"There are literally millions of consumers out there who want a Wii and had been on the sidelines. They'd been waiting for that little nudge to go out and pick it up - the price decline, the sampling, the launching of key software like Wii Fit Plus - we believe it's what's pushing them over the edge to get into the category."
That's some proper business talk right there. 'What do you want for Christmas little Johnny?' 'Well mom, I'd love to enter the gaming category.' Will Nintendo own Christmas though? Sound off below.
Actually Reg, what would push me over the edge is a consistant stream of excellent games as well as a very significant price cut. What is the point of getting a console that costs £180, when you could save a bit more and get a 360 or a PS3 which both have a richer games catalog, as well as many other features such as FB/iPlayer, films to download etc? Also, once Natal and the Wand come out, the unique selling point of the wii will be ousted.
you think mums and dads are sitting about waiting for a price cut on something they know nothing about?!
for a gamer is doesnt offer enough. the price was never a problem for the wii. as you can see by the sales. it may sell well as a christmas toy. but it wont boost millions of sales purely as a result of a price cut.
Oh Reggie, bless. I'm one of the people who already has your console and i'm waiting for good games.
Where are these vocal Wii Waiters and why if they're desperate are they waiting. Seriously if that tiny price cut bothers them how are they going to pay for the games and all the plastic add ons?
Well, its hardlly like the plastic add ons cost any extra (bar Wii Fit). Go tell that to Craptivision.
But yes, Nintendo have really dropped the ball on the quality games we're normally accustomed to. And even though Mario Galaxy 2 will be great, I'd rather would have preferred another franchise release from them (or something new and decent) rather than a sequel. Having said that, it will have been three years after original and not like these yearly cash cow games that we're getting from a few companies..
Still, I'd say I'm looking forward to more upcoming Wii games than 360 ones (don't have a PS3). I wouldn't say the 360 has a "rich" library either considering it has tons of drivel and its exclusives are either s**t or just plain boring
To be fair he right to a point. Whatever console it is there are always people who only buy them in a certain price bracket. I for one will buy them all at launch at full price and am happy to do so, where as my friend will wait for a couple of price drops before he buys them no matter how many good games they have. The Wii has a good selection of games and more coming in the pipeline, The PS3 has suffered not becuase of price as much as it doesn't have many games that wow you. You can get most of them for the 360 and it doesn't have many exclusives to warrent the purchase. Oh and when you say Mum & dads are the only buyers of Wii it just screams a fanboy remark....oh wait its svd!
They've managed to develop and release two games this year Resort and Super Mario Brothers - which is a DS port is it not?
What the hell are they doing at Nintendo? Where are the first party games we are all desperate for? Twighlight Princess is 3 years old and was a Gamecube game where's the Wii's Zelda?
Still, I'd say I'm looking forward to more upcoming Wii games than 360 ones (don't have a PS3). I wouldn't say the 360 has a "rich" library either considering it has tons of drivel and its exclusives are either s**t or just plain boring
I'm sorry but that is crap. How can you possibly say it's exclusives are s**t or boring? Seriously? What Wii games are you looking forward too, which are better than the exclusives coming out on the 360? What type of games are you into, prey tell?
I think you can see the desperation to appeal to gamers in the fact that Mario Galaxy 2 exists at all. A direct sequel to a Mario game? Not since Bros has that happened.
6 years between Mario 64 and Sunshine, both completely different concepts, and another 5 between Sunshine and Galaxy, which again changed up the formula a lot.
Saying that, I have no doubt that Mario Galaxy 2 will be one of the Wii's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very few good games. The original was fantastic. Imagine what it would be like on a real console... it would be incredible.
I really wonder where he gets his data from. The PS3 was seen as over priced and lots of users demanded a price-cut, Sony done well because of it.
I never once have heard anyone say that the Wii is over priced. I bet Nintendo asked people if they wanted the Wii to be cheaper (and who is going to say no!), and from that they think that there is a shed load of people waiting for a cheaper price for the Wii. Talk about adding one and one and making five!
the fact that reggie mention wii fit plus in this article says it all.
can someone tell me how many new ip's ninty have released this gen which are for core gamers? ffs don't say wii sports/resort, that will not count!.
