General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Well, look whats sold out in Japan, which bodes extremely well

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/229244-amazon-japan-yoshi-peach-wiimotes-sold-out

 

Amazon Japan - Yoshi, Peach Wiimotes sold out
Click Here to View Story

Woah Yoshi wiimote is sold out http://t.co/cM2uOOCeTN— NintendoTweet (@NintendoTweet) May 28, 2014

And so is the Princess Peach wiimote http://t.co/1owxxq4MVt— NintendoTweet (@NintendoTweet) May 28, 2014

I wonder if people are snatching these up to prepare for Mario Kart 8. Let's hope that's the case!

that would take a LOT of wii-motes

[VO.SUPER]

 

It looks like the Wii U is on it's way to being a Gamecube; thank goodness.

[Gabz Girl]

I'm really pleased to see this, and it's good that the Wii U's success might be more like the Gamecube instead of an epic fail Nintendoomed console that almost everyone was predicting it was gonna be. >>

 

Now I want to know what the sales are like in the US and Japan!

[Solkia]

That depends on if it sold consoles or not, and how many it sold.

[Skyward Sword]

The key here is if they can keep up this success. If the sales dry up even as late as a couple months into MK8's lifecycle, this will not bode well for the Wii U.

[Chaos Warp]

 

It looks like the Wii U is on it's way to being a Gamecube; thank goodness.

This outcome was never in doubt. I always thought that Kart and Smash would push the Wii-U to Gamecube level sales. And for it to become closer to reality makes me happy. 

[Marcello]

The key here is if they can keep up this success. If the sales dry up even as late as a couple months into MK8's lifecycle, this will not bode well for the Wii U.

They need to keep some momentum. Maybe something like this:

• June - Wii Sports Club Tennis & Bowling + retail version (Alone and Wii Remote + Bundle)
• July - Bayonetta 2
• August - Hyrule Warriors
• September - Yarn Yoshi
• October - X
• November - Sonic Boom, NES Remix 1+2 retail
• December - Smash Bros

These are just games that have been announced in at least one region. There could be things at E3. But if they get everything out in a consistent and timely manner it would be helpful.

[Mr Loopone]

1.2m sales on Mario Kart 8 sounds like excellent news for the Wii U considering that it also came out nearly the same time as Watch Dogs that sold for 4m (on 5 different platforms) and Nintendo are really advertising the game unlike 3D World or Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze where I don't think I've seen an advert for the latter (a shame since Brian Blessed did the voice on the online ad) and only one for the former. MK8 I've seen a couple of different TV adverts, posters and leaflets including how to claim the free game already.

 

From what I've read elsewhere online, Mario Kart 8 and the free game sweetener are actually encouraged people to get a Wii U causing a higher demand for the console since the prices have increased on the console and less sales (even though they are people trading in MK8 after claiming the free game but that is more of a UK thing).

 

The only problem is that Nintendo needs momentum since the Wii U could have been more successful if games were released early in 2013, now that Mario Kart is out and usually they are the highest selling or higher selling games on Nintendo's consoles it might be a problem. Looking at the line up and comparing it towards past Nintendo consoles (for the safe side from N64 onwards), it seems that there might be a struggle. The Wii is different since the highest selling games were the Wii ___ series that Nintendo tried again for the Wii U and don't seem to be as successful (Wii Party U is strange as it is more successful in Japan and from what I remember France and Germany than the other areas). New Super Mario Bros. U is already out and is the most successful game at the moment with Super Luigi U actually doing pretty good, Super Mario 3D World and Wind Waker HD are also out and Mario Kart 8 just come out.

 

Smash Bros. is coming out and they usually do well in the sales (5th highest on the N64 [super Mario 64 and GoldenEye were bundled too], 1st or 2nd [lack of data] highest on the GC, 9th highest on the Wii [Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Sports Resort were also bundled]) so that will sell pretty good but not sure how it would work for TV advertising. The next Zelda game also seems likely to sell well however history shows that the second Zelda game sells less than the first one (Twilight Princess -> Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time 3D -> A Link Between Worlds, Ocarina of Time -> Majora's Mask, Phantom Hourglass -> Spirit Tracks, A Link to the Past -> Minish Cap) so I hope that Nintendo will do something about it. After these two, it gets problematic...

 

Bayonetta 2, X and Hyrule Warriors are games that can't really be advertised on TV and appeal towards more of a niche who are already fans of the developers and of the games (e.g. Platinum Games fans, Zelda fans and Musou fans). They will most likely going to be decent to good games but sometimes really good games don't sell very well. Sonic Boom can be advertised on TV however I don't think I've seen a Sega game being advertised on TV for quite a long time and already the outlook of the game doesn't seem positive, plus with Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic not selling very well, the latter the lowest in that series where it was successful on the Wii/DS it needs something to turn it around but probably will get help from the cartoon in this regard.

