The Wii U sales thread - 220k shipped last quarter

[That]

I don't have a crystal ball, but I feel pretty confident that no-one is ever going to play COD on a Nintendo console. Infinity Ward know it, Nintendo know it, and I think the COD fanbase would tell you much the same. I'd love to be wrong about this but I just can't see it.

If Nintendo are going to woo third parties, it shouldn't be chaps like EA at all. It should be fellas like Square: dig deep into the coffers, make them an offer they can't refuse, and get franchises like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts on the NX -- timed exclusives if possible. I should be able to buy a Nintendo console and know that I'll be able to get all my weeaboo anime dork gooseberry fool on it.

If Nintendo double down on "Nintendo-y" stuff from themselves and their second parties, and continue to attract "Nintendo-y" third party games - like they do on the 3DS with stuff like Bravely Default, Monster Hunter, and Yokai Watch - they'll at least have a clear package that they can offer to a well-defined audience. They can then focus on making the proposition as high-value for consumers as possible.

A combined platform, giving people new 3D Zeldas alongside the latest Pokemons, would be great. An affordable subscription-based Virtual Console would be good too. A steady stream of Wii / Wii U and DS / 3DS remasters - which could be done quite adequately on the cheap, or farmed out to little studios - wouldn't hurt.

[Christopher]

Any attempt to woo third parties is going to have to involve three things, which have already been covered thoroughly around here:

1. Mega easy development.
Nobody's going to touch the New Nintendo if it's not easy to get into developing for. Ideally, learning how to develop for one company's system should make working on all the others of the same generation a doddle. This means conforming to the architectures of rival companies' products - not something Nintendo has a great history of, let's face it.

2. System power at least comparable to rival platforms, if not greater.
So that third party ports can at least look as snazzy as the originals. Extra power is only really necessary if Nintendo wants the graphics whore crowd, but the GCN is evidence enough that power isn't a selling point on its own.

3. A competent online strategy.
Given how big a component of gaming is online nowadays, a solid strategy here is a must. That means doing things other companies are already doing - Netflix-style VC, Xbox Live things, Trophies, etc. If the online play portion of the service can remain free of charge, even better for them. Being unafraid of online cross-play with people playing the same games on rival formats would be even better.


Controller gimmicks are really all that has set Nintendo apart from the competition since the Wii road was taken, ten years ago, allowing them to eschew raw power in favor of new, off the wall designs that get people's attention in different ways to just graphical fidelity. I think that it's well past time to take those gimmicks and refine them to perfection, using the Pro controller as the base standard, selling the gimmicks separately, as well as packaging them with certain deluxe bundles. Meanwhile, raw system power can be elevated to rival-comparable or better levels, more cheaply because more resources will be going into that than controller gimmickry.

Given that the next handheld and console will be sharing an OS ecosystem, and that the handheld will be capable of running the home console's games (albeit perhaps with some minor asset downgrades), we should probably expect that the Gamepad's ethos will inhabit the new gen console/handheld's linked relationship, rather than take the form of a new controller. They may also release a new Gamepad peripheral too, I guess - half as cheap or more than the old Gamepad, but without the internal doodads allowing real Gameboy/3DS play anywhere portability. An actual legacy controller. I could also see them release a Pro controller taking a leaf out of Sony's book, having a small touch screen integrated into the Pro's center, allowing for simplistic inventory management, map viewing etc. Basically, adding a screen to the DS4's touch pad.

Meanwhile, the Wiimote will probably evolve into a more TV remotey piece of kit, not unlike the remotes Sony and MS have for their platforms. Add in a refined nun-chuk and you've got a nice little pack-in bonus.

If two and three happen I'll be very surprised.

Also why have I never crossed paths with Qazwsxedc before?

[Alvin Flummux]

If two and three happen I'll be very surprised.

I'd be pretty surprised if any of it happens, to be honest. Karl's proposal seems more likely, but even then, Nintendo isn't exactly known for taking a common sense approach. Maybe under this new leadership...

[Captain Kinopio]

Nintendo would never shell out for timed exclusives and even if they were willing, any dev/pub that was willing to offer it they'd just be outbid by Sony or MS.

Their best bet is to go down the second tier exclusives route like Bayonetta. Make it a viable console to own on its own which they've not managed for a long long time, but also that sits as a good accompaniment to either of the others.

[That]

They may not be able to outbid Sony and Microsoft for timed exclusives - though one wonders if the others would actually get into a bidding war over some JRPG at all; I guess Sony is more likely to care than Microsoft - but I was thinking more that either way they need to at least get those franchises on the NX in some form. Neither the latest Final Fantasy nor Kingdom Hearts are coming to the Wii U at all, last I heard, despite being PS4/XBO multiplatform. That's the kind of third-party development they need to ensure, and even fund if necessary -- not EA Sports stuff!

The Bayonetta 2 exclusive was a great move, even it was 'only' a Bayonetta game -- it's a high quality game that seems to 'fit' on Nintendo consoles while offering something different to their own output. It shows Nintendo have the capacity to be savvy, even if they don't flex those muscles very often.

