Nintendo Shares Tumble Following Wii U Reveal

[Alar]

It's understandable. No one's excited for it.

With the move from the Gamecube to the Wii, Nintendo tapped into a vast previously dormant market, the casual gamer. They appealed to millions upon millions of family gamers who enjoyed the easy going motion controls that did way with the complicated controllers and keyboards and introduced a variety of family friendly games.

What they're trying to do with the Wii U makes absolutely no fucking sense. Instead of trying to further enrich their core casual gamer audience, they're trying to grab the attention of hardcore gamers.

It's not going to work. We're already invested in our Xbox 360s and PS3s and PCs. The Wii U, from what we've seen, is basically the processing power of a current gen console with a touch screen built into its controller. It's a silly gimmick that tries to appeal to hardcore gamers instead of casual gamers.

A fatal, fatal mistake by Nintendo. They're trying to tread on ground they're already defeated on instead of going after the casual market which they've dominated for so long.

Whether or not it pays off, we'll see.

You, my friend, are very funny. No one is excited for it? Seriously? Is that what you're going to use as your argument? I know plenty of people who have already stated that they're quite interested in it, myself included. I am, by no means, a Nintendo fanboy. I like a good chunk of what they do, and understand that they have many, many flaws.

That said, they're combining the more 'casual' audience they've garnered with the Wii and putting it together with the more 'hardcore' group of gamers with this new one.

And the specs are supposedly better than all current gen consoles, so I suppose there's that too.

 

[Trasken]

time to buy shares, maybe if i buy enough i can force reggie to release fatal frame IV out of japan

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

I love how many are talking smack only to have there argument ruined by the second sentence. DO YOUR RESEARCH PEOPLE, spare fifteen minutes of your time to educate yourself on what your complaining about.

 

[Grygor]

This doesn't surprise me in the least. People were expecting something that would cater more to the hardcore gaming crowd and they brought out some bastardized abomination between a Wii and an iPad.

They announced a new console, with far more processing power and better tech than either the 360 or the PS3,

That's just speculation. We know that the GPU is made by AMD - which tells us nothing about how powerful the chip is. And we know the CPU is based on the one IBM used for Watson - which again, tells us basically nothing, because Watson was built out of nearly 400 of them.

and a slew of highly anticipated third-party titles available at launch...

Also, a slew of highly-anticipated third-party titles available on other platforms...

And I doubt that's going to fix the long-standing image problem which is the REAL barrier - after all, they've been failing on this front for nearly twenty years.

Nintendo have announced they intend to price it competitively against the 360 and the PS3. Which, considering its a fair bit more technologically advanced, is pretty damned impressive indeed.

There's a big difference between announcing an intention to price it competitively and actually announcing a competitive price.
Given what we know, I would not be surprised at a $400 price point. I'm not sure that will be "competitive".

There aren't 'far too many gimmicks'. Nintendo are releasing a new, high-powered console with a traditional controller, which also has the potential to do lots of interesting new things if the developers choose to take advantage of it.

That's a matter of opinion. Suffice it to say, however, that "potential" is meaningless - I can't play "potential".

Wow, seems like a bit of a logic failure to me. The new gimmick that the console brings is all well and good, but the impressive bit for me was the titles. The new Batman? The latest Tekken? The latest Tom Clancy? These are big titles that are going to appeal outside Nintendo's regular audience. Combined with the ridiculous fanbase Nintendo has and the appeal the console will have for the casual gamer I can only assume that the thing will sell like hotcakes.

What "ridiculous fanbase"? The one Nintendo has been progressively alienating for the last 20 years? The Wii is the only Nintendo system since the NES that hasn't sold significantly fewer units than its predecessor, and let me tell you, many of those former fans did not return for the Wii (as shown by the fact that for most old-school Nintendo franchises, the first game is one of the three best-selling games in the franchise, often being #1).

