Reuters - Nintendo sees strong DS sales, frowns on Wii bundles

Wii bundles are so so so, unfair to the consumer. Nintendo trying to make a console affordable, and then retailers bundle it with crap in an attempt to bring it up to 400/500 dollars -what retailers seem to believe is the new mean for the price of consoles.
 
The game sold 1.1 million copies in the United States in November, but fell short of marks set by other blockbuster titles such as Microsoft's "Halo 3," which sold 3.3 million copies in its first month.
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This is the 2nd time I've seen this comparison. How mind blowingly stupid.

What? Call of Duty 360 only hit 1.5 million its first month? Thats no Halo 3! FAILURE
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']This is the 2nd time I've seen this comparison. How mind blowingly stupid.

What? Call of Duty 360 only hit 1.5 million its first month? Thats no Halo 3! FAILURE[/quote]
....Because Call of Duty 4 isn't available on the PS3, PC, or DS....

Their comparison isn't great, but yours is worse. :lol:
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']This is the 2nd time I've seen this comparison. How mind blowingly stupid.

What? Call of Duty 360 only hit 1.5 million its first month? Thats no Halo 3! FAILURE[/QUOTE]

I agree with you assessment overall but I've to disagree with part of your answer. The comparison to Halo comes about, because Halo is the Xbox (mascot/flagship franchise) as is Mario for Nintendo. Thus, the media makes a direct correlation between the two games to determine which one was more successful. IMO, Mario will see better lifetime sales compared to Halo.

COD 4 isn't/shouldn't be part of the conversation unless you are comparing it to GTAIV or something along those lines.
 
I work for a retailer, we can BARELY keep DSs in stock. Selling the everloving hell out of them this year. Definitely one of the top 5 toys this holiday season.

On a side note, I went to a major mall last weekend to see Wii stuff plastered EVERYWHERE. Most of it was branded with GS/EB... but this is a major mall that prolly saw 1million ish customers this weekend... So much for downplaying the advertising. (not hating on Nintendo, just found it funny.)

Guys @ GS upstairs @ Woodbridge Center NJ seemed cool. Shop there!
 
[quote name='Lupuri']I work for a retailer, we can BARELY keep DSs in stock. Selling the everloving hell out of them this year. Definitely one of the top 5 toys this holiday season.

On a side note, I went to a major mall last weekend to see Wii stuff plastered EVERYWHERE. Most of it was branded with GS/EB... but this is a major mall that prolly saw 1million ish customers this weekend... So much for downplaying the advertising. (not hating on Nintendo, just found it funny.)

Guys @ GS upstairs @ Woodbridge Center NJ seemed cool. Shop there![/QUOTE]

I have been there before, but when I was there, the guys were ass holes. I tried to buy a few penny guides, but the guys said I had to buy a console to get them for a penny. This was like a year ago.
 
Mario is very recognizeable, so much so that people who don't know anything about gaming know who he is. So it's expected that a Mario game is going to very popular across all sorts of markets and demographics.

Which is why it's so easy for a "gaming analyst" or some business person at some various news outlet to easily rag against it by comparing sales to Halo, which is easily the biggest game of the moment.

A better comparison - and you won't see this anywhere - would be to compare Halo 3's sales to Ratchet and Clank and/or Uncharted for Sony, but you won't see that happening for....well I'm not sure why, really.
 
Halo is not compared to rachet and clank because Rachet and Clank is nowhere as large as a franchise as Mario or Halo is.

Thats why it is not compared.
 
[quote name='InuFaye']Halo is not compared to rachet and clank because Rachet and Clank is nowhere as large as a franchise as Mario or Halo is.

Thats why it is not compared.[/QUOTE]

It was advertised like there was no tomorrow, it's a long running series, critically acclaimed, and is exclusive to Sony.

It's the closest thing to a mascot game at the moment. God of War fills that void as well.

Uncharted is kind of in the same territory, since it's an exclusive.

That is why those two would be viable comparisons.
 
They can promote Rachet and Clank all they want, but they dont have the brand or name recognition that Halo or Mario does.

Its not quite right to compare Halo to Mario, but on the otherhand its not quite fair to compare sales of Halo and Mario to Rachet.

We didnt have Rachet Mountain Dew did we?
 
[quote name='ananag112']I have been there before, but when I was there, the guys were ass holes. I tried to buy a few penny guides, but the guys said I had to buy a console to get them for a penny. This was like a year ago.[/quote]Sorry... I know all about dicks @ game stores. See my reply to the 'buying a game store' thread.

Comparing anything to Halo just isnt right. Halo is a total flagship for MS, with more gamers following it then more then likely any game made since the original Nintendo. The bottom line however is its the media. You think the turd sniffer writing this article has any idea about true gaming like most members of this board? (imagines everyone shaking their head no while reading that last line.)
 
[quote name='InuFaye']They can promote Rachet and Clank all they want, but they dont have the brand or name recognition that Halo or Mario does.

Its not quite right to compare Halo to Mario, but on the otherhand its not quite fair to compare sales of Halo and Mario to Rachet. [/quote]

In the pure sense of console exclusives, it is.

But you're hinting on the whole apples to oranges thing, so we're in agreement.

Mario vs Halo is purely a contest of brand recognition outside of the gaming world. My dad knows about Halo. My dad! He hasn't played games....ever, unless I count a few stints of Dr. Mario and Tetris. But he knows who Mario is as well.

And he sees the newspaper articles about how Halo crowds were in the millions. He even has a business friend (another 50+ year old dude, most likely) who plays it and talks about how "it is the greatest thing ever."

