Ex-Sony Dev: Wii U Won't Last Another Christmas

[Steven Bogos]

Ex-Sony Dev: Wii U Won't Last Another Christmas

Kenny Linder believes that "nobody gives a s***" about Mario

Kenny Linder, a former member of the now defunct Sony-owned Bigbig Studios, recently took to NeoGAF to offer a few choice words [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=92104432&postcount=1884] on the state of Nintendo's Wii U. His rant was focused on Nintendo's decision to release Super Mario 3D World at the same time as the PS4's UK release, claiming that "nobody gives a s***" about Mario and predicting that the Wii U won't even last another Christmas after this coming one.

"Releasing [Super Mario 3D World] the same day as PS4 in UK/EU wasn't wise. The frustrating thing was this game was probably ready to go in October. I think retail and the market will push Nintendo in a direction whether they like it or not."

Linder worries that with retail stores having four major consoles (PS3/4, 360/One), as well as the 3DS/2DS to push, Wii U may get bumped from the shelves at some point in the future. "If it goes from shelves, it will be finished," he claims, adding "I am still confident in my crazy mind that Wii U will not see another Christmas after this one."

He says that future games in development for the console will simply be axed, or moved to a different platform.

"Also, I haven't seen a single Mario 3D World advert on UK TV," says Linder, proposing that Mario's poor performance was due to lack-of-interest in the red-hatted plumber. "I wonder if the same gamers who buy Nintendo home systems (150k of them in UK) are the same gamers that buy PS4/Xbox? That might explain lack of sales this week. Otherwise, nobody gives a s***."

Linder has since edited his original NeoGAF post, but not before Nintendo Life [http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/12/former_sony_developer_feels_the_wii_u_wont_see_another_christmas] was able to copy it.

Source: Nintendo Life [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=92104432&postcount=1884]

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[Kenbo Slice]

What's with all these guys who used to work for Sony coming out of the woodwork to say negative things about Nintendo and the Wii-U? I really want to know. Did they have a traumatic experience with Nintendo and their consoles?

 

[Darth Rahu]

The correct answer is yes man. Sony got into game development due to a kiboshed plan with Nintendo to make a peripheral for their SNES. Sony's entire game division was formed out of a massive grudge towards Nintendo. Shit trickles down folks. As to his statement, I have to say... No. Nintendo treats their customers with respect, a lot more than what I can say with the other guys.

 

[happy_turtle]

Who is this guy? I've never even heard of Bigbig. Anyhoo I'm playing on both my PS4 and Wii U and am loving them both. From the language he uses, followed by the quick deletion, I'm guessing he may have had one too many at his keyboard.

 

[oldtaku]

Sales of Super Mario 3D World in Japan have been pathetic. It's not a good sign when even Nintendo AAA games can't move units.

Same here. I'd have bought the game, but I'm not going to buy a Wii U for it. Time to regroup.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Sales of Super Mario 3D World in Japan have been pathetic. It's not a good sign when even Nintendo AAA games can't move units.

Same here. I'd have bought the game, but I'm not going to buy a Wii U for it. Time to regroup.

Haven't sales of everything on the WiiU been underwhelming so far anyway?

Which is a shame, I think it's a misconception that Nintendo consoles are only for Mario/Zelda/Metroid, but it's a hard mantle to shake.

 

[Zaydin]

Haven't sales of everything on the WiiU been underwhelming so far anyway?

Which is a shame, I think it's a misconception that Nintendo consoles are only for Mario/Zelda/Metroid, but it's a hard mantle to shake.

Nintendos poor support of third party developers really doesn't help. By and large, when you buy a Nintendo home console, you are buying it for the first party games.

Handhelds are another matter,though the first party games are still a factor.

 

[Yopaz]

I fear that he might be on to something, it will go on for more than a year, but I think this might be a short lived console based on the sales we're seeing now. I keep saying that the problem is that there aren't any games for it, but even with the launch of a new Mario the sales still aren't there. It's important to remember that both the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube were outsold by a massive landslide compared to Sony's sales and the Wii is the first console to go head to head with Sony. We should also consider the fact that the PS3 had a really rocky start too, but eventually managed to overtake Microsoft towards the end (not sure which has sold the most currently). Still, third party support is not there and there are some retailers who have already stopped taking in new consoles.

Personally I love it though and what this guy doesn't consider is that Nintendo is far better at setting budget limits than so many other companies. Bioshock Infinite sold a whole lot and failed to make a profit while a great deal of Nintendo games have sold far less and managed to earn money on it.

It's too soon to judge, but things are looking grim right now. That said, I can't wait for Super Smash Bros!

 

[STENDEC1]

Nintendo treats their customers with respect, a lot more than what I can say with the other guys.

