Nintendo Wii-U

[Kabukiman]

Its all about games...if 3rd party devolpers dont jump on board this thing wont go anywhere.

They have the 3rd party support. Batman, Ninja Gaiden, EA Sports, Tekken, Battlefield 3, the list goes on...

The question is will the 3rd party developers remain after Microsoft and Sony release their fancy new consoles which will probably blow the plastic off the Wii spec-wise.

Once that happens, 3rd party developers will settle back into releasing low spec ports with waggle, just as they have been with the Wii.

 

[darthviper107]

The more important question is whether or not Nintendo can get some exclusive third-party games. The big issue is simply that the games will also be available on the other (more established) consoles. And in some cases, they will have been available for a while.

 

[Karma]

I would imagine that people that want it will still buy it regardless. I know I will.

Fanboy

 

[BadMoon]

Fanboy

Of all the systems? I sure am! I simply have to have them all.

 

[Karma]

Of all the systems? I sure am! I simply have to have them all.

So much a fanboy that you're quoting pokemon

 

[BadMoon]

So much a fanboy that you're quoting pokemon

 

[BuffyGirl]

I wonder how much the wii will drop once the U comes out. I'm sure though, that if I play to buy the U, there is no point in getting the Wii.

 

[darthviper107]

I wonder how much the wii will drop once the U comes out. I'm sure though, that if I play to buy the U, there is no point in getting the Wii.

That's true-since the Wii U plays Wii games and uses the same controller.


Something that's also interesting--they aren't retiring the Wii, it looks like they're still going to be supporting it once the Wii U comes out. Which is actually probably a bad idea.

Since they made the most success with the Wii from casual gamers, the casual gamers won't care anything about the top games for the Wii U and would be content with the Wii. Either that or they realized how little they play the Wii and won't care to update.

 

[plasmid303]

Nintendo admits that they already regret the manner in which they introduced the Wii-U:

https://kotaku.com/5810645/nintendos-president-already-has-some-wii-u-regrets

"Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstandings", he said. "We should have made more effort to explain how it works."

"We haven't made any kind of blunder, but I should have shown a single picture of the new console, then started talking about the controller," Iwata added. "The console is not drastically different, and Wii U is about the controller. The console itself will be almost invisible."

I agree. You only get one chance to make that big first reveal, and you have to make an impact. The way Nintendo handled it was pretty poor, though I'm still quite interested in Wii-U.

 

[Shropt]

Nintendo admits that they already regret the manner in which they introduced the Wii-U:

https://kotaku.com/5810645/nintendos-president-already-has-some-wii-u-regrets



I agree. You only get one chance to make that big first reveal, and you have to make an impact. The way Nintendo handled it was pretty poor, though I'm still quite interested in Wii-U.

It's funny. I DVRed the Nintendo conference on G4 and their immediate reaction was the same as most which was "is this a system or a peripheral". They went so far as not to confirm what it was until they came back from break and had an interview with Reggie in the presentation room where their first question was "is this a console or just a controller." They were genuinely confused and they weren't afraid to show it.

 

[MorgulTongue]

I'll have to wait another couple years to get this.
I'll still be paying for Hot Toys Bruce Lee D/X, Ghost Rider, Jack Sparrow D/X, CR Supes, and whatever else will come out before!
____E!

 

[MrAwesome]

Yeah, at the show, I honestly didn't hear much of anything about the console itself. They heavily emphasized the controller. But, it is definitely a whole new system. The lines to try it out the games were insane, but I did get to hold it. It wasn't heavy at all, maybe about the same, if not less than the 360 controller.

 

[Devil_666]

Something that's also interesting--they aren't retiring the Wii, it looks like they're still going to be supporting it once the Wii U comes out. Which is actually probably a bad idea.

Actually it's not. It's killing two birds with one stone.

1. They continue to support the #1 console on the market with fun, casual games for casual game players. Nintendo makes even more money. And since the Wii-U is backwards compatible, even if casual buyers go for their new system Nintendo still wins since those buyers will have access to the entire Wii library from the jump. It's win-win.

2. Nintendo focuses on more mature games for Wii-U and gets 3rd party support for mature games to please the "hardcore" gamers who would flip their pretentious noses at the thought of playing games on a system that also had kiddie stuff like Wii Sports or something.

The catch?

It's backwards compatible with the Wii!

So even if there's no dedication and focus of Wii-U games like that, they'll STILL be available. You can still play all those old fruity Wii games and even new releases. Again, win-win for Nintendo.

 

[darthviper107]

The Wii isn't the #1 system anymore. Especially since there's only one real game coming out for it this year, and none planned for the future. Sales have dropped really far.

 

[Macularius]

The Wii isn't the #1 system anymore. Especially since there's only one real game coming out for it this year, and none planned for the future. Sales have dropped really far.

It's still way ahead of both PS3 and Xbox360 sales though.

 

[darthviper107]

It's still way ahead of both PS3 and Xbox360 sales though.

Actually, I think at the moment in the U.S. the Xbox 360 is the top seller now. I may be wrong though but I'm pretty sure

EDIT: As in monthly sales. Of course the Wii still has top sales overall

 

[Macularius]

Actually, I think at the moment in the U.S. the Xbox 360 is the top seller now. I may be wrong though but I'm pretty sure

EDIT: As in monthly sales. Of course the Wii still has top sales overall

I'm still talking about overall sales.

 

[plasmid303]

Wii = 90 million

360 = 55 million

PS3 = 50 million

Monthly sales are mercurial. Even if they gave the PS3 and 360 a $100 price drop, it'd still take those consoles at least two years to catch to Wii's numbers. Wii is still #1.

 

[darthviper107]

I don't think overall unit sales matter as much when the console drops off before the others. Both the PS3 and 360 will be around for at least 2 more years. Despite how Nintendo says they're still supporting the Wii, it's sales are just going to get lower and lower. In the meantime, PS3 keeps doing better, and Xbox has started selling better than it ever has.

 

[plasmid303]

Of course overall sales matter if you're going to claim out of context that a platform in the leading position is no longer #1.

The Wii's sales have slumped, but that's what happens when it hits saturation point. The number of people left to sell to has dwindled. However, Not sure if you've forgotten, but the price drop happened in mid-May, and NPD hasn't disclosed sales numbers for that month yet. Half of the PS2's overall sales came after it hit the $150 price point, which is where the Wii is now.

In April, Wii sold 172 thousand units, 360 sold 297 and PS3 204.

2011 Year-to-date sales (as of April 2011)
YTD

360: 1,646,214
PS3: 1,238,948
Wii: 1,235,870

The disparity isn't that great. If Wii sales dropped to zero today, the other two platforms would still have to sell double their current pace to approach Wii's numbers in two years.