Wii U Catch-All

TheGameguru wrote:

I felt the under-reported unification of their hardware teams would have led to an announcement of some layoffs but AFAIK there were none.

I thought that was more about the software teams, and mostly just shoving them all under the same roof. It certainly makes sense as the interfaces on the 3DS and the Wii U are about the same, so there's probably a lot the primary console development teams can learn from the portable focused teams.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

I tend to agree with Gumbie but I would recommend unfollowing Gies regardless ;).

I stopped following him a long time ago but his statement was retweeted by someone.

I don't disagree that these numbers are not good for Nintendo but I think it's ridiculous to go "They're doooooooooomed!" based off of launch. Other products have had slow launches and come back and a slow launch doesn't mean you have no chance of success. Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

I tend to agree with Gumbie but I would recommend unfollowing Gies regardless ;).

I stopped following him a long time ago but his statement was retweeted by someone.

I don't disagree that these numbers are not good for Nintendo but I think it's ridiculous to go "They're doooooooooomed!" based off of launch. Other products have had slow launches and come back and a slow launch doesn't mean you have no chance of success. Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

Clearly no.. if anyone can survive its Nintendo.. they have been in business for a LONG time and I suspect they will continue to be in business for a long time coming.. what I'm not sure of is in what form.

TheGameguru wrote:

No company can continue to bleed cash... even Nintendo. Clearly something needs to change because as strong as the 3DS is doing (at least thats what everyone here is telling me) Nintendo continues to bleed their cash reserves. At some point they have to either turn it around (in the face of more than likely two new consoles) OR contract in size and shed payroll/expense. Do they have to announce Layoffs in Japan? I felt the under-reported unification of their hardware teams would have led to an announcement of some layoffs but AFAIK there were none.

They did that with their software teams. Nintendo is still publicly traded and would be required, even in Japan, to announce any layoffs. Remember last summer when the 3DS wasn't doing well they said one of the reasons they were cutting bonuses and managers were taking pay cuts is to not have to lay people off.

It seems that the thing most hurting Nintendo is the thing most out of their control: exchange rates. The Yen continues to depress (e.g. grow stronger relative to other currencies) while the dollar continues to inflate. By my reading of their yearly numbers, 3/4 of their losses were due entirely to the exchange rate hit. Apart from moving HQ to the US I'm not really sure what can be done about that.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

I hate to bring it up, but I wonder if part of that outlook is informed by the performance of iOS and the Vita? I also think the doom n' gloom is going to get a lot worse starting next week (expected PS4 announcement).

At the end of the day, I'm with SixteenBlue. As long as Nintendo keeps making games for their systems, that's all that really matters to me. Keeping a pulse on the hardware sales is good because it gives an idea of how much pull the system has with pubs, but I primarily buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games so I'm ok with this turning into another N64/Gamecube which keeps the lights on in Kyoto.

TheGameguru wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

I tend to agree with Gumbie but I would recommend unfollowing Gies regardless ;).

I stopped following him a long time ago but his statement was retweeted by someone.

I don't disagree that these numbers are not good for Nintendo but I think it's ridiculous to go "They're doooooooooomed!" based off of launch. Other products have had slow launches and come back and a slow launch doesn't mean you have no chance of success. Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

Clearly no.. if anyone can survive its Nintendo.. they have been in business for a LONG time and I suspect they will continue to be in business for a long time coming.. what I'm not sure of is in what form.

Third party Nintendo....man can you imagine the games they could make on a high end PC.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

I tend to agree with Gumbie but I would recommend unfollowing Gies regardless ;).

I stopped following him a long time ago but his statement was retweeted by someone.

I don't disagree that these numbers are not good for Nintendo but I think it's ridiculous to go "They're doooooooooomed!" based off of launch. Other products have had slow launches and come back and a slow launch doesn't mean you have no chance of success. Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

People forget that Nintendo was even doomed in 2007. Everyone now likes to pretend that Nintendo wasn't doomed in 2007 but they were. All throughout 2007, the Wii was another Pet Rock and the bubble was going to burst any month now. That bubble grew to 100 million people. Video game writers have been predicting Nintendo's doom since the 1986. In 1986, Nintendo was a bubble that was going to burst because the domestic video game market just crashed. In the early 90's, console systems were doomed because everyone wanted to play Doom on their PC and they didn't want a console. In the mid-late 90's it was because the PSX was doing so well that Nintendo was doomed, they'd be going third party ANY DAY NOW!!! In the early 2000's, it was because the GameCube was such a modest success (though essentially on parity with the Xbox 360 world wide) that Nintendo was doomed. In 2006, the Wii was doomed because the name is silly and it has motion control and lacks HD graphics. In 2007 it was doomed because it's just a fad that would crash like the Pet Rock. In 2008, the Wii was doomed because NO ONE BOUGHT games for the thing, even though the Wii pushed more software than the Xbxo 360 through 2009. This time, Nintendo is doomed because the Wii U stumbled out of the gate just like the 3DS was doomed last summer. My problem with most game writers is that they uneducated little prats like Arthur Gies is that they never actually put anything into historical context. I don't know if it is because they are intellectually lazy or just stupid, or both. I know that that is an incendiary statement and that we have a lot of posters here who are personal friends with a lot of the games writers but I don't know how else to explain it. They can either write game criticism as the "art form" or they can write about it from a financial/business perspective. They cannot do both. There aren't a lot of people (but I know that there are some who can) that have the education, background, experience and writing ability to do both.

