Can the Wii U Survive Against the PS4 and Xbox One? 335
An anonymous reader writes "Now that both Sony and Microsoft have announced their next-gen consoles, and we've gotten solid information about their hardware, technology, and features, Eurogamer asks whether Nintendo's struggling Wii U will be able to hold its own once the new competition arrives. 'Wii U has tanked — there's no other way to put it — with even the release of traditional big-hitters like Dragon Quest 10 failing to make a dent in the Japanese market. If you believe certain analysts, April saw things getting even worse in the U.S. with the Wii U shifting under 40,000 units, easily outsold by the 360 and PS3 — and, even more embarrassingly, the Wii.' If the Wii U doesn't see a miraculous turnaround, Nintendo may be left with the difficult choice of whether to port its software to competing consoles. It'll also serve as a bellwether to see if the big gamer complaint about the new Sony and Microsoft consoles — that they're only partly about games — is honest. 'At a time when the goal of its competitors is to own the living room, the extent of Nintendo's ambition is simply to be in it — a dedicated games console, and no more.'"
More like... (Score:5, Interesting)
... can the game industry survive expensive AAA games?
THQ recently went bankrupt, EA's stock has taken a huge dump from past highs and activision survives mainly by WoW and Call of duty. At this point the next console generation is the least interesting console generation in a long while. Since games have become some multi-headed hydra of trying to be a jack of all trades, master of none in order to sell games to the lowest common denominator. Most modern games are little more then movies /w over simplified gameplay at this point.
A revolution in tools is needed to scale back team sizes and game development costs and that's decades away. If anything the game industry is probably the most out of touch industry looking for fast $ by releasing games too early with little to no changes.
Will the Wii U let you play used games? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes. Yes it will.
Consoles in general are going the way of the dodo. This all-in-one media center thing is pretty stupid, you can get a nettop/boxee/android based player for 50-100 bucks that can do all the advanced interactive media features Microsoft and Sony are so excited about (play netflix and youtube).
I don't know if people are stupid enough to pay 5-6 hundred to Microsoft or Sony for the same functionality.
I don't expect to see record breaking sales from any of the big three consoles. But Nintendo is smart to keep the cost down (oh noes hardcore gamerz, it doesnt have 32 core mega gigablips), and trade off their in house titles.
Nintendo consoles end up in kids bedrooms, not living rooms. Things will pick up for them after a price drop. Nintendo doesn't need to outsell Sony or MS, they play their own game. They just need to sell enough to keep pushing out the Mario and Zelda titles.
Uh, yes? (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering that sales of the Wii U have *spiked* since the Xbox One announcement, I think it's pretty clear that Nintendo can survive.
What's different about this generation? That most third-party games are ignoring the Wii U? Guess what - that happened with the Wii and Gamecube (to a lesser extent) as well. No good launch titles? Look at the 3DS - dead on arrival, but it's picking up, and while it's not the runaway success of the DS, it's no failure.
Hell, the only "different" thing about this generation is how badly Nintendo botched the naming (a lot of consumer confusion because "Wii U" sounds more like a new hardware iteration of the Wii than a new console). But fortunately, Microsoft came out with an even worse name for their console.
And Nintendo also has the advantage of having a strong focus on games. Sure, they don't actually have too many actual games right now, but even when talking about the hardware, their message is always "how it makes better games". Compare to Sony's distractions with Youtube uploading or "social gaming", or to Microsoft's "it's a set-top Windows 8 box that also plays Call of Duty" abomination of a conference.
But there's one fundamental reason why Nintendo can survive Sony and Microsoft - they don't care. Most Nintendo console owners buy them to play Nintendo games, which isn't the case for Sony or Microsoft consoles. First-party games might boost the other consoles up, but they always exist as much to play third-party games as first-party.
So the only threat to Nintendo is... Nintendo. Which, admittedly, it a pretty big threat right now - a lot of their recent games have been going downhill (Skyward Sword, Other M), and they haven't yet come up with a good killer app for the Wii U.
I'm tired of these articles (Score:5, Interesting)
A few years ago, Nintendo adopted a really bizarre politic of not announcing their own games until a short time before they are ready to launch, so the landscape of the Wii U is completely empty.
The situation will likely change after E3 (or not).
Re:More like... (Score:4, Interesting)
This is why I think we're seeing Indy games thrive more.
Re:More like... (Score:2, Interesting)
The question is whether the industry can survive AAA priced titles that are really only B games? THQ and EA say they put out AAA titles but that's only in cost to make not quality. The industry can survive the costs. It can't survive overpriced shit.
The market is speaking ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Will the Wii U let you play used games? (Score:5, Interesting)
Nintendo is also the most profitable company per employee. With only ~5000 employees they can afford a poor selling console easily.
I predict PS4 "wins" this round but no one wins overall (esp the consumer) and Steambox and/or PC will make a resurgence... just not enough to really put it on the map.
I bought the Wii when it came out. I liked the ability to play with up to four other players in certain games. Plus, I used the Wii Fit from time to time to switch up my exercise routine. Beyond the occasional use, it sits there gathering dust. I'm certainly not going to upgrade to the Wii U.
I used to be an avid PC gamer but switched over to the XBox 360 when it came out. I then switched to the PS3 a few years later as my brother-in-law had the PS3 and I wanted to be able to exchange games with him. I've used it for gaming until recently. Skyrim, and the problems with the PS3 DLCs, forced me to switch back to the PC Now, I tend to use the PS3 mostly for Netflix. However, my new Blu-ray player supports Netflix as well, so the PS3 is largely also going unused.
Today, I'm back to PC gaming and loving it. I had forgotten just how great the graphics are, how fast the games load, and how much user generated content is available. I've since purchased the XBox connector and enjoy playing games on my HD TV using my XBox controller.
Personally, I'm not interested in the new consoles....
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)