Point being is that Halo is the flavor right now. The only thing that really compares is Grand Theft Auto, but even that isn't wholly fair. Halo is really in a state of itself, completely removed from anything else at the moment.

Shit. I'd say Guitar Hero has a better chance of being compared, but even that isn't the same thing.

We didnt have Rachet Mountain Dew did we?
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Good point. But I wonder if there's ever been plans for a R&C cartoon? Part of me is willing to bet there has been.

But then again, that's a marketing thing than anything else.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']Bundles should be ILLEGAL.[/QUOTE]

This.

Seriously, why can't Nintendo make retailers sign an agreement that reads something along the lines of, "I may not bundle Wii consoles with anything or sell them above retail."?

I realize some stores may scoff at the idea but all that would do is drive Nintendo to sell more consoles to stores who are willing to sign the agreement. The same number of consoles will be sold either way and less people will be pissed off in the process.

I don't work in a game store (or anywhere for that matter :D ) but I'm willing to bet that when a Mom buys a Christmas Wii at, for example, TRU, she usually buys a couple things to go with it or perhaps a giftcard at the store for her kid to get something he wants.
 
[quote name='Halo05']
Seriously, why can't Nintendo make retailers sign an agreement that reads something along the lines of, "I may not bundle Wii consoles with anything or sell them above retail."?

I realize some stores may scoff at the idea but all that would do is drive Nintendo to sell more consoles to stores who are willing to sign the agreement. The same number of consoles will be sold either way and less people will be pissed off in the process.
[/QUOTE]

Well, after the console gets to the store, I imagine it's not really in Nintendo's jurisdiction anymore.

Now, you counter this by suggesting an agreement to be signed, but I'm almost 100% positive that gamers would see this as a return to the Iron Curtain/Fist tactics that Nintendo is infamous for re: NES period, such as limiting consoles available and forcing third parties to only release one game a month.

Besides, it wouldn't be a good PR move. Too many people (read: non-gamers/business analysts) are too stupid to consider all of the factors concerning the shortage now, so I highly doubt they'd be willing to overlook such things and figure out just why it's going on. Instead, they'd reduce it to "YOU HAVE TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT WITH MEAN BIG BROTHER NINTENDO" and pretend that was a valid thing to say.

Also, Nintendo might like the bundles. It helps them claim (no matter how bullshit it is) that the attachment ratio is high, which is the same thing MS did when the 360 launched, and they were telling retailers to force consumers to buy 2-3 games with the console.
 
Forcing a bundle deters scalpers. The majority of people who are buying the Wii out of genuine interest will end up buying these items anyway. Stores don't want scalpers to buy because then they lose out on the profitable game/accessory sales.
 
Also, Nintendo might like the bundles. It helps them claim (no matter how bullshit it is) that the attachment ratio is high, which is the same thing MS did when the 360 launched, and they were telling retailers to force consumers to buy 2-3 games with the console.
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Reggie said in the article that Nintendo wasn't happy with the bundles. I think the reason why is that one of Nintendo's selling points is that their console is $250. Forcing someone to buy a few games that they don't want, a memory card, and another controller and who knows what else and the customer is now paying far more than the $250. What if someone just wants a Wii Sports Box? Or a Zelda Box? Forcing customers to buy things they don't want just to get what they want jacks up that $250 price tag.

It's pretty clear to me that the sole reason retailers bundle is to make more money. It has nothing to do with deterring scalpers and everything to do with the bottom line.
 
You're confusing some things there.

1) It helps stop scalpers to a point, but that is surely a secondary thing, if not tertiary. No retailer is sitting there thinking "We could stop the eBay jerks!" They are thinking about their bottom lines first and foremost.

2) Just because Nintendo has a PR statement out there doesn't mean they don't see the obvious benefits that can be agreed upon behind closed curtains. Again, if every system were being sold in bundles right now, it would give them a free ride to saying "all our systems begin with a 3 game attachment rate." Despite that being a faulty conclusion, they could still make it.

This is the same company that defends their weak online presence with "it's for the children" all the time, when it more easily goes back to money. But Reggie would commit PR suicide by going out and saying "We aren't giving you an XBL like experience because it costs too much, and I'd rather swim in my money bin than help you jerks."

There was a third thing I wanted to say, but I forgots it.
 
From the article:

"Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that. We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want," Fils-Aime said.

Asked if Nintendo had threatened such retailers with fewer Wii shipments, Fils-Aime said only that the company carried a lot of weight as maker of one of the most highly sought items this holiday.

"We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers," Fils-Aime said.
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So is he lying, then? I'm sure they like seeing a high attachment rate, but, just as Reggie says, bundles mess with the price advantage.

That said, Wiis still aren't on the shelf, well over a year after the system's launch, so it doesn't seem that bundles are hampering sales. It could be the long-term customer satisfaction that Nintendo is worried about, though - by forcing customers into spending more than they want to now, they might be disinclined to spend money in the future.
 
It's not lying, no. But it's definitely proclaiming certain things for a public image versus whatever your beancounters are telling you behind the scenes.

You don't think companies have PR lines that conflict what they might think away from the public eye?
 
[quote name='Strell']It's not lying, no. But it's definitely proclaiming certain things for a public image versus whatever your beancounters are telling you behind the scenes.

You don't think companies have PR lines that conflict what they might think away from the public eye?[/QUOTE]

No. Everyone tells the truth and I live in Candyland.

I just think that since he's so visible that he has to be honest, otherwise his credibility will be shot.
 
Awesome.

The next time you see the Gingerbread man, you tell that bitch he betta pay up. I don't have time for that shit.
 
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