Nintendo shares tumbled to a five year low following yesterday's E3 reveal of its new home console, the backwards compatible, high definition Wii U.
According to Bloomberg, analysts have been quick to cast doubt on whether the platform holder will be able to repeat the success of Wii with the new system, which is set to launch between next April and the end of 2012.
Nintendo shares fell as much as 7.5 percent as of 1:21 p.m. in Osaka trading, with more than 1.67 million changing hands, verss a six-month daily average of 724,000.
CVG went hands-on with the Wii U last night in LA. See what we thought of it here.
Comments
16 comments so far...
erd3x on 8 Jun '11 said:
Not surprised by this, when you reveal a product that looks like one of the first generation external cd drives from Apple see:
http://crawfsplace.com/wp-content/uploa ... -drive.jpg
Did they not get product designers involved - its hideous and so is the controller - tomy/little tikes?
originalbadboy on 8 Jun '11 said:
While I dont like the styling much ...who cares seriously ...
I dont like the 'george forman grill PS3' either, but that doesnt stop it from being a bonafide games machine, this is no different.
I cant understand all the hate for this ... Nintendo yet again show us how to be different and they get moaned at for doing so ... Damned if you do Damned if you dont ... I mean what were they supposed to do , just silently slip off into the night and go out of business ... Just dont understand what gamers actually want these days.
Masked_Bunny on 8 Jun '11 said:
people fear change.
everyone mocked nintendo wii saying motion control was stoopid and would never catch on now everyones jumped on the band wagon.
I liked the idea of a screen on my dreamcast although that was never really utilised properly.
bottom line is if the third party developers support it and actually utillise the 2nd screen fully then the console will do well
GTCzeero on 8 Jun '11 said:
But there's some decent third party support for the 3DS, and that's not doing as well a Nintendo hoped because of its high price and confusion amongst consumers as to just what the 3DS provides that the DS didn't (a hurdle the WiiU is going to have to overcome).
I also feel the console itself looks a bit like "My Little Xbox 360" or something, a child's version of the grown up toys. Too rounded for my liking, get some sharp edges in there Nintendo!
originalbadboy on 8 Jun '11 said:
Considering you can get a 3DS for £150 now I dont think price is an issue thats for sure. It came out at the wrong time of year for starters, and secondly people just are not spending money on things like this at the moment. Its as simple as that, nobody has got any money for stuff like this ... Thats my take on it anyway,
Balladeer on 8 Jun '11 said:
Why in God's name are people worrying about the appearance? It's a flipping games console, not a painting!
Anyway, Nintendo didn't give as good an account as maybe they should have done, but selling shares over this was (I reckon) a mistake. Wait until the WiiU is a bit more established - they'll be clamouring to buy those shares back at higher prices.
GunstarHeroX on 8 Jun '11 said:
Plus it has pretty much nothing worth playing yet. As far as I know, there have been no new games since the initial, very weak, launch lineup. Or if there have been, they've been missable as they've gone under my radar.
We'll see once Ocarina of Time 3D and a few more heavy-hitters release. I don't remember the original DS doing fantastically out of the gate either, but we know how that turned out.
And yeah I do agree the Wii U looks a bit silly. It's the white plastic and general chunkiness of the console and new controller, it does make it look more like a toy than a brand new cutting edge console. I'll still buy it though, because I buy every new system. Hopefully history won't Wiipeat itself (LOL I'm so funny) and I'll get more than a week out of this particular Nintendo system before getting bored.
rbt2 on 8 Jun '11 said:
Surely all consoles are toys though, aren't they?
MD1500 on 8 Jun '11 said:
The rounded edges make sense.
It's a motion controller. The rounded edges probably add much needed protection to avoid damage from knocks, banging it against the wall, etc... Similar to the wiimote sleeve.
disturbedbydeth3 on 8 Jun '11 said:
A big challenge for Nintendo will be convincing 360 and PS3 owners to switch. Not sure if a little extra horsepower and a snazzy controller will be enough. Nintendo also need to vastly improve online gaming (e.g. removing friend codes). My money is on the Wii U failing tbh.
MPH on 8 Jun '11 said:
Maybe the shares dropped because now that the general public know that a new console is in development, the Wii sales may slow.
I know us gamers already knew, but now it's out there.
ricflair on 8 Jun '11 said:
For most seemingly sane people, yes they are.
But for some they are digital cocks.
Laughlyn on 8 Jun '11 said:
In all fairness when it comes to 3DS the games on offer atm are pretty poor. theres a lot for everyone but not much for someone.
I had mine on releae day with Asphalt and pilotwings because so far they're the only games thats appealed to me. Most folk forget that teh original DS started off slowly and didnt really take off until the DS Lite and Nintendogs. Nintendo are using a typical retail trick for the 3DS, release it early and allow eager beavers like myself to rush out and buy one and let folk pass it aorund and get word of mouth going, wait till summer drought to bring out your big games and come christmas there will be a nice collection of big games that people love for the gamestores to make bundles with and watch it sell. Nintendo release a red unit with mario and a gold unit with zelda bundled in.
I dont mind the look of the wii console. it does look more like a sky receiver box or an external DVD drive, i'm mainly interested in just how heavy and comfortable the controller is. the placing of the analogue sliders in relation to other buttons looks uncomfortable and if ur stood up using the controller then it looks like it'd be difficult to hold onto with one hand and to use the touch screen. i'd probs have prefered a 4" screen and made the controller a little more user friendly especially for kids. i highly doubt my 7ry old will be able to use it properly as he cant reach all the buttons on ps3 as it is never mind summat similar size to an A4 piece of paper. the concept video look amazing there will no doubt be some fantastic ideas coming out to make use of the screen, me n several mates have been lettin our imaginations run wild with it all. Its just wether companies will put the time and effort into continually using it for more than just a map screen
Adam81uk on 8 Jun '11 said:
Haha that made me chuckle, very good!
Skullet on 8 Jun '11 said:
The drop in share price seems to reflect the publics response to Wii U. It strikes me that Nintendo have tried to jump on the current tablet PC bandwagon, not realising that there isn't really a tablet PC bandwagon to jump on, there is only an iPad bandwagon and Apple hasn't saved a seat for Nintendo.
GaryStew1980 on 8 Jun '11 said:
Couldnt be less interested in this console to be honest, ironic as it may seem i think i would have been more interested in this console if it didnt have the silly controller, its a gimmick that isnt as innovative as the Wii was. Next to no footage shown was actuall Wii U footage much of it made up of 360 and PS3 footage. One very boring demo of a bird flying about and a video of Zelda and Mario Mii.
Forgive me but does anyone really want to play a shooter with a stupid plastic gun with an ipad on top of it? is the lie of the golf ball really going to affect the standard of a game like wii golf and why in gods name would i want to look at a web page while holding up a bit piece of plastic to zoom in etc...
Not sure the sense of releasing a console only barely more powerful than the 360 and maybe more than PS3 no one knows as Nintendo bottled releasing the spec.