Wii U at a 'tipping point' for turning sales around, says Nintendo

Wii U has been a sales disappointment for Nintendo. According to marketing VP Scott Moffitt, however, the system is just about to turn the corner.

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Wii U has been a sales disappointment for Nintendo. Even as software provides boosts to the system's sales, the cheaper system failed to beat PlayStation 4 or Xbox One in the most recent NPDs. According to marketing VP Scott Moffitt, though, Nintendo is staying the course and Wii U is about to turn the corner.

"As I look at what we have coming this holiday, now with Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, plus the innovation of Amiibo, I think we are right at that tipping point where we have a lot of great content that is about to be released for that platform that's going to tempt gamers into buying the system," Moffitt told GamesIndustry.biz. "From the comments I'm reading online, and following gamers' comments, I think there are a lot of people that are going to have a hard time resisting buying a Wii U once Smash Bros comes out. I think that's going to be a major hardware driver for us. So that's the narrative we hope that plays out and that I think we are starting to see play out."

He also made a point of reiterating Nintendo's stance that the GamePad isn't going anywhere.

"We think GamePad is the only innovation that's come in this new generation of consoles," he said. "So we have the only real point of difference. Certainly graphics are faster, graphics are better. This is not a real innovation for gamers. We are fully committed to leveraging the GamePad, to keeping it bundled with the system."

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  • reply
    June 20, 2014 7:04 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Wii U at a 'tipping point' for turning sales around, says Nintendo.

    Wii U has been a sales disappointment for Nintendo. According to marketing VP Scott Moffitt, however, the system is just about to turn the corner.

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 7:05 AM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 8:12 AM

        Or launch with Mario Kart.

        And do HD re-releases. Majora's Mask please.

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        June 20, 2014 3:00 PM

        Gosh, if only they could put out more than 4 games in 2 years:

        Disc Games:
        New Super Mario Bros. U
        Nintendo Land
        Game & Wario
        Pikmin 3
        New Super Luigi U
        The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
        Wii Party U
        Super Mario 3D World
        Wii Fit U
        Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
        Mario Kart 8

        eShop Exclusive:
        Pokémon Rumble U
        Wii Sports Club
        NES Remix
        Dr. Luigi
        NES Remix 2
        Pushmo World

        And if you want games that are due before the 2 year mark:

        Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
        Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
        Hyrule Warriors

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 8:39 AM

      The quality of Mario Kart 8 shows why Nintendo can make money without going the Big Graphics console route. They nail fun so damn well that I could not care less about how many pixels there are.

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        June 20, 2014 8:43 AM

        I like beautiful games and all that, but really wish that was less prevalent. Now game budgets skyrocket because they have to have super omgwtfbbq graphics, but then they forget the fun.

        Thank you Nintendo.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 8:45 AM

        They don't go Big Graphics yet still produce games that look better than half of the stuff available on the other consoles.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 9:08 AM

          To be fair, the other consoles have like 3 games total so far.

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          June 20, 2014 10:09 AM

          Just goes to show what great art style can do.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 10:35 AM

          i agree but you know that won't last late into the generation. most wii games (especially 3d wii games) were looking pretty assy by the mid-late period of its lifecycle.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 4:21 PM

        Mario Kart 8 is seriously amazing. Game of the year for me, for sure. I'll be playing it for months to come, definitely worth buying a Wii U for.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 4:29 PM

        I love the clean look they have with their games.

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 9:58 AM

      Nintendo should buy Capcom and bring Mega Man, Maximo, Bionic Commando, and Street Fighter under their roof.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:11 AM

        That seems like a great idea, actually.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:13 AM

        I keep going this will happen.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:26 AM

        God that rule.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 11:01 AM

        This hurts me because it probably won't happen, but I want it to so much.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 11:02 AM

        Wouldn't having Street Fighter as a Nintendo exclusive piss off a lot of players?

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          June 20, 2014 11:13 AM

          Yes.

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          June 20, 2014 11:17 AM

          I think having SF as any kind of exclusive would make people lose their minds. It would be the biggest get since Halo, and players flipped out about that.

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          June 20, 2014 11:23 AM

          Yes. It would also sell a shit-ton of consoles.

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          June 20, 2014 12:37 PM

          Seems like the kind of franchise they'd do a timed exclusive on. You get it on the WiiU first, and then ports show up as the season pass DLC wraps up. Ports get season pass DLC for free as a concession.

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            June 20, 2014 12:50 PM

            Right, but the chances of Nintendo making games for another console is pretty slim. If they were to bring Capcom into the umbrella that is.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 4:13 PM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 4:22 PM

          Gamers getting mad about something? That would be super unusual.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 4:46 PM

          Does not mean they are going to do it.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 1:04 PM

        They've already shown a great working relationship with Capcom in the past what with the timed exclusivity of RE4 about 10 years back...

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 4:45 PM

        I also see this coming.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 7:48 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 10:14 AM

      Very glad they've committed to the GamePad. They're right, it's a big innovation and I feel we haven't yet had many games take advantage of it in a really cool way yet.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:28 AM

        if only there were some well funded software company with a business interest in proving its value

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 11:29 AM

        It's literally not, and everything they've done thus far on the Wii-U gamepad would have been better served on the 3DS.