Nintendo is burning through a whole heep of cash. They have been doing so for years. Now, a lot of it was due to the ramp of the 3DS and the Wii U coupled with the decline in sales of the Wii. The Wii fell off a cliff in 2011 both in software sales and hardware sales. The 3DS stumbled out of the game and it just now getting on firmer ground. The Wii U fell down one second into the race and still hasn't gotten off the floor. Nintendo's financials are available for them to read and report on. They don't because they aren't financial reporters except when they want to be.

I think Nintendo is in serious trouble with the Wii U. I think the 3DS has gotten over the hump and will be a more GBA like success (world wide) and not another DS level of success. Nintendo is not in danger of closing up shop. Could Nintendo change its business to be something vastly different than it is now? Yes. Nintendo has the reserves for the Wii U to be another "modest" success. They won't close down or be picked up by someone else. MG Siegler, another intellectual giant, stated that Nintendo will be purchased on the cheap. He doesn't know because he's lazy and or/stupid that it's hard to outright purchase Nintendo because who holds the stock.

Gumbie wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

I tend to agree with Gumbie but I would recommend unfollowing Gies regardless ;).

I stopped following him a long time ago but his statement was retweeted by someone.

I don't disagree that these numbers are not good for Nintendo but I think it's ridiculous to go "They're doooooooooomed!" based off of launch. Other products have had slow launches and come back and a slow launch doesn't mean you have no chance of success. Not saying they don't have challenges but writing them off now is not reasonable IMHO.

Clearly no.. if anyone can survive its Nintendo.. they have been in business for a LONG time and I suspect they will continue to be in business for a long time coming.. what I'm not sure of is in what form.

Third party Nintendo....man can you imagine the games they could make on a high end PC.

Nintendo isn't Nintendo without controlling the hardware. Nintendo has pushed the video game industry forward in ways that we have forgotten. The modern controller layout, D-Pad, analog sticks, motion gaming, touch screen gaming, are all things Nintendo drove forward. Have they lagged in the services area? Yes. But when it comes to pure games and the interfaces therein, they've been the largest driver. I don't want them to not be able to do that.

Minarchist wrote:

It seems that the thing most hurting Nintendo is the thing most out of their control: exchange rates. The Yen continues to depress (e.g. grow stronger relative to other currencies) while the dollar continues to inflate. By my reading of their yearly numbers, 3/4 of their losses were due entirely to the exchange rate hit. Apart from moving HQ to the US I'm not really sure what can be done about that.

Their operating income in 2009 was 555,510.0MM Yen. In 2012 it was -37,320.0MM Yen. Their operating expenses decreased in that time. It wasn't because they were blowing through money prepping the next generation consoles. It isn't because of currency. That isn't what is killing them. What's killing them is that they started to sell a lot less hardware (Wii) and software. It was revenue. Their revenue between 2009 and 2012 dropped by almost a third. They are still sitting on a nice cash reserve and their balance sheet isn't terrible. They aren't in horrible financial shape. It's just they cannot continue on like this and not end up there or have to make changes (drastic?) to counteract the amount of revenue they are getting from the sale of stuff. THey cannot continue with the current sales and stay the same size forever. They need to either: juice up their sales or get smaller.

For the first 9 months of 2011(April-December), Nintendo reported a 53 billion yen loss due to foreign exchange rates.

Nintendo's net income for those 9 months was a loss of 48 billion yen.

For the same time period in 2012, they did not report a loss due to foreign exchange rates, and their net income is 14 billion yen.

Since 2008, Nintendo's had a sizable loss due to exchange rates every year. 2012 may reverse that trend.

The exchange rate has turned around a lot in the last few months so that should help them.

For those of you who are into Monster Hunter, Amazon is giving a $20 discount if you purchase both the WiiU and 3DS games in the same order.

Not a bad deal, but I think I'll be buying it digitally. On both platforms, if the data transfer is fast.

With Monster Hunter upon us I've been looking at finally purchasing a Wii U and man, looks like everyone's still price gouging on the Deluxe.

