So...Why Are The PS4 And Xbox One Doing Very Well?

[Reaca]

It's not that the Wii U hasn't had advertising, it's just that it wasn't clearly advertised as a new system, unlike the PS4 and Xbone. They're succeeding mostly, I think, because each of them had their own announcement events, where M$ and Sony talked about how these were new consoles.

 

[DarkestLink]

As much as I love Nintendo, there's no room for excuse making. I've seen plenty of Wii U commercials, some Xbox commercials, and not a single PS4 commercial (on TV). The Wii U has been out for a year now, people know it exists. Sure, some didn't realize it wasn't a console at first, but just because most of them are non-gamers and undedicated casuals doesn't mean they're ********. They're just not interested.

The Wii U has a gimmick, but it doesn't appeal to a non-gamers and undedicated casuals. It's cool for a gaming system, but the Wii wasn't popular because it was a gaming system...it was popular because it was seen as an exercise machine. A way to finally work out, have fun and get your gaming kid in shape. Nintendo dropped the motion focus and now the Xbox One is going to get the majority of the Wii's crowd with Kinect. The others will probably be turned off because of the Xbox's adult image, but right now they have almost no competition for the motion gaming market.

Nintendo isn't doomed, but the Wii U is. It's going to take a pretty big toll on Nintendo too because this is going to be a long generation. Next generation things might get better...Nintendo can try getting into the motion gaming market again or they can (for once) just do what their competition does. That might actually work out for Nintendo next gen...if they can actually make a system similar to the completion. Exclusives are going to get rarer and rarer...and if Nintendo can grab all the multi-plat support, they will have the advantage of having all of these first party titles that aren't going away.

But the Wii U can't really be saved. They can make the best of a bad situation, but there's little they can actually do. They lost the non-gaming crowd that put them on top with the Wii and the only way to reach out to them would be making an entirely new system (which is a BAD idea). The hardcore crowd doesn't give a crap about Nintendo and they probably never will. The only way Nintendo could even hope to capture this crowd is to gain an equal amount of third party support as its competitors...but the multi-plats are generally inferior ports on the Wii U and because it is so different from its competition, it's harder for third parties to design games on, which makes designers less motivated to reach out and make the game for the Wii U.

 

[ihateghirahim]

I guess that gaming community has simply moved on from Nintendo, and the big N didn't advertise the Wii U very well to your average consumer.

Also, Nintendo doesn't seem to have any concern for pushing the limits of hardware. I'm disappointed

They also don't seem to prioritize getting the latest mature games. You'd think with all their money they could have gotten ports of GTAV, RE6, Bioshock Infinite, and MGSV.

Sony and MS pushed their hardware, made maturer games, and focused on getting AAA games. That equals success. Maybe you prefer Nintendo and hate the AAA market, but it what Sony and MS do sells, big time.

 

[DarkestLink]

Honestly, Nintendo's back where they were before the Wii. Wii U is roughly in the same spot as the Gamecube. This gen will probably be a repeat of Gen 6, actually.

EDIT: Just going to through this out there...and I could be wrong...but I have a hunch Nintendo doesn't want mature titles like GTA. It ruins the family image they've been bending over backwards to keep.

 

[Salem]

The Wii U may be unlikely to be number one in this console war, but Nintendo can earn profit out of it if they act smart about it, I'm not sure how though.

Maybe they'll do better in the next console cycle....

 

[Justac00lguy]

First of all, the Wii U is under-powered compared to the greatness of the PS4 and the horrible Xbone (glitchbox, sh*tbox, whatever you want to call it). Why would people want to buy a system that's last Gen when we've already entered next Gen.

You're completely misunderstanding what "next gen" is. You seem to think it's all about the power of said hardware; however, I bet to differ. The Wii U's main selling point is the Gamepad which is truly a great innovation in itself. Innovations the Wii U's trump card and it's a step into their next generation.

Plus, the Wii U is actually a lot more powerful than the Xbox 360/PS3. It's not quite on the level of Sony's and Microsoft's newest consoles, but it's still a pretty good piece of hardware.

Second of all, NO FREAKIN' GAMES. At least PS4 and Xbone have had a pretty good, decent lineup of games compared to what the Wii U had at launch. Okay, I know the Wii U has its new games coming next year, but that's next year not this year.

I agree that the Wii U had little games on release, but this is the case for the Xbox and PS4 too. In fact, look at each line up individually and you'll find that the Wii U had more games and it actually significantly beat the other line ups by metacritic scores. If we're talking neutral and average scores then the Wii U wins the launch easily.

