fumanstan

Yup, another month with terrible sales. I'm curious if Nintendo will be able to drive any interest at E3 and get back any sort of momentum. Right now, it doesn't seem like anyone is interested in the Wii U, and it won't get any easier with the PS4 and next XBox coming.

Michael Corvin

...from buying PS4s and 720s?

Games spur console sales. If only there were a couple complete games just sitting around on a shelf waiting to be released... cough Pikmin... cough Rayman.

fumanstan

I don't think Pikmin is a system seller. And Rayman less so now that its multi-platform. Neither of those are really huge sellers from the numbers I looked up.

Rayman Origins on Wii - http://www.vgchartz.com/game/51202/rayman-origins/

Pikmin 2 - http://www.vgchartz.com/game/1740/pikmin-2/

pinata242

I can tell you it's about the only thing even tempting me to buy a WiiU at this point. If they merge the 3DS into the ecosystem properly, that would be enough to make me consider since I already have one of those.

Gizmo

In getting ready to LOL at the poor sales of both the next Xbox and PS4. The same excuses the Wii U has used will be used again for those two.

fumanstan

Unless they're both priced way too high like the PS3 was (or Microsoft does something dumb in their upcoming announcement), I can't imagine they'll be anywhere near as dismal as the Wii U sales.

RichC2

Somehow I expect Watch Dogs, Battlefield, Infamous and Assassin's Creed IV to have a little more appeal than a 2D mario game (a fantastic one, but regardless.) and a zombie shooter.

Wii U was a quintessential "how to NOT launch your console" unfortunately. Mediocre ports of popular games from other systems? Check. Very few exclusives? Check. Inexcusably long delays between titles? Check

Also, $499 has become a somewhat acceptable price these days thanks to Apple, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them priced around there.

Gizmo

Considering Nintendo was #1 last generation and launched at $300/$350...I can't see either MS or Sony doing any better. It just seems like consumers are moving away from console gaming. Guess well see soon enough. Pricing should be interesting.

Gizmo

Most (all?) of those games are coming to the current gen systems as well, right?

What's the appeal in getting a new gen system and playing old gen games?

RichC2

Superior graphics sell and any additional capabilities (should there be any outside of the PS4 "Share" bullshit), the Wii U unfortunately didn't offer superior anything at it's launch.

Imagine the Wii if it didn't have Wii Sports at launch. That's what happened here.

Graphics don't make games better, but they sell units. Think of changing the settings on a mid-level PC (360/PS3) and playing on Medium to a high-end PC (PS4/Durango) running on Ultra.

fumanstan

Completely different situations, since it's obvious why the Wii was such a huge success and not difficult to see why people don't care much for the Wii U. Extrapolating the disinterest in the Wii U to Microsoft/Sony's consoles is a stretch. The Wii Sports audience was caught up in the hype. The Madden/Call of Duty/Halo audience hasn't gone anywhere.

Michael Corvin

Neither are system sellers on their own, but both are "fence" games. Coupled with other games or features they are titles that would push people into buying a system. i.e. neither is a system seller on their own, but together along with NSMB, Lego City, etc. help build an enticing library to push someone over the edge.

And for the record I bought a WiiU for exactly these 2 games(NSMBU was a bonus). Both originally to be launch titles and then pushed to shortly after launch. Fool me once, fool me twice.

I believe Pikmin was 100% complete by last E3.

pinata242

Nothing is ever 100% complete.

Michael Corvin

Touché.

100% Ready.

Drexl

But is it an acceptable price for anyone but Apple?

Gizmo

The Wii U had superior graphics compared to the Wii . It offered a second screen on a gamepad and the ability to play some games without the use of the TV. That's a pretty big difference. So far all the PS4 offers is a Share button (why?) and some sort of tactile pad thingy..

Graphics...not sure they are going to matter much if they are slightly improved over the previous generation. There isn't a whole lot that really can be improved, and 3D has already been ignored. Do people still compare "graphics"? What are the leaps going to be?

I just can't see either Sony or MS selling any better than what the Wii U did at launch unless they are cheaper or have some huge, major launch title. But like most console launches, it'll probably just be ports.

Gizmo

It wasn't for the PS3 (for the base model at launch). $399 for the Xbox at launch wasn't all that hot either.

$499 for Apple...are we talking about the iPad? Apple consumers are use to spending more for a better quality product.

Michael Corvin

Both Sony and MS have fan bases that are built on tech geeks and early adopters. Both will do fine* and likely a lot better than the WiiU.

*assuming the always online, no used games stuff doesn't pan out.

Gizmo

But didn't the Wii U sell more consoles in its "launch window" than the 360 or PS3?

fumanstan

The Wii U is barely better graphically then the 360/PS3 There's still a long way to go as far as graphics go, so I don't see why the expectation is that they're only slightly improved with the upcoming generation. Graphics aren't as big of a deal for Wii buyers, but consumers that have been buying Microsoft/Sony consoles care, and games like Call of Duty and Battlefield benefit a lot from the improvements.

Yes, but low stock and obscenely high price of the other consoles play into that, and I don't recall such low interest in those after the holidays with consoles available everywhere and retail stores offering gift cards to entice buyers.

It seems like you think the Wii U's low sales the last 3 months are completely the result of a sagging industry, but I think it's just the system itself not being very appealing.

Gizmo

Both consoles were readily available after the first month or so. The "shortages" were great PR material, but you could walk into most stores and buy a PS3 or 360. Jack Tretton still owes me $1,200 for finding one after launch that I didn't pre-order. So the fact is the Wii U sold better than both those consoles yet is deemed a failure. Kinda laughable.

But I do blame its "low" sales on the sagging industry. I don't suspect the next Sony or MS will do any better. The rumored 'disc-less' 360 has me interested. I'd much rather play XBL games over discs at this point.

For the record, there is a 0% chance of me buying a PS4 and a 5% chance of a 720.

fumanstan

I disagree, PS3's became somewhat available but 360's went in and out pretty regularly. I don't think deeming the Wii U a failure is laughable at all. Reposting this again if you didn't read it before, this was from January and it hasn't gotten much better in the following months.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186741/

Hopefully you're not extrapolating your disinterest in the 720/PS4 to the rest of the gaming community. I'd say you're in the minority.

Gizmo

At the time I had just left managing a game store but still have friends at several. They had both consoles in stock several times a week. Maybe not as readily available the Wii U was after launch, but it wasn't Wii-impossible to find.

Time will tell. We will know within a year if the Wii U was a bust or the norm (going forward). I just can't imagine either console selling gangbusters at likely higher prices and in direct competition.

fumanstan

In other news, no big E3 press conference from Nintendo this year.

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-wont-be-h...s-ye-480309870

Gizmo

Meh. (Worth noting is Microsoft is not announcing the next Xbox at E3 either, and neither did Sony for the PS4)

The Nintendo Direct videos have been giving out more information then a E3 conference ever has. We just got a new 3DS Zelda announced! That would have been a great E3 topic. Lots of Nintendo news today.

Should be interesting this fall when the momentum picks up and we get Pikmin, Bayonetta 2, Zelda Wind Waker, Mario Kart U, Mario etc. I guess I'm not really worried. I've seen this before with the DS and 3DS. Nintendo just always has shitty launches. No matter what they do, it's shitty.