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[cafemomo]

As for Lightening Returns, it's anyone's guess. I wish that game wasn't another FF13, because the battle system looks interesting.

There is a demo on JP PSN store you can try out if you are curious

Loved every moment of LR. Battle system and the customizations are amazing. And it has a lovely OST to boot. Of course the storyline is a hot mess and it's more akin to a fanfic at this point, but that's expected from a Toriyama directed game.
I wished the game sold a lil bit better, but it is what it is. Time to move on from the XIII trilogy.

 

[Road]

Is the Aikatsu in chart the sequel of this one?

[3DS] Aikatsu! Cinderella Lesson (Bandai Namco) - 9.019 / 120.847 / 7,46% 15/11/12

If it is, then, we have a possible "positive" story of the week.

Yep.

The arcade is popular:

 

[Scum]

But some major publishers already abandoned Wii U. And I don't see any attempt by Nintendo to gain some major 3rd party support in NA, which makes thing even dire.

3rd party business shenanigans differs greatly from what Nintendo console(s) can provide. They're better off providing those lost IPs themselves.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Are you being obtuse? Declining #'s mean nothing? How'd that ps tripple fair against the ps2? how's the Wii u doing against the Wii? How about final fantasy lightning whatever vs. other ff's? But I'm not having this conversation with you again. Ps 4 will save Japan! Better?

PSP+DS ----> 53 million
PSV+3DS (so far)------> 16 million

PS2+Xbox+GC ----> 25.9 million
PS3 +Wii+360 (so far) ------> 23.9 million

So wheres this writing on the wall?
If your going to act condescending you could at least try and have a sound argument for your point. Instead it just makes you look ill-informed and childish.

 

[maxiell]

Per interviews with Sony execs, it was conceived largely as a way to get the Japanese into video streaming services. Can't say I'm surprised that it hasn't worked out, but I don't see it being much more successful in the West, even as a PS4 accessory.

They're probably just going to bundle it with Minecraft outside of Japan and hope to ride the tail end of that wave. I think they just needed something new for the holidays in Japan, but no, it certainly hasn't worked out so far.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Wow everyone just look at the numbers for SM3DW without context. Comparing the Galaxies to SM3DW, I mean Wii userbase against 1.1 million Wii Us, I actually think it did just decent (10% attach rate) and it is a title that might have legs. 3D Mario generally do OK but this is not NSMB series.

You can compare it to Sunshine's 280K then instead... or roughly 20% attach rate?

Price cuts are dangerous because well, WiiU has the potential to never be appealing, lol, and Nintendo would be losing even more money with each unit sold. At this point I'm not sure they can just remove the controller without a pretty drastic OS change. Also, they sell legacy titles... on 3DS, at way higher prices than most games that sell well on iOS. Particularly in Japan, I saw flyers of Virtual Console being basically a system-selling feature for Wii. Some people buy systems for those, so I am one of those who think losing exclusivity could be quite harmful.

I highly doubt legacy titles are major incentive for 3DS ownership any more than Wii BC is serving as a major selling point for the Wii U. And no, they obviously couldn't charge ridiculous prices for 30 year old games on the AppStore.

People fear the slippery slope, but smart devices really aren't going anywhere and finding ways to properly leverage them should be an integral part of these companies' plans.

Re: Price cuts, I think they need to cost reduce and sell profitably or only at a slight loss, which is why the only way I can see them doing that is culling the controller. It would sell better as a low cost system to budget shoppers, than it is now as a system that nobody wants or that the people who do want it aren't willing to pay the price for.

 

[bigmit3737]

I'm curious about the original GE numbers for week 2. The drop off for GE 2 seems steep no?

 

[InsaneZero]

The WiiU HW is way too expensive to be viable for the casual market though. It was sold at a loss when it was 350 and because only Nintendo buys most of the components they will probably not go down in price any time soon.

