Because most people have a PS3, Xbox360, or both and they already played most of the Wii U launch titles that are for the core. Once the software starts rolling in sales should pick up.
Nintendo ditched the core gamers for the casual market with the wii.. So I'm not surprised that the wiiu isn't doing as good as they thought assuming nintendo was expecting the core gamers to flock right back to them with an updated wiiHD. Guess they were wrong....
Same gaming experience for multiplat games, but on a pricier console?! No thanks.
@PopRocks359 Core gamers ditched Nintendo during the N64 and GC era because Nintendo was stuck and continues to be stuck in their own ideals, while systems like the PS1 pushed forward what we know today as modern gaming to the masses.
The Wii sold incredibly well because all of the marketing surrounding it was aimed at a casual audience. The NOVELTY of motion controls is what sold the Wii. Without motion controls, the Wii would have sold no more than the GameCube did, which was somewhere in the 20 million range.
The Nintendo fanbase is a lot smaller than some people would like to think and Nintendo knows that after the N64 and GC. It is why they used a gimmick(or novelty feature) like the Wii remote and targeted a different audience. They're trying to do the same with the Wii U and the gamepad, but I'm not sure it has the same appeal and impact as the original Wii did. Also because adding a "U" after "Wii" was a dumb decision. Kinda like DS Lite, DSi, etc were all just different versions of the same system, the average consumer looks at it and says "oh so it's a Wii with touchscreen" and don't think much else of it. And if you look at multiplatform games like Mass Effect and Batman, people that wanted to play those games either already did on their PS3/360 or will be able to. They don't feel the need to buy a whole new system to be able to do something that's already possible with what they currently own. Unless, of course, the only system you owned was a Wii. Then all of that will be new to you.
Most consoles release at a price that is 'too high' without many system selling games. PS3/360 were both more expensive than they were worth and didn't have any more system sellers than the Wii U does, look at them now. If the Wii U does what they have done over the past 7/8 years then Nintendo are on to a winner.
I think the Wii's original price, $250.00 was super attractive to mainstream audiences. I don't even know why. Maybe a more reasonable price, to non gaming consumers, a better name, even though I love the name. One of the N64's codenames was the Ultra 64 but most of all I think of Gumpei Yokoi's first toy, the Ultra hand. Like here's an example of a good name the Revolution. That would've been a great name and millions of people already like it. I think alot of people could say more games right now but you know I don't mind waitng for a great, system seller type game. Mario Kart U I believe is one of those types of games that are worth waiting for. Super Smash Bros. Universe is another one also. The WiiU is awesome seriously give a try it's fun. e3 is gonna be a huge time for Nintendo amazing games headed our way. Problem solved. A nice price drop probably wouldn't hurt.
I think the real answer is poor advertisement, and people not knowing that the Wii U is actually a brand new console and not a add on to the Wii. they really should have just called it the Wii 2 to avoid confusion.
I agree. It's a branding, advertising problem. I know what the Wii-U is because I'm a game nerd. I keep up on these things. Not one of the families I know with a Wii have bought a Wii-U and I'm willing to bet that if I asked them if they considered buying a Wii-U I'd just be met with blank stares.
Also of note, of the families I know with the Wii (none of them stepped up and bought a PS3 or 360 last gen) I haven't seen any of them turn it on except to use netflix in years. There was a time when I'd go over and the kids would be all over Super Mario Bros Wii, or Wii sports 24/7. Now the kids are a bit older, between 6-13 kinda range and I rarely see them without some tablet in their hands, or ipod touch. That's something else that as a developer I noticed.
Where I used to see the DS all the time when visiting friends with kids of this age group, there's no Vita's, there's no 3DS's, even the DS's which I know they own have disappeared. I don't know a single kid, no nephew/niece, no kids I see visiting friends and family, I haven't seen a single 3DS or Vita yet. Every single one of them has some small tablet now. Anyone else noticed this with kids between that 6-13 range, or is this just a regional thing?
I too have seen and experienced this. I have not seen one kid/teenager with a Vita and the kids/teens I have seen with a DS or 3DS don't even game on it anymore. I have only seen a couple of kids in college and work with a Vita. And I mean literally a couple.
Just recently I went to a friends house where he had his 4(!) nieces over and three of the oldest (also between 6 to 13) wanted an iPad/Phone for their birthdays. The nephews I have want either a ps3 or a 360, they know of the WiiU but they are not interested in it at all since they have played games like CoD, Gears or even GTA on their father's 360/PS3.