[Lagamorph]

Any attempt to woo third parties is going to have to involve three things, which have already been covered thoroughly around here:

1. Mega easy development.
Nobody's going to touch the New Nintendo if it's not easy to get into developing for. Ideally, learning how to develop for one company's system should make working on all the others of the same generation a doddle. This means conforming to the architectures of rival companies' products - not something Nintendo has a great history of, let's face it.

2. System power at least comparable to rival platforms, if not greater.
So that third party ports can at least look as snazzy as the originals. Extra power is only really necessary if Nintendo wants the graphics whore crowd, but the GCN is evidence enough that power isn't a selling point on its own.

3. A competent online strategy.
Given how big a component of gaming is online nowadays, a solid strategy here is a must. That means doing things other companies are already doing - Netflix-style VC, Xbox Live things, Trophies, etc. If the online play portion of the service can remain free of charge, even better for them. Being unafraid of online cross-play with people playing the same games on rival formats would be even better.


Controller gimmicks are really all that has set Nintendo apart from the competition since the Wii road was taken, ten years ago, allowing them to eschew raw power in favor of new, off the wall designs that get people's attention in different ways to just graphical fidelity. I think that it's well past time to take those gimmicks and refine them to perfection, using the Pro controller as the base standard, selling the gimmicks separately, as well as packaging them with certain deluxe bundles. Meanwhile, raw system power can be elevated to rival-comparable or better levels, more cheaply because more resources will be going into that than controller gimmickry.

Given that the next handheld and console will be sharing an OS ecosystem, and that the handheld will be capable of running the home console's games (albeit perhaps with some minor asset downgrades), we should probably expect that the Gamepad's ethos will inhabit the new gen console/handheld's linked relationship, rather than take the form of a new controller. They may also release a new Gamepad peripheral too, I guess - half as cheap or more than the old Gamepad, but without the internal doodads allowing real Gameboy/3DS play anywhere portability. An actual legacy controller. I could also see them release a Pro controller taking a leaf out of Sony's book, having a small touch screen integrated into the Pro's center, allowing for simplistic inventory management, map viewing etc. Basically, adding a screen to the DS4's touch pad.

Meanwhile, the Wiimote will probably evolve into a more TV remotey piece of kit, not unlike the remotes Sony and MS have for their platforms. Add in a refined nun-chuk and you've got a nice little pack-in bonus.

If two and three happen I'll be very surprised.

Also why have I never crossed paths with Qazwsxedc before?

If 2 doesn't happen then I can't see the NX ever getting any real traction in the current market.

[Cheeky Devlin]

I'd love for Nintendo to announce they've stealth bought From Software and that Miyazaki has changed his mind and will be bringing Dark Souls IV exclusively to NX. The outcry alone would be worth it.

There's too many problems that Nintendo are facing for there to be an easy solution.

Personally I think...
- They need to get a system with enough power to get third-party games at the same time as the other platforms
- 3rd party exclusives, while important, should be done in the style of Street Fighter V. NX and PC versions. The more people talking about the games the better. PC is neutral ground when it comes to this and NX will not have enough people buying it (At least early on) to create a loud voice shouting about the games. People not willing to buy a PC to play an amazing 3rd party game, may consider an NX a much better value proposition.
- Online, needs to be seamless and as easy to use as the alternatives. Mii's and Miiverse should still be there, but it needs to have the same basic functionality that the others have.

- First and second party titles need to be utterly legendary. They need a return to the N64 level of quality, where the vast majority of titles they released are considered some of the best games ever made. They need an OOT standard Zelda, a Goldeneye level FPS and a Mario game as impactful as 64.
- They need a new "Pokémon". Something that takes over the world and that can only be found on Nintendo. (Easy right... )

Beyond that I don't know. It's next to impossible to see where Nintendo go from here. We can only hope that NX is everything they need it to be. They might not be Nintendoomed, but if NX doesn't get traction then I can see them potentially sacking in Hardware.... Maybe.

[The Watching Artist]

From Software and that Miyazaki

They should get them to do a Souls game set in a bright and colourful cartoon world.* Like the Mushroom Kingdom. Maybe even the Mushroom Kingdom. Thwomps could appear out of nowhere and one hit kill you and everyone would applaud.

*seriously I'd expect the meltdown to rival ToonLinkgate and it would be amazing.

[Monkey Man]

220k shipped last quarter -

Last year, Nintendo recorded a profit during April to June. This year, however, the company made a net loss of 24.5bn yen (£177m) over the same period.

Still, such losses are far from surprising.

Wii U sales have now slowed to a crawl, with just 220k units shifted over during April, May and June.

As the console draws towards the end of its life, it is still stuck at 13m units sold worldwide - a fraction of the Wii's 100m

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016- ... al-quarter

[Octoroc]

NX will save the Wii U.

[jawafour]

I'm losing track. Is Nintendo printing money or doomed today?

Both .