Pachter deems Wii U a “mistake” Nintendo can’t recover from

I think we are starting to see Nintendo going the way of a SEGA with it’s Dreamcast.

Still, they have chance to show games at this E3.
and this is a sign that people are less interested in console gaming. Next gen Sony and MS need to prove that console gaming is still relevant.

I wonder who’s the seasoned gamer that didn’t expect this situation.
Expect the situation to get worsse in the very next weeks after the PS4 reveal.
Who’s gonna put money on a current gen console when a new, more performing one, will be released in few months?
Pachter didn’t mentioned that the problem of the WiiU is “TOO LATE”

I’m not the only one that thinks Patcher talks out of his arse a lot of the time, am I?

I know the Wii U is doing bad, but they surely have enough income left from the Wii, or at least, some for any sort of shocks the company may face.

I don’t think Nintendo will fail because of this, it’s just a set-back it seems.

@3 Most companies don’t keep a lot of spare cash, it generally will all get spent on r&d and shit like that. If the WiiU continues to bomb then they could have to make huge changes. I do t imagine they’ll go bust or anything as severe as that but they definitely will have to change their plans.
On the plus side though for all Pachter goes on about smartphones and tablets, the 3DS is still selling by the ton.

@3

You would think so but when the 3ds was doing horribly what did the CEOs of Nintendo do? They reduced their own paychecks in order to afford the price cut of 3ds in order to persuade people to buy the hand held. Very honorable but what seems to be Nintendo’s problem is they release a system without any titles so hardcore fans buy the system then have to sit on their hands as they wait for the next first party IPs are released.
You can’t sell a system without software. You would think they would have figured this out by now with PSOne and Ps2 have proven this. Wii was one of those perfect storm things because the wiiMote was innovative and everyone wanted to have it. Tablets don’t have that similar effect especially if there are no games to show the asymmetrical gameplay.

Starting to agree with him

@2

“Who’s gonna put money on a current gen console when a new, more performing one, will be released in few months?”

100 Millionen people that Bought the original Wii. Tzzzz.

The WiiU has just the same situation the 3ds had at its start- than: pricedrop (which will happen for WiiU this christmas) plus hitgames like mario kart (which will be mario 3d, possibly mario kart etc. for WiiU this christmas too) and now it is supposed to be the best gaming system out there and possibly selling as much as the ds did in lifetime sales.

So not so quick everyone.

Remember: Don’t fuck with Nintendo… Gameplay matters.
Why do people always forget?

@Froseidon
Let’s assume you bought a WiiU and realize it’s a failure.
Let’s assume Nintendo realizes it’s a failure and releases a new console in a year and a half/2 years and stop supporting the WiiU.
Would you purchase the new system?
Nintendo could not crash economically but just in the consumer’s mind.
Nes/Famicom and SNES/SFamicom were great but then?
After those Nintendo didn’t release a single console that could appeal to every non-Nintendo fan.
So Nintendo has an history of failing with consoles.
If it wasn’t for grandpas and grandmas buying the Wii, it woulkd have been a flop too.
Just look at the CORE sales of an hardcore title like Xenoblade.
Nintendo was dying before the WiiU.
It’s crumbling to pieces.
IMHO it’s unacceptable to see a Japanese company apologizing for delays, it’s so NOT Japanese.
Nintendo would better go multiplatform on home consoles (since this could really be the last gen of consoles) and keep manufacturing succesful handheld devices.

Big Mario, Zelda, etc. and Nintendo is in the green. Maybe they won’t make as much money as with the Wii but still. Everything Pachter says is taurus faeces

How quick huge succes gets forgotten by people that dislike a certain company…

Nintendo is now! still the LEADER IN SALES in mobile and home consoles. The new consoles from microsoft and sony haven’t released yet. As soon as games will be there for WiiU it will sell, as always, why do people forget so quickly.

don’t let your opinion be influenced that easy from someone whoh clearly has his own interests..

The minute a new Zelda/Mario/Mario Kart/SSB comes out, I’m pretty sure the WiiU will somehow bounce back.
The WiiU was never going to be able to replicate the success it’s predecessors had, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a mistake.

When’s the last time Pachter was right about Nintendo? Actually, when was the last time he was right about anything? More misfires than direct hits. He honestly doesn’t deserve the attention.

@4 – Nintendo are a cash rich company and I think they have in the billions of dollars in reserve.

I agree with Pachter though when he said Wii U is too late to market. It should have been out 2010/2011 in my opinion and with a much stronger launch. I’m not sure why Nintendo took so long to market with WiiU. I think the sudden death of the Wii took even them by surprise…

Pachter on 3ds after proven wrong :

“Now that we are seeing more first party titles at a lower price point, sales have increased. It’s definitely turned the corner.”