They have no idea that the WiiU is and that it is now trying to cater to the games that this younger generation has spent most of their time on. As much as I hate to say it I do think that the image the Wii cast on itself is directly hurting what the WiiU is. But only time can tell, it is still way too early to start declaring doom for the WiiU. We saw the same thing for other systems. Nintendo has been around the block a few times they know whats up.
Because they are trying to sell core games to casuals. That won't work. It's just like right now MS is trying to sell causal games(Kinect) to the core and they are not selling. Same thing.
Very true. Also the selling point is too much for casuals. Maybe they thought the tablet would make up for it. Problem is, its just not so appealing. The games are there i mean, the line up was stellar compared to te 3ds. Something just doesn't give
They should be the Kids console and only that, we already have PC, PS and XBOX we can afford to give our kids their own system. Nintendo would do superb as the official kids company.
That sounds like a clever statement but actually makes no sense.
Their arent outlets that only cater to one crowd so its always gamers in general. You can market to crowds but that if they are marketing to a specific crowd that means that who they are selling to as well.
Fact is they are in a conundrum. The early adopters "core gamers" are waiting to see what MS and Sony bring and the Wii U is (in what I see as a mistake by nintendo) is positioned as a more core unit compared to the Wii.
They did this because they wanted to try and divert the flow of casual consumers to MS by trying to make it seem like the casual trend was over. They should have marketed the Wii u as a super enhanced Wii.
And kinect software actually has good sales so i'm not sure whats the same.
i'd have to disagree, that xbox with a tablet controller is impressive, so much so that now ms has smart glass app, and who doesnt love this ps plus thing going on now. on top of that the games are good, no blockbusters yet but but nothing horrible. lacking games, adverts, and the anticipation of the ps4/xbox720 are the prob for nintendo now.
Chock the bad sales up to marketing and games. Especially games. I don't care how powerful and awesome the Ps4 and Nextbox will be (though I am personally excited for them) if they don't have enough games people want to play 3 months in then they can't expect to do any better. When Zelda, Smash Bros., and 3D mario come out we know they will move consoles so I guess we will see what else is in store from Nintendo. I personally feel that this year will be an amazing one for gamers. Especially unbiased ones
The wii for whatever reason caught the imagination of everybody and was just super popular with everyone. It was the talk of the town and everyone had to be part of it
The Wii u is.....not. Basically. And it's welcome back to GameCube success levels.
The WiiU is a really nice machine - well made and the idea is smart. Only problem is, it's much to hard to explain, elegantly, the appeal of the console. Even Nintendo are struggling to do this.
When you have to make two minute ling explanatory videos to help people 'get' what your console is all about - that should be a signal that there's something not quite right.
Unlike the Wii - which was simple and elegant, the WiiU is a Marketing nightmare.
i agree to an extent, the core crowd has no prob understanding the concept, however the casuals that nintendo is trying to hold onto as well need those explanatory vids. i'd hate to be in their marketing dept right now. later when they have a greater variety of games and apps demonstrating these concepts it'll be a much easier road for them i think
Remember when the ps3 launched & the fanbase was still small at the time but a new ip came along named "Heavenly Sword" & sold a million plus copies. Shows u that the core base enjoys NEW IP's. I can almost bet if nintendo brings a zelda game that looks as good as heavenly sword graphics id buy a wii u just for that game. Im kinda tired of the cartoony look. Bring zelda/metroid/mario to life now. If there is one thing those games need to freshen them & bring the games to life it would be to bring better graphics to them to make the world more IMMERSIVE. I always dreamed that one day nintendo would do that for us.
It's not selling particularly well because Nintendo are barely marketing it. The Wii U console itself is a great piece of kit but there's not much in the way of software at the moment - once the games start to flow a little more freely and there's a Nintendo 1st party game (or three) to sell they'll undoubtedly ramp-up the advertising.
not too sure where you are going with that one. isnt the ps3 a more powerful ps2 and the xbox360 a more powerful xbox. thus making the same for the ps4/xbox720 true over their last gen installments? isnt that the point of next gen, to change the way you play and view games? how marginal those changes are are up for debate, but your stating the obvious.
I got a lot of respect for Nintendo. They done great things in the gaming industry but since the Gamecube I lost interest in their consoles and games. There's nothing new and refreshing about their exclusives.
