The NPD Group's November US retail game sales were glum enough on the surface, but an analyst note this morning provided some deeper insight into the disappointing figures.
In a note to investors, Longbow Research's James Hardiman shed some additional light on the numbers, calling specific attention to the performance of Wii U software sales. While the original Wii saw two games sold for every console in its opening month on shelves in 2006, the Wii U posted a comparatively paltry 1.2 games sold per system. Hardiman chalked that up to either the inclusion of NintendoLand in Wii U Deluxe bundles providing a compelling enough experience that players didn't feel the need for another game, or the higher prices for the Wii U ($299 for the Basic system, $349 for the Deluxe) left consumers without the spare funds for software.
The Nintendo Switch is potentially nearing its lifespan, and several Wii U games haven't found their way over as ports yet.
I think it's better to leave games like AC: Amiibo Festival and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash forgotten on the Wii U. Best case, they are mediocre games; worse case, they are very bad. It was a dark time for the Wii U, and the first only exists to sell Amiibo cards, whereas the second was put together in a couple of months with a shoestring budget, and it shows.
The rest of the list does have some really cool games, though. I would love to see a remake of Star Fox Zero with decent controls, and Xenoblade X doesn't require that much modification to work.
This article leaves out Nintendo's most controversial game to date devils Third.
I personally found the cover system really fun in that one compared to at the time most fps games completely lacking one.
Kirby is always ignored or forgotten by people, so good to see it mentioned here.
Play Kirby Canvas Curse on DS, and then play Rainbow Curse on Wii U, they're really fun and unique 'platformers' without any actual jumping.
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."
A new list goes over eight of the the most useless amiibo, ranging from the Shadow Mewtwo card to the Qbby figure.
That's a horrible attach rate. And didn't Nintendo say they were expecting something like 4 games per Wii U?
These guys aren't doing much to sell games it seems. Wii was wayyyyy higher.
What does it even matter this early after Wii U's release? The number will be going higher as more games are released.
Most of them are Christmas gifts, so they bought the deluxe version with Nintendo Land. I'm sure the attach rate will increase after Christmas.