Iwata Admits Nintendo Didn't Try Hard Enough To Make Wii U Success

[mysecondlife]

Gotta hand it to Nintendo for humility. You don't really see much of those on Sony's vita.

But does iwata really think wii sports is a killer app? Did people buy them outside wii bundle?

Ok, admitting your problems is the first step to solving them.

By that logic Nintendo really took their time iwith that first step.

 

[MrMixelPixel]

Just give us some information on the next Super Smash Bros, and I'm sure you'll pick up sales on the wii u. Pretty please?

 

[martyrdrebel27]

i've been saying this since the original Wii became the world's best selling and most expensive paperweight... Nintendo is circling the drain. they kep throwing gimmicks out there and novelty is not a business model in an industry that relies on long term strength.

my prediction:
this will be nintendos last console, they will focus on the handheld market where they have always been the indisputable king. however, handhelds are dying at the hands of mobile gaming. failing to realize that in time, nintendo will throw everything into another underwhelming handheld, probably paired with a wireless company, virgin mobile seems likely, then eventually devolve into a software company. but by then hopefully people will be sick of buying the same damn zelda and mario games ad nauseum so they will fail at that too.

you were a great part of my childhood nintendo, but its time to die.

 

[Quellist]

Pfft, the moment that 'X' game that looks like a sequel to Xenoblade gets confirmed for European release, then i'll get a Wii U, otherwise i'm not convinced by Nintendo

 

[Shuu]

I'm sick of hearing that excuse. Are we, the consumers failing to understand the Wii U? Or did Nintendo fail to understand consumers? I'd say the second.

 

[Adon Cabre]

With a great deal of the audience for the Wii having been people new to the market, Nintendo did a terrible job advertising the WiiU. AS dedicated gamers, we understood well in advance when it was coming and what its capabilities are, but a great deal of the people who bought a Wii were not dedicated gamers and don't hunt gaming websites for product details.

Nintendo has failed to explain to their consumer base what the product is and more importantly, why they should buy it. I would be unsurprised to find that many people who bought a Wii don't even know the WiiU exists. The advertising campaign for the Wii was a case study in success while the Wiiu's has been a disaster. Add in the fact that the people who count gaming as a core hobby don't see much value in the system due to a lack of games being released or because the more powerful Sony and Microsoft offerings are near enough to wait, and Nintendo is really failing to capture any segment of the market here.

As I am neutral when it comes to brand loyalty, the whole fiasco is disheartening. I want to see as much success by as many different console makers as possible. Competition in the games market is always, always good for the consumer.

[HEADING=2]It's Actually Worse than You Think[/HEADING]
You made an astute point, but the Wii U launched earlier than forecasted by Nintendo because of the Wii's steep decline in software sales. That three year golden period was over. This basically meant that old and young people bought it, and bought it for their friends and family, who all played maybe one or two games, and then got tired of the nunchuck gimmick and packed the console in their closet.

Outsold by PS3, Xbox360, Nintendo 3DS and even the Vita in it's opening months.​

This is why Super Mario Galaxy 2 and other exclusives broke sales records but could not maintain annual revenue. In other words, Nintendo had no line-up like COD/Battlefield to sustain constant annual software sales. Because Nintendo fans only really want Mario and Zelda, and these don't come around very often.

[HEADING=2]Here's an example in numbers[/HEADING]
Only two Super Mario Galaxies -- one of the greatest hits for any console -- came out for the Wii, and which totaled to an impressive 17 million units. And Zelda's two installments The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword & The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess moved 11 million units world wide.

Alternately, the SONY exclusive NaughtyDog developer launched the entire Uncharted Trilogy and a PS Vita spin-off for a total of over 14 Million Units [http://www.vgchartz.com/article/250142/uncharted-a-sales-history/] with each successive sequel coming out 2 years later. And they aren't even done with the Playstation 3 -- i.e Last of Us.

The Microsoft-exclusive developer Epic Games launched their Gears of War Trilogy, and which totaled 17 Million units in sales [http://www.vgchartz.com/article/250124/gears-of-war-a-sales-history/] with each launching, again, 2 years apart.

Nintendo's two titles sold the same, but didn't spread the love around. It's always better to have medium blockbusters than silence for several years. And I doubt Super Mario Galaxy 3 or the next Zelda is coming to the Wii.

My point, you ask?

Nintendo just does not understand pacing with it's exclusives. What is taking them so long to dish out major system-seller titles!?

[HEADING=2]Want to see a model done right?[/HEADING]

Look at SONY and Microsoft. Their consoles, exclusives and 3rd party titles are selling so strong in their late stage that they can comfortably roll out next-gen hardware stress free. Those companies learned from their mistakes and took the necessary steps to avoid the dumpster fire that the Wii U has become. What I mean is, Microsoft and SONY forecasted and adapted to this tech/software age.

[HEADING=3]Nintendo just assumed that 100 Million Wii console owners knew "what was up".[/HEADING]​

So maybe Nintendo doesn't deserve to recover from this. It's mistakes aren't the problems that SONY faced in it's Playstation 3 launch. It's easy to speculate that Nintendo is going to be feeling this mistake for the duration of the console.

Iwata (paraphrased): it looks just a little better, i swear!​

Maybe it will be economic justice serving them a cold dish of hard-capitalism. Nintendo is rich, but their Console isn't selling at a profit like the Wii was. They desperately need third party support more than any time in their history. But the only systems sellers they have are Mario and Zelda, and neither of which are on the horizon.

I doubt the Wii U will sell even 40 Million Units within 5 years. Unfortunately, with Iwata's misguided promises [http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2013/04/02/satoru-iwata-hubris-versus-western-culture/], I doubt he'll be working at Nintendo for that long.

 

[the_retro_gamer]

It's called get games on your system. The 3DS is just starting to get some goods games on the system that's why I bought the system. There is nothing motivating that will make me want to buy your console. All you have to offer is a large tablet that has the ability to play games on it, Apple has the same type of product you know.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Gotta hand it to Nintendo for humility. You don't really see much of those on Sony's vita.

But does iwata really think wii sports is a killer app? Did people buy them outside wii bundle?

Ok, admitting your problems is the first step to solving them.

By that logic Nintendo really took their time iwith that first step.

A lot of people bought a Wii for the single purpose of playing Wii Sports.

I´m a little concerned that the only thing Nintendo is going to announce will be first party titles. While a new mario, zelda and metroid would be nice enough it really isn´t enough to convince me, i need thirds party titles and i need lots of them. I know there will be plenty on NextBox and Ps4, but it really doesn´t look too good for WiiU.

 

[gorfias]

They have to get games on the thing. I'm interested.
Coming out 1st does have a downside: will the PS4 have much better looking games? Wii U looks like PS3 level graphics. If PS4 really outshines Wii U in that department, I'll be looking at one of those. Price is an issue.
Wii U pro cost about $350. I love the tablet idea, that my family can watch TV while I stream a game to the tablet.
But the PS4? Dunno what the console will cost. Rumors put it in the $600 range again. But to have that tablet ability, I need to buy PS Vita separately (or one day they bundle, but for now...) that Vita with memory card is about $300 by itself!

Makes me think I'll just stick with my PS3 and a laptop when family is using the TV.