Wii U

[blipcs76]

Nintendo consoles are worth buying for the 1st party titles alone.  That being said, that doesn't make it a well-rounded all-ages/all-levels console it needs to be.  Nintendo seems to think that they'll magically get 3rd party support, but it's been dwindling each generation.  Wii had more support, but mostly from companies pushing garbage like Imagine Babies and M&M Racing.  There were a handful of core 3rd party titles (stuff like Madworld, No More Heroes, Muramasa, The Conduit, Silent Hill Shattered Memories), but they were few and far between.

The WiiU is suffering from lack of games.   Nintendo isn't getting their titles to market quickly enough and 3rd party devs are at best throwing scraps to the WiiU.   Nintendo really needs to up their game if they want to continue to be competitive -- their online features are a joke compared to the user-friendly and modern systems that are standard on PS/XB consoles.  Their console uses underpowered hardware and obsolete architecture.  The WiiU is simply not an attractive platform to Western developers, and Nintendo desperately needs game that cater to more than Nintendo fanboys.  They can only carry Nintendo so far.

Imagine how well the WiiU would be received if it was getting day 1 ports of popular games like GTA, Fallout, Bioshock, Borderlands, etc.  Western developers are what is driving the modern game market and Nintendo can't seem to get a second look from any of them other than Ubisoft (who seems to be quickly abandoning the WiiU).

I love Nintendo, but they're either too naive, too stubborn, or too cocky to do what needs to be done to court 3rd parties.

[burningdoom]

Nintendo consoles are worth buying for the 1st party titles alone.  That being said, that doesn't make it a well-rounded all-ages/all-levels console it needs to be.  Nintendo seems to think that they'll magically get 3rd party support, but it's been dwindling each generation.  Wii had more support, but mostly from companies pushing garbage like Imagine Babies and M&M Racing.  There were a handful of core 3rd party titles (stuff like Madworld, No More Heroes, Muramasa, The Conduit, Silent Hill Shattered Memories), but they were few and far between.

The WiiU is suffering from lack of games.   Nintendo isn't getting their titles to market quickly enough and 3rd party devs are at best throwing scraps to the WiiU.   Nintendo really needs to up their game if they want to continue to be competitive -- their online features are a joke compared to the user-friendly and modern systems that are standard on PS/XB consoles.  Their console uses underpowered hardware and obsolete architecture.  The WiiU is simply not an attractive platform to Western developers, and Nintendo desperately needs game that cater to more than Nintendo fanboys.  They can only carry Nintendo so far.

Imagine how well the WiiU would be received if it was getting day 1 ports of popular games like GTA, Fallout, Bioshock, Borderlands, etc.  Western developers are what is driving the modern game market and Nintendo can't seem to get a second look from any of them other than Ubisoft (who seems to be quickly abandoning the WiiU).

I love Nintendo, but they're either too naive, too stubborn, or too cocky to do what needs to be done to court 3rd parties.

Everything you're saying is true. But it's also the same story the N64 and GameCube had. And both of those systems are now highly-regarded and highly collectible.

Nintendo first-party titles are good enough to sell a system on their own. And N64 and GameCube are testaments to this fact. However, that's not to say it wouldn't be nice for Nintendo to have a good amount of third-party support again.

[stuntman64]

Western versions of Japanese games suck because they are censored here in North America. Even Zelda and Pokémon are too. don't comment on this if you haven't played a Japanese version of a Japanese game.

[redblaze57]

Western versions of Japanese games suck because they are censored here in North America. Even Zelda and Pokémon are too. don't comment on this if you haven't played a Japanese version of a Japanese game.

No More Heroes
JAP= Censored
NA= Uncensored

[stuntman64]

Western versions of Japanese games suck because they are censored here in North America. Even Zelda and Pokémon are too. don't comment on this if you haven't played a Japanese version of a Japanese game.

No More Heroes
JAP= Censored
NA= Uncensored

most games we get in NA are censored that are from Japan. I don't know about No More Heroes.

[insektmute]

Everything you're saying is true. But it's also the same story the N64 and GameCube had. And both of those systems are now highly-regarded and highly collectible.

Nintendo first-party titles are good enough to sell a system on their own. And N64 and GameCube are testaments to this fact. However, that's not to say it wouldn't be nice for Nintendo to have a good amount of third-party support again.

Highly regarded as they might be in some circles, sales-wise, both fell far short of their competitors in terms of sales figures:

N64: 32.93 million worldwide
GameCube: 21.97 million worldwide

If the Wii U continues as it has been, and the system sticks around for roughly 7 years, you're looking at maybe 27 million in sales during a time when both the US and Japanse economies are in the tank. These are not positive figues.

