Originally Posted by gambit444 I know this is not a nice thing to say but from a purely selfish point of view, i kind of do want nintendo to fail. I really want them to stop making hardware and just focus on gaming.

I whole-heartedly agree. Nintendo has proven again that they are one generation behind in many respects (mainly internet-based functions). I love Ninty's games, but I hate buying their consoles to play them.

The problem here is if Sony/MS release their consoles at $399 a pop or if they have cheaper bundles that you can buy on a contract then Nintendo sales will immediately start falling drastically and they will be forced to cut the price.

My take on Nintendo hardware right now is that it is good, BUT its not worth paying what they charge for it. If you can somehow find it at a discount, clearance or buy barely used for a significant discount then it's good but it has too many faults for it to be worth full price. This is CAG after all, so price is everything for me. Right now I would probably pay about $150-200 for a Wii U and that is the price it's worth to me.

It's not good if Nintendo cuts the price now, then Wii U fans will feel burned, and this will be the second time Nintendo has had to cut the price of their hardware early on which is not good. If they keep doing this then no one will buy their consoles at launch and they will have set a precedent that they are a company that drops the price of their hardware within 6 months of it coming out. This will be very bad for business overall. Or is Nintendo intentionally overpricing the hardware to lure in the people that will buy at launch no matter what and to milk these people for all they can, then a few months later dropping the price so the general public will start to buy it?

Though the announcement that no price drop is coming almost certainly means that one is coming, experience tells me that as soon as a company starts denying things that is right when it will happen. I would expect a price drop this year, especially if Sony/MS release their consoles this year.

The problem with buying a Nintendo console at launch is that it is essentially a waste of money, it takes Nintendo consoles about 2-3 years to pick up steam, so you are best buying it after that time. I mean the 3DS just now has enough games on it to make it worth buying and it seems more titles are being announced for it every day, but it took long enough to get to this point. By then the price of the hardware has dropped as well, so it's a win win. It's like the DS, the phat was releases in 2004, but there was basically nothing worth buying until 2006, enter the DS lite, a far superior system with a cheaper price and software that can actually back the hardware. Looking at that situation you are basically foolish for purchasing Nintendo hardware at launch unless you absolutely must play one of the launch games or if you have too much money and don't know what to do with it. But this is CAG, and this forum is targeted at people who want to get the best price for everything so I don't think that would be the case here.

Although perhaps you were not so foolish for buying a Wii at launch as many people report buying the system, playing the games then after they were done playing they resold the package for more than they originally paid. If they wanted to buy it later on they simply bought it again at a reduced price thus netting a profit and getting to play the games at the same time.

Like I already said, even if Nintendo stops making home consoles, their games wont magically go to Sony or Microsoft, they will just all be on the 3DS.

Nintendo kills the handheld market, so its not like if they stop making consoles, they will just stop making handhelds.

Its funny that people act like its only Nintendo systems that take a year or 2 to pick up steam when PS3 and 360 took 1-2 years to get some steam going as well.


Its a new console thing, not just Nintendo.

Through all this thread, all I really see is speculation / opinion and apples vs. oranges debates, as there is no other home console hardware that can directly compare to the Wii U in terms of its release year. The last year that a home console was launched was back in 2006, things were much different economically and technologically, especially when you factor in the tablet / smart phone phenomenon that has greatly impacted the gaming landscape (not that I would like to admit that though).

The (almost) entire casual market has purchased by now at least a Wii / PS3 / 360, and the drive for that user base to get on board with another console is tepid at best (unless they have kids, which really pushed the video game market back in the late 80s to the 90s). Even if a video game virgin casual is out to get a new game console, the PS3 and 360 are going to look more attractive than their successors, based solely upon their prices.

I'll be very interested to see how the next Sony and Microsoft console launches are received, as this will tell more about the home console market than it will about any individual company. Until then, there just isn't anything solid to compare the numbers to, but I understand the need to justify your stance on the issue, whether you bought a Wii U day one, or are waiting for the eventual price drop before you dive in.

Quite honestly if the PS4/720 comes out at $400 or more I don't see any good sales from them either. I don't people except the really hardcore would go out and buy a gaming system when their 360/PS3 already does Netflix, Hulu, etc.

Plus if they come out at $500, that is low end but can still play anything PC level. With the amount of sales on PC games and the widespread support of the 360 gamepad, it would be in ones favor to switch. I mean ever since I got my gaming PC, my PS3 purchases have been strictly games not on PS3, bad PC ports or PS+ freebies.

It's a tough market out there now, for everyone.

