blogs_blog_698

The WiiU, from what I've heard, has had lousy sales. (I've also heard debate on this but I don't have actual numbers) But thinking that one system doing not the best in sales will destroy a company is rather... Illogical. I think they're in more danger from not knowing what the internet is or how to have a system utilize it. But even then... They aren't in any danger of anything at the moment.

The thing is right now that the 3DS is being sold at a loss, as is the WiiU. People use this to scream that the end is nigh but frankly Nintendo has billions in the bank, and can afford to take a loss for a little while. Undoubtedly, as we speak there's guys in Nintendo R&D saying "what can we do to make the next consoles we release the big thing."

 

The company has survived for 125 years, they'll manage through this.

The thing is right now that the 3DS is being sold at a loss, as is the WiiU. People use this to scream that the end is nigh but frankly Nintendo has billions in the bank, and can afford to take a loss for a little while. Undoubtedly, as we speak there's guys in Nintendo R&D saying "what can we do to make the next consoles we release the big thing."

 

The company has survived for 125 years, they'll manage through this.

 

I feel like I remember Sony also sold the PS3 under cost for the first year or so. Not positive, so if anyone can find a source that'd be awesome.

 

And that's exactly the thing, is they can afford to do that to establish the consoles while the prices of the technology comes down enough to make them profitable, because they had such a big windfall last generation. Then once they've established their market by undercutting their opponents price by eating that loss, they can make money off of their games, since they have a much stronger first-party game dev team than their competition, and they get 100% of the profits from those. Plus the big-name titles are going to bolster console sales; how many people are probably going to buy a 3DS or Wii U just for the new Smash Bros.?

 

Nintendo doesn't appeal to the same markets or use the same strategy as its competition, but for what Nintendo's aiming to do, they're doing it almost perfectly.

Microsoft and Sony have always sold their consoles at a loss, whereas Nintendo has traditionally sold theirs at a profit. The Wii and the DS both were sold in the black from day one, and as such gave birth to the meme that the Wii prints money. This allows Nintendo to funnel a ton of money at their first-party IPs, whereas with Microsoft and Sony, they rely on the game sales to compensate for the loss on the consoles.

 

Really, what people are forgetting is that even as the market changes, Nintendo still knows how to exploit its niche and exploit it well. Despite having much, much lower power than its competitors, Nintendo knows how to suck every single drop of power from its machines. This generation they've mostly been hurt by their latest gimmicks; the Wii U's touchscreen is cool but it has terrible battery life. The 3DS' 3D is cool for exactly five minutes and then you never use it again. Consider that Nintendo is selling the 2DS at a very slim profit, while they're selling the 3DS at a loss. That 3D screen bumped the initial launch price to $250, an outrageous price from a company that released its last big thing, the DS, at $150, and the Gameboy Advance before it, at around $75. So they had to cut the price to $150 for the 3DS and take that loss.

 

Nintendo got lucky with last gen's gimmicks, with the Wii's motion controls working and the DS' touchscreen being magnificent. Nintendo will work on the next best gimmick and likely strike gold again, print money for the next seven years, and start the process all over again. It's just their way.

All very true, but I disagree with the Wii U's gamepad. The problem with the Wii U's screen, to me, is the fact that, again, it's so new. How many terrible games did we see for the Wii when it first came out that butchered motion controls? Plus they put a lot of stock into third-party launch titles for it, and that didn't exactly work out well.(It didn't help that a lot of the big-name third-party games in its launch were ports. Ports are always awkward, but the gamepad compounded that). While I can't comment on the battery life since I don't own one, it's not like the battery life of my PS3 controller is that great. I imagine the gamepad's much worse though with that giant screen.

 

I think the gamepad will become a lot less gimmicky within a year or so. It took a little while for handheld devs to get used to two screens, but eventually they started making outstanding dual-screen play like The World Ends With You. The biggest problems I have with it are that it's not available separately and you can't use more than one at a time.

 

The 3DS, honestly, I've been disappointed in the 3D of. It's still cool, but you're absolutely right that you really don't use it much of at all. I love the more powerful, more modern DS that actually feels like a full-fledged device instead of just a standalone gaming unit, but the 3D really hasn't panned out as cool as I thought it would.

So I love the 3D.

 

And... that's about all I can contribute here.

i find the 3D...eh. i mean it's mainly the game that I play that determies whether i use 3d or not. (I never have 3D on in X and Y, not even during battles but I always have it on in Bravely Default)

I think you misread me Necro; the only complaint I lobbied against the touchpad was its battery life. I really like the idea of two screens on a console, basically doing for the couch what the DS did for the handheld, but three hours of battery life is simply abysmal for folks like me who can retreat to their room and play video games for 16 hours straight. Get better batteries for the thing and it has the potential to be really brilliant.

 

Honestly I think that if Nintendo takes the 3DS, ditches the 3D screen, upgrades the hardware and makes a bigger push for online capabilities, the next handheld will be great. Nintendo has stated that it doesn't intend to abandon the 3D but, well, its investors think otherwise and I'm fairly sure that if they don't abandon the concept completely, they will at the very least make it into an optional thing rather than sticking it right in the name.

For the Gamepad arguments; can you not play games if the gamepad is charging, like how the 3/DS/GBA could play while charging??

 

Also, I'd say that Nintendo's already made what loss they took on the 3DS back in game sales already, perhaps.

You can charge the Wii U gamepad as you play. That's what I do. That said, I'll probably sell my Wii U sometime soon lest an oncoming price drop reduce any potential wonga I get from it. There are just no games on the horizon that I would die to obtain, with the possible exception of Bayonetta 2. And no, I don't care about Smash Bros. At all.

Aye, you can, but if you live in an ancient house like mine, nearby sockets are sometimes rather difficult to come by. Really if your interior decorating isn't right, it becomes rather difficult.

 

And alas, they have not made their money back yet. Nintendo's been in the red for the last few quarters and still hasn't pulled itself out yet. Due to their bank stockpiles though they can easily manage until they get something that can turn a profit easier.