I honestly like the idea of the Wii U. I'm normally a competitive gamer with a mouse or a controller in my hand, testing my reflexes and struggling to be number one. But sometimes I like to kick it back with my friends and do some party gaming, and that's what the Wii has become, the party console. There are many fun games on the Wii U but they've all been mini games or an extra advantage to existing ideas.
I'm not disrespecting the Wii U in any way, but if they want to boost sales they should really bring out the most of Wii U. They have motion control, they have duel analog, and they have a fully functional touch screen with a decent battery life. Yeah I can see Mario, Zelda, and Metriod (and all their icons) but be risky and attempt some new pitches. I see Nintendo dipping their toes in with Bayonetta, to to swim you gotta jump!
Selling bad compared to what? There is no competition for it yet, and if you compare it to the Ps3/360 it is selling more than both of them did at this point in their lives combined. Silly media. Can we just get news without biases please?
Its not selling because Nintendo is counting on gimmicks instead of games. The wii remote was a gimmick that propelled the Wii to first place, but the fad died out. Once that happen Nintendo was left with trying to come up with games that no one wanted to buy.
If you notice the only games that sold well on the Wii was Mario, Zelda, and of course Wii resort.
Now the Wii U comes out and Nintendo is trying to sell you old HD remakes and rehashed games that were on the PS3 and 360. They figured a touch screen tablet would sell the Wii U.
The worst part about this is that the Wii U isn't even next gen hardware. Nintendo has gotten lazy and now they are feeling the heat. Reggie is out of touch.
They better hope Sony and M$ mishandle their new consoles the gen,
This is a small point but... It doesn't help that the "U" on the Wii-U logo doesn't even look like a "U". So people who might not be hardcore or avid gamers just see "Wii" written on the box and assume it will be compatible with their Wii.
I don't know how many times I've seen the guy at my local game store attempt to explain to a confused customer who's holding the Wii U box that the Wii U is a whole new console, and not just a Wii peripheral like the balance board. They still don't seem to get it, because the box/logo itself is confusing and there has been practically no marketing for the console itself.
"Then why is it next to the Wii stuff?" "Then why does it have Wii written on the box?" "How come my Wii can't play New Super Mario Bros U. It could play the other New Super Mario Bros game!" "So it's a new Wii? What's wrong with the old one?" ...And so on.
They're just a few complaints/questions I've heard while in my local gaming store. I imagine there are heaps more when I'm not there.
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So I'm not surprised that the wiiu isn't doing as good as they thought assuming nintendo was expecting the core gamers to flock right back to them with an updated wiiHD. Guess they were wrong....
Same gaming experience for multiplat games, but on a pricier console?! No thanks.
Looking at the sales figures I think that's because the core gamers ditched Nintendo during the N64 and GCN eras.
Also Need for Speed on Wii U looks more like the PC build than the 360/PS3 versions, so no, not all multiplatform games are guaranteed to be the same.
* Mario Kart U - 2-3 Million +
* 3D Mario U - 5 Million +
* Yoshi's Yarn - 500k +
* Super Smash Brothers - 5 Million +
* Fire Emblem X SMT - 500k-1.5 Million +
* Monoliths game - 500k +
There are games coming...but we must be patient.
Look at the 3DS...it took a while but now they are releasing at a more constant rate.
Core gamers ditched Nintendo during the N64 and GC era because Nintendo was stuck and continues to be stuck in their own ideals, while systems like the PS1 pushed forward what we know today as modern gaming to the masses.
The Wii sold incredibly well because all of the marketing surrounding it was aimed at a casual audience. The NOVELTY of motion controls is what sold the Wii. Without motion controls, the Wii would have sold no more than the GameCube did, which was somewhere in the 20 million range.
The Nintendo fanbase is a lot smaller than some people would like to think and Nintendo knows that after the N64 and GC. It is why they used a gimmick(or novelty feature) like the Wii remote and targeted a different audience.
They're trying to do the same with the Wii U and the gamepad, but I'm not sure it has the same appeal and impact as the original Wii did. Also because adding a "U" after "Wii" was a dumb decision. Kinda like DS Lite, DSi, etc were all just different versions of the same system, the average consumer looks at it and says "oh so it's a Wii with touchscreen" and don't think much else of it.