The WiiU is low power, but for a handheld device it is insanely high power. A tablet usually peaks at 8 watts while the WiiU uses 32 watts. If they somehow managed to to lower that to 22 watts including the screen it would drain the iPad 4 battery (43Wh) in just under two hours and need fan cooling similar to a laptop (slim ultrabooks have 17W CPUs). The iPad 4 is pretty much a battery with a screen under the hood:

It's a modern day Saturn and the faster Nintendo makes a Dreamcast the better.

Nintendo shouldn't rush a new console to market. The Wii U will end up with a short life regardless, so what they should be doing is using that time to experiment with new marketing tactics/strategies and repositioning the product to prepare for a smoother transition.

 

[Tripon]

Every thread: The game industry is doomed when the Wii U fails to meet even the most modest of sales goals. It never fails.

Even when it meets it, the talk goes to how next week, the Wii U is doomed and won't meet the modest projections.

 

[Scum]

Iwata needs to go. It's not his positions or his values that matter, it's the results.

The idea that Nintendo should be going with a combination of hardware and software is not necessarily wrong, but Iwata has really botched the execution of this strategy. I still believe that they should stick to this idea instead of becoming a strictly third-party publisher, but Iwata has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted to make this happen. Actually, the top management as a whole will need to be shaken up, since it's a lot of things that've gone wrong for the Wii U (and the 3DS on a smaller scale).

Now, while we don't know Nintendo might do with new management, but Nintendo really needs to be overhauled right now because their current course is untenable.

Well, he's temporarily put himself in charge of NoA, so he might run off there. He'll be ejected soon enough. :lol
By the way, does anyone know if Tatsumi Kimishima, along with Miyamoto and Takeda, make up Nintendo's Senior Management?

 

[Snakeyes]

Seems like Nintendo is going to third pillar Wii U like they did with the GBA, despite it being not much of a pillar. Leave it on the market for 3-4 years just to make it look respectable and not create a precedent for abandoning a middling console at the first signs of failure, roll out with a successor in 2016-17.

 

[cyberheater]

....and how did that work out for them again?? That's kind my whole point dude:

Okay. I missed your point. I know we think they can't repeat the same mistake again but in your hearts of hearts, you know that that's exactly what they will do again.
It's a company that first and foremost firmly believe that there vision of a system is all that matters and the consumers should just fall in line.

If the WiiU had come out with a more powerful CPU/GPU even at the expense of not having BC and a standard type controller without a touchscreen at a better price and with better launch software then it would have sold a lot better and had a lot more support from 3rd parties.

 

[sörine]

Every thread: The game industry is doomed when the Wii U fails to meet even the most modest of sales goals. It never fails.

This sort of veiled trolling might work better were 3DS and Vita not struggling well behind their predecessors and VitaTV not crashed and burned so hard. Wii U is certainly fucked, but the market at large is not exactly in great shape.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Is Vita TV supposed to be a reflection on the "game industry" now too?

 

[Nirolak]

2D Mario and casual games are what are actually selling Wii Us even today. The bundle that didn't particular interest core gamers (also this week's 3D World buyers) bumped sales more than any core game release. And if you listen to Vinnk it's what could give Nintendo a decent holiday.

Core games seem more of a lost cause on Wii U, 3D World is just more part of that failing segment.

It does have the advantage of being 2D like enough to become more popular later if the Wii U can become more popular first. It could sell on the strength of the console, if it ever gets that strength, but it won't convince a core gamer to invest in a Wii U.

Sorry, I was fairly unclear.

I don't think the games are the wrong idea, I think the console is the wrong idea and thus the games don't work sufficiently on it.

They need something much, much cheaper for the audience they want, and may also want to reassess software pricing.

Barring that, some kind of stunning new IP for casual gamers and/or broad market Nintendo fans instead of just reusing their existing brands continually and hoping they can motivate sales to an audience often known for being reticent to buy frequent sequels, if they buy any sequels at all.

 

[InsaneZero]

Well, he's temporarily put himself in charge of NoA, so he might run off there. He'll be ejected soon enough. :lol
By the way, does anyone know if Tatsumi Kimishima, along with Miyamoto and Takeda, make up Nintendo's Senior Management?