I own all 3 consoles and i'm a big big nintendo fan but i feel they have really lost the plot this gen. reggies is quite delusional now. it must be from the ink of those $100 bills he uses to wipe his ar$e with
See there is the problem its this awful "core" gamers term that people keep throwing around. Wii sports is a good fun game to play so why isn't it aloud to be counted. Define what you think are core games but at the end of the day all games are for everyone. Just because you don't like some of them doesn't mean they aren't any good. Nintendo has come up with plenty of new IP's more than anyone infact for both Wii and DS so claiming they just recycle the same franchises is total BS. In fact they have released plenty of these so called games "core" games already, Super mario galaxy, Super smash bros. Mario kart, Metroid, Zelda, etc. And now they offer a sequel to Mario and someone complains about that, I don't think they can win whatever they do with some people...
We've been playing sports games for years so you could still class Wii sports under that. Buzz & Singstar are niche markets that tend to be popular with people who don't play videogames or own a consoles. Loads of people at my work have played Buzz/Singstar (normally at someone's house who owns one and at a party or such) and 90% of them didn't own a console. Now they all own the Wii i think the key stratagy to expanding the market is bring people in with games that appeal to them (aka Buzz etc got them to play but not own, Wii sports, Fit etc got them to own a console) and then introduce them to the games that we've all played for years but couldn't convince people that they were fun to play. I think thats part of back groung agenda of nintendo and probably many other gaming companies now.
I think you can see the desperation to appeal to gamers in the fact that Mario Galaxy 2 exists at all. A direct sequel to a Mario game? Not since Bros has that happened.
6 years between Mario 64 and Sunshine, both completely different concepts, and another 5 between Sunshine and Galaxy, which again changed up the formula a lot.
Saying that, I have no doubt that Mario Galaxy 2 will be one of the Wii's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very few good games. The original was fantastic. Imagine what it would be like on a real console... it would be incredible.
But its OK for games like Gears of War to come out every two years and still manage to be worse than the original game? Where's the 'desperation' in releasing a core Mario sequel? Its not like Wii sales have gone down the tubes, is it?
I'm sorry but that is crap. How can you possibly say it's exclusives are s**t or boring? Seriously? What Wii games are you looking forward too, which are better than the exclusives coming out on the 360? What type of games are you into, prey tell?
Its not crap, dude. But the games are. Gears of War is a prime example of a polished turd. Sure, the first games was fun for a bit, the sequel is utter crap. And they still can't fix the broken controls and countless glitches.
Yes, that's one example. But I'm just sick of constant shooting games, no matter what perspective they're played from. Forza is technically brilliant, can't doubt that. But its boring.
My fave 360 games are (in no order): Batman, Dead Rising, Bioshock, SF IV, GTA 4 (though this too is 'broken', especially online) and Crackdown. The majority of the machine's library is the same old s**t, much like the Wii has way too many party games
well i am selling my Wii tomorrow,not been on it for over a year and when i was on it,i played a Gamecube title,i still have my gamecube so i think its time for the Wii to go
i actually hated Mario Galaxy,and i find the only games i was looking forward to for the Wii were remakes/Wiimakes
as for Gears of War 2,i thought that was 10x better than part 1(single player that is,i don't like that game online)
the 360 always gets played ..while my PS3 has now started to see more action after a shaky start
and anyway,wasn't that price cut everywhere but the UK?
It's always interesting to see how much uninformed b******s get tossed arouund on wii threads. Good to see this one's no exception.
Fact is the wii is the biggest platform this gen. So it must be doing something right.
It's also true that nintendo seldom make a bad game. It's also true that the wii has seen more 1st party exclusives than the N64 and the gamecube but people seem to forget that.
The wiis a great console, It has an abundance of interesting and different titles from all genres. More so than the competition.
Also Last time i checked both wii sports and resort as well as wiifit are actually pretty damn fun to play.
Then again it seems that the rules that govern the other machines aren't allowed on the wii. Last time i checked both MS don't actually make games, and sony's internal studios offering's haven't exactly been of the traditional variety.
If wiifit and sports aren't core games then the likes of flower deffinately aren't.
