210°

Iwata Admits Nintendo Did Not Try Hard Enough To Make Wii U Success

Saturo Iwata has admitted that Nintendo has failed to create sufficient momentum for both 3DS and Wii U.

Sandmano4028d ago (Edited 4028d ago )

Was unexpected TBH Nintendo seemed unstoppable its up to Sony or MS to take up the mantle now...

ChickeyCantor4028d ago

Eh...Nothing is set in stone yet.

g2gshow4028d ago

i got a bright idea nintendo how about next time try starting off by making a next gen console a not just a next console

darthv724028d ago

they need to focus on the wii games library as a selling point for the wii-u. Find a way to encourage people to trade up the hardware while keeping the software and accessories.

nintendo could have done a trade in program for like $50 off the price of a wii-u with the trade in of just the wii deck only. Maybe that wouldnt have done anything...then again maybe it would.

3DS can play all of the ds titles and so it was a better option between the two. wii-u can play all the wii games and wiiware games so it too is a better option between the two.

i tell people to get the wii-u if they are in the market for a wii. It is just a better system and the huge existing library of good fun wii games is nothing to be ashamed of in spite of low wii-u titles available.

The system will get the games but the first step is to get the system into the hands of those who already have a wii.

Hell, even the super nintendo struggled when it first came out. I dont think it ever outsold the nes but it certainly did get the games and with it the user base that would keep nintendo going through the n64 and gamecube days.

Times are different now. console are more approachable in that they are doing more than just playing games but its the games aspect that really compels a consumer to buy. I really dont knwo what nintendo was thinking when it came to marketing this thing. Its good, it really is but you cant get word of mouth success for the wii-u like they did the wii anymore.

LOL_WUT4028d ago

Seriously Nintendo should've axed the guy, he clearly is not competent enough to run the company. He has messed up on so many occasions that I don't even know how he manages to keep his job. ;)

n4f4028d ago

@lol-wut
so you want to axe a guy that help wii sold console more than ps3+360 and slash his salary when the 3ds was bad and now the 3ds is steadily picking up steam?
lol, what?

Muffins12234028d ago Show
DragonKnight4028d ago

@n4f: Iwata had nothing to do with how much the Wii sold. The Wii's success is due to price and celebrity endorsement. The Wii was, for the longest time, the main console to give away in prizes because of its family friendly focus and cheap cost. The Wii's success has little to do with it being a great gaming system and more to do with Apple like sheep mentality. People follow the "next big thing" like it's their last "big thing."

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4028d ago
lilbroRx4028d ago

What's makes you think Sony and Microsoft will fair any better with there new console?

Every hurdle Nintendo has to jump, they will have to jump as well.

3-4-54028d ago

So much to learn.....

Nintendo IS the video game industry weather you want to admit it or not.

They have also indicated in the past year their future plans for both handheld and Console but nobody seems be paying attention.

* They are already working on/ beginning dev stages for their next Handheld, where 3D either won't be a feature or a minor feature...so back to somewhat norm for them there.

* For Wii U, they have indicated they will be switching the "pacing" of their consoles.

After this gen it's not going to be 3 consoles a gen anymore.

EX:

2012 = Wii U

2013 = PS4 + Xbox 720

2017-2018 = New Nintendo Console + New handheld

2021-2022 = Microsoft + Sony console

DwightOwen4028d ago

30 million 3DS units sold is not "sufficient momentum"?

eagle214028d ago

I know right. But they want to sell 18 million 3DS's this calendar year.

NBT914028d ago

"“In the US and in Europe we were unable to create sufficient momentum of the Nintendo 3DS system during the holiday season, and so the situation was not looking good at the beginning of the year,” he told investors."

He is talking about the holiday 2012 - early 2013 period, not lifetime sales. The article title fails to mention that of course, good ol' N4G for ya!

Still looks like they realized their mistake (branding crisis along with lack of games) and are promising to fix both which is... Promising, I guess?