Most likely. Iwata's been grooming him for a while.

Slightly related tangent here: I don't necessarily think that Iwata isn't a hard worker or isn't working for Nintendo's best interest. Iwata simply cannot be CEO, but he shouldn't be entirely removed from Nintendo. I think that keeping Iwata in charge of NA (as in, making him actually live here and work with NOA) probably might be an illuminating experience for Nintendo as a whole.

 

[megabytecr]

You can compare it to Sunshine's 280K then instead... or roughly 20% attach rate?

OK, what was the GC userbase at the time? I am not saying this was an amazing launch in any way, just decent, and it can have legs. But the 3DS has the bigger pie in Japan.

 

[RM8]

If the WiiU had come out with a more powerful CPU/GPU even at the expense of not having BC and a standard type controller without a touchscreen at a better price and with better launch software then it would have sold a lot better and had a lot more support from 3rd parties.

WiiU is not getting PS360 titles. Power is not the issue here. If WiiU had been a more powerful system, it could be in a potentially worse situation actually. Nintendo just didn't make sure to launch it with strong titles, and it had a terrible first year for its library.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

WiiU is not getting PS360 titles. Power is not the issue here. If WiiU had been a more powerful system, it could be in a potentially worse situation actually. Nintendo just didn't make sure to launch it with strong titles, and it had a terrible first year for its library.

Maybe I'm in Bizarro land, but looking squarely at its launch roster, it was a pretty nice lineup, especially for Japan.

Is there any chance for the Vita to turnaround? Its biggest game released last week and it's dropped like a rock already. A new cheaper model was released as well a few weeks ago. What else is left? And it's doing a lot worse in the West...

Only hope I see outside of Japan is making a Walled App Garden store that runs select top Android apps. It has the hardware, and it needs to take advantage before it falls behind the mid-tier Android phones.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Is there any chance for the Vita to turnaround? Its biggest game released last week and it's dropped like a rock already. A new cheaper model was released as well a few weeks ago. What else is left? And it's doing a lot worse in the West...

I bought the Tearway bundle today and feel kinda bad about it now, seeing these numbers after what was supposed to be Vita's biggest week. I already have a Wii U and don't want a second "dead" console... At least with the Wii U I know that Nintendo will release their big games on it. I don't have that kind of confidence in Sony, their focus will all be on the PS4.

 

[metalslimer]

OK, what was the GC userbase at the time?

It doesn't matter. You can't try and use the userbase argument when he is talking attach rates.

s there any chance for the Vita to turnaround?

Vita is what it is in Japan. It's a niche product that will garner some ok sales considering where it started. It will never be a big success

 

[shinra-bansho]

OK, what was the GC userbase at the time?

It's a pretty simple calculation from the sales and the attach rate...

But here: http://garaph.info/weeklyoverview.php?week=2002-07-15

 

[Scum]

Sorry, I was fairly unclear.

I don't think the games are the wrong idea, I think the console is the wrong idea and thus the games don't work sufficiently on it.

They need something much, much cheaper for the audience they want, and may also want to reassess software pricing.

Barring that, some kind of stunning new IP for casual gamers and/or broad market Nintendo fans instead of just reusing their existing brands continually and hoping they can motivate sales to an audience often known for being reticent to buy frequent sequels.

They did so well before, especially with the DS, with titles @ £29.99 or less. That £$¥39.99 priced software for the 3DS sucks. Same goes for WiiU hardware and software prices. Time to established the current crop of IPs on 3DS/future handheld and experiments/New IPs/Better priced HD Remakes on WiiU. Might as well.

 

[cafemomo]

What else is left?

FFX

 

[Majmun]

FF is dying.

Or we just need a good FF game.

 

[Tripon]

Most likely. Iwata's been grooming him for a while.