Third of all, no one cares about Nintendo anymore. It's laughably sad, really. Plus, the Wii U is a gimmick. Freakin' Fisher Price tablet. Why not just give us a regular controller LIKE EVERY NORMAL GAMING COMPANY? (Don't get me wrong, I love the gamepad but really, WHY?).

"No one"? Are you using statements like this to create the illusion that you have a good sense of the gaming market? I think that's an incredibly biased and naive statement. The Wii U may not be selling well, but it still has an incredibly loyal and dedicated fan base.

Also, yes the Wii U is a "gimmick"; however, you're using the word as if it's something bad and intentionally bringing the Wii U down by saying it. The word gimmick simply means the selling/vocal point. The Gamepad is the Wii U's main selling point and that is nothing bad. It's a great idea, probably one that hasn't been full realised yet, but that will happen in years to come. A gimmick isn't necessarily bad in fact most products have a certain selling point about them.

Okay I'm done. You Nintendrones out there can flame all you want, but there's no point in arguing over the obvious problem the Wii Underpowered has.

Nice to see people are mature.

 

[The Jade Fist]

Dude darkest, I can't attest to what ads you have or haven't seen, but you're wrong.

I'm not trying to be a dbag.

Both other consoles have had way better marketing.

That goes beyond just simply having ads. That goes into public events, internet ads, making sure the purchasing audience sees these ads. Such as the xbox dash board showing X1 ads. Plus their multiple public events. And its true their TV presence has been less then ps4.

Wii U had some NSMB U ads back when, and frankly they never made it clear that the WII U was a new exciting system. They just simply threw it out there.

PS4 ads have been all over the place. How have you not seen a single one? I barely watch tv, but I can't go with out seeing it watching the news, or Arrow.

Youtube is a huge ad market, and xbox has dominated the ad space on youtube, 2nd by ps4, a few handfulls very very recently have been wii u. Hulu has had alot of ps4 ads.

Wii U has had some ads, but mostly only recently.

Here's another thing about an Ad, if people don't remember it, then you've done something wrong. So if they did advertise and no one remembers? Well guess what, they failed at marketing.

I still remember the WII commercials, they were blasted all over the place, remember the "Wii would like to play"? where the random Japanese guys would drive to peoples homes and hand them a wii mote? I know alot of people saw those and remember them, infact it was good enough to sell 100m+ units.

Pre release hype, its important.
What pre release hype was around the wii u? We have a tablet... 4 months later, "that came out already", I didn't know that.

Its not that you or me know its a new console, all those tech-impaired parents and grandparents that would be buying this console as a gift don't know. PS4/ X1 alot of the people buying those, will be buying it for themselves. For that reason the way marketing is done has to be different.

But nintendo focuses on a more family friendly target, which requires those parents and grandparents to know it exist, something the Wii did very well.

The used the WII brand in hoping to draw that market in again, but all they did was make them think they released an accessory. They were gambling on their brand name too hard, for the casual market. But the casual market, no offense are pretty really stupid when it comes to technology. They were either uninterested or unaware what was being offered, more likely uninterested because they were unaware of what was really being offered.

Is it not Nintendo's fault? That no one was excited about it, that people were unaware of it, that their message was simply fell on deaf ears?


----------------------------------

And I don't think that the wii u can't be saved, I still think its possible, but I also don't expect nintendo to change enough to make it happen. Nor am I saying nintendo is doomed, they have plenty of bank they can fail like this for the next decade before really being in trouble, of course their stock holders might be a bit more concerned.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

Okay, because the thread has turned to Nintendo, here's my two cents.

Microsoft and Sony are near geniuses with marketing. No, they're not perfect. But both of them are multi-billion dollar companies that have the resources, talent, and overall techniques to execute an effective marketing campaign to clear outline their new product to their clearly outlined demographic. Sony is throwing its weight behind what made the PS3 so attractive, focusing on a more mature crowd that zeroes in on its core franchises, along with extra entertainment additions that made the PS3 so attractive in the first place. Microsoft is depending on its American brand, opting to capitalize on the crowd that loves it most - Americans who like their sports and shooters. The Xbone features an ungodly amount of features with the NFL - and coming from a massive NFL fan, they look EXTREMELY appealing. I watch tons of games, participate in several fantasy leagues, and the like. The 360 had a massive and loyal install base, and the numbers prove that it's carrying over to the Xbone very nicely.

