Nintendo President Says Wii in "Unhealthy Condition"

[Andy Chalk]

Nintendo President Says Wii in "Unhealthy Condition"

The PlayStation 3 [http://www.wii.com].

Sales of the Wii have dropped almost two-thirds from the previous year, according to an ABS-CBN [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/technology/04/09/09/nintendo-says-wii-losing-luster-no-price-cut] report, and for the first time in well over a year the PlayStation 3 outsold the Wii in sales last month. More than eight million Wii consoles have been sold in Japan but the company says sales are beginning to slow because of the recent lack of compelling new games to drive sales. "The speed with which people get tired of any new entertainment is faster in Japan than in overseas markets," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said.

In the five week period beginning March 29, PlayStation 3 sales have jumped 80 percent to reach 146,948 consoles sold, while the Wii dropped nearly 63 percent to 99,335 units, according to Enterbrain [http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/index_en.html] numbers.

"The Wii is in the most unhealthy condition since it hit the Japanese market," he noted "The current condition in the Japanese market is not the one we want."

Despite slowing sales and the recent news that Nintendo has managed to reduce the manufacturing cost of the Wii by Wii Sports Resort [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90779-Wii-Production-Costs-Down-45], coming out in June, to reinvigorate the console.

via: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5204890/nintendo-president-wii-in-unhealthy-condition]


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[SeniorDingDong]

Well, then lift your ass up Nintendo !

I could instandly name you a dozen games, using your very own franchises, that should be made for the Wii.

 

[Jabbawocky]

He does know that evetually you run out of people to peddle a system to which is why they make new ones? I'm sure if Nintendo could have still sold the NES like hot cakes we would still be calling Mario Bros 3 the best game ever. (Some still do anyway apparently).

 

[DoW Lowen]

I swear to God they come out with another Sonic game that doesn't involve exclusive high speed scenes, or a Mario game where he touches any kind of sports gear I'm going to blow up Tokyo.

 

[Cousin_IT]

I swear to God they come out with another Sonic game that doesn't involve exclusive high speed scenes, or a Mario game where he touches any kind of sports gear I'm going to blow up Tokyo.

I see a Sonic & Mario Fit in the making; complete with overpriced peripherals in the shape of hedgehog or plumber shoes

 

[Valiance]

Well, then lift your ass up Nintendo !

I could instantly name you a dozen games, using your very own franchises, that should be made for the Wii.

This.

It's just stupid when there's no Starfox or F-Zero installment on the Wii.

I'm sure some people would pay for a remake of OoT done with the Twilight Princess engine.

I don't know, there's a lot of things that should be cross-platform but they aren't.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Well, then lift your ass up Nintendo !

I could instantly name you a dozen games, using your very own franchises, that should be made for the Wii.

This.

It's just stupid when there's no Starfox or F-Zero installment on the Wii.

I'm sure some people would pay for a remake of OoT done with the Twilight Princess engine.

I don't know, there's a lot of things that should be cross-platform but they aren't.

I swear to god I would buy another Wii if they told me I had to in order to get Starfox and F-Zero on the Wii.

Not much even has to be visually done with it, that game run the Gamecube for all it was worth, and I would never take visuals over gameplay.

Now just give us online play, extra tracks and racers, possibly a longer (and harder? Would that even be possible?) story mode, and you got yourself a million seller. That game practically makes itself.

P.S. When Nintendo said their Zelda teams were 'hard at work', they didn't mean Spirit Tracks did they? Surely not, that's silly...

 

[Devildoc]

Well, then lift your ass up Nintendo !

I could instandly name you a dozen games, using your very own franchises, that should be made for the Wii.

Well they are working on a Zelda for the Wii, and they're releasing Metroid Primes 1 and 2 on Wii as well (which I'll buy but I want to see a brand new 3d metroid as well)..

I'd love to see an Fzero and Starfox Wii game too.

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

Maybe Nintendo should get back to its roots... Running brothels and printing playing cards (allegedly) for the Yakuza.

 

[KronosIII]

thank god your having no sales......My wii does nothing but collect dust since the last decent game was brawl. This is what you get for making games for the casual gamer and not gamers. They are casual for a reason, they don't BUY GAMES. Hopefully nintendo learns there lesson and does not try to appeal games to ppl that DON'T play games again. I regret buying my wii. It is a toy not system.