To the people that think the WEEUUEEUUEE doesn't have a market, I think you're flat out wrong. First and foremost, Nintendo has an IMMENSE fan base that will buy the console for the simple fact it's a Nintendo console. First party Nintendo games are like heroin for a HUGE number of people (myself included). Even if it fails in other markets, the fan base alone will see the console through.

Yes, this vast pool of people who will buy a console just because it says "Nintendo" on it... they must be the reason why the GCN sold only 2/3 what the N64 did, which in turn was only 2/3 of the SNES, which itself was only 80% of what the NES sold, despite the fact that the total active-console installed base nearly TRIPLED over the same time period.

Secondly, it's INNOVATIVE (I won't use the word "gimmicky") enough to retain the attention of the casual market, and while I don't see the console being as successful as the Wii in that market (mostly because most casual Wii owners will be content with their Wii and see no reason to buy another console) I still think it will sell reasonably well in that area.

"Casual players" don't care about "innovative" - they care about "fun" and "accessible", and you don't need "innovation" for that.
They do, however, resent feeling "forced" into a hardware upgrade. And make no mistake, they will be forced to upgrade if they want to play new games, because the Wii will be dead within a year of its successor's release, just like every other Nintendo console of the last 20 years.

I predict the no-tv-required aspect will be incredibly well received among the female audience (they like to curl up on the couch with something in their hands... while their boyfriend plays Halo or CoD or some crap on the widescreen),

Ignoring the sexism of that statement, that's what portables are for, and it's something portables are better at.

and the tablet still has great utility for party games, like that ninja star thing, or something like Pictionary.

And what does it add to something like Pictionary that isn't better done with a dry erase board?

The 3DS failed to live up to the expectations
The WiiU failed to live up to the expectations


There, I fixed it. But then again, maybe people were expecting too much or didn't really know what to expect.

Failed to live up to expectations so far

The 3DS is being outsold by the PSP - the simple fact is that glasses-free stereoscopic 3D is simply not worth the $100 premium (over the DSi) to most people.

It is failing to meet Nintendo's expectations, because they forgot a key rule - don't believe your own press.

It doesn't matter that the gaming media loved the 3DS - the market doesn't want it. Just like it won't matter that the gaming media love the Wii U (aside from the name) - I don't see the market wanting it.

 

[Craorach]

I'm slightly excited for a new console with a more power from Nintendo. I'm totally not happy with the controller which seems like a stupid idea and hard to use.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Failed to live up to expectations so far

The 3DS is being outsold by the PSP - the simple fact is that glasses-free stereoscopic 3D is simply not worth the $100 premium (over the DSi) to most people.

It is failing to meet Nintendo's expectations, because they forgot a key rule - don't believe your own press.

It doesn't matter that the gaming media loved the 3DS - the market doesn't want it. Just like it won't matter that the gaming media love the Wii U (aside from the name) - I don't see the market wanting it.

The reason it didn't sell quickly was the lukewarm launch titles. Watch the sales skyrocket with Ocarina, Super Mario, and Mario Kart.

As for the Wii U, you're really speculating way too early. Important features, launch titles, price, and release date all need to be announced before any serious speculation.

 

[Athelion]

The Wii-U sounds interesting, but I doubt I'll get it.

 

[Cowabungaa]

1: Buy shares now.

2: Wait until the capabilities of this console sink in into the mind of the market.

3: Sell shares for a huge profit.

4: Erm, yes, PROFIT!!!

This doesn't surprise me in the least. People were expecting something that would cater more to the hardcore gaming crowd and they brought out some bastardized abomination between a Wii and an iPad.

They announced a new console, with far more processing power and better tech than either the 360 or the PS3,

That's just speculation. We know that the GPU is made by AMD - which tells us nothing about how powerful the chip is. And we know the CPU is based on the one IBM used for Watson - which again, tells us basically nothing, because Watson was built out of nearly 400 of them.

Well, apparently:

Processors:

IBM Power-based multi-core 45 nm microprocessor[3]

This can't be true.
The only IBM processors that are on 45nm and multicore are power7 architecture chips.
These chips are IBM's top line processors and are faster than Intel's Core i7 Sandy Bridge.

