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

[Sami]

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.

 

Oh, that's true. Forgot about that.

[canderson]

Mario Kart 8 was tracked for only 2 days for the May NPD.

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

Ah yeah, that's right. The lowest was just this last month, so it probably won't drop as much now that I think about it.

[SuperLink]

It's not the most notable thing ever, but in Amazon UK's best selling lists for games, Mario Kart has been consistently been at #2 since it launched, and the Wii U Mario Kart bundle (and Pro Controllers) have consistently hovered between #10 and #25 over the last week. Actually, it almost seems like it's higher now than it was last Friday when MK8 launched.

 

It probably won't last very long, but it'll be interesting to see how long it manages to stay this high. It's currently higher on the list than even the PS4 and has been all day.

[Gabz Girl]

That's amazing! I'm hoping the sales will stay like this for a little while longer. Always good to have some slightly more positive Nintendo news.

[Mr Loopone]

That's really good that sales are keeping up for Mario Kart 8, at least on Amazon since it is one of the more cheaper places to buy the game (some other places are £42 [ASDA]/£45 [Grainger Games]/£50 [Game]).

 

There is some good news and some bad news for Nintendo, at least in Europe. Good news is that they are relocating their HQ to their smaller Frankfurt base since it is a larger city compared to Großostheim that will make it easier and faster to get access to the company as well as a possibility of saving money. Bad news is that they are closing the old (iconic) site that is also their warehouse and that there is a possiblity that 120 people are going to be redundant from Nintendo of Europe as part of their restructuring. Hope that the 120 people will find jobs and hope that the German Works Council will help them if the worst happens.

 

http://primavera24.de/nachrichten/nintendo-schliesst-standort-grossostheim/75977 ( English translation)

[SuperLink]

Yeah it really sucks to hear that so many are being laid off especially as Nintendo sometimes prides themselves on not laying people off.

 

Also a shame that such an iconic site for Nintendo will be no more, I heard it got many references in their games over the years too. Definitely not the best news, but hopefully the restructure will minimise their costs and make localisation more efficient at least.

[Marcello]

Frankfurt is only 40km away from Großostheim, so some could easily be relocated.

[Willsy]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/06/13/e3-2014-miyamotos-thoughts-on-whats-next-for-nintendo

That's certainly very interesting. Nintendo want to close the gap between handheld and home console and make a handheld with the power of a home console. That time certainly isn't upon us yet, but with the technological advancements in tablets in smart phones, that time can't be too far off.

[Salamander]

Well, Miyamoto doesn't exactly say they will do that, but the level of detail he goes into isn't really quite what was warranted by the question, so as someone who supports the idea it strikes me as a clear hint.

[Wraith]

A handheld that could also work as a home console seems right up Nintendo's alley. Their consoles have always been a bit flimsy hardware wise but their handhelds are solid. It could be pretty cheap too, which works out for me.

I want to see this happen.

[Jolt_TH]

I do wonder if the next generation will bring a "handheld console" something where you can play it on the move as a handheld, but then you pay a little more and can ten it into a console? You'd get like a docking station which charges it and connects it to the TV and allows the use of controllers too

[Doctor MK]

I imagine that if Nintendo do go for a hybrid handheld/home console for the next generation, it'll be similar to how the Wii U works now for off-TV play, except more extensive. You'll be able to store all these exciting big new HD games for when you're on the go, but when you're sat around at home you'll be able to link them up to the TV in some way too - either at the press of a button or a flick of a finger on the touch screen or... something.

 

So basically, like the Wii U's off-TV play at the moment, except with unlimited range so you can actually leave the room without it crying out in panic. At least that makes sense to me.

[Willsy]

I'm beginning to think that Off-TV play is paving the way for something. Even Sony thought it was a great idea, so they did it with the Vita. If Nintendo did make a handheld that was capable of more or less the same specs as competitors, it might actually sell really well. Who doesn't want to take their full console games on the go?

[Sami]

I'm beginning to think that Off-TV play is paving the way for something. Even Sony thought it was a great idea, so they did it with the Vita. If Nintendo did make a handheld that was capable of more or less the same specs as competitors, it might actually sell really well. Who doesn't want to take their full console games on the go?

That's impossible. Packing a PS4 into a handheld device is, if even possible, extremely expensive.

I personally just hope the next piece of hardware is substantially powerful and well-designed. I don't have very high hopes though.

[Wraith]

If they actually pulled this off, it'd likely be far behind their competition hardware wise once again. That's the only thing I'm worried about.

[Willsy]

That's impossible. Packing a PS4 into a handheld device is, if even possible, extremely expensive.

I personally just hope the next piece of hardware is substantially powerful and well-designed. I don't have very high hopes though.