Yeah. That's why they're the only console manufacturer left who still has region locking despite pleas by customers to abandon it. That's also why they're the only console manufacturer whose digital purchases are tied to the console, not an online account, in which case if said console dies and you didn't back up your purchases, you're S.O.L.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Sales of Super Mario 3D World in Japan have been pathetic. It's not a good sign when even Nintendo AAA games can't move units.

Same here. I'd have bought the game, but I'm not going to buy a Wii U for it. Time to regroup.

Haven't sales of everything on the WiiU been underwhelming so far anyway?

Which is a shame, I think it's a misconception that Nintendo consoles are only for Mario/Zelda/Metroid, but it's a hard mantle to shake.

And with how underpowered the WiiU is along with underwhelming market penetration compared to Xbone and PS4, most major third party mulitplatform games will drop it around the same time as the 360 and PS3.

 

[The_Echo]

As to his statement, I have to say... No. Nintendo treats their customers with respect, a lot more than what I can say with the other guys.

I don't think it has anything to do with how Nintendo treats its customers.

The Wii U is performing very poorly, with no signs of turning around. I wouldn't have concluded it myself, but... well, I can certainly see the Wii U dying by next Christmas if it stays like this.

I feel as thought Nintendo's... phoning it in, almost. They aren't really trying. The little third-party support they've had has been (as usual) ignored and unadvertised. But, as Linder said, even 3D World (and Pikmin 3) hasn't been advertised very well. I've only seen one commercial for it. And as far as I know, the only first-party titles on the horizon are Smash Bros. (which will also be on 3DS) and Tropical Freeze.

Nintendo's in a fight and they're barely swinging their fists. No wonder people think they're about to lose.

 

[Rad Party God]

Meh, yet another bitter dev wishing he's working on a worthwile game, but instead goes to the internet and start ranting yet again about Nintendo.

Also, judging by their Wiki entry, Bigbig Studios doesn't seem like they did something groundbreaking in the first place, so I would take their rants with a grain of salt.

... And the worst part is... he might be right. As much as I love Ninty, it's hard to see them succeed by next christmas, there's barely a few worthwile games for the console and releasing SM3DW around the same time as the Xbone and PS4 was a pretty dismal decision at best.

I wish Ninty the best of luck, but... I fear my wishes are just that at the end of the day.

 

[Charli]

I'm not counting any chickens or eggs until smash bros releases. If it flops then I might get in bed with this theory, but for now I'm calling rampant cynicism. And I'm one of the people who cannot get behind the need for this stupid tablet controller thing, but... it uses other input.


Captcha: hug me

...Captcha do you have some issues to work out? You're coming across as needy.

 

[Dragonbums]

Geez. A lot of angry ex devs ranting about the Wii U.


Does the dude even own the console? Has he even developed for it before?

If the answer is no to both of these than why the hell should he care to be honest.

 

[Dragonbums]

Nintendo treats their customers with respect, a lot more than what I can say with the other guys.

Yeah. That's why they're the only console manufacturer left who still has region locking despite pleas by customers to abandon it. That's also why they're the only console manufacturer whose digital purchases are tied to the console, not an online account, in which case if said console dies and you didn't back up your purchases, you're S.O.L.

Yeah...um compared to the other practices that Sony and Microsoft allow third parties to indulge in these are minor inconveniences at worse.

If Region locking and a stupid digital account system (that they recently announced they just fixed anyway) is the only real problem you have with Nintendo then I would say they have a B+ in terms of consumer respect.

 

[J Tyran]

He is sort of right about three things though:-

1) The Wii U is already being taken off shelves in some non game-specific brick and mortar retailers.
2) In the UK Nintendo are doing almost no marketing at all, adverts in newspapers, magazines and across most TV channels are filled with adverts for the XBox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and games for them and Nintendo barely have anything.
3) Launching a single new game with zero marketing in the face of the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft was doomed to fail.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

If Region locking and a stupid digital account system (that they recently announced they just fixed anyway) is the only real problem you have with Nintendo then I would say they have a B+ in terms of consumer respect.

Which won't get you anywhere if you don't give a good reason or two for consumers to buy your system. The hard truth is, if you want to be successful as a company, you need to excel at more fronts than just one or two.

 

[Dragonbums]

If Region locking and a stupid digital account system (that they recently announced they just fixed anyway) is the only real problem you have with Nintendo then I would say they have a B+ in terms of consumer respect.

Which won't get you anywhere if you don't give a good reason or two for consumers to buy your system. The hard truth is, if you want to be successful as a company, you need to excel at more fronts than just one or two.

This has nothing to do with people buying their system.

I was addressing the OP in the fact that he was implying Nintendo was no better than Sony and Microsoft in consumer respect department because of region locking- which is an inconvenience at best rather than anything anti consumer, and a now the lack of a unified account system (which is now fixed and being improved upon)

 

[Oskuro]

Well, he does give enough of a s*** to have a hissy fit over it.