I can't believe Nintendo would use the most powerful series of CPUs that exist.

He seems to know what he's talking about. That's...certainly good news.

The 3DS is being outsold by the PSP - the simple fact is that glasses-free stereoscopic 3D is simply not worth the $100 premium (over the DSi) to most people.

I'd say the main reason for that is that there's nothing on the 3DS that makes the 3D part worth it; their launch titles are pure shit. The PS3 suffered from the same problem.

 

[Gizen]

Yes, this vast pool of people who will buy a console just because it says "Nintendo" on it... they must be the reason why the GCN sold only 2/3 what the N64 did, which in turn was only 2/3 of the SNES, which itself was only 80% of what the NES sold, despite the fact that the total active-console installed base nearly TRIPLED over the same time period.

This isn't just a strike against Nintendo though, most consoles fail to outsell their predecessors. Sega certainly did, hence why they stopped making consoles, and the PS3 is nowhere near the numbers that the PS2 pulled in. How many consoles have actually outdone what came before? The PS2 did obviously, and I THINK the 360? Not 100% sure since I don't regularly follow sales numbers, but I don't recall the original XBox every being as big as the 360 is (and it's not even that huge a seller in comparison to lightning in a bottle like the PS2). Either way, considering how this doesn't seem to be a problem unique to Nintendo, I'd hardly use it as an argument against the WiiU, unless you were going to use it as an argument against new systems of any kind.

It doesn't matter that the gaming media loved the 3DS - the market doesn't want it. Just like it won't matter that the gaming media love the Wii U (aside from the name) - I don't see the market wanting it.

I don't think the market not wanting the 3DS is really the issue. All the complaints I've heard in regards to the 3DS from people who don't want to buy it fall into 1 or more of 3 specific categories, all of which ultimately tie together under the umbrella of being a weak launch.

1. It had a fairly lame line-up of games at launch, even by the poor standards already expected from a starting line up. This however, will be rectified eventually, and one of the reasons why the gaming media loved the 3DS was for the games that still haven't come out yet. I know plenty of people who want a 3DS, but are simply waiting for the games they want to come out first. I myself fall into this category, and will even be picking up my first 3DS game before I pick up the system itself, due to news stories implying Ocarina of Time will be having a limited release.

2. It's key feature is one that can only be seen in person, and there aren't enough demos out there for people to try. I work in an EB Games, and we get customers coming in all the time interested in the 3DS, but not wanting to buy it until after they've given it a try to see how it's key feature works, but they can't because we don't have one to demo for them, and neither does anyone else. Nintendo should've done more to get it out there for people to try it.

3. It has a really terrible battery life for a handheld, especially considering Nintendo's track record for great battery life in their machines. I wouldn't be surprised if people are waiting for the 3DS equivalent of a DSLite or DSI to come out and improve the battery life before buying.

4. Not a complaint people had, but certainly a contributing factor to lackluster sales, it didn't launch anywhere near the Christmas season, which is when new consoles frequently come out to take advantage of the holiday shopping rush. And it factors into the weak launch in that if they had waited til Christmas to put it out there, it would've had a much stronger line-up of games to go with, and who knows, maybe that would've been enough time to do something about the battery.

From the friends I speak to and the amount of people I see everyday at work showing interest in it, I would say there is market demand for the 3DS, but that Nintendo simply botched the launch of it badly, and are going to have to scramble to play catch-up, especially now that the Vita will be coming out around Christmas time at a matching price point.

Either way, I'm certain 3DS sales will pick up and improve, and it'll turn out just fine in the end, though will probably never meet the sales of the DS itself, which, like that of the PS2 and the Wii, were probably never repeatable to begin with.

Whoops, that was all off-topic, wasn't it?

 

[Rhymenoceros]

And yet Sony's share's went up about 9% yesterday...