If we're talking 2nd and 3rd party exclusives the wii has just as many as the competition and they are just as good.
wii sports is most certainly not a core title. if anyone on here believes that then can shuffle along to the nearest aysylum (say hi to Batman as he won't appear on the Wii except in Lego format (surprise surprise)). Is Wii Sports fun? sure is, no disputing that. does it provide a real challenge as you progress through the game? what do you mean there is no progress? oh its design for 'everyone', i.e. little challenge, throwing old skool gaming layering and challenges out of the window. you know what, there's nothing wrong with that at all, we want games like that as well but the balance of titles is skewed on the Wii to the 'casuals' for want of a better word.
2nd and 3rd party exclusives if you discount childrens and 'family games' are well down on the Wii and the quality is rubbish as well. i think wiiware has been better than Wii retail!
look at the charts on play.com, the wii chart is full of crap. i went into my local Game store the other day thinking there might be something on the Wii i can pick up but nope, full of crap and the decent titles (a handful) i already owned.
so i ask you fellow forumites once again, what 'core' or 'traditional' type new IP's have ninty come up with for the Wii this gen, not 3rd parties, i'm talking purely Nintendo here? answers on a stamp to....Reggie the 'mentalist', Washington, Seattle.
Honestly i think Nintendo have lost all perspective and it genuinely saddens me as a Nintendo fan, god i even raced out and bought my daughter a Mario soft toy when she was born. Thought i'd bring her up properly! Crying shame.
there is a certain sort of progression in Wiisports. As your skill rating goes up in the boxing the opponents get more difficult, The spare challenges in the bowling get increasingly difficult, as do the ones for the tennis and golf.
Wiisports is old school game design at its best. SImple and incredibly addictive. Most old games had bugger all progression, didn't stop them being a great way to spend a few hours. Which at the end of the day is what gaming should first and foremost be about. Having fun.
But really i think gaming is starting to see its first signs of a generation gap between gamers. Basically guys post and pre sony. If you were around to appreciate the NES then you'll realise why the wii is so great. If you got in to gaming around the time of the playstation i think a lot of it will be lost on you.
The great thing about wiisports and even more so with resort is it seems to scratch an itch reguardless of your gaming habits.
And if you couldn't find something worth buying on the wii the other day shellstar may i reccommend picking up a copy of Dead Space Extraction or the excellent Cursed Mountain, or Little Kings Story. Even if you played them on the cube Metroid prime trilogy's still a bloody good deal or wait a few weeks and get Muramasa or the Silent Hill remake.
I just find that 360 owners in particular have a high opinion of themselves. Like that machines owns gaming. So blinded by their holiness, they can't see the flaws in quite a few of the big games. I say this as as neutral. Sure, the Wii has a big problem with loads of s**te on it. But the games that count do count. Not so with the 360. I mean, M$uck must be pretty "desperate" if they're releasing so many Halo games on the machine.
Games were never gonna stay the same and if you're going to blame this 'casual' crap on someone, then point that finger to Sony. They 'started' it.
I don't own Wii Fit or anything, but at least Nintendo make casual games fun. Not s**t like Lips or Scene it or some Eyetoy crap.
As for Shellster's comment about Batman - big deal. At least its given me a reason to play on my 360. And like I've said before: this game is a breath of fresh air on that machine. Look at the three main big 360 games this Xmas: ODST, MW 2 and L4D 2. All sequels and all shooters. Great choice there
Good post shellster, that's how I feel as well. The Wii, by nature of it's very design (underpowered/motion controls), offers a completely watered-down experience and simply doesn't have any games that are worth my time. Especially when compared to the stuff Microsoft and Sony are putting out, stuff that people actually put some effort into making.
As your skill rating goes up in the boxing the opponents get more difficult
You must be a patient man to have gotten that far (and to deal with the Wii bashing ). I found that the boxing is completely broken, another inherent problem with the Wii which they've recently tried to rectify with a pricey add-on... but it's even more broken than your average Wii game. The nunchuck barely registers.
If you were around to appreciate the NES then you'll realise why the wii is so great. If you got in to gaming around the time of the playstation i think a lot of it will be lost on you.
Nah, I've been gaming that long and I hate the thing. I think If you were around to see the NES, and all consoles between that and the Wii, you know what good gaming is about and lament what Nintendo has done to itself. If you're a PlayStation kid then you likely just go with the most popular platfrom anyway. I must say I find it shocking that someone can honestly equate any aspect of the Wii to any previous Nintendo console. It barely even counts as a games console, let alone stand up against Nintendo's incredible past machines. Well, maybe the Virtual Boy.
