Wii U has two options: Go the route of PS3 or GameCube

Gimme Gimme Games writes that people shouldn't write off the Wii U as being as successful as the GameCube so quickly. They reference how the PS3 wasn't selling much better than the Wii U is currently selling in its early months as well and that if Sony could turn the PS3 around then Nintendo could do the same with the Wii U.

[ShugaCane]

I would mind the Wii U being a commercial failure if it was anywhere near the awesomeness of the Gamecube. Seriously, most underrated system Ever. I still have mine, and it looks damn fine.

[jc48573]

If Nintendo wants to survive, they really have a tough road ahead of them. This time they are forced to release whatever titles they announce. Bring in those Japanese games like Fatal Frame and RPGs.

[iamnsuperman]

It isn't a question of Nintendo surviving (they will) but more off will the Wii U survive/being left behind. Nintendo are in a very unusual position that this and a lot of people ignore. The Wii U is a good console and definitely a big step up from the Wii. But with third party already dropping support, no real idea when the big games they have talked about for some time will come out and poor sales is not helping the Wii U. This wasn't the same as the PS3 situation because it still had third party support but it just needed a realistic price to get it moving.

"A new game system comes out and is considered over priced by the masses and while it has good first party software it misses out on a bunch of third party exclusives save for a few major ones. Sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about the Wii U, I’m talking about the PS3."

This isn't wholly true though for a Wii U comparison. Like I mentioned before the PS3 still had third party support regardless of poor sales. and it was a powerful machine compared to its competition. The Wii U will have trouble convincing potential buyers to go for it if the PS4 and the One keep showing those good looking games. Remember the average audience will look at a TV advert for a game and go "Well that looks better/life like" and then they will go with that

[guitarded77]

@ iamnsuperman

Yeah, I'm with you on that. Too different to have the Wii U go the PS3 route. IMO the Wii U's best option is for Nintendo to build an install base by slamming out first part exclusives (that's what most people buy Nintendo consoles for anyway) and dropping the price; once the install base has grown a bit concentrate on getting 3rd party support by having exclusive (less expensive) games that utilize the gamepad's feature set.

One of the problems so far has been that they are just now getting refined development kits/tools to the developers. Miyamoto said in the recent interview here on n4g somewhere. Of course 3rd party won't give a crap about Wii U when there isn't an install base, and development is tedious. Wii U is still capable of running 90% of the next-gen titles (even if the Wii U versions aren't as high in overall quality), they just need easy development, and enough consoles in the hand's of consumers to make it worth their wild.

[clrlite]

If they can drop the price, up the marketing, and bring on tons of amazing games(especially those nint exclusives) they will be fine. I can see it sitting next to my PS4 if they do the right thing.

[TheFirstClassic]

Some amazing games on the cube. That system was pure fun.

[die_fiend]

True, cube had many sweet games. Wii U should be abandoned

[Lykon]

agree about the game cube . It is a very cute console with good controllers and good graphics. My only few experiences with the wii were with groups of drunk people and a horrible controller that sounded like it had a ball bearing stuck in it. I remember trying to play a really shit looking boxing game and the controllers didn't seem to match what was going on on the screen at all. A girl I knew got excited and bought the silly exercise board thing. I think it was used twice. A friends 5 year old son joined the penguin club. whatever that is, but to be fair he seemed to like the console. I don't really get the point of the controller pad with the wii u.

[Dj7FairyTail]

GC made profit

[TekoIie]

First console I bough within the launch window. Rogue Squadron 2 was enough to justify my purchase!

I will shout this for as long as I live! We need a god damn HD remake for home consoles and 3DS!!!

[thomasmiller]

THANK YOU FOR PRINTING THE TRUTH!! SOME ONE WITH SOME BRAINS!! WHO RIGHTS A GREAT ARTICLE!! see you don't understand, the sony and microsoft trolls want nintendo to fail and so does the biased video game media!! but don't worry, nintendo could just do that, but don't tell the trolls to think like that... too much information in their tiny little brains could make their heads EXPLODE!!

[kneon]

The article is misrepresenting the facts. While the overall totals for the Wii U aren't horrible the problem is that most of those sales were in the first month or so. Since then it has been selling far lower than the 360 or PS3 ever did even in their worst months. And it's been consistently bad with rarely any significant improvement, and even those are short lived.

The Nintendo fans all rushed out and bought when it released while everyone else didn't even notice. And now with the Xbox One and PS4 they have little reason to bother with a Wii U.