GameStop has a new bundle that comes with the Deluxe, ZombiU and a pro controller for $390... but f*ck GameStop. On the other hand, I want all that stuff and it would cost me more than $390 to buy it all separately. But still, f*ck GameStop.

Someone, tell me what to do.

LobsterMobster wrote:

With Monster Hunter upon us I've been looking at finally purchasing a Wii U and man, looks like everyone's still price gouging on the Deluxe.

GameStop has a new bundle that comes with the Deluxe, ZombiU and a pro controller for $390... but f*ck GameStop. On the other hand, I want all that stuff and it would cost me more than $390 to buy it all separately. But still, f*ck GameStop.

Someone, tell me what to do.

Make sweet, sweet love to Gamestop?

Jayhawker wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

With Monster Hunter upon us I've been looking at finally purchasing a Wii U and man, looks like everyone's still price gouging on the Deluxe.

GameStop has a new bundle that comes with the Deluxe, ZombiU and a pro controller for $390... but f*ck GameStop. On the other hand, I want all that stuff and it would cost me more than $390 to buy it all separately. But still, f*ck GameStop.

Someone, tell me what to do.

Make sweet, sweet love to Gamestop?

Think I might have to...

LobsterMobster wrote:

With Monster Hunter upon us I've been looking at finally purchasing a Wii U and man, looks like everyone's still price gouging on the Deluxe.

GameStop has a new bundle that comes with the Deluxe, ZombiU and a pro controller for $390... but f*ck GameStop. On the other hand, I want all that stuff and it would cost me more than $390 to buy it all separately. But still, f*ck GameStop.

Someone, tell me what to do.

That's an official ZombiU bundle and the official MSRP. My post on it got buried under doom and gloom. It's actually a really good price (the MSRP) as it's only +$40 for all that. So actually, good on ya, Gamestop of going with MSRP. You should note it should be coming in it's own bundle specific official box, too.

Sold out on GameStop, so it seems fate has intervened. For now.

EDIT: OK, they got it back in stock and now they have my money. f*cking GameStop. So what else do I buy?

I like Scribblenauts Unlimited - it's kinda more of the same, so if you've had your fill keep that in mind.

New Super Mario Bros. U is the first game in that particular branch of the franchise that I've liked, and I *really* liked it.

Nano Assault Neo is a really good twin-stick shooter on the eShop.

Some of the multiplatform games are fine on Wii U if you haven't played them elsewhere, but I'm going to assume if you've got any interest you would have played them elsewhere by now.

Yeah, I'm not in it for the multiplatform stuff. Played Scribblenauts on the PC (with Workshop integration). Anything else good on the eShop?

I've put a smidge of time into Chasing Aurora. It seems a bit too light on the gameplay side to recommend at this time. Those have been my only two eShop purchases so far.

You should download Wii Street U or whatever it's called, because it's free for now and the little press I've seen for it was pretty positive. Some people like Little Inferno, but the premise didn't grab me. Here's the thread. That's available on PC too, though.

The Cave is on the eShop, that's an interesting one. Looks good. As does Trine 2.

Yeah, but I have those on Steam. :/

Looks like there are some pretty good games coming up in a few months.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Yeah, but I have those on Steam. :/

Looks like there are some pretty good games coming up in a few months.

Insert previously deleted post about buying stuff on steam while you wait for the games to come.

The more closely I watch Lego City Undercover videos the more I want to play it. It's cool that they find in-context ways to slip non-City lego sets in there, like the medieval theme park to allow for Castle sets. If there's a Pirates-based boating section I will absolutely lose my mind.

For anyone that hates GameStop, just remember. Buying a product new is barely enough to cover the hourly wage of the shmuck selling it to you. If you're buying a console, they make $10 off of it.

So really, you're not helping them at all. It's like tipping someone in a handful of pennies from your pocket.

ccesarano wrote:

For anyone that hates GameStop, just remember. Buying a product new is barely enough to cover the hourly wage of the shmuck selling it to you. If you're buying a console, they make $10 off of it.

Really? Just because someone works at Gamestop they are automatically a shmuck?

Gumbie wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

For anyone that hates GameStop, just remember. Buying a product new is barely enough to cover the hourly wage of the shmuck selling it to you. If you're buying a console, they make $10 off of it.

Really? Just because someone works at Gamestop they are automatically a shmuck?

I'm wording it for the people that hate GameStop. I actually like most of the GameStops I've been to, or rather the people that work there.

Blind_Evil wrote:

The more closely I watch Lego City Undercover videos the more I want to play it. It's cool that they find in-context ways to slip non-City lego sets in there, like the medieval theme park to allow for Castle sets. If there's a Pirates-based boating section I will absolutely lose my mind.

I'm thinking about this game a lot, but I would like to see some reviews before I get it. There's a "intend to buy" bonus coins on this game for club nintendo right now, so if you're getting it anyway, might as well get some bonuses, right?