I also think there's a good amount of resentment towards consoles right now. It just feels like a general malaise with all of them. If 720/PS4 launched with "prettier versions" of things you can also get on PS3/360/PC, I would not expect them to do well out of the gate, especially since there doesn't seem to be any major 1st party stuff coming their way soon, at least ones that'll sell systems.

And to be honest, I'm not particularly looking forward to buying another Playstation or Xbox. I'm looking to build a good gaming PC. I'm sure a lot more feel the way I do, but are waiting for the real specs of these boxes to be uncovered to start building.

I have no more room in my entertainment center, so no new console purchases for me unless I am ready to get rid of something that is already there which I probably won't be willing to do for at least the next 3-5 years. I only have 2 HDMI ports and those are taken up by the PS3/360. The only thing I can see moving the masses to buy a new console is a new Call of Duty or Halo exclusively on the next gen PS/Xbox consoles, when it isn't on the consoles we currently have. If the games come out simultaneously for the current PS3/360 and for the new consoles you won't see much in terms of sales.

I am not sure if the feature set of the new 360/PS will be enough to entice people either, when they already have something that works well and is a low price, especially if the blocking of used games becomes a reality on these systems. If PS3 and 360 prices drop even further there will be less of an incentive to buy the new console. Yes you will ultimately have people that will buy the latest console no matter what but something tells me that is not enough people to sustain complete sales of a console.

Sustained sales is where things really measure up, if things can keep selling past the holiday season, then you have a winner for a product. Needless to say the Wii was a sure fire winner as it kept selling out for a couple years until demand finally caught up with supply. The Wii U is probably hardly selling anything now, and sales will be very slow between Feb-March.

Also I forgot to mention I don't think Fire emblem is unpopular, the recent 3DS game sold out of preorders at Gamestop, which says to me at least that the series is very popular. Or a lot of hard core gamers are craving a long, involved game on the 3DS and snapped up the orders very quickly.

Well, I've been saying for a while that I think the next generation is going to see some challenges. There is a certain level of "good enough" with this generation that I don't think people are going to be as quick or spend as much money for the next generation. I don't think the gains in the next generation are going to be as huge as the ones in this generation (see the difference in impact between DVD and Blu-ray, for example.) Certainly with Sony and Microsoft going with AMD to run their next gen, they won't exactly be pushing the envelope much.

While I do think Nintendo have made some errors in putting out the WiiU, I don't think any of them are fatal. Personally, I think the launch was solid, but bad ports and lack of immediate followup is going to hurt sales. That being said, my experience with it was a positive and I might look at picking it up at some point when there is more content. That being said, it probably will be my last console purchase. Unless the other guys do something unique to get my attention, I'll be satisfied with gaming on my PC.

Fire Emblem always seems very well but at the same time, I don't think they produce a lot of them.

The one for Game Cube and Wii are already pretty rare and worth a good bit of money used.

Game releases as a whole are low atm and don't pick up till February/March. All we really had this month was DmC and Warth of the White Witch.

Nintendo does have Rayman, Lego City and Monster Hunter in Feb/March. Not system sellers by any means but does add to a good library. Hopefully games like Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta 2 come out before June.

Originally Posted by perdition(troy Blaster man is just mad because Nintendo killed his family

lol shit that made me bust up at work

Originally Posted by Donut2922 lol shit that made me bust up at work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKuNUPmEf7E

By the way, if Xbox 360 and PS3 taught the public anything when their sales were being crushed by the little white box that could in the first year and everyone was talking about price cuts, it's that you don't need to drop the price if you include an extra game/controller/hard drive or any combination thereof. So, when the Deluxe later this year gets packed with Nintendo Land and Pikmin 3/Wind Waker HD/or any other Nintendo property, people won't necessarily care about the price because they're getting bonus stuff in the box.

Voila! No need for a price cut, the game doesn't cost them that much to pack in and system sales go up. Problem solved. Conversation ended.

Originally Posted by Redeema By the way, if Xbox 360 and PS3 taught the public anything when their sales were being crushed by the little white box that could in the first year and everyone was talking about price cuts, it's that you don't need to drop the price if you include an extra game/controller/hard drive or any combination thereof. So, when the Deluxe later this year gets packed with Nintendo Land and Pikmin 3/Wind Waker HD/or any other Nintendo property, people won't necessarily care about the price because they're getting bonus stuff in the box. Voila! No need for a price cut, the game doesn't cost them that much to pack in and system sales go up. Problem solved. Conversation ended.

On Black Friday there were sale prices + games packed in...

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Are you saying the Wii U was on sale black friday and had packed in games?

Cause I don't remember that at all.