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I can almost hear the foaming occurring at the mouths of so many angry gaming enthusiasts gleefully clacking away over this news. Not since the days of the Gamecube have they had such news to buoy their rage and proclaim the end of all things Nintendo for whatever arbitrary reason.

Wait... the "gaming enthusiasts" hate this now?

Err dual analogue sticks and more graphics power is just the kind the things "we" want.

I think the reason stock is tumbling is because stock-holders are idiots who think the ONLY way Wii is successful is as a toy for the lowest common denominator. Seriously, anyone can buy stock and THINK they know why a company is successful.

Nintendo's success with both the DS and the Wii was in appealing to the lowest common denominator. Now they have a system of equitable power but who is really going to buy it? I already own two consoles capable of playing all those games Nintendo excitedly announced they'd have and they have not, thus far, convinced me I ought to shell out for this thing. Couple that with the fact that the 3DS has underperformed and there is every reason for cautious investors to jump ship.

The bottom line here seems to be that Nintendo is trying to fight a war they can't win. They will lose the handheld war to the smartphone eventually, (unless they eventually opt to build one themselves, which would be brilliant) and this console is seemingly trying the very same gambit that seen with the Dreamcast. I do hope I'm wrong on both accounts of course. Nintendo has long produced some of my favorite games around but their recent moves are just baffling to watch.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

Excuse me for not quoting everybody who quoted me since you are a lot,but I will try to answer to most of people that did.

* I might be misinformed.
Since Nintendo hasn't officially announced from which IBM's series it's the chip they are using,other say it's a power7,others say it's a power6 and somebody told me it's a power5.
It's all speculation until Nintendo say to us exactly which chip they will use.

* I think that a power6 chip would be ideal.
Power6 chips offer about the same amount of performance for clock speed per core as a first generation core i7 Intel chip,and I think that's fast enough and because they are on somewhat reasonable prices now..
A power7 chip is really top of the tier regarding performance and it's faster than Intel's second generation of Core i7 chips,the "Sandy Bridge". Sure,power7 are really powerful and generally we would all want a powerful console BUT if spoken chip costs more than 500$ on its own,someone has to think that a system with that chip on, would be too expensive for a console.

 

[TheAngryMonkey]

I can completely agree with how the stock went, when to take a market perspective.
The name 'Wii' is tainted, you think Wii fit, gimmicky motion controls, and no third party support.

Plus in reality there is a large segment that tried gaming with a Wii, and was not impressed.
The forecast would be that they would not be willing to bring, 'Another Wii' into there home.
SO by releasing a product under the same name even though it didn't financially flop first time round, but has in many other respects doesn't put confidence in the system.

If Microsoft has released 'Vista2', confidence would have been low.

Not to mention at the moment it costs $90 for a Wii Control/NunChuck.
What's the price point for a controller with able to display and play games, 6" touch display,cameras,etc..
My guess would be $149.99 per controller, on the low end.
That is quite an expensive proposition for, both the casual and hardcore markets at any age range.

My only concerns with the controller is weight, and having the right analog stick above the button pad. Every controller has it the other way, for a reason.

I personally wont be purchasing the new system had a Wii and gave it away, my NES,SNES,N64 is all the Nintendo I need.

 

[TheAngryMonkey]

Both Microsoft and Sony's shares are up after E3, while Nintendo went down.
Just to give you a heads up.

This was supposed to be quoting someone, yay I works internets good.

 

[Treblaine]

I can almost hear the foaming occurring at the mouths of so many angry gaming enthusiasts gleefully clacking away over this news. Not since the days of the Gamecube have they had such news to buoy their rage and proclaim the end of all things Nintendo for whatever arbitrary reason.

Wait... the "gaming enthusiasts" hate this now?

Err dual analogue sticks and more graphics power is just the kind the things "we" want.

I think the reason stock is tumbling is because stock-holders are idiots who think the ONLY way Wii is successful is as a toy for the lowest common denominator. Seriously, anyone can buy stock and THINK they know why a company is successful.