Slightly related tangent here: I don't necessarily think that Iwata isn't a hard worker or isn't working for Nintendo's best interest. Iwata simply cannot be CEO, but he shouldn't be entirely removed from Nintendo. I think that keeping Iwata in charge of NA (as in, making him actually live here and work with NOA) probably might be an illuminating experience for Nintendo as a whole.

Kirashima is a decade older than iwata. Kirashima back in Japan because that's his retirement job, not because he's going to replace Iwata. If anyone is close enough to the job, it's probably satoru shibata.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

What is stock like for PSVTina aguilera?

Vita TV wishes it was as successful as Legentina.

Spoiler

We haven't heard anything about stores running out of stock.

 

[RM8]

Maybe I'm in Bizarro land, but looking squarely at its launch roster, it was a pretty nice lineup, especially for Japan.

If you remove all the games that could also play on PS360, it's super weak, really. It's basically Mario (released shortly after NSMB2), Nintendo Land and ZombiU.

 

[Asd202]

Anyone knows how LR did on 360?

 

[sörine]

Is Vita TV supposed to be a reflection on the "game industry" now too?

I wouldn't argue against it being partially a reflection of the struggles consoles in particular are facing. Sure the platform has it's own unique issues (like Wii U) but a console in general seems like a tough sell in Japan these days.

3DS, Vita, Wii U, Vita TV, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360. Nothing is really doing great except arguably 3DS and even that comes with a big caveat of being way down on it's predecessor.

 

[RM8]

Nothing is really doing great except arguably 3DS and even that comes with a big caveat of being way down on it's predecessor.

No handheld will ever top DS, though. I mean... I guess it could happen if smart devices suddenly disappear or something. But DS is the second best selling game system ever made, that's just not happening again soon.

 

[cyberheater]

WiiU is not getting PS360 titles. Power is not the issue here. If WiiU had been a more powerful system, it could be in a potentially worse situation actually. Nintendo just didn't make sure to launch it with strong titles, and it had a terrible first year for its library.

Having the extra screen definitely affected wether 3rd party devs developed for the system. It was yet another barrier to entry.

 

[megabytecr]

It's a pretty simple calculation from the sales and the attach rate...

But here: http://garaph.info/weeklyoverview.php?week=2002-07-15

Thanks, yes closer to 19% attach rate. Yes I have no problem admitting that in light of those numbers it is disappointing. It is a very good game and I hope that word of mouth helps this one in the long run.

 

[shinra-bansho]

I wouldn't argue against it being partially a reflection of the struggles consoles in particular are facing. Sure the platform has it's own unique issues (like Wii U) but a console in general seems like a tough sell in Japan these days.

3DS, Vita, Wii U, Vita TV, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360. Nothing is really doing great except arguably 3DS and even that comes with a big caveat of being way down on it's predecessor.

I don't really see the Vita TV as a sign of anything other than it not being a particularly good product for the market. The same goes for the Wii U, and until it received a major price cut and revision the PSV (which is now selling "okay"). And I wouldn't really draw anything about the consumer appetite for video game systems from the sales of latter 7+ year old hardware.

That doesn't necessarily preclude that the market is changing though.

Mobile is eating handheld is eating console, I imagine. But I still think there's a viable market there for both handhelds and consoles and the failing products are simply failing to appeal to it.

 

[RM8]

Having the extra screen definitely affected wether 3rd party devs developed for the system. It was yet another barrier to entry.

I don't think it's a big deal. Throw a map there or and you're good to go, DS-style.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

If you remove all the games that could also play on PS360, it's super weak, really. It's basically Mario (released shortly after NSMB2), Nintendo Land and ZombiU.

In Japan, you had Monster Hunter, Dragon's Quest, Mario, it's own version of Tekken, its own version of Ninja Gaiden, its own version of Musou Orochi, and a few more within launch window. Pretty strong for Japan.

Hence threads like "Any reason why the Wii U WON'T Dominate Japan?"

 

[The_Lump]

Okay. I missed your point. I know we think they can't repeat the same mistake again but in your hearts of hearts, you know that that's exactly what they will do again.
It's a company that first and foremost firmly believe that there vision of a system is all that matters and the consumers should just fall in line.