And if you look at multiplatform games like Mass Effect and Batman, people that wanted to play those games either already did on their PS3/360 or will be able to. They don't feel the need to buy a whole new system to be able to do something that's already possible with what they currently own. Unless, of course, the only system you owned was a Wii. Then all of that will be new to you.
Also of note, of the families I know with the Wii (none of them stepped up and bought a PS3 or 360 last gen) I haven't seen any of them turn it on except to use netflix in years. There was a time when I'd go over and the kids would be all over Super Mario Bros Wii, or Wii sports 24/7. Now the kids are a bit older, between 6-13 kinda range and I rarely see them without some tablet in their hands, or ipod touch. That's something else that as a developer I noticed.
Where I used to see the DS all the time when visiting friends with kids of this age group, there's no Vita's, there's no 3DS's, even the DS's which I know they own have disappeared. I don't know a single kid, no nephew/niece, no kids I see visiting friends and family, I haven't seen a single 3DS or Vita yet. Every single one of them has some small tablet now. Anyone else noticed this with kids between that 6-13 range, or is this just a regional thing?
Just recently I went to a friends house where he had his 4(!) nieces over and three of the oldest (also between 6 to 13) wanted an iPad/Phone for their birthdays.
The nephews I have want either a ps3 or a 360, they know of the WiiU but they are not interested in it at all since they have played games like CoD, Gears or even GTA on their father's 360/PS3.
They have no idea that the WiiU is and that it is now trying to cater to the games that this younger generation has spent most of their time on. As much as I hate to say it I do think that the image the Wii cast on itself is directly hurting what the WiiU is. But only time can tell, it is still way too early to start declaring doom for the WiiU. We saw the same thing for other systems. Nintendo has been around the block a few times they know whats up.
PS4 Baby!!!!
Their arent outlets that only cater to one crowd so its always gamers in general. You can market to crowds but that if they are marketing to a specific crowd that means that who they are selling to as well.
Fact is they are in a conundrum. The early adopters "core gamers" are waiting to see what MS and Sony bring and the Wii U is (in what I see as a mistake by nintendo) is positioned as a more core unit compared to the Wii.
They did this because they wanted to try and divert the flow of casual consumers to MS by trying to make it seem like the casual trend was over. They should have marketed the Wii u as a super enhanced Wii.
And kinect software actually has good sales so i'm not sure whats the same.
The Wii u is.....not. Basically. And it's welcome back to GameCube success levels.
When you have to make two minute ling explanatory videos to help people 'get' what your console is all about - that should be a signal that there's something not quite right.
Unlike the Wii - which was simple and elegant, the WiiU is a Marketing nightmare.
Give me stellar RPGs and I"ll buy the system /peers Monolith
I'm not disrespecting the Wii U in any way, but if they want to boost sales they should really bring out the most of Wii U. They have motion control, they have duel analog, and they have a fully functional touch screen with a decent battery life. Yeah I can see Mario, Zelda, and Metriod (and all their icons) but be risky and attempt some new pitches. I see Nintendo dipping their toes in with Bayonetta, to to swim you gotta jump!
Silly media. Can we just get news without biases please?
The wii remote was a gimmick that propelled the Wii to first place, but the fad died out. Once that happen Nintendo was left with trying to come up with games that no one wanted to buy.
If you notice the only games that sold well on the Wii was Mario, Zelda, and of course Wii resort.
Now the Wii U comes out and Nintendo is trying to sell you old HD remakes and rehashed games that were on the PS3 and 360. They figured a touch screen tablet would sell the Wii U.
The worst part about this is that the Wii U isn't even next gen hardware. Nintendo has gotten lazy and now they are feeling the heat. Reggie is out of touch.
They better hope Sony and M$ mishandle their new consoles the gen,
If took a little bit more of a gamble made the system more powerful and sold it at an initial loss they would have really dominated this gen.
I don't know how many times I've seen the guy at my local game store attempt to explain to a confused customer who's holding the Wii U box that the Wii U is a whole new console, and not just a Wii peripheral like the balance board. They still don't seem to get it, because the box/logo itself is confusing and there has been practically no marketing for the console itself.
"Then why is it next to the Wii stuff?"
"Then why does it have Wii written on the box?"
"How come my Wii can't play New Super Mario Bros U. It could play the other New Super Mario Bros game!"
"So it's a new Wii? What's wrong with the old one?"
...And so on.
They're just a few complaints/questions I've heard while in my local gaming store. I imagine there are heaps more when I'm not there.