This same comment in a year for WiiU – - Guaranteed.!! HaHa

http://mynintendonews.com/2012/01/04/pachter-admits-he-was-wrong-about-nintendo-3ds-pricing-3ds-will-never-catch-nintendo-ds/

I agree 1,000,000,000,000,000% and you all know its true or you’re just blind by your own delusion.

Wish some of you would fuck right off with this persecution complex, it’s moronic. There are people who simply dislike the direction the Wii U took, like me, who have no “hatred” or automatic dislike for Nintendo. How narrow minded, labelling people haters, when you don’t exactly love something you are a hater too then, if that’s your logic.

@8
“Nintendo would better go multiplatform on home consoles (since this could really be the last gen of consoles) and keep manufacturing succesful handheld devices.”

Beginning to agree with this. Though I think they have a big chance at E3 to show some good, playable and interesting stuff too. They still have a lot of time before the new consoles from MS & Sony really kick in. They do need to do a better job of showing what you can do with the WiiU with their own software though.

I’m beyond sad. If they released *one* must-have classic-Nintendo game, they’d still have a chance. I can’t get over the lack of *anything* to motivate the masses to buy into this. How is it possible that they made this huge investment without a killer app? After all these years, you’d think they’d know that software drives the hardware.

@4: Actually, Nintendo is historically very conservative with cash, keeping a lot in reserve. They may be able to weather this, if they can turn things around in time.

@1: You’re missing one point, SEGA had a great console with great games, which Nintendo doesn’t

It’s fun to see these Nintendo fanboy comments.
How old are you kids? 15?
Because to me it seems you don’t remember past stuff too well.
NES sold 69 Mil
SNES sold 49 Mil
(and they had only Sega as contender)
Nintendo 64 sold 33 Mil
Gamecube sold 22 Mil
Wii sold 98 Mil

If you see the trend…Nintendo lost ground with each new console, except the Wii that was something different…for me it’s hard to call it videogames console…

So, for what regards home consoles, Nintendo does crap numbers.
Wake up and study history kids, or shut up and don’t say Nintendo will start to sell.

There are ALWAYS ways to recover.

Nintendo could re-purpose the Wii U into a newer console and withdraw the old models (with an upgrade service, or something). This would be easy – keep the controller design and beef up the internals to match what Sony/MS are promising. Granted, its early days but the sooner the better. That would rapidly bring them up to par, although its a flimsey idea.

Much easier to cut the price and get some good software out. That’s all we need. I guess the problem is, new games are probably 2 years in development at least if they started at this point in time from scratch.

Nintendo NEEDS third party developer support WORLDWIDE. They can’t rely on their Japanese partners. They need to network, get some deals going, and get some software out.

Hell, they could revive project HAMMER and get it out there, get some games on the shelves.

The Wii U has arrived both too soon and too early. And its suffering. Don’t need an analyst to tell us that.

For the record I love the Wii U. Its the console I wanted Nintendo to release after the Gamecube, motion controls or with out I didn’t care. I don’t hate Nintendo but you can’t help but realize they boxed themselves in a stupid spot they are in now.

You have to realize and accept that they ultimately made a mistake by not releasing the Wii U in 2006 instead of a weaker “lite” version to compete with now current HD consoles. Its not hatred if someone is trying to shine light (truth) in your eyes and you refuse to focus on logic.

@ 16

People just disagree that the wiiU is labeled as a failure etc. already, its too early to say.

All the nintendo fans surely aren’t happy that there is no software too.

Yeah… you know, its kinda funny. Everywhere People who know for sure that the WiiU will be failure, or a Hit, just because they all so süüüüüper Smart, Übermensch and so.

Thats not something you just can’t know now, no one here can see in the Future. Of course at some Point of Time one of the two Things will happen and some People can Hugh themself because they so smart they can even see the Future, but they just had luck. Because something has to happen, and there will always be some People that predicted that. But it still is just a lucky Shot.

Only time can Tell us where the WiiU will be in 1,2 or 3 Years. So lets wait and see. But nobody can see the Future just because they have Internet.

@1 If you really think Nintendo is going to go the way of SEGA…. your a idiot.

Pachter said the same thing about the 3DS. And look at it now. This is the same guy who said the PSP will crush the DS, the PS4 will run games at 240 FPS, ect. He’s wrong a majority of the time.

@23 The manner in which they disagree you would expect from a five year old

I fucking despise arm-chair analysts.

Utterly detest them.