Nintendo has dropped the ball. Badly. The first mistake was keeping the "Wii" name. Nintendo cashed in hard-core with the casual crowd last generation, and thought it could do the same by keeping the name similar. But what Nintendo NEEDED to do was clearly outline its new console as something new and fresh, not something similar to the old. A disastrous reveal left the general population wondering if it was a handheld, and add-on, or some kind of hybrid. That's terrible marketing. Add it to the fact that Nintendo doesn't seem to know its true target audience this time around, and I feel like the WiiU is hopelessly confused on what it wants to be, and what's going to propel it further. Is it going to be Mario and Zelda, which is functionally 1st-party life support? Is it wanting to get the casual crowd again? Or is it targeting the "hard-core" demographic somehow?

These questions needed answers right when the WiiU was released. I love Nintendo, and I love the WiiU. I think the gamepad is an excellent new way to play games. But its a world of business, and you just can't drop the ball on marketing. Doesn't matter how amazing your product is if you don't do that.

And no, the end is not neigh for Nintendo. 3DS is on top of the world right now, and I predict the WiiU to NOT be failure in the sense that they lose money off of it. It'll turn around, but I would be surprised if it beat out the PS4 and Xbone.

 

[Hinas]

It saddens me deeply that Nintendo hasn't been doing well with the WiiU. But I have to agree on many of the points brought up already with the lack of good advertising and the failure to actually generate gamers' interest in a system that is marketed towards just fans of the original Wii.

Although Nintendo has previously voyaged into areas other video game companies haven't touched before, I feel that lately they haven't really done anything NEW. The only titles that interest me for the WiiU are installments of the Mario series or remakes of old games (Wind Waker). Even on the 3DS, which is a very good system, I feel that the games that top my like and want lists are also either new installments of established (first party) series or re-releases of retro favorites.

As much as I hate to say it, I think Nintendo does need to realize that a lot of the gaming population has grown up. I never thought that a solid line of M games are needed to keep a system alive, and I still really don't. But lately, when I sit down to try a new Mario title, I feel that Nintendo has really kiddyed things up. Like, I feel that the difficulty has been dumbed down and that my hand is being held throughout the first levels. That might just be me though.

I derailed, didn't I? XD Back to PS4 and XB1:

I'm actually surprised that they did well! When I talk to a lot of the teenagers, I actually don't meet a lot of them who are interested in gaming. And since there are relatively good games on the smartphones and Facebook for mere pennies/ for free, I thought that console gaming would plummet, really. Also, since consoles are becoming more and more like computers, why bother with them? Just buy a good computer and hook it up to the TV. Those are my thoughts lately.

 

[DarkestLink]

The gaming market grew up by the time the Nintendo 64 was out. Nintendo really isn't any worse off than they were before with the N64 and GC...and honestly, I think they are in a great position as a company. At least for future generations. They have the potential to do the Wii again and capture the less dedicated side of the gaming market and make the big bucks. They could also go the opposite direction, copy their competitors, get their slice of third party companies, and use their abundance of first party titles to hold an edge over its competition.

Sometimes, I feel that Nintendo is both an artist and a business and these two jobs conflict with each other sometimes. In the end, Nintendo wants to make a profit, but they want to do it their way, not the way that pleases its market. I think the reason the Wii U has its name is because Nintendo wanted their non-gamer market to think of it as a Wii 2 and buy it because it came from Nintendo, in the hopes that they play Nintendo's main gaming titles (rather than the Wii's party games) and join the Nintendo dedicated casual crowd they had from the N64 and GC days. Unfortunately for them, the non-gamer market isn't that stupid. They just aren't interested in actual gaming.

I kinda see the same thing with Zelda too. Nintendo wanted to go the Wind Waker direction, but had to stop because in terms of business, that was an awful idea. So they want with the OoT/TP direction. And, for a moment, let's ignore our feelings towards TP (whether they be positive or negative), and look at it from a business perspective. The game did great. It was the highest selling Zelda (selling nearly 2x the average title), and has the 2nd best scores (going by GameRankings), and even with that extra year, it didn't take horribly long to make. So, why on earth would they stop? Why not continue this direction? Well...in my opinion...I think it's because Nintendo doesn't like TP. Even if their market loved it, it's not something Nintendo personally likes. That's the impression I got from their interviews on it anyway.

Right now, I think Nintendo's trying to find a way to please their fanbase with anything that isn't that OoT/TP direction. Right now, they seem to be listening more to their niche online fanbase than the actual statistics and they seem to be going in every other direction they can. They tried Skyward Sword and, as much as I love the game, it was a financial flop. They tried the Wind Waker direction again because they heard it was popular now. That flopped. Now they're trying the old school Zelda direction.

 

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

Right now, I think Nintendo's trying to find a way to please their fanbase with anything that isn't that OoT/TP direction. Right now, they seem to be listening more to their niche online fanbase than the actual statistics and they seem to be going in every other direction they can. They tried Skyward Sword and, as much as I love the game, it was a financial flop. They tried the Wind Waker direction again because they heard it was popular now. That flopped. Now they're trying the old school Zelda direction.

I'm all for the OoT/TP direction, but I'd like some clarification on how SS and WWHD were financial flops. They certainly didn't lose money off of either of those two games, as they're both Zelda titles and sold accordingly. I can understand it not meeting sales "expectations", but it seems a little far out there to claim that both of them "flopped" as far as sales are concerned.

I do agree completely on the direction of the Zelda series though, but only for the sake of my own personal opinions and tastes. I can't claim that it'll net them more cash than SS or WWHD, but imagine this..... Re-capturing that E3 where Twilight Princess took the world by storm. Forget your own personal thoughts about the game, and just think back to the hype that it got. The art direction was more mature and dark, which made it stand with the mood and atmosphere that the competition LOVES to establish so much. Another Zelda game in that vein, one that could get EVERYONE excited and hyped, and get other demographics on board, could be exactly the anticipation that someone needs to justify a WiiU purchase.

Mario is awesome. But it's a child series, aimed towards children. Just look at any recent Mario game advertisement, and you can see that plainly. No, I'm not saying it's just for kids, and I believe that's a false assumption. I'm having a GREAT time with 3D World, and I would recommend it to anyone. But in a market where the competition boasts almost exclusive ownership over the "hard-core" crowd, Nintendo needs to stop with the narrative of being able to survive with the status quo. This is in part because 1.) They can't get the status quo back. It's safe to assume, at this point, that the WiiU is nowhere near capturing the casual crowd that made it a cash cow. And 2.) Because first party titles that look the same will only get them so far. Cool, it's the same art direction of SS; there's absolutely no reason for someone who didn't have a Wii, and didn't play SS to get that game.

This is why I'm a massive proponent of my favorite game series, Metroid, coming in big for the WiiU. Nintendo has enough reputation as it is for shying away from darker and more mature games, and having ANOTHER Mario game that looks the same didn't help. Having a Zelda game that looks the same as last gen won't help. And having another controversial Metroid game that fell short in a lot of ways won't help.

Ninendo has Kirby, Pikmin, Mario, and tons of other franchises shamelessly aimed towards a young demographic. Would it kill them to give Metroid the treatment it deserves, or bring back Zelda to what TP did? I think it would help A LOT.

And yes, I know what I just wrote up there is completely subjective. And yes, I know that many of you think WW and SS are the direction 3D Zelda should take. But I'm approaching this from the gamer who didn't own a Wii, and who has a very bad perception of what 1st party Nintendo games are. I'm approaching this from the sad, but very real, stance that looks and appearance DO MATTER. This is just an alternate way of thinking that could save the perception of the WiiU.

 

[A Link In Time]

I'm actually surprised that they did well! When I talk to a lot of the teenagers, I actually don't meet a lot of them who are interested in gaming. And since there are relatively good games on the smartphones and Facebook for mere pennies/ for free, I thought that console gaming would plummet, really. Also, since consoles are becoming more and more like computers, why bother with them? Just buy a good computer and hook it up to the TV. Those are my thoughts lately.

Speaking from personal experience, I had my own console before I had my own phone or computer. Although children now receive the latter devices at an earlier age, consoles are still a more accessible and, to an extent, affordable way for younger audiences and people not wishing to invest thousands into a top-notch gaming platform to experience the latest hit releases. Consoles are definitely more convenient for local multiplayer and in households where a computer may be shared by several family members, consoles are comparatively available more regularly for online play.

I believe the notion of dedicated vs. "all-in-one" devices also comes into play. Modern consoles are blurring this line, but at their core, they're still primarily gaming machines and are therefore obviously optimized to play videogames. It's the "Jack of all trades, master of none" argument applied to gaming.