 

Out of possible games and history though. Since the Animal Crossing Plaza app switches off at the end of the year, there possibly be a new Animal Crossing game due to that the 3DS one was the 5th highest selling game (the GC and the DS ones did pretty good, the Wii one was okay sales wise) and Iwata seems to repeat successes so wouldn't be surprised to see a new entry on the Wii U. Luigi's Mansion might be possible since both games sold very well however there is a possibility that it might come out on the next Nintendo console depending on how long the Wii U is going to last. Mario Party also seems possible due to that they also sell well even though Mario Party 3DS while was over a million was one of the least selling Mario Parties however there hasn't been a Wii U version yet to fully judge the fate of the series. Strange how there hasn't been a Pokemon game on the Wii U that is a seller since Pokemon games usually sell really really good (highest selling games on the handhelds, the spinoffs on the N64 and GC also did well however it could also be because Pokemon was mainstream popular) or not as good (much of the spinoffs)...

 

Honestly struggling to think of possible successful games that Nintendo can promote, even a new IP is hard to judge since it either becomes really successful (e.g. Super Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, more recently Wii Sports and Nintendogs), successful enough to have a fanbase (e.g. Metroid, Kid Icarus: Uprising, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars), a partial success however it is cheap enough to keep developing games (e.g. Picross) or a flop.

[Willsy]

Pop now that you mention Luigis Mansion, a Wii U Luigi's Mansion would be all kinds of love, graphics would look amazing and the gamepad could have some really interesting uses that would sell the game. Make it happen, Nintendo. <3

[azoo]

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=229696

 

 
The Blue-Marine will become available to buy separately on #SteelDiver: Sub Wars after 19/6. It'll be £0.89

 
You don't just do things like this for no reason, do you? Nintendo don't you mess with me I swear on everything I will explode to tiny bits

[Solkia]

This is the worst cameo ever, no one even likes Aquas

[VO.SUPER]

I liked aquas...

[JaidynReiman]

Wait, that's from Star Fox? Dang... that's... unusual. Wasn't expecting that. Maybe there's going to be a Star Fox announcement at E3 after all?

[canderson]

Very unexpected cameo. I may get this.

Wait, that's from Star Fox? Dang... that's... unusual. Wasn't expecting that. Maybe there's going to be a Star Fox announcement at E3 after all?

I'm going to hunt you down if this doesn't happen at E3. =(

[JaidynReiman]

In all honesty, I've been expecting a Star Fox announcement at E3 long before this. Announcing one at E3 and releasing Smash Bros. before the game comes out, with all the Star Fox characters intact, would certainly help bolster the sales of said new Star Fox game.

[Salamander]

Star Fox hints are the new Majora's Mask hints.

[Your Vest Friend]

Checking Japanese sales for ASRT, it reminded me to check this week's sales for MK8.

 

-The game itself got 325k, that's a great start.

-The Wii U itself got 19k. That's actually not good. 

[canderson]

I thought I was one of the least optimistic one, predicting 30K. I thought Wii U would easily beat 3DS. Oh well.

I'm more interested in the NPD results next Thursday.

[YoshiUnity]

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=229696

 

 

You don't just do things like this for no reason, do you? Nintendo don't you mess with me I swear on everything I will explode to tiny bits

I wouldn't specluate too much about it.

 

Peppy is (sort of) in the game too. He explains to the player how the preimum version works. I'm all for a new Starfox, but I would think that this happened more so for his cameo and that Blue Marine is a sub. A great fit for Steel Diver: Sub wars though.

 

Also shoot... *taps fingers together and pouts.* I thought Aquas was enjoyable.

[Sami]

I thought I was one of the least optimistic one, predicting 30K. I thought Wii U would easily beat 3DS. Oh well.

I'm more interested in the NPD results next Thursday.

 

I'm gonna say 150K as a slightly optimistic guess. I'll be surprised if it doesn't beat the XB1 this month.

[canderson]

I'm gonna say 150K as a slightly optimistic guess. I'll be surprised if it doesn't beat the XB1 this month.

Eh, I'll be surprised if Wii U hits 100K.

The amount you predict is actually what I expect for the Playstation 4.

[PSI Wind]

Can someone explain to me how a country that has a much less population than the US and UK have sales like that be considered "bad"? I mean, I guess they are, but I'd say anything in the Top 3 is good enough considering what's going on in Japan and their tastes.

[Sami]

Eh, I'll be surprised if Wii U hits 100K.

The amount you predict is actually what I expect for the Playstation 4.

 

PS4's been hitting roughly 200K pretty consistently though, hasn't it? I think last month was the lowest at 199K.

[SuperLink]

Home consoles are kinda dying rn in Japan, it's gonna be like that for both Sony and Nintendo for a while, Sony less-so I'd imagine especially when games like KH3 start coming out but still.

 

Japan only seems to care about handhelds and mobiles. The west on the other hand only cares about home consoles and mobiles. Either way, being a Japanese dev must be pretty tough right now.

[Marcello]

The June NPD is what's going to actually show Mario Kart's effect on the console, though, isn't it? It only has a few days in May.