[SilentNegotiator]

"Since then it has been selling far lower than the 360 or PS3 ever did even in their worst months"

That's exactly what I've been saying. Comparing Wii U to Ps3's or even Gamecube's lifespan is ridiculous. It isn't the same scenario.

Don't forget that Ps3 wasn't available in Europe for the first ~6 months.

[darkwalker]

Completely different scenario. The PS3's high price was seen the barrier to entry for most gamers. The Wii U however, is already priced competitively and doesn't have as much room to drop in price (without Nintendo taking a huge loss).

The PS3 was also the most powerful system last generation which meant quality software would eventually find its way to the system and gamers would in turn follow. The Wii U is the weakest console this generation and won't likely be seeing the same caliber of third party games as the PS3.

[eferreira]

I agree. It will sell pretty well when the major titles like 3d mario and mario kart come out. But with all the hype of the ps4 and xbox one, I don't see it keeping up. Unless they can produce a AAA Nintendo franchise game every month.

[ABizzel1]

Nintendo isn't taking a huge loss on anything. The Wii U cost at MOST $260 to produce, and they're selling at $299 and $349.

The Wii U is a fair sale at $299, the problem is comparatively to the competition PS360 and PS4 + X1 they're trapped between two huge competitors, and it's a lose-lose battle unless Nintendo does something and fast.

[iamnsuperman]

I saw somewhere it should be roughly $228 to make the Wii U. But this totally ignores years of planning and development which also cost a lot of money. Getting back the money from building it is one thing but they also need to get back the money from developing it while getting a healthy profit out of it. It would be pretty crap of a business to only make a couple of grand (not saying that is all Nintendo will get its just for argument sake) on a product that was on sale for 5 years

[Concertoine]

The loss on each console is probably whats keeping them from dropping the price. Reggie said near launch they take a small loss that is regained on one software sale

[ABizzel1]

Manufacturing cost are one of the first things to see a significant drop in production fees, simply because once you have enough supply, you don't need as many employees making the consoles. Wii U's aren't selling out, so manufacturing cost is down. R&D cost is usually covered by hardware and software sales, and Wii U sold for a profit Day1 with each piece of software sold with the console (Directly from Reggie).

Going by my $260 calculation (again it should be less, and @iamnsuperman $228 calculation is more on par with what my real estimate is) Nintendo has made at least $120 million off of the Wii U on hardware sales alone.

Nintendo can cut the price of the Wii U, however, I don't think cutting the price will solve their problems. It'll only give them a temporary boost.

They need:

1. First party games and exclusives. Your core wants to support you, but they can't if you're not making the games they want. However, this should be solved early 2014 when the bigger games launch, but they need a great line-up again for E3 2014 to keep confidence and the momentum going.

2. Identity. The Wii U is considered the console that plays Nintendo games. Well the Gamecube was too and it proved the Nintendo fan install base is only around 30 million (not bad, but not the success Nintendo was looking for). What's the purpose of the Wii U, and what does it do that set's it apart from the competition?

3. Marketing. Many people don't see the value of the Wii U over the PS360, and the upcoming PS4 and X1 and Nintendo needs to fix that. Why should people looking for a HD console get a Wii U instead of a PS360, or a PS4 / X1.

4. Fire Top Management or rearrange. Reggie and Iwata are out of touch with today's gamers. They saw all the problems HD gaming caused their competitors, and they learned NOTHING from them. It's time for some heads to start rolling. Get them out of there, and hire new management to develop better connections and relationships with publishers, developers, and journalist. And a team that can get Miyamoto and the others in a dungeon filled with Wii U devkits until they start churring out games.

5. 3rd party. They need to not only get 3rd party game son the console, but also get version designed for the Wii U, and unique experiences specifically for the Wii U (games like LA Noire, Heavy Rain, and Soul Suspect would be a perfect fit for Mature Wii U games).

6. After all that then drop the price to $249.

We should be seeing games like this on the Wii U, but instead it's a drought.

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[mii-gamer]

the economy is much worst than it was 6 years ago. Parts of Europe, America and Australia are struggling, disposable income isn't readily available like it was a couple of years ago

[Whitey2k]

They cant say go the ps3 way hes right that the ps3 off to a very bad start due to the price but ps3 still ended bup being 2nd in the console race

[SpitFireAce85]

Dont forget the ps3 still has awesome games coming out for it and at least another 3 years on the market so in the end it will sell 100mill plus and take the lead from the wii..:)

[Dj7FairyTail]

ps3 surpass 360 in shipment not sold

[Qrphe]

For products that are continuously being bought, shipped units and retail sales are pretty much the same thing.