You could cite the Wii as an example of success across the board, but that system rode almost entirey on the Tickle Me Emo novelty of owning one. My aunt has one and a copy of Wii Sports, as does my office, but neither of them buy games, and that's been the experience of many. So it might have been successful, but it's not the kind that's sustainable or has any momentum behind it to carry them into the next gen, except to staunch the bleeding with leftover profits.

[burningdoom]

N64: 32.93 million worldwide
GameCube: 21.97 million worldwide

In what world are those numbers a failure?

Never said they did better than Sony.

[redblaze57]

I find this commercial amusing

[turf]

I find this commercial amusing

I like it.
I also like the Mario pack-in. That needs to be brought back.

[stuntman64]

Everything you're saying is true. But it's also the same story the N64 and GameCube had. And both of those systems are now highly-regarded and highly collectible.

Nintendo first-party titles are good enough to sell a system on their own. And N64 and GameCube are testaments to this fact. However, that's not to say it wouldn't be nice for Nintendo to have a good amount of third-party support again.

Highly regarded as they might be in some circles, sales-wise, both fell far short of their competitors in terms of sales figures:

N64: 32.93 million worldwide
GameCube: 21.97 million worldwide

If the Wii U continues as it has been, and the system sticks around for roughly 7 years, you're looking at maybe 27 million in sales during a time when both the US and Japanse economies are in the tank. These are not positive figues.

You could cite the Wii as an example of success across the board, but that system rode almost entirey on the Tickle Me Emo novelty of owning one. My aunt has one and a copy of Wii Sports, as does my office, but neither of them buy games, and that's been the experience of many. So it might have been successful, but it's not the kind that's sustainable or has any momentum behind it to carry them into the next gen, except to staunch the bleeding with leftover profits.

Nintendo is not just for the "tickle me elmo" audience. Our versions of Japanese games are shit.

[sin2beta]

Western versions of Japanese games suck because they are censored here in North America. Even Zelda and Pokémon are too. don't comment on this if you haven't played a Japanese version of a Japanese game.

It took me a while to realize what your post was referring to. But I think I figured it out. The only mention of the Japanese market before this was 1) WiiU sales increasing from WiiU Party an 2) western developed games are driving the market.

1) May be true. I'm not sure. But I don't think WiiU Party will drive sales in the west for the holidays. I feel pretty confident with that. The big things they had were Zelda and Pikmin. They're out. It will get a natural bump from the holidays, but that is it.

2) You can have your opinions on quality of games and censorship. But the point is moot. The fact remains that game development has become very western centric in volume, sales, and influence. That's not an issue of opinion. I will use the quote from the most recent episode of retronauts:

So what did we discuss while we were in Japan? Well, Japan. Specifically, I put the question to everyone: What was the golden age of Japanese games? Each contributor had a different response, and the result was a pretty interesting (if overly nostalgic) conversation. Responses range from the mid ’80s to the late ’90s; sadly, no one wanted to go to bat for the past couple of console generations.

People often talk about how hardware is becoming more and more PC like. Few people mention that the software is as well. Hell, JRPGs used to be the biggest thing. But the biggest RPG seems to be a very western Skyrim. 15 years ago, I would not have guessed that the JRPG would be dethroned by a western RPG in terms of popularity. Japanese games may still be good. Sadly, they just aren't as important as they used to be.

[ConsoleGeek]

Even with all the hype around the PS4 and XBone I do think the Wii U will see a nice increase in sales this holiday season. It'll be the only console people can actually walk into a store and pick up plus it's cheaper and comes with a pack-in game.

I personally just bought one about a month ago when they starting including the Mario/Lugi game bundle.

[soera]

I think that since there are now actual Wii U commercials playing on TV, the sales will pick up some during the holidays. Especially if people realize its the only console of the 3 thats backwards compatible.

[sin2beta]

I think that since there are now actual Wii U commercials playing on TV, the sales will pick up some during the holidays. Especially if people realize its the only console of the 3 thats backwards compatible.

I actually will start to agree with this. I was in my comic shop today and Adventure Time was playing in the background. I was shocked when I heard a WiiU commercial. Kudos Nintendo.

Plus, Mario 3D world looks insanely fun. I had a blast watching the Giant Bomb quick look of it.

[stuntman64]

I think that since there are now actual Wii U commercials playing on TV, the sales will pick up some during the holidays. Especially if people realize its the only console of the 3 thats backwards compatible.

I actually will start to agree with this. I was in my comic shop today and Adventure Time was playing in the background. I was shocked when I heard a WiiU commercial. Kudos Nintendo.

Plus, Mario 3D world looks insanely fun. I had a blast watching the Giant Bomb quick look of it.

Should have done it a year ago, but nintendo can fix their mistakes.