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        June 20, 2014 12:25 PM

        The games that do the most with it are party games, which are off of everyone's radar. But it really shines in a group of people. Asymmetric games with 4 local players is worth experiencing.

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          June 20, 2014 12:33 PM

          I think most people agreed that could be pretty cool when they first showed it. But there's not exactly a ton of great games of that sort now and the real issue is a lot of us simply don't have 4-5 people over to play games locally like we used to (sadly).

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            June 20, 2014 12:35 PM

            My TV gaming is purely social, so I guess without local multiplayer I'd never get a console. I do all my alone time gaming on the PC.

            • reply
              June 20, 2014 12:37 PM

              my PC lacks a variety of critical singleplayer exclusives that consoles have. If I only used a console for local multiplayer I'd have a hard time justifying the investment for how infrequent that is. And that's really a big part of why online play has become so big on consoles. If I want to play with my old local multiplayer friends I have to do it online now.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 7:36 PM

        Bologna

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 10:16 AM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:59 AM

        If it doesn't tip after Smash, then it's not tipping. I don't think it's going to tip.

        But that's OK, because the 3DS is awesome, and their next handheld will be so powerful that it will also have an HDMI out and look really good on a TV.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 11:01 AM

          What about the new Zelda(s)? That open world looked fucking awesome.

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            June 20, 2014 11:09 AM

            That's probably a 2016 title, Nov 2015 at best. That's pretty late, with a lot of nothing in between. Skyward Sword released after a similar drought, and it didn't sell very well (for a Zelda game).

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              June 20, 2014 11:23 AM

              I hope Nintendo puts out more HD remakes a la Wind Waker HD. Give me a Mario Galaxy 1-2 bundle.

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                June 20, 2014 4:33 PM

                Galaxy doesn't really need it, but I'd be surprised if they don't do re-releases of more GameCube games. Wind Waker was pretty popular and it seems to me something that can be cheaply achieved. Metroid Prime trilogy, Super Mario Sunshine, Wave Race & F-Zero GX (especially if they're not gonna make sequels anytime soon), Pikmin 1&2.

                Supposedly they're doing Majora's Mask next. That's what everyone thinks anyway.

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                  June 20, 2014 4:53 PM

                  The hell it doesn't, I want it to be of Mario Kart 8 fidelity.

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                  June 20, 2014 5:07 PM

                  There are already Wii versions of Pikmin 1 and 2 that use the Wiimote but it would be interesting if they took Wii U Gamepad controls into account.

                  • reply
                    June 20, 2014 5:11 PM

                    Snatching up Capcom would also mean they get Resident Evil so if they re-released RE Zero and the RE1 remake, that'd be sweet (also already available on the Wii).

                    A new Resident Evil franchise entry that was like Zombi U would rock.

                • reply
                  June 20, 2014 7:35 PM

                  Galaxy 2 HD remake is instabuy, want it now

            • reply
              June 20, 2014 4:51 PM

              Personally I hope they do a lot more smaller, riskier games now. NES Remix betting on nostalgia and cross-overs is the right direction and it looks like Miyamoto is already experimenting with smaller game ideas. I'd spooge if they did the same with Capcom franchises.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 11:16 AM

          Well, I guess this could be a tipper if it actually happens.

          http://kotaku.com/what-nintendos-top-game-creators-think-of-minecraft-1593839008

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 9:50 PM

          Looking forward to my trip to Kyoto next month

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 11:22 AM

        smash bros seems like a hardcore following though, and people who are smash players probably already have a wii u

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 1:03 PM

      $200 msrp will be the tipping point.

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 1:06 PM

        You can already buy a refurb from Nintendo for that much. HAVE YOU BEEN TIPPED YET???

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 1:32 PM

          ^^tipped me. Mine arrived about a week ago and its been amazing.

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 4:28 PM

          oh god damnit why did you say this.

          • reply
            June 20, 2014 5:11 PM

            I should also mention that nintendo refurb items are pristine?

        • reply
          June 20, 2014 5:16 PM

          whoah not only does it ship to canada, but it's $200CAD.

          • reply
            June 20, 2014 5:17 PM

            It's a lot of money just to play Bayonetta 2 :(

            • reply
              June 20, 2014 5:39 PM

              they are including the original with it.

              • reply
                June 20, 2014 5:41 PM

                I have the original in my TV cabinet for my PS3.

                • reply
                  June 20, 2014 7:47 PM

                  But imagine playing it at a decent frame rate.

                  • reply
                    June 20, 2014 7:56 PM

                    I did, I didn't buy a copy until the patch came out - I had 0 issues with it.

            • reply
              June 20, 2014 8:04 PM

              Took me about 1week and 2 days shipping to Kitchener. The tracking number didn't update at all so if you order one don't let the tracking number upset you, it will likely say Richmond the while time.

        • reply
          June 21, 2014 12:18 AM

          Do you have a reliable link for this?

      • reply
        June 20, 2014 10:12 PM

        It's worth every penny at full price.

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 8:29 PM

      I'll be adding a sale to their count soon, once I get done with boards. :)

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 8:40 PM

      Sounds like wishful thinking.

    • reply
      June 20, 2014 9:44 PM

      Just gimme a freaking Metroid prime game already. Will seriously probably buy one just for that if its good.

    • reply
      June 21, 2014 12:23 AM

      Super Metroid HD would sell a bajillion consoles.

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