[WiiU] The Official WiiU Thread

[JimLeavy59]

In a reassuring segment of today's Wii U Direct, Satoru Iwata announced — in name if not footage — games that will be playing a bigger role later this year. One of these was a new Mario Kart entry, currently in development and, most importantly, planned to be playable at this year's E3.
With an over-riding message of the broadcast being "the games are coming", this is hardly a surprise. As it'll be playable this summer, and as Mario Kart is arguably easier and quicker to develop than some other titles, we'd certainly speculate that this could be a solid potential release for the Holiday season. Perhaps not, but among the various announced franchises, this seems like a safe bet.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/01/mario_kart_wii_u_driving_into_e3_this_year

 

[Twigg4075]

Another Mario Kart game? I never saw that one coming.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Nintendo pretty much announced a bunch of crap only die hard fans will care about more Zelda crap, a couple more re-re-releases of Mario games and other shit I doubt anyone on here gives a shit about. It'll be interesting to see how the sales are for this console in the coming months.

 

[JimLeavy59]

 

[Swarley]

 

[CCBrink]

Nintendo pretty much announced a bunch of crap only die hard fans will care about more Zelda crap, a couple more re-re-releases of Mario games and other shit I doubt anyone on here gives a shit about. It'll be interesting to see how the sales are for this console in the coming months.

:gooby:

 

[Twigg4075]

I still enjoy the Nintendo "staples" but even I'm getting bored with the same crap. Honestly, I really only play the Mario games. I think I own all the most recent Zelda and Metroid games but haven't really played them. I got halfway through Twilight Princess and played a tiny bit of the 3D remake of Ocarina on 3DS.

 

[Twigg4075]

Speaking of the WiiU, I just saw the other day that they are finally going to release an up date "this Spring" that is supposed to speed up the horrible load times with the UI. Plus they are finally adding the Virtual Console back catalog from the Wii. The shittiest part is that even if you already bought the game you will have to pay a few bucks to get them on your WiiU. I hope MS and Sony doesn't do that same shit.

 

[JimLeavy59]

 

[Twigg4075]

"My grandma got the yarn...she be knitting that shit."

 

[JimLeavy59]

Who cares about GTA V and The Last of Us when you got Mario.

 

[Swarley]

Nintendo Financials Reveal Wii U Sales

Nintendo's Q3 financial results show the firm return to profitability after a rocky 2011-12 financial year, but its full-year profit estimates have been revised downwards due to lower-than-expected sales.

The figures cover the period from April to December last year (the financial year will end on March 31st). Nintendo posted a net income of 14,545 million yen (around $159m) for the nine-month period, after a historic $530 million loss last year. The company revised its net sales estimates for the full year down by 17.3%.

As of December 2012, the Wii U had sold 3.06 million units worldwide (we made an educated guess at 3 million a couple of weeks ago). That breaks down to around 1.32 million in North America, 900,000 in Europe and 830,000 in Japan. The Wii shifted 3.53 million from April to December. Nintendo has previously stated that it aims to sell 5.5 million Wii Us before the end of March, but it has now revised this target to 4 million.

Games sales were hoped to reach 24 million, but the new estimate is 16 million (11.69 million have been sold so far.) The best-selling Wii U launch game was Nintendo Land, with 2.33 million sold.

3DS sales are substantially up - software sales increased by 41% year-on-year, with hardware up by 11%. But Nintendo has still cut the sales target for its handheld from 17.5 million units to a more reasonable 15 million.

It seems, then, that the Wii U launch has gone well, but not as well as Nintendo had hoped.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/30/nintendo-financials-reveal-wii-u-sales

 

[JeremyHight]

WiiU isn't a flop, especially in Japan, where it will shine until the PS4 comes out, but it definitely isn't going to be as successful as the Wii. Considering Nintendo makes its money on game sales, selling 4 million consoles and 16 million games (estimated in a year) means only 4 games per console, which isn't going to help them make much money.

 

[jms493]

WiiU doesn't need to sell like the Wii as long as it is profitable. Nintendo has the 3DS which is a monster.

 

[Twigg4075]

The 3DS is a "monster"?!? Since when? The DS was a monster. The 3DS is selling pretty decently since the price cut but is far from a" monster".

I just think it says a lot when someone like me who buys everything that comes out has zero interest in this console.

 

[jms493]

MONSTA!!!

 

[jms493]

I just think it says a lot when someone like me who buys everything that comes out has zero interest in this console.

I buy every console but had zero interest in the Wii....what does that say? nothing...

 

[JimLeavy59]

Recent developments have brought into question whether EA will be supporting the Nintendo Wii U in a reliable manner going forward. At the Q3 financial call last week CEO John Riccitiello made sure to avoid lumping the relatively new console in with the company’s definition of the next generation of gaming.

Ours is an industry where a lot of devices come in and represent themselves as the next generation, or the next generation after that. In many ways we would argue that the what we’re describing as “gen 4″ is yet to come. It’s that that we’re excited about, and that’s what we’re investing in.

So maybe then it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that besides Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which will hit stores nearly five months after it already appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, EA has no games officially announced on their release schedule for the system. While there are certain to be other EA games in the pipeline what stands out is the lack of Tiger Woods 14 and now, apparently, even Madden NFL 25 (14).

The Tiger franchise was a very strong seller on the Wii until his off-the-course transgressions were exposed. That didn’t mesh with the family-friendly consumer base and sales plummeted after that. Madden is curious because the exclusive license deal has required release on every major system. That is why, despite no traction, the company kept churning out Wii titles and even stuck with the PS2 and PSP longer than anyone else. It’s unclear how EA could get around that clause with the Wii U. It’s possible that the language in the agreement changed when the NFL and EA agreed to extend the license for this extra year upcoming. Regardless they didn’t just leave the Wii U (and Vita) out as platforms the games will be releasing on by accident so maybe something else is happening behind the scenes. That the Wii U still does not have a method for publishers to make money on DLC is another factor that is coming into play right now.

The sports games that launched with the Wii U were all decent – considering they were ported over that was anticipated though some technical hangups appeared as well – and utilized the tablet controller to varying degrees of success (check out the reviews of Madden NFL 13, FIFA 13, and NBA 2K13). They moved very few copies at retail which could be attributed in varying degree to a small user base, the Gamecube and especially Wii degrading the credibility of sports titles on those systems therefore affecting the perception of Nintendo in that space, and the lack of reason for anyone to purchase them if they already owned them on another console and especially when at a higher price.


In all likelihood the Wii U will be treated as last generation going forward. That was anticipated by many long ago and means it’ll receive few resources and eventually be phased out alongside the 360 and PS3. That it seems to be happening already makes it look as though EA has already determined there is no incentive for them to invest in products for the Wii U. The potential rewards for doing so simply aren’t there compared to the development costs even with the need only to port over from the other HD consoles. That will be disappointing for those who own the system but from a business standpoint it would be hard to disagree with their decision making as they focus instead of the next Xbox and PS4 which are expected out late this year.

 

[Swarley]

 

[Twigg4075]

LEGO City does look pretty fucking awesome. But how long before it bombs on this console and they bring it to 360/PS3?