I think it's more about who can give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt for longer. Personally I gave up after 6 months or so after buying my Wii on day one. Minute one in fact, since I was first in line at a midnight launch... the same Wii which sits on a shelf behind my TV and hasn't been hooked up since Galaxy. It had so much potential... *sigh*
Although I dislike most of the games on the Wii, I think most of the people posting bad comments here about the Wii are stupid.
Most of you lot don't know what a core game is, you think its some rubbish FPS or driving game. You look down on people who like these so called casual, like you think that they are killing the industry. Its just the cycle of taste change going round again, I remember when so called 'core' games were Shoot'em ups and scrolling platformers. Then before that maze games and text adventures. One thing stays the same though, there are a lot of people that don't like change and claim that people that play these new fangled types of games are not 'hardcore' or are not 'true players'.
I don't like this new wave of games taste, but other people are not wrong for liking it.
If you were around to appreciate the NES then you'll realise why the wii is so great. If you got in to gaming around the time of the playstation i think a lot of it will be lost on you.
Philips Colour TV console-1979(ish) Commodore Vic 20 Spectrum +2 128k NES SNES Gameboy Master System 2 N64 Playstation Playstation 2 Gamecube Xbox NDS PSP Xbox 360 Wii Playstation 3
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'. more traditional type games, lets say Mario Galaxy or F-Zero or 1080p or Goldeneye just as examples. Not - Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Wii Fit, Wii Music.
So now I've attempted to answer you question how about you stop dodging mine and give me a big 'ol list of great new 'core' IP's that Nintny have been knocking out this gen. I bet the list is so small you could tweet it!
I'm p'd off with Nintendo because i want them to be great, because when they are they're untouchable but they've lost sight. Right now they're sitting around with a blood pressure finger peg on wondering what the f^ck they're going to do with it and then shoehorn some causal crap around it.
Can you really not see how they've messed up this gen? They've even had 2 utterly crap E3's on thr trot and Iwata-san has been apologising. bloody hell even he can see the signs!
The proof is in the pudding on a personal level for me, the Wii hardly gets played. Previous gens i was always on my Nintendo kit. Maybe i'm too old now, who knows....
but Reggie might be right, they may sell another 150M consoles. good luck to'em.
i can really easily equate the wii to any of Nintendo's past consoles becasue you can play games from every last one of them on it.
If you really were an old school gamer i'm guessing the first thing you did when you gave wii play a go is smile. I was taken back to one of the first nintendo game i ever played. Duck hunt. Maybe its the nostalgia factor thats sold it to me or maybe its the fact that i can play every single zelda on one machine.
The problem i see with modern gaming. its grown too up its own bottom. The wii cuts out the BS and goes back to its roots.
Graphics do not a good game make. Something i think is lost on alot of gamers now. Just becasue a game is HD doesn't mean that there's been any more effort put into it. Some of the best games this gen for me have looked beautiful but more becasue they have a sense of style than bigger explosions.
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'. more traditional type games, lets say Mario Galaxy or F-Zero.
Pah you kids! Shoot'em ups and 2D side scrolling games are 'core' games!
I'm joking, there is no such thing as 'core' games as it is just a reflection of current tastes!
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'. more traditional type games, lets say Mario Galaxy or F-Zero or 1080p or Goldeneye just as examples. Not - Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Wii Fit, Wii Music.
Hi def got you, man? I'm kidding!
Though I agree with you about what you say about Nintendo not releasing any new IPs in terms of 'core' games, I don't see that many new one from M$ except for Crackdown and Mass Effect. That's it. Oh yes, the crapfest that its GoW too. Its kinda hard to actually argue this point since M$ don't actually make any of these games and get other people to do them.
So, my point exactly. What have they done? No point publishing other people's games and them passing them off as your own. Its easy to get other people to think up the ideas for you...
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'. more traditional type games, lets say Mario Galaxy or F-Zero or 1080p or Goldeneye just as examples. Not - Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Wii Fit, Wii Music.
Hi def got you, man? I'm kidding!