 

[Random Argument Man]

I know what could boost some numbers in those sales. Another entry in the Chrono franchise. It is one of the most demanded sequel to a franchise.


That and:

Kid Icarus
A good Donkey Kong game.
A few more adult games. (Even if Madworld is great, it's only one game).
Some new franchises would be great. If only Miyamoto had more imagination.

 

[tendo82]

Japan's a small country with a cultural mentality that's fairly different from our own. The lack of franchises We want isn't necessarily an indicator for why the Wii's momentum may have slowed in Japan.

After all, Brain Training was probably more responsible for the DS's runaway success in Japan than any of the titles created for the core gamer set. As far as I'm concerned, the Wii just needs a Brain Training type of hit and the Wii will be fine again in Japan.

 

[kawligia]

What they need to do is make games that appeal to an older audience.

 

[Azeban]

I wonder where Nintendo goes from here...the DS has had two remakes now, neither particularly different. Are they going to keep the waggling, touchscreen nonsense going forever, or are they going to be a normal gaming console and portable next generation?

You see, the Wii was good for attracting casuals to gaming, but casuals aren't the type who will buy the next console. They already have a system, why would they need another?

What Nintendo needs to do is make games that appeal to everyone. And that means rethinking video games entirely. They're experimenting with the idea, with concepts such as Wii Music, but failing. They need to come up with fun game ideas that don't hinge on violence if they're going to keep up their impressive sales.

 

[super_smash_jesus]

I think this could be a good thing for Nintendo, because now they can't keep peddling systems with casual games because people are starting to stop buying them. If that is the case, then I think they should be executing the second part of their plan, which is try to get the user base they just created into moving up a rung on the ladder and picking up a non casual game.

I seriously think that Nintendo needs to start developing more than just their flagship franchises, and maybe venture fourth into a new adventure game franchise or the like. That or seriously start making a star fox game before I throw my Wii out in disgust.

 

[Azeban]

I think this could be a good thing for Nintendo, because now they can't keep peddling systems with casual games because people are starting to stop buying them. If that is the case, then I think they should be executing the second part of their plan, which is try to get the user base they just created into moving up a rung on the ladder and picking up a non casual game.

I seriously think that Nintendo needs to start developing more than just their flagship franchises, and maybe venture fourth into a new adventure game franchise or the like. That or seriously start making a star fox game before I throw my Wii out in disgust.

I think Nintendo would be well suited to go into abstract gaming. What do I mean?

Think about when video games first started...the classic games such as Pacman and Pong that everyone loved. (and created no controversy) They didn't have a story. They were just really original ideas.

What the industry is doing now with mainstream gaming, like the Xbox, is tweaking one concept over and over. Ever shooter is Doom with a new coat of paint. Every puzzle game is Tetris with the rules slightly changed. They add a story, change some models, and voila, game complete. What they should be doing is making a new mechanic all together.

 

[SeniorDingDong]

One thing I cant understand too is that they made the good action game Disaster: Day of Crisis and didnt give it any marketing ! Nothing.

I think its still unreleased in the US and even got bashed by Reggie ? WTF?!

Nintendo really became more self-righteous then ever after the great year 2007 (MP3, SMG). Since then, the percentage of third party games in my Wii game collection is growing and growing and I am going to be unsure if I didnt bought a SEGA console instead...

 

[Souplex]

Each person will probably only buy one Wii. Households might share a system. Once every household in Japan has a Wii you can't sell any more in Japan.

 

[Cubilone]

Japan's a small country with a cultural mentality that's fairly different from our own. The lack of franchises We want isn't necessarily an indicator for why the Wii's momentum may have slowed in Japan.

After all, Brain Training was probably more responsible for the DS's runaway success in Japan than any of the titles created for the core gamer set. As far as I'm concerned, the Wii just needs a Brain Training type of hit and the Wii will be fine again in Japan.

In what sense exactly is Japan a small country? They have both the population and the market potential for great things in the industry.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Well, then lift your ass up Nintendo !

I could instantly name you a dozen games, using your very own franchises, that should be made for the Wii.

This.

It's just stupid when there's no Starfox or F-Zero installment on the Wii.

I'm sure some people would pay for a remake of OoT done with the Twilight Princess engine.

I don't know, there's a lot of things that should be cross-platform but they aren't.

Well, they can't do Starfox, because that series ended (it said so explicitly in the recent one for the DS, Starfox Command).