Once again : http://youtu.be/TE7kXJe0PUs

“People just disagree that the wiiU is labeled as a failure etc. already, its too early to say”.

People said the same thing about the PS3 and look at it huh…right

…but guys you’re forgetting Nintendo isn’t SONY. Third party supports SONY far better than Nintendo because 3rd party does better on that platform. Plus SONY has way more mega hit 1st party titles than Nintendo’s rehash mixes every gen.

So the whole doom and gloom its too early to say this about Nintendo can go both ways but the it seems like the “haters” have better reasoning and logic on their side when comparing the Wii U to the PS3 at launch.

PS3 always had potential from the gate. The Wii U’s potential has already been slashed in half by the original Wii and being taken bits and pieces apart by the smartphone and tablet also. Not to mention I will never buy a third part version Wii U game because I’m too vested in my trophy collection now.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is $40 at target this week on all consoles and I have yet to buy/play it. Guess which console I’m going to buy it for even though its the same game across all the three platforms.

@27.man the level of ignorance in that video is shocking, especially the uncharted comment

@25
“your a idiot.”

Quality.

@28 “Plus SONY has way more mega hit 1st party titles than Nintendo’s rehash mixes every gen.”

I would not say that. Look at the Sale Numbers of NSMB Wii or Mario Kart Wii. Sony Exclusive don’t even come Close to that Numbers.
Still love PS3 Exclusives, but in Terms of “Big” when it comes to Sale Numbers, there are not many Games that can Match that. And they do that with Mulitplattform (CoD)

@18 – Well said dude.

I am quite confused myself how Nintendo managed to let the Wii die yet have nothing to replace it with until last November.

They were far too late with the WiiU and even when that did launch it felt rushed with many issues and a lack of games.

What I want to know is wtf have Nintendo been doing since 2008 with regard to their home console business? It seems they completely mis-judged the Wii’s lifespan or simply were too ignorant to believe it’s early demise.

I hope they turn the fortunes of WiiU around like they did 3DS but right now things are looking pretty shaky imo.

Looking forward to seeing what MS and Sony have in store though!

I really don’t know where they were going, releasing a new machine at the end of current-gen which is on par with current-gen but far behind next (imminent) gen.

Also the price point is an off putter for such outdated hardware. People bought the wii cos it was cheap, not just because it was innovative.

They’ve brought nothing appealing to the table for anyone. Wrong hardware. Wrong price. No spectacular platform exclusives.

@33: The Wii had the right price, but that alone would not have made it such a runaway (short-term) success. It was unique and innovative with its motion controls *and the popular software* to take advantage of it (Wii Sports). This brought in the large casual crowd. Unfortunately for Nintendo, casuals don’t stick around. Only real gamers do.

The WiiU gimmicks don’t capture the imagination of potential buyers like the Wiimote did. And as you said, no compelling software.

“People bought the wii cos it was cheap,”

Price means everything.

Being a WiiU owner, I can tell you the tech/graphics whatever you want to call it is very good. That isn’t an issue. The GamePad is excelent, that is a great feature, and isn’t an issue. It boils down to price.

WiiU is just too expensive. Vita has the best feature set of the dedicated handhelds. Has the best graphics. Has the best tech. Has the more ambitious core games. And it gets out sold by the 3DS. Tech and hardware power isn’t the issue there either. It is price.

“Consoles are, ultimately, the AAA platform. They’re the platform where expensively developed games with high production values are sold at a high cost to consumers who care deeply about the pastime and are willing to devote significant disposable income to it. That’s fine, and it’s a lucrative corner of the industry – but it’s not enough”

and

“The problem consoles face in the next generation isn’t that people are playing simple casual games on phones – it’s that developers of complex, interesting and engrossing games are bringing them to phones, tablets and PCs rather than jumping through the ludicrous hoops it takes to get a game onto a console.”

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-02-15-playstation-4-must-demolish-the-walled-garden

My point is that the mass market gamer, the less dedicated(but still representing a large revenue slice of the pie) simply has more option today. And those options are cheaper. And often on a device that said person deems having more value then just playing a game. A tablet is a handy device. Cell Phones are “needed”. And you can do so much more with a laptop. For people like this games are less of a priotrity and more of a bonus. Models like Free 2 Play flourish. Small, cheap impulse purchases games become the norm. These are the people that(in the past) would have supported a system(like WiiU/PS4) after the launch. After the dedicated fans have all rushed to the stores and collected their preorders.