If the WiiU had come out with a more powerful CPU/GPU even at the expense of not having BC and a standard type controller without a touchscreen at a better price and with better launch software then it would have sold a lot better and had a lot more support from 3rd parties.

Im not so certain this time (if there is another time, that is). What was different with WiiU was that they made their shareholders very rich by taking that blinkered "ignore the rest of the industry trend" type approach with it's predecessor. They tried it again and clearly the market had changed and as a result shareholders are now out of pocket.

The Wii was the first time Nintendo went for niche and it paid off big time, so who can blame their board for trusting that it should work again? Next time around, they won't have that confidence and no one is going to back that option again.

 

[MoogleWizard]

FFX

That's it? =(

Shame, it's such a nice system, except for the memory card thing.

 

[Road]

Anyone knows how LR did on 360?

I'm setting up my microscope.

Just a minute.

Spoiler

You reminded me of all the three people questioning why P5 isn't on the Xbox 360.

 

[Scum]

Most likely. Iwata's been grooming him for a while.

Slightly related tangent here: I don't necessarily think that Iwata isn't a hard worker or isn't working for Nintendo's best interest. Iwata simply cannot be CEO, but he shouldn't be entirely removed from Nintendo. I think that keeping Iwata in charge of NA (as in, making him actually live here and work with NOA) probably might be an illuminating experience for Nintendo as a whole.

I've always thought that something like this...

Shibata - NCL President
Iwata - NoA President
Someone from within - NoE President

...might not be a bad idea. But yeah, it might be a better idea for Iwata to work with the CEO/President(s) of the other branches than hang around the Senior Management he currently has now. XD

 

[RM8]

In Japan, you had Monster Hunter, Dragon's Quest, Mario, it's own version of Tekken, its own version of Ninja Gaiden, its own version of Musou Orochi, and a few more within launch window. Pretty strong for Japan.

Hence threads like "Any reason why the Wii U WON'T Dominate Japan?"

MH: Port. It's also on 3DS.
DQ: Port.
Mario: Too close to NSMB2, apparently Japan just doesn't care a lot.
Tekken: Port of a game that didn't sell too well on any system anyway.
Ninja Gaiden: Port of a universally bashed game.
Warriors Orochi: Port.

I'm not saying you're one of them, but often ViitaU fans act like games don't need to be exclusive to be appealing and move systems. That list screams "stuff you can play elsewhere".

 

[Ty4on]

Make me wonder what makes it so expensive. Why won't Nintendo remodel the Gamepad instead?

It uses a lot of specialized parts unlike the other current gen consoles and almost everything mobile. The CPU is 45nm which is really big nowadays with smartphone SOCs at 28nm heading towards 20nm and Intel down at 22 with 14nm at the horizon. It's basically a Saturn.

Nintendo shouldn't rush a new console to market. The Wii U will end up with a short life regardless, so what they should be doing is using that time to experiment with new marketing tactics/strategies and repositioning the product to prepare for a smoother transition.

Sure, but they should use this time to plan the next move and what to do with WiiU. Making the WiiU sell even GC numbers will cost a lot of money.

You can see similar mistakes done with the 3DS, but not as big. The 3DS is powered by two ARM11 CPUs. Why two? Because the DS had an ARM7 and an ARM9 and the ARM11 can emulate both. Why did the DS have those two? Because the GBA had an ARM7. You might see where I'm going with this and if these names tell you nothing there's nothing wrong with that. The ARM11 is a very old CPU. The iPhone used it, the first gen iPhone from 2007. The Nokia N93 from 2006 even had a dual core ARM11. Modern mobile devices use the much more powerful and efficient ARM A-series like the A7 seen in many low end devices today that is a low power successor to the A9 used in the Vita. They're also really cheap which is why you see a quad core A7 in the $179 off contract Moto G.

