210°

Is Nintendo Giving Up on Wii U?

After the massive success of the original Wii, Nintendo was expected to develop a popular successor. Thus far, the company has failed. Despite the sales declines, Nintendo execs had vehemently fought against the prospect of developing software for smartphones. PC downloads were also off the table.

Read Full Story >>
benzinga.com
discordman4041d ago

It's been five months. The console and gaming dedicated platforms are not involved in any race with the iPhone. The 3DS pulled itself out of the bottom and is doing rather well, and the Wii U will find it's place soon enough. Learn your topic before speaking on it.

iGAM3R-VIII4041d ago

Agreed, smartphones/ mobile phone games can never and will never compete with console gaming

MariaHelFutura4041d ago

I agree w/ what you're saying. But, handhelds and consoles are two entirely different markets. The Wii U has a lot of things going against it right now, like no 3rd party support, new consoles on the horizon, no direct target audience and not many big 1st party titles out currently. They can change this but it'll take some major work and doing it quickly wouldn't hurt.

AJBACK2FRAG4040d ago

In five or six years there will be no distiction between a Nintendo handheld device and a Nintendo home console. Nintendo merging their two different departments in my opinion reflect this. Look at the Wii U. It looks like a handheld powered by a base unit. If I'm right you're gonna see a huge difference in the way people view such devices. If I'm wrong... so what?! Retro is working on the new Eternal Darkness? I was way off!

mcstorm4041d ago

What I find funny about all these doom and gloom articles is that Sony and Microsoft have still not released there next gen consoles and for all we know the sales of both there consoles could be less than the wiiu in the same time frame.
No one knows what will and wont be the best selling. Look at the 3ds and psv. Everyone on here was saying the psv will walk all over the 3ds but its not turned out that way.
People also said the 360 would be a flop and crushed by the ps3 when Microsoft announced it but it was a big success.
The PS3 was going to walk all over the Wii and 360 but it fell flat on its face in its 1st two years in the market then everyone was saying the PS3 will be a big flop and then sales started to pickup after its 1st two years on the market.
The technology world is very unpredictable and we will not know if the WiiU is a success until Nintendo show us there next home console and know what the WiiU sales are like compared to the ps4 and next xbox.

3-4-54040d ago

Yea the are deciding not to release:

* 3D Mario game

* Mario Kart U

* Legend of Zelda U

* Super Smash Brothers

because non of those will sell more than 10k copies right ?

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4040d ago
caseh4041d ago (Edited 4041d ago )

I think its currently suffering with PS3-itis, released at a premium price with a limited amount of games that scream 'BUY ME'.

Should be ok once it sees a price drop and more game I would imagine.

What shocked me the most was walking into GAME a day or two ago and seeing about 90% of the games retailing at £49.99. GAME are pretty bad for pricing but even most new games on PS3 and Xbox don't retail at this price.

RTheRebel4041d ago

Yep samething happend to PS3 no games that were hey BUY ME
Give it time and the great games will come
Nicely said on your behalf

wantonGamer4041d ago (Edited 4041d ago )

Don't know that I fully agree. PS3 fought back with the help of not only promising looking new exclusive IP's but most importantly with the help of massive third party support.

The Wii U might get the former but right now it doesn't look like it'll get the latter. And you absolutely need both. And if you can't have both then atleast you should have the latter, as Xbox 360 has shown.

Also the Wii U lacks that X factor the Wii had that pulled in the casuals. The people are wise to Nintendos act and won't be so quick to fall for it again.

N4g_null4040d ago

Nintendo first party isn't as weak as Sony. Who bought a ps1 or two for Sony made games really? Yet everyone buys for Nintendo games. The only thing that held back nintendo was nintendo. Up until the wii all of their 3d game play was lacking. Now that they had great framerates on wii the fun came back.

It all came down to gameplay capable not graphical power. A great artist can make any power level awe inspiring.

Tei7774041d ago

EVERY STOP WRITING ARTICLES ABOUT NINTENDO'S DOOM, E3 IS ONLY 2 BLOODY MONTHS AWAY!!!!!

Dfooster4041d ago

The wii was a novelty toy that defined the naughties pretty much like the Rubik's cube defined the 80's.

I can't believe Nintendo thought it would work again with the wii u by aiming once more at the casual market. The casual market are the most fickle type of people, they wait for something big to happen jump on a bandwagon and hop from latest thing to latest thing whatever gets spoon fed to them. The wii had its time it sold well but Nintendo have clearly backed the wrong crowd next gen. You could see this coming weeks after the original wii was launched but a lot of experts were too caught up in how much $ Nintendo were making to see what was going to happen.

History will teach Nintendo the hard way to never alienate the hardcore gamer. They need to compete with Sony and Microsoft if they are to survive whether they like it or not.

4041d ago Replies(2)
PS4isKing_824041d ago

The only problem I see is that Nintendo tried to beat Sony and Microsoft to market, just like Microsoft did back in 05 against Sony. Except instead of faulty hardware, the games weren't ready to go yet, leaving a console on store shelves as it waits for some badly needed software. Plus of course the name of the console isn't helping either. But hopefully things will begin to correct themselves in the coming months as we get closer to e3 and beyond.

Wolven4040d ago

WOW! A Sony-fan named profile hoping for the best for Wii U! Yay!!!

Show all comments (65)
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?"

purple10110d 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 ☝️

Zeref9d 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.

DarXyde9d 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.

PhillyDonJawn9d ago (Edited 9d 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.

Einhander19729d 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.

MrBaskerville9d 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.

shinoff21839d 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.

Profchaos9d 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 9d ago
isarai10d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref9d 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.

MrNinosan9d ago

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

mkis0079d ago (Edited 9d ago )

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

Einhander197210d 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.

10d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197210d ago

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

10d ago
10d ago
Zeref9d 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.

DarXyde9d 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.

Einhander19729d 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.

Einhander19729d 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.

BehindTheRows9d ago (Edited 9d 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.

Zeref9d ago (Edited 9d 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.

Chevalier9d 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.

Tacoboto9d 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.

shinoff21839d ago

Yay steam

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

Tacoboto9d 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 9d ago
Hofstaderman9d 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?

crazyCoconuts9d 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.

Xeofate9d ago (Edited 9d 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.

crazyCoconuts8d 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

FinalFantasyFanatic9d 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.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel16d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8816d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing15d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS15d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder15d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218315d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.