[Dj7FairyTail]

not it not. ships to retailers only means the demands is better. Sold to customers is what reported. Sony reports ship numbers. Jack Tretton just said at E3 PS3 sold 70m.
Nintendo reports sold. Wii sold over 100m units worldwide.

[fsfsxii]

They don't ship because they like to, they ship highly expecting the system to sell. Anybody with small knowledge about economy knows that.

[dark-kyon]

wiuu have two option
1-see the ship sunk.
2-slash the price to 200 us the "premiun" bundle and cross fingers.

[ziratul]

Yeah, not even price can save them. Problem is they don't have GOOD 3rd party games at all. Those "bad ports" did more damage to Wii U than anything. It would be better if those games haven't been released at all.

[TripC50]

Need for Speed Most Wanted on the Wii U is awesome.

[ziratul]

@TripC50 Is that next gen racing game? Have you heard that Need for speed RIVALS won't be released on Wii U?

[meganick]

The Wii U's 3rd party game ports weren't bad. In fact, they were often better in certain ways. The problem was that many of them were released months or even more than a year after their PS3/360/PC counterparts, and for full retail price.

[Summons75]

I love the smell of whiners in the afternoon =]

PS Gamecube was a great system

[shibster88]

Im a big troll I dont care what happens to nintendo to me they are a failure in every way you can think of, games look crap and are fun for two mins thats it, bf4 on ps4/one will maybe now get 70+ players how can the wii u contend with that smash bros erm.......... nope not at all that somes it up

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

Not really the same thing. PS3 was built for the long haul. The power needed to be managed by 3rd and 1st parties, but it had a chance to beat its rivals graphic wise(which it did).

Wii U was built to ride off the Wii fanbase wave, but the fans said no. Like the Wii, it's a cheap product if we compare it to its current rivals(360 and PS3) and even more with its future ones.

3rd party studios are leaving it to die and 1st party studios didn't get a pace early on and still don't to this day. Next thing you know, X1 and PS4 will be here and all the Nintendo lovers will have is a HD remake of an old game and Pikmin 3...not enough.

[KongRudi]

I'm a PS-fan, but I think Wii U could do well.
I don't think it will do as good as PS4, but it seems like a decent system, and should be able to make a good product.

I think perhaps they need to focus on getting more tools into thirdparty hands, to make it easier for them to also port to Wii U.

Bayonetta 2 were a good steal, and if they can get a few more western devs when people start struggling economically, they could get a broader library, and a more interesting library than the current one, wich I feel is mainly based on Mario, Zelda and Pokemon. :-/
I think gamers will want it mainly as platform #2, when PS3 and 360 dies, they have a huge advantage there - since it's free online play. :)

[marchinggamer]

The Wii u sucks dick #justsayin

[deadeyes]

The biggest problem Wii U has is a lack of good games. We all know how Nintendo did a poor job with marketing,poor name, & underestimating R& D on hd games. Its not too late yet ! But if they dont get with it soon it could be. They aren't going out of the hardware business, but they do need fresh blood to develop their next console to be competive net time around...

[Bathyj]

Look, can I just call bollocks to this forever repeated myth that ps3 had a bad start. 2007 the first full year it was out and wasn't even out the whole year in europe, ps3 out sells the cheaper more game having xbox.

People are only saying it was bad because your remembering all the negative press it was getting. In reality it was doing very well considering all the things it had going against it.

[RFornillos4]

what i don't understand is why people would wanna write Nintendo off? yes, the Wii U may be struggling now, in terms of sales; but at the end of the day, it is not the only console Nintendo is selling -- there's the 3DS which has been steadily selling well all over the world. also, the fact is, even if they only come in 2nd or 3rd for this gen (vs. PS4/Xbone), will it mean them totally dropping off from the console business? of course not!

a lot of people comparing the situation of Nintendo with Sega during the Dreamcast days, but Nintendo is in a totally different boat right now. even if they land in 3rd place this gen, coming from a generation when the Wii sold higher than the PS3/360, and the handheld 3DS selling pretty darn well, Nintendo is far off from the dropping off the console business.