Gaming Nintendo Confirms Wii U Has Flopped, Slashes Sales Forecast By ~70%

[Bladexdsl]

Edit: Sort of feel sorry for MS on that one, being locked out of basically 1/3rd of the market.

i don't

herpes flavored tooth brushes. (Patent pending!)

 

[Gahars]

Not sure I would call 30% of the global market Pyrrhic?

...A win there is nothing to sneeze at, any way you slice it. (A win in Japan would equal at least 15% of over 200 million consoles sold going by last gens sales numbers.)

Not being snarky or anything here, but where did you get that 30% number? I haven't been able to find it. The best I could pull up was this chart from The Economist:

...Which shows Japan at much, much less than 30% of the console market (especially considering this seems to leave out Canada, Mexico, South America, Africa, etc.)

Not to mention that Japan's console market is not on the upswing and, if anything, might just be contracting. The Wii U's winning right now, sure, but only because its weak sales are not as weak as Sony's weak sales. Just selling the most consoles in Japan doesn't mean you've sold a lot of consoles, especially in comparison to the numbers being pulled in elsewhere.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Not being snarky or anything here, but where did you get that 30% number? I haven't been able to find it. The best I could pull up was this chart from The Economist:
.

It takes a bit of reading over but this is probably the best you can find for an all in one "source" of information on that subject.

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_game_industry

Not really accurate in the exact numbers but Japan has actually fallen to the 30% mark (as an estimate of course) they used to represent a much larger portion of the market.

Edit: My chart has Canada and Mexico and a few other countries included lol

Edit 2: By falling I mean like this.

"In 2002, the Japanese video game industry made up about 50% of the global retail game market"

In the next line it claims the number of retail games sold has fallen to about 10% of the global market, but it ignores digital sales (I am guessing since it was specific about "retail" sales. Japan having access to much better net access than most of us westerners? May have something to do with that? But in sheer dollar amounts they still represent over 30%.

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_games_in_Japan

 

[FAST6191]

On top of what Gahars said would winning Japan and basically being an also ran elsewhere even ensure viability?

 

[Foxi4]

Nintendo's best bet for profit is North America - that's where their results are historically the best. The N64 wouldn't be even a footnote in history books if not for North Americans who bought more N64's than Japan and Europe combined and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same in the Gamecube's case. The U.S is a country densely populated with people with disposal profit, Nintendo should put their sights on that area but they historically fail to do so, choosing to pander to their own backyard residents for whatever reason.

 

[Gahars]

*snip*

Ah, it looks like we've been talking oranges and tangelos here. You're looking at the market for video games overall while I'm talking about the console market specifically.

 

[EarthBound 2]

Game Cube Wii U Adapter

 

[VMM]

I find it funny when people talk with so much enthusiasm about WiiU sales boost with Mario Kart 8.
It's not a temporary sales boost that is going to save WiiU.

 

[Foxi4]

Game Cube Wii U Adapter

...will sell 5 units because the Gamecube was not a terribly popular system, it even lost against the Xbox, a complete newcomer to the business.

 

[TripleSMoon]

...Is this thread seriously still alive?

 

[EarthBound 2]

Same question was given about Sega Console Discussion on Sega Forums.

 

[Gahars]

...Is this thread seriously still alive?

Like the Wii U, it goes dormant for extended periods, awakens with a short-lived flurry of activity, and then returns back to its slumber.

 

[FAST6191]

And unlike the Wii U said flurries of activity are usually amusing.

 

[TripleSMoon]

And unlike the Wii U said flurries of activity are usually amusing.

Mario Kart 8 is amusing!

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Same question was given about Sega Console Discussion on Sega Forums.

One of the worst forums to visit for Nintendo discussions or Sanic as they're either all pro or con.

The only thing that I'm somewhat interested which has Sega involved is Sonic Boom but even that I probably won't buy at launch by the looks of it, although I did pre-order Sonic Lost World and enjoyed it, however, I traded it in few days later for Mario 3D Land (SLW is pretty short). I rebought SLW recently with the 'normal' cover that I wanted.

 

[VMM]

Game Cube Wii U Adapter

This won't change a damn thing.
People won't buy WiiU simply because some few games will support GC controllers.

Also, I don't see why people are so fanatic about GC controllers,
WiiU Pro controller is a thoushand times better.

 

[TripleSMoon]

This won't change a damn thing.
People won't buy WiiU simply because some few games will support GC controllers.

I agree. I face palmed when I saw his comment.

Also, I don't see why people are so fanatic about GC controllers,
WiiU Pro controller is a thoushand times better.

Well at this point, they're only usable for Smash. This is a big deal for quite a few reasons. You have to remember that many Smash players have been using this controller since 2001, so it's more comfy to them then anything else. Part of it is possibly nostalgia, but another part is the muscle memory associated with it. Aside from that, the three-button-row of X/A/B is reminiscent of three-button fight pads that a lot of fighting game enthusiasts like to use (that's why so many people preferred the Genesis over the SNES for games like Street Fighter).

Also, having a wired option is a must for huge tournaments. Otherwise, all the wireless signals would interfere with each other, which is a real problem in Smash tournaments when people use wiimotes. The same problem would apply to pro controllers. There's also the issue of less lag with wireless, but that's dependent on the individual.

Aside from that, I think the pressure sensitive triggers are rally comfy, the shape is ergonomic, the way the four buttons are set up in general are nice and streamlined (every button press is only one small twitch from the center A button; no nonsense having to hop from A to Y), and I find it to be the most comfy controller I've ever used. Even a friend of mine who never owned a GameCube thinks it's really comfy, so it's not a matter of nostalgia in that regard.

That said, the GameCube controller isn't perfect. The dpad sucks and the right stick is awful for shooters. The pro controller is certainly better for general use and especially VC games. But for Smash, and for all the GameCube games that were designed around its unique button layout, I think the GameCube controller is the best controller by far.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

This won't change a damn thing.
People won't buy WiiU simply because some few games will support GC controllers.

Also, I don't see why people are so fanatic about GC controllers,
WiiU Pro controller is a thoushand times better.

1) The right analogue stick doesn't really have any important use to be in that place.
2) It uses digital shoulder buttons than analogue shoulder buttons, a.k.a, real triggers.
3) GameCube's controller layout is better organised and more traditional for the gamers to use.

Wii U Pro Controller:

Wii U GameCube Controller:

The Wii U Pro Controller was a step backwards than forwards.

 

[Bladexdsl]

The Wii U Pro Controller was a step backwards than forwards.

well what did you expect they copied a m$ controller

 

[WiiCube_2013]

well what did you expect they copied a m$ controller

Nintendo already had nailed it before with the GameCube controller so there wasn't any reason for Nintendo to go retard with the Wii U Pro Controller.