Oh, I didn't mean power of the PS4 right now. Chances are, by the time 8th gen is over, mobile devices would have nearly caught up. At the moment though, I'm sure it's something under consideration by companies like Google and Apple, but it'll be a while until they probably jump on board with using such hardware in mobile devices, let alone others. I don't think the console will ever die, but I could see the console industry evolving into purely portable devices eventually.

I think Nintendo will probably put less money into the gimmick next generation. Maybe do off TV play for owners of both the handheld and the console, but for the most part keep the new console simple. Maybe just make it compatible with Miimotes. It doesn't have to be the most powerful console, just make sure it's not far behind the competition.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

A handheld that could also work as a home console seems right up Nintendo's alley. Their consoles have always been a bit flimsy hardware wise but their handhelds are solid. It could be pretty cheap too, which works out for me.

I want to see this happen.

Perhaps a handheld that can slipped into some sort of mechanism station that "powers" it up into its console form?

[Patticus]

Perhaps a handheld that can slipped into some sort of mechanism station that "powers" it up into its console form?

While that may be the future for Nintendo systems, they would need to overcome problems inherent in such a design before it could prove itself.

Namely, we're talking issues like how would they cheaply power such a powerful and versatile system over long periods of time, especially if its graphical pushing power will be the same in either mode? If it could "switch down" its power consumption and general system power and adopt a less energy taxing stance when moving from console to handheld mode, that may be a solution, but at what cost to the games themselves, and to game development? Should the "powered up" mode have features unavailable to its handheld mode (decreased/zero load times being one of the easier ones to identify) or vice versa, and might those features lead to a two tier game development culture, and should that be addressed pre- or -post launch (or at all?)? There also is the issue of what games it would have. Nintendo handhelds typically don't try to ape exactly their bigger brothers as the Vita does the PS4, so would the games have to be hybridized? Would we still have handheld- and console-specific titles, or would they have to adapt to one another's environment? Would we see a merging or collision of gaming cultures?

These problems may have solutions or answers I cannot think of, but they should be addressed.

[Marcello]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo said they want their future console and handheld to share an architecture so they could put games on both easier. That implies they're going to stay separate entities.

[Willsy]

Using an identical architecture for both is a great idea actually, perhaps we would end up seeing more instances like Smash Bros for future Nintendo titles.

[Salamander]

If both systems used the same architecture, would that mean that a lot of low-power eShop games - say, Mighty Switch Force - could basically automatically be cross-sold?  Is it possible that there could be console exclusives but many fewer handheld exclusives, as the console would have both the power and the architecture to run handheld titles but the handheld wouldn't have the power to play full console titles?

[Solkia]

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.

 

Can we please stop acting like Japan is some sort of boondocks country that no one lives in?

 

Japan has an estimated population on 127 million, and is a bigger tech country than the US and possibly on par with Europe. There's plenty of consumers and no reason beyond being an unpopular product for it to sell poorly.

[Candescence]

Can we please stop acting like Japan is some sort of boondocks country that no one lives in?

 

Japan has an estimated population on 127 million, and is a bigger tech country than the US and possibly on par with Europe. There's plenty of consumers and no reason beyond being an unpopular product for it to sell poorly.

Granted, everything else is selling poorly as well, so this is sort of a moot point. Compared to the US and Europe, game and console sales aren't that much, for some reason.

[Solkia]

Thus "unpopular product"

 

Most gaming over there is done on Phones or on the 3DS.

 

The point was that sales there have nothing to due with the population, it has to do with the demand.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Good News!

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/231029-noa-pr-federal-appeals-court-confirms-nintendo-win-against-patent-troll-in-case-involving-nintendo-s-wii-console

 

NoA PR - Federal Appeals Court Confirms Nintendo Win Against Patent Troll in Case Involving Nintendo's Wii Console

Jun 16, 2014 by NintenDaan

 

Triton Tech Patent Held Invalid

REDMOND, Wash.-- A federal appeals court on June 13 confirmed that a patent asserted against Nintendo by Triton Tech of Texas, LLC is invalid. In a lawsuit filed in 2010, Triton alleged that Nintendo’s Wii Remote controller infringed one of Triton’s patents: U.S. Patent No. 5,181,181. Judge Richard A. Jones of the Seattle district court previously dismissed the lawsuit after finding that the patent did not adequately describe a complete invention, and was therefore invalid. The June 13 federal appeals court ruling upheld that previous dismissal.

“We are very pleased with this result,” said Richard Medway, Nintendo of America’s deputy general counsel. “Nintendo has a long tradition of developing unique and innovative products, while respecting the intellectual property rights of others. Nintendo continues to aggressively defend itself against patent trolls. After many years of litigation, the decision today reflects an appropriate resolution of this case.”