 

[Busaiku]

I don't understand this obsession with Mr. Shibata, going so far as to wanting him to be NCL head, when he's been doing worse than anyone.
Even 3DS hasn't been doing decently in Europe, and it's the only place Wii U has had negative shipments.

People want Mr. Iwata to be replaced by someone who's doing much worse?

 

[RM8]

I don't understand this obsession with Mr. Shibata, going so far as to wanting him to be NCL head, when he's been doing worse than anyone.
Even 3DS hasn't been doing decently in Europe, and it's the only place Wii U has had negative shipments.

People want Mr. Iwata to be replaced by someone who's doing much worse?

I'd still take Shibata over Reggie. Reggie is now closer to Cammie Dunaway than to OG Reggie.

I wonder if Cammie Dunaway is still alive

 

[Busaiku]

But he's done a far better job of selling systems/games than Mr. Shibata.

 

[Tripon]

I'd still take Shibata over Reggie. Reggie is now closer to Cammie Dunaway than to OG Reggie.

I wonder if Cammie Dunaway is still alive

Lets be honest, nobody from NOA is going to take over NCL. This isn't Sony, Nintendo isn't that progressive enough to allow an outsider to take over. This is a company that had the Yamauchi family line be the head for over a century.

Reggie has a better chance of being the next XBox head than becoming Nintendo's CEO. If he wants a promotion, or a move up the ladder to a CEO job, it'll be somewhere else, not Nintendo.

 

[Scum]

I don't understand this obsession with Mr. Shibata, going so far as to wanting him to be NCL head, when he's been doing worse than anyone.
Even 3DS hasn't been doing decently in Europe, and it's the only place Wii U has had negative shipments.

People want Mr. Iwata to be replaced by someone who's doing much worse?

Can't really blame Shibata for decisions made at NCL, and that's one of the problems many of us have concerning Nintendo. Everything's been handle by NCL for far too long and Shibata's done a great job with NoE since he's been in charge, considering how it was before him and what he has to work with. It'll also be a great excuse to get someone over to NoA to fix their own problems too. NoA has been in a shambolic state for the last few years now.

It'll be even better if Shibata or whoever gets the chance to take over, gets the support from the right people to "tidy up" the current regime at NCL.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

MH: Port. It's also on 3DS.
DQ: Port.
Mario: Too close to NSMB2, apparently Japan just doesn't care a lot.
Tekken: Port of a game that didn't sell too well on any system anyway.
Ninja Gaiden: Port of a universally bashed game.
Warriors Orochi: Port.

I'm not saying you're one of them, but often ViitaU fans act like games don't need to be exclusive to be appealing and move systems. That list screams "stuff you can play elsewhere".

We're talking about sales in a sales thread, and Warriors Orochi, MonHun, and NG definitely had enough content to be differentiated from earlier games. They had other versions release later with a far shorter changelist go on to sell more. Exclusive or not, having those games available should have maintained a better base of sales than was maintained, which points to the hardware or the "package offering" being unattractive to the average user in Japan.

Likewise, a new Taiko and a new Best Mario should've had a lot of fanfare and hype going for the Wii U. Maybe the sales are low now, but will pick up as people request a Wii U for the holidays. Nintendo consoles/handhelds always seem to be holiday items.

If not this holiday, then it'll never happen for the Wii U, no matter the 2014 lineup.

 

[GYNGA]

That's it? =(

Shame, it's such a nice system, except for the memory card thing.

Soul Sacrifice 2, Phantasy Star Nova, Freedom Wars (uh, what a shitty name) and Gravity Rush 2 as far as the games go. Though I doubt any of these games will change Vita's situation that much

 

[Busaiku]

Yes, Wii U is doing poorly the world over, but it's particularly notable for its terrible performance in Europe.
Same with 3DS, where it's doing well in the US/Japan, but not particularly well in Europe.

You can easily say he's faltered just as much, if not more than Mr. Iwata, since DS/Wii were such resounding successes in Europe.

Wii U is definitely a poor product the world over, but 3DS should at least be doing better than what it is in Europe.