Originally Posted by TheLongshot Well, I've been saying for a while that I think the next generation is going to see some challenges. There is a certain level of "good enough" with this generation that I don't think people are going to be as quick or spend as much money for the next generation. I don't think the gains in the next generation are going to be as huge as the ones in this generation (see the difference in impact between DVD and Blu-ray, for example.) Certainly with Sony and Microsoft going with AMD to run their next gen, they won't exactly be pushing the envelope much. While I do think Nintendo have made some errors in putting out the WiiU, I don't think any of them are fatal. Personally, I think the launch was solid, but bad ports and lack of immediate followup is going to hurt sales. That being said, my experience with it was a positive and I might look at picking it up at some point when there is more content. That being said, it probably will be my last console purchase. Unless the other guys do something unique to get my attention, I'll be satisfied with gaming on my PC.

This is very true, the casual buyers do not upgrade every year, and since the games out now look fine on an HDTV I don't see any major reason for upgrading other than needing the box to play the latest games. Once again you always have early adopters and people who buy stuff just to have it at launch. But with the economy I think we are seeing less of those and more casual buyers who will wait with the purchase.

Last gen was a major leap, try playing the PS2 on any HDTV, it does not look good and doesn't even have a dedicated HD port on the system. People bought HDTV's and had to upgrade their consoles to match, which gave a reason for upgrading the consoles and the TV. If you didn't upgrade or upgraded your TV but not your consoles then you had consoles that look terrible on your TV, if you bought new consoles but played them on a CRT then you weren't even getting half of the experience, IMO.

I am not sure how much better graphics can get, and since its the beginning of a new gen we probably won't see drastic performance improvements from the new consoles until 2-3 years down the road. Xbox 360 graphics have improved a lot since 2006 for example. Therefore I see little reason to upgrade unless you have a failing console that you wish to replace with the new version instead of buying another one of the old or unless you must play the latest games.

The one thing about Nintendo that irks me is the marketing. It's been so terrible. They couldn't even put out their Off-TV Play commercial because it was deemed misleading since not every game does it. But I've heard some new, better commercials will come next month.

I think Rayman Legends is going to sell pretty well to current Wii U owners because the lineup is so barren right now and it has received a good push from both Nintendo and Ubisoft (it's the only in-store demo available, and it's been that way since before Launch). And Nintendo fans by and large buy platformers, so if it's reviewed well (it will) they will go out, buy it and champion it.

And don't be surprised if Nintendo hits that software number or gets really close to it, because that includes digital sales of games as well. So...Digital Retail Games, eShop titles and $.30 Virtual Console games all go towards that number.

Originally Posted by Deader2818 Are you saying the Wii U was on sale black friday and had packed in games? Cause I don't remember that at all.

Do you understand that quoting someone else then posting after it is a direct reply to that quote? Okay now that you understand that, go read the quote first.

Yes, I get that, but I wasn't sure if you were talking about the 360/ps3 or the Wii U since whatever point you made didn't seem to make any sense.

Originally Posted by Deader2818 Yes, I get that, but I wasn't sure if you were talking about the 360/ps3 or the Wii U since whatever point you made didn't seem to make any sense.

I was talking about Sony/MS. He was saying that all Nintendo needs is some pack ins to push sales. I was pointing out that they had pack ins and lowered prices on BF by $100.

Originally Posted by KingBroly The one thing about Nintendo that irks me is the marketing. It's been so terrible. They couldn't even put out their Off-TV Play commercial because it was deemed misleading since not every game does it. But I've heard some new, better commercials will come next month. I think Rayman Legends is going to sell pretty well to current Wii U owners because the lineup is so barren right now and it has received a good push from both Nintendo and Ubisoft (it's the only in-store demo available, and it's been that way since before Launch). And Nintendo fans by and large buy platformers, so if it's reviewed well (it will) they will go out, buy it and champion it. And don't be surprised if Nintendo hits that software number or gets really close to it, because that includes digital sales of games as well. So...Digital Retail Games, eShop titles and $.30 Virtual Console games all go towards that number.

If Nintendo were smart they would pay for a Super Bowl commercial. It's the most watched TV all year in the US. Over 100 million people watch it. They could clear up all the confusion about it and get everyone to know about it. Showing the play on tablet would be smart and could push sales as parents will like that. I'd be surprised if Nintendo advertises during it though. They seem to have the absolute worst PR company.

The situation they have with the Wii U is pretty much the definition of the need for an ad that has high publicity. Best do it quick before everyone knows about the PS4. You can be sure Sony will advertise correctly.

If they show the play on the table, They MUST communicate that it won't work within 30 feet of the system. Most people will assume that it works like an iPad(that you can take in the car, etc).