Erimgard4028d ago

It's selling like nuts in Japan, but it hasn't produced the numbers they want in the US yet, and the US is their biggest market right now. That's why they've announced that their biggest focus this year is making the 3DS popular in the West.

g2gshow4028d ago

WOW who are the fan boy's to disagree with the president ... dam dam dam

ps3_pwns4028d ago

i been saying this as well as lot of other gamers that nintendo wasnt doing anything or trying and the fanboys said they were trying and the games they released was good enough to get the console lol. how does it feel to be suckered into buying a wii u at full price when nintendo wasnt even trying. i feel nintedo does this with a lot fo there games and online stuff. they just dont try and there fanboys let them get away with it with no critisizm. nintendo is not the same nintendo only fanboys who are blind turn a blind eye to the lack of quality becuase of nostalgia and because games on other consoles are to hard for them and stresful lol. casua gamers want the easy peezy games nintendo puts out.

g2gshow4028d ago

so your saying nintendo players are easy game playing suckers......lol a dont kill the messager people im just saying what he said ...... (cleans the dirt off his hands)

sway_z4028d ago

Nintendo should galvanize themselves now. There is an opportunity for a Wii U re-launch Sept, just in time to catch some more customers prior to PS4 launch and poss. Xbox over the holiday period.

No time for regrets now Nintendo, sell that Wii U....Ads, TV Spots, Billboard, Radio, Print ....line up those games!

mcstorm4028d ago

I agree but for me Nintendo have made the same mistake as they did with the 3ds with the wiiu. That was by giving the 3rd party games a chance to take centre stage. No one was going to buy a wiiu for mfsmw, or ac3 or even batman as they can get games like this on consoles they already own.
Look at the numbers on the top wiiu games and mariou has sold 2.4 million on a 3 million fan base. That says it all. Im expecting Nintendo to hit this Christmas period hard with big name gamea like Mario kart, Zelda, super smash bros and lots of adverts to show off what the wiiu can do.
Even though there are not to many games out for the wiiu I can’t get enough of mariou, zombie, tekken tag, sonic all stars and lego city on my wiiu.
Yes the wiiu has not got the power the ps4 will have and I expect the next xbox to have more power to but since when has a games consoles been about power? It’s about the gamea and we all know Nintendo games are always good games and if they add mp, and miiverse onto their own games then they can make the wiiu stand out against the ps4 and next xbox as there is room for all 3 as we have seen this gen.

2v14028d ago

and who are they going to fool?

Th4Freak4028d ago

No one noticed it Iwata...

Show all comments (44)
80°

How Many More Victims, Like Garry's Mod, Will Nintendo's Hurtful Crusade Create?

Hanzala from eXputer: "As Nintendo takes out 20 years' worth of stuff from Garry's Mod, I watch in shock, thinking why it continues to hurt and discourage its fans."

RiseNShine2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

The irony that some of the most disgusting business practices come from companies like Disney or Nintendo, i can't even begin to understand what terrible damage was Garrys Mod making to Nintendo bottom line, imho they're getting pretty nervous about where they're heading in the future, handhelds are no longer something exclusive to Nintendo, from Steam Deck to many others, now you can play the latest games and pay a fraction of the price on Steam sales, so it's up to their exclusives, which just on their own would make hard to justify purchasing a closed overpriced hardware with outrageous price policies (Super Mario Odyssey is still 60 euro 6 years later!), and as a home console they're always underperforming compared to Sony or Xbox.

gold_drake1d 21h ago (Edited 1d 21h ago )

i cam guarantee you, that their exclusives alone is what drives switch sales. they sell in the 10s of millions of copies.

nintendo created their franchises to be sort of nostalgia driven, exclusive only on nintendo.

people will always buy the pkmn games as they always bring in new younger fans amd is family friendly

mario kart, the same thing, mario games in general.

zelda games are system sellers. animal crossing for the casual gamers.

nintendo doesnt need third vame devs essentially. they made sure with the switch and the limitations that they looked more to pc ps and xbox.

its sad, but nintendo is more than fine with what they're doing. they positioned themselves to appeal to the more casual gamers.

but to your point, im not sure why they're doing this rly.

Inverno1d 20h ago

Look at how they handled Nintendo games being streamed or uploaded on YouTube in the past. They killed Yuzu and Citra even when they had nothing to do with ToTK being leaked, not to mention it was basically unplayable on emulation the week it was leaked. Smash Bros tournament, that was fairly recent. They shut down their online services without any care for purchases made. I bought a switch after skipping their last 2 consoles and handhelds but I don't plan on buying anything Nintendo in the future. They take things to the extremes, they legitimately hate their fans. They're honestly right up there with the likes of Acti, EA, and Ubi, only difference is that they disguise themselves as being family friendly all the while being shady.

80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10122d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref22d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde22d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197221d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville21d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218321d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos21d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
isarai22d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref22d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan22d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00721d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197222d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

22d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197222d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

22d ago
22d ago
Zeref22d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde22d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197222d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197222d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier21d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto21d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218321d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto21d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
Hofstaderman22d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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