dark moments in them to one up each other) no one pays attention to them anymore, the system is broken when a game like dead rising which i honestly cant put at more than a T in rating, gets the same rating as saints ro the third.

now, i really want to go off on a tangent that nintendo doesn't give two craps about the american audience for games, that they use a shotgun and shoot at the world and hay look, we like it too, but that would go into my understanding of japanese culture and so forth, which is flawed at best.

nintendo wants a piece of the cod and skyrim pie, and to get in on that they need a system with current gen specs, the market is just to big to ignore. and the few games that tried to be big on the wii failed not because they were bad but because the hardcore market left them a long time ago and little throw away titles wont bring us back to that system.

[citation][nom]jdwii[/nom]Really people? Nintendo isn't going anywhere why do people think such stupid thoughts. Even if the Wii u doesn't sell as good as the PS4 and next xbox it will be cheaper to make most likely. Not only that but the Wii U has some pretty good games all ready really the PS3 and the xbox 360 are holding it back with lousy ports.[/citation]

not really, the developers are holding it back by specifically saying they will not use the wii tablet functionality at all and if you want a multi platform game give us a normal controller... its not the other systems its the developers themselves. there is a reason why there is a normal controller for the wiiu.

[citation][nom]jdwii[/nom]Did you take a look at their sales during that time? Nintendo wont survive as long as they compete head on with Sony and Microsoft Nintendo saw this and that is why they changed their strategy. As soon as they did this Nintendo out sold both the PS3 and xbox 360 and still has more worldwide sales and guess what? They did this with a system that could probably sale at 100$ and still make a small profit like the gamecube.[/citation]

yea, i saw the sales, i also know they they did not sell their system at a loss like ps2 and xbox did, and at that time, nintendo had the best looking games across all systems, only possibly one upped by ninja gaiden... there was also a tech demo that floated around around the gamecubes end that showed that that system has some still untapped potential.

keeping in mind that the gamecube didn't sell at a loss, they lost nothing on that system alone, while i believe microsoft took a 1-5 billion total loss to break into the market, and sony took a hell of a loss to make sure that the dvd got a higher adoption rate.

nintendo saw what microsoft and sony were doing with the ps3 and 360, and no they couldn't compete with systems that are taking a 3-400$ loss per console sold, as nintendo is a gaming company only. so they went with a more innovative and fun route... sadly it turned into a waggle fest but the idea was solid.

i probably went a small tangent there

[citation][nom]assasin32[/nom]Lets just be blunt, consoles have most of the good RPG games. Not all but most, especially when it comes to turn based ones.They also excel at getting a few friends to come over an and beating the crap out of each other in a fighting game. Not too many fighting games for PC that will let you do the same thing as a console in this regard.And in terms of casual games and multiplayer games Nintendo will beat a PC quite easily. For example on the Wii bust out Wii Sports, Wii Play, etc while you have friends over I can guarantee you have a good time. Do the same thing with the Wii U with Nintendo Land and same story. (And BTW I am a PC gamer, and have no interest in buying the Wii U or any of the next gen consoles, but they do have their strong points.)[/citation]

not the wiiu specificly, but look at xbox live.
i have yet to hear 1 microphone online for any game i play.
i see people type to talk more than voice chat.
this i just cant understand at all.

the ecosystem on the consoles is stronger because everyone has the same crap, at least on the 360. but thats all i will give the consoles over the pc.

 

[clonazepam]

[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]....i have heard more parents complain than praise the system that enforces that people be 18 or older to buy a game, because their 16 year old is mature enough to play cod, or halo, but they cant buy it which forces the parent to get the game for them. also personal maturity is a major factor here too. are you telling me that everyone under 17 shouldn't play something as harmless as halo?....[/citation]

The most dangerous influence I ever personally witnessed, was my nephew watching Power Rangers. OMG. The little booger would run up to me, kick me in the shin, and ask me if it hurt. The point is, if a minor child does anything at all wrong, the blame should always rest firmly on that child, and the parents/guardians, period. Games are just like in the past when we sat around a campfire, roasting skeevers, and telling ghost stories. Knowledge is dangerous, depending on how you use it, so should we do psychological screening before allowing people to go to college before we hand them a periodic table and a beaker?

Final thoughts - I'd like to see that Chinese made sperm extraction device as an attachment for my pc and future consoles.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]clonazepam[/nom]The most dangerous influence I ever personally witnessed, was my nephew watching Power Rangers. OMG. The little booger would run up to me, kick me in the shin, and ask me if it hurt. The point is, if a minor child does anything at all wrong, the blame should always rest firmly on that child, and the parents/guardians, period. Games are just like in the past when we sat around a campfire, roasting skeevers, and telling ghost stories. Knowledge is dangerous, depending on how you use it, so should we do psychological screening before allowing people to go to college before we hand them a periodic table and a beaker?Final thoughts - I'd like to see that Chinese made sperm extraction device as an attachment for my pc and future consoles.[/citation]

if you cant tell reality from fiction, there is a problem, and maybe you shouldn't play games with funs at that point, but that is young children and people with mental problems, not normal people.

if you are still doing that crap when you are in 7 or 8th grade, you have problems.

but like my example, halo is a game for everyone, but than again, i dint grow up with teletubbies, so i missed the generation of pussification (if that word is sanctionable, can you tell me and just give me a small one, as i have no idea of a better word than that or if there even is a right word, im not trying to break a rull with it, but i really dont know) that happened.