Though I agree with you about what you say about Nintendo not releasing any new IPs in terms of 'core' games, I don't see that many new one from M$ except for Crackdown and Mass Effect. That's it. Oh yes, the crapfest that its GoW too. Its kinda hard to actually argue this point since M$ don't actually make any of these games and get other people to do them.
So, my point exactly. What have they done? No point publishing other people's games and them passing them off as your own. Its easy to get other people to think up the ideas for you...
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'.
The reason I asked was more your point of view not because I'm unsure. I think as someone said that going all the way back to 2D shooters & so on (which i played plenty of in the day) it means this "core" term thats used so often, half the time I don't think people know the meaning of it or if its all that correct in its use. I never said Nintendo were perfect but they don't deserve half of the uneducated bashing they get from people who often don't know what they are talking about. As for new "core" IP's like i said as its such a loose term you can't really discount so many of their new IP's because you or others don't agree with them.
Well, its hardlly like the plastic add ons cost any extra (bar Wii Fit). Go tell that to Craptivision.
But yes, Nintendo have really dropped the ball on the quality games we're normally accustomed to. And even though Mario Galaxy 2 will be great, I'd rather would have preferred another franchise release from them (or something new and decent) rather than a sequel. Having said that, it will have been three years after original and not like these yearly cash cow games that we're getting from a few companies..
Still, I'd say I'm looking forward to more upcoming Wii games than 360 ones (don't have a PS3). I wouldn't say the 360 has a "rich" library either considering it has tons of drivel and its exclusives are either s**t or just plain boring
WOW JuiKuen, this is probably the very first comment post of yours that a agree with!!! Maybe not about the upcoming releases...
If you really were an old school gamer i'm guessing the first thing you did when you gave wii play a go is smile.
Well you'd be guessing wrong, the first thing I did after playing Wii Sport for the first time was to check and see if the controller was set up right. Before you start, I've been playing games before your Dad got near you Mums knickers.
it's not easy to define but i'm asuming you're of a level of inteliigence that you know what i mean by 'core'. more traditional type games, lets say Mario Galaxy or F-Zero or 1080p or Goldeneye just as examples. Not - Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Wii Fit, Wii Music.
So now I've attempted to answer you question how about you stop dodging mine and give me a big 'ol list of great new 'core' IP's that Nintny have been knocking out this gen. I bet the list is so small you could tweet it!
I'm p'd off with Nintendo because i want them to be great, because when they are they're untouchable but they've lost sight. Right now they're sitting around with a blood pressure finger peg on wondering what the f^ck they're going to do with it and then shoehorn some causal crap around it.
Can you really not see how they've messed up this gen? They've even had 2 utterly crap E3's on thr trot and Iwata-san has been apologising. bloody hell even he can see the signs!
The proof is in the pudding on a personal level for me, the Wii hardly gets played. Previous gens i was always on my Nintendo kit. Maybe i'm too old now, who knows....
but Reggie might be right, they may sell another 150M consoles. good luck to'em.
Shelster is getting a lot of flack (from a few diehard fans) on this forum but come on guys, he does have a point...
I have to strongly disagree with Monkey in that looking at Nintendos past you will see how 'great' the Wii is...I have to say it is the polar opposite. If you are such a fan, remember when you had a Snes and Nintendo were churning out Marioworld, Fzero, Pilot Wing, SSF2, Punchout, Mario Kart and Metroid...Now those were 'CORE' games, none of your mamby pamby 'modern' Wii (flawed) versions...Things like that remind me how BAD the Wii is...
We can tie ourselves up with the definition of what a 'core'game is and I do not profess to be an expert but I don't believe and game where you have fun with for an hour or two (like Wii fit or Sports Resort) then have no incentive to go back to a 'core' experience. Maybe it is the correct stratagy to capture the market but to keep people happy it is not...and that is one of my biggest bones with the Nintendo Wii, it makes games with a candy coated exterior with a hollow heart at the centre. Being a genuine past Nintendo fan that breaks my heart...
one last comment from me on this topic. when Wii is superceded and we look back what are you going to say were the highlights for you, something that Nintendo really excelled at games-wise?
Mario Galaxy? Probably the best contender but it still doesn't have the same Nintendo magic as Mario 64.
Mario Kart? Nope, this franchise has meandered it's way to mediocraