It all seems so familiar. Feels like yesterday, everyone, the major gaming media sites, bloggers, and even gamers were saying a certain console was doomed to fail, and the company that released that console wouldn't survive this generation.
Flash forward to 2013. That same company has sold over 70 million consoles, has an impressive number of high quality games, and have announced a next generation gaming console that may be released this year. Not bad for a company that was on the ropes right? If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm obviously talking about Sony and the PS3, but now I feel like that same doubt has shifted to another veteran gaming company. Nintendo.
On November 18, 2012, Nintendo released the Wii U in the U.S. with 2 versions available. The basic, and the premium models. The prices were $299 for the basic, and $349 for the premium. I guess since it didn't fly off the shelves like the Wii console, that it's game over for this company and console too, right?
But, this isn't Nintendo's first rodeo. Since 1985 with the NES, till now with the WiiU, Nintendo has taken risk that the other companies haven't. Do people seriously think that Nintendo has survived all these years on luck alone? No. It's because they push innovation and make games that people enjoy.
The Wii U may be off to a slow start, but what about that other console and company that I mentioned earlier? They are still alive and kicking today, like Nintendo will be years from now.
In my opinion, if it wasn't for Nintendo, companies like Sony and Microsoft wouldn't be as successful as they are today. Nintendo took the risk years ago, even when the gaming market crashed, and they're still taking those same risk today.
I have faith in Nintendo to do what they always have done. Continue to push gaming the only way they know how.
They are true pioneers, and took those risk to get us to where we are now. Let's give them the chance to do something that no one else has the gall to do again with the Wii U. All they need is what the other company got when it paid off for them.
Time.
Wonder's role as Persona 5: The Phantom X's protagonist has thrust him into the spotlight, and there are clear parallels to the original's hero Joker.
The Xbox version of Final Fantasy XVI has failed to enter the platform's top 20 paid games list, indicating weak launch sales performance.
Day One Release vs One year later release with zero marketing to build excitement/hype.
Both Xbox and SE should know better.
Also fewer than half the consoles sold compared to the PS5 so much smaller customer base.
I get that the game was older.
But so were Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon when they came to playstation and those made it into the top download lists for awhile. So the coming a year later excuse doesn't really fly anymore.
look at stellar blade on PC. over a year later and it's already sold over a million copies. this has nothing to do with marketing or hype. the xbox audience, broadly speaking, just doesn't purchase games.
Excuses lol. Everyone already knew this would be the case. 90% of Xbox players don't buy games.
If it ain't on gamepass, they ain't interested.
Great job MS for training most of your player base to not want to actually buy games, maybe SE will realise releasing FF on xbox isn't somehow going to help them match their exaggerated sales targets. Hopefully remake fairs better, probably will on Switch 2 at least.
You realize it got most of its sales on PS5 right? Not even the PC version did all that well. One platform will take most of the sales as it had moat of the hype.
No game, especially a AAA one, deserves strong sales after taking years to arrive on a platform and still asking the same price as everywhere else. You can’t just ignore a platform for that long and then expect people to be excited by the release. That cycle came and went already, there is no hype for it anymore.
Either you're all in from the start or you're not. This lazy, bare-minimum approach of tossing out a late port and calling it a day shouldn't be rewarded. If you're not willing to respect the platform, don't bother showing up at all.
But the formerly exclusive Xbox games like Forza Horizon enjoyed great sales on PS even after years past their initial release.
Your references to deserving and "shouldn't be rewarded" implies that gamers are buying games based on some moral platitude that simply doesn't exist in practice.
Gamers buy games because they want to play them.
Nah, it implies how it should be. If gamers weren't the dumbass consumer class around, being played like freaking dumbass because they can't get over the hype for a freaking second and think if that purchase even make sense.
This is EXACTLY why they wouldn't and shouldn't bother im the first place. I can't remember which FF game launched on Xbox with the Switch and Playstation version and ONLY did 4% sales on Xbox. So lets not pretend these sales would have been better because if you believe that you are absolutely delusional
"Either you're all in from the start or you're not. This lazy, bare-minimum approach of tossing out a late port and calling it a day shouldn't be rewarded. If you're not willing to respect the platform, don't bother showing up at all."
Weird. How come you don't say the same about Xbox studio games that show up some YEARS/DECADES later as well?
Sea of Thieves
Grounded
Forza Horizon 5
Pentiment
Hi Fi Rush
Gears of War
Mostly at full price and selling well. Oh right doesn't fit your BS narrative
Survival Kids tries and fails to rekindle an old Konami franchise by bringing it to the Switch 2, but ends up leaving it stranded and to fend for its own.
People will never stop declaring "Nintendo is doomed" Nintendo after all, aren't trying to appeal to the same crowd as Sony and MS so that's apparently already reason enough to hate them for some people...
There's different things for every console/platform.
Sony/Vita/PS3/PS4 - Doom and gloom a lot of the time.
Nintendo/Wii U - Ridicule and doom lots of the time.
Microsoft/Xbox 360/Kinect - Lol.
PC Gaming - This deserves it's ridicule/hate both ways. Console and PC gamers will always hate each other. I would like to point out though, PC gamers often throw in specs for gaming rigs that cost $2-4000, and only 2-3% of PC gamers have.
Nintendo made a profit. Sony is better thou, more power in their hardware with really good exclusives. Nintendo can go through a doomed "console" they are worth billion and have a HUGE software attach rate with their exclusives.
If Wii U were to be a fail. Okay it's one fail, then look how many Sega went through and then died : D
I think the main issue for Nintendo as compared to what Sony went through with the PS3 is that Nintendo is still heavily struggling with third party support. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even Madden 25 isn't going to be on the WiiU as of now and EA Sports is always willing to port Madden to anything. Despite losing third party exclusivity, Sony still at least had prevalent third party software on the PS3.
I don't dislike Nintendo in anyway, its always fun to play a Mario or DK game etc, but the question is if even those legendary games can sustain a console anymore. They finished in second by default to the PSX since the Saturn was a miserable failure, then finished third behind the PS2 and XBox. The motion control fad helped the Wii sell the most consoles thus far this generation, but when it comes to home consoles, it's not like Nintendo has been bulletproof since the SNES days.
I own a WiiU and I can totally understand where all these doom articles are coming from. I bought the console specifically for its first party games but after buying Nintendoland and Mario at launch there have been no new games for it, and no 1st party games even have release dates !
I wouldnt go as far as to say that the WiiU is doomed but it has certainly lost all its momentum.