Nintendo's success with both the DS and the Wii was in appealing to the lowest common denominator. Now they have a system of equitable power but who is really going to buy it? I already own two consoles capable of playing all those games Nintendo excitedly announced they'd have and they have not, thus far, convinced me I ought to shell out for this thing. Couple that with the fact that the 3DS has underperformed and there is every reason for cautious investors to jump ship.

The bottom line here seems to be that Nintendo is trying to fight a war they can't win. They will lose the handheld war to the smartphone eventually, (unless they eventually opt to build one themselves, which would be brilliant) and this console is seemingly trying the very same gambit that seen with the Dreamcast. I do hope I'm wrong on both accounts of course. Nintendo has long produced some of my favorite games around but their recent moves are just baffling to watch.

Zelda in HD, that's why.

Look, if you are angry about redundancy then why did you get both an Xbox 360 and a PS3? Why?

Why, For the Exclusive games and the Exclusive features. That's the same reason enthusiasts will buy this game. That' why and the same applies here.

This isn't about "Nintendo winning" this is about THE CUSTOMER WINNING! That they get to play the games they want to play, THAT is what matters. I don't GIVE A FUCK if the general public are twats who only want to play Angry Birds, the important thing is there are good games available to ME and YOU and anyone else who really cares about gaming.

The general public want to watch Jersey Shore and Michael Bay movies.

Fuck. Them.

Stop obsessing over this sales wars bullshit, if you really care about that get into the soda pop selling business. You complain of Wii dumbing down to the lowest common denominator and in the next paragraph lament that Nintendo isn't dumbing down as much as all those monumentally tacky but marketable iPhone "games" to "win".

This is GOOD that Nintendo is being outclassed in tacky mass market bullshit by Zynga and all those iPhone games.

Nintendo is finally giving us what we have always wanted I'm not seeing Nintendo fans being angry I'm seeing FORMER Nintendo fans being angry. You know why? Because they gave up on Nintendo and have convinced themselves that the company is completely gone and invested in all the other system... but this announcement shows how wrong they were to doubt. They have made a huge mistake.

And they are getting angry, lashing out with spreading spurious doubt and digging up old grievances and accusing Nintendo of every betrayal.

This Wii U just doesn't "fit" with so many peoples' preconceived prejudices of what this market is, that the Wii is a kiddies console, PC is for austic-savants, and the only two platforms that matter are Xbox 360 and PS3.

So grow up and be grateful for the option available to you. It doesn't matter who else buys it, only if YOU buy it.

 

[matt87_50]

I think people are massively underestimating the box that plugs into the TV. that 'ipad ripoff' controller is just that, a controller.

the box its self should be much better than the ps3 and xbox technically, the quantum leap from the wii to this new one is probably bigger than the leap from the n64 to the wii! let alone the negligible leap between the game cube and wii.

 

[Mantonio]

Since when did stockholders matter? It's because of them companies like Activision exist.

Let Nintendo make the movie. The capabilities for the Wii U are fantastic, and I look forward to trying it.

 

[Bluesclues]

i think because the console seams like a really big DS for your TV

You're looking at the controller, not the console.

So it's an iPad made by Nintendo? Damn you Jobs!!

See above.

It's understandable. No one's excited for it.

This. Nintendo reveals successor to the Wii... It's a portable device. Capable of playing games at better graphics than the Wii. You know, the 3DS... I mean DS... I mean WiiU.

Seriously. They have three hand held devices now. That cannot support each other's games. This is dumb.

Like someone else said, know what you're complaining about before you complain about it. The thing with the touch screen is the controller, not the console. Might want to pay attention before ignorantly ridiculing Nintendo (or any company I should say) on a public forum.

OT: I'm slightly excited for the Wii u (yes I agree the name is silly as all hell). Part of me always wanted a Wii, but something always kept me from buying it. I'm hoping that the Wii U will be as incredible as it can be, and more. By the same token, however, I'm prepared if it fails to meet these hopes.