They are the true Mass market in every sense of the word. And, I think, they have been moving away from dedicated gaming platforms for years. I think that is why MS(for example) is trying so hard to offer so many diverse things. We all know that more people watch Netflix then play games on XB360, and that more people use PS3 for Netflix then use xb360 lol. The result is that while many of us here are avid and dedicated gamers, the truth is much of the user base of PS3 and XB360 aren’t.

Again they represent a large slice of the pie. I don’t think they want another serving. I think they are happy with what they own, and I think they will stay with their current platforms or wait for the new ones to dramticly reduce their prices.

I think that is why WiiU, Vita, and 3DS are having(or had, 3DS) post launch struggles. People are happy with what they have, and upgrading is too pricy.

@35: You can buy something like a Roku box for, what, $60? No one is going to buy a $300 console just to watch Netflix. They buy them because they can play their games, listen to music, and yes, watch video. But the key selling point is the gaming, not the media. I don’t care what the stats say. Take away compelling gaming, and expensive consoles fall flat, even if they become the best media boxes in creation.

Very few people buy Roku boxes either. They aren’t sold in stores. Most people wouldn’t even know what one is.

“I don’t care what the stats say.”

Well ‘Nuff said I guess.

If you do look at the stats more users put more hours on Netflix and other such apps then on games collectivly.

As a nintendo fan I think patch is right this time, its looking like the cube again, it had mario sunshine,kart,2 zeldas,Metroids and it bombed! I think they they misjudged the market and what it wanted, theyve priced themselves out of casual,theyve marketed it wrong, no games of any real interest on the horizon bar Zelda remake,No HD up conversatiom, controllers priced 100+euro , from what I read shabby on-line service, no purchasing games after 11pm …In all fairness it just reads like a disaster story.

I dont see them pulling back the hardcore now at this stage and it must be damage limitation at this stage. I can see Mr Iwata gone by the end of the year (resigned) ,price drops dont really wont have any significant impact against ps4/720 and only the 3ds keeping them above board at this stage. I would hedge my bets on a new CEO cutting the WIIu and making a drastic decision which may lead to new hardware in 3 years

@37: My point is that the stats say nothing about why people buy stuff, only what they end up doing with it. I’m not questioning their validity, but rather their (lack of) use to predict future sales of new hardware. Why would you spend hundreds of dollars or pounds on something when you can serve your needs for a fraction of that? People may not know about Roku, but that was only one example. There are many ways to deliver Netflix to your living room, sometimes even the TV itself.

Pachter’s on the ball again.

“its looking like the cube again, it had mario sunshine,kart,2 zeldas,Metroids and it bombed!”

The “One game and its saved!” people should take note of this. Sorry to break it to you but Nintendo arent going to turn this around with 3 or 4 games. As i’ve already said, they’ll spike sales, sure, but they’ll fall right back down later.

I think the only way Nintendo can recover from this is if they’ve been working on competition for the PS4/720 this entire time. If they can release a new console that can play with the big boys in the next year or two, then they have a chance of staying in competition. The Wii U is the system Nintendo should have released about two years ago, not now, when it’s outdated and silly.

I normally disagree with Patcher on just about everything, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Nintendo, I think, could absolutely thrive as a third party publisher, though. A PS4/720 Zelda Collection or new Mario game would sell even among people who aren’t diehard Nintendo fans, just so they could see what the fuss has been about.

Also, I’d take Nintendo opinions from someone named Bomba Luigi about as seriously as I’d take Sony opinions from NathanKratos4Ever or Microsoft opinions from MasterChief360. I mean, of course, you’re going to say it won’t fail. You’d need a whole new screenname if it did.

@41 Sunshine wasn’t a true mario game, zelda and metroid came too late. If they’d bundled Zelda with it at launch it would have flown outta the door.

Also I loved the ‘cube.

@41 and it looks like there gonna be just as late this time

@41: The Gamecube bombed? That’s news to me (and to Nintendo as well). Not a raging success, to be sure. It still sold enough to keep them going into the Wii. Plus no game collection is complete without the titles you mentioned. You can also play them on a (fully featured) Wii, which is what I do these days. One less gadget to hook up.

@44
…What? Both Metroid Prime & WindWaker came out within the consoles second year. By that logic the Wii U has already missed the window, so i guess its already a confirmed, unsaveable with games failure.

Next you’ll be saying SSB Melee was “too late” to save the NGC.

@38 – “no purchasing games after 11pm”

It’s worse than that old boy. You can’t purchase adult games UNTIL 11pm!

11pm – 3am to be precise (I think?)

Are people actually revising history that much that they’re saying the Gamecube didn’t bomb? What’s next? Saying the Saturn was a raging success?

“The Virtual Boy swept the industry on a wave of good feelings and high sales!”