Nintendo top honcho Satoru Iwata has said that Wii's situation in Japan "cannot be defined as healthy". It's probably not as bad as it sounds, they have sold ba-zillions after all.
"As you probably know, the current situation of Wii cannot be defined as healthy," he said, detailing this year's decline in Wii sales in Japan to well below the 50k unit sales mark per week.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Official trailer
1:01More classic Mario action
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Official trailer
1:01More classic Mario action
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A spike to almost 100k sales one week in the summer failed to last, and despite a price cut in September, Iwata says: "The price cut seems to have the least impact here than other parts of the world."
He adds: "It is our urgent mission to recover the momentum of Wii during the holidays utilising Nintendo's strength."
DS is propping up Nintendo's bank balance though, as Iwata says the portable continues to do well, thanks to Dragon Quest and Pokémon games.
I think Mr Iwata might be slightly pleased at how the Wii has been selling worldwide since it's price cut.
Just last week it outsold the 360 and PS3 combined for what must be the 1,000th time...
The Japanese don't respond to such methods of boosting sales traditionally though... They tend to go crazy for the same console in a new colour, like they did with the black Wii.
oh come on Casual gaming is here to stay.The most casual release of the year's coming out on Tuesday.
I'm sure the release of Dragon Quest X, FF the crystal bearers and the new super mario bros will boost the wiis slaes in Japan, then again they might have just hit saturation point.
Which is in no way a bad thing as nintendo can focus on bringing us more great games.
At least they're honest about it. Unlike the near politician-like denial of MS/Sony's big execs.
Nintendo do need something big, not sure what though. I guess either a 'core' title that blows everything away like Galaxy did (SMG2 will be amazing I'm sure, but I doubt it will have the impact) or a new casual title that really catches the eye. Thing is, they could release another Mario Kart with just new tracks and it'd probably sell millions. As would SMK on the VC!
Still, considering they've profitted from everything they've sold in the last 3 years or so (plus all the other pokemon/gameboy money they must've stockpiled) and I imagine not spent as much as Sony/MS on R&D, they must be sitting on quite a big pile of money - still that doesn't please the shareholders. They want income!
i don't see how. Mario Bros wii is a return to old school mario on a home console. Other M looks like nintendo are taking metroid back to its 2d roots with a twist. Mario Galaxy was just as good if not better than mario 64.
I don't think nintendo have disappointed thier fans at all. The wiis got more output from nintendo than the n64 and gamecube had.
The problem with the wii is that the stuff that deserves it on the system just doesn't get the column/ ad space as its HD competition on the other platforms. the PS2/PSX had just as much shovelware and casual games as the wii does. But its core games got much much more coverage.
Nintendo havent aliented the core gamer nor is the Wii a casual gaming machine people have aliented themselves so they can seem more cool and "hardcore". Idiots. I've been gaming for over 19 years and I own a Wii and just a Wii not that I dont like some of the games on the other machines its just that the Wii is enough for me it has a range of games and its fun and fresh to play. Because of narrow minded kids out there the Wii has been branded much like the Gamecube and N64 was a kiddie machine. Gamers need to grow up theres no such thing as a hardcore gamer if they arent willing to expand their horizons.
i seen a black wii without that stupid slanty stand. looked great. like a beastly stylish optical drive or something.
far too pricey though. i'd possibly jump at Ł100 for the black wii as long as you can play that new mario without flapping about.
I don't generally care what the console looks like as it's stuck away at the side of my TV, but I know what you mean when you say beastly stylish. It looks mean somehow. I like it.
you played galaxy without flapping about too. yes grasshopper the new mario bros has nes style controls. as did punchout, Most of the big /core games have the option to have no motion control at all if you don't want it.
Something a lot of peopole tend to conveniently forget.
I don't get the casual/core argument. If you play games then you are a gamer, and a lot of the so-called 'core' define themselves as so because they play excessive amounts of Call of Duty. If people insist on separating gamers into sects then the majority of CoD fans are the real casuals, they only buy what the press tells them to. I hold nothing against people that buy the likes of Wii Fit and other stuff that is deemed 'casual'. They are normal people that just happen to enjoy a different genre to me. I do, however hold something against arrogant forum trolls that insult people over their taste in games, that define 'gamer' as someone who obsessively play FPS games, usually Call of Duty (I call them CoDiots), Halo, Gears or whatever the in-PS3 shooter is at the time.
I completely agree with the above poster! To me, this is what defines a "casual" gamer:
- Prefers graphics over gameplay, to the extent he thinks games that look brilliant but play like s**te are absolutely awesome (Halo and Modern Warfare, I'm talking about you!) - Only buys stuff his mates would approve of - Is completely obsessed with achievements (which to me are simply the gaming equivalent of giving gold stars to school kids) - Is unwilling to play any game older than the current console generation (with the odd exception for what they consider the most awesome games from the previous gen, e.g. Halo) - Thinks anyone who likes certain gaming genres is a loser (e.g. RPGs, flight sims) - Thinks anyone plays PC games is a loser
The top reason is the number 1 reason why so many so-called "hardcore" gamers hate the Wii. Ogh noes!!111 they focused on gameplay when they should have just made the graphics fancier!!!111
I agree that the whole hardcore gamer thing is b******s.
But you can't ignore the fact that Nintendo market the Wii to people who would not normally purchase a console and don't want a traditional one player gaming experience. This has unfortunately meant that the machine has been saturated with s**t loads of wank games to exploit old man Jenkins' lack of gaming knowledge.
Now I'm not an ignorant fanboy who sits masturbating over COD4 for days on end but I want a good one player experience. Unfortunately I think you would be hard pushed to pick 10 games for the Wii that can offer this.
Hopefully Nintendo or some 3rd party publishers can try and remedy this and get some quality one player games out. Even though it seems like a pointless waste of time when you look at the amount of party games in the Wii all time games sale chart....
# Wii Sports (50.54 million) # Wii Play (24.43 million) # Wii Fit (22.5 million) # Mario Kart Wii (18.36 million) # Super Smash Bros. Brawl (8.43 million) # Super Mario Galaxy (8.02 million) # Wii Sports Resort (6.97 million approximately; 1.25 million in United States, 1.266 million in Japan, 1 million in Europe, 100,000 in Australia ) # Mario Party 8 (6.72 million) # The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.52 million) # Link's Crossbow Training (3.76 million)
No, just gamers who are fed up with the proliferation of casual content over more challenging games.
Casual gaming is big bucks, it had to happen sometime I guess, gaming is very mainsteam, and gaming gems like Metal Gear 4, flagship Zelda games, are few and far between.
The Wii's sales may be beginiing to fall but it's so far ahead of the competition it doesn't matter right now. Nintendo are going to take a huge hit in Japan next month when Final Fantasy XIII comes out for the PS3 and then again next March when Gran Turismo 5 launches but Nintendo are facing no competition whatsoever from Microsoft and it'll take Sony years to catch up at the rate they're going..........Nintendo can afford to sit back for a few months and rethink their strategy.
The Wii's sales may be beginiing to fall but it's so far ahead of the competition it doesn't matter right now. Nintendo are going to take a huge hit in Japan next month when Final Fantasy XIII comes out for the PS3 and then again next March when Gran Turismo 5 launches but Nintendo are facing no competition whatsoever from Microsoft and it'll take Sony years to catch up at the rate they're going..........Nintendo can afford to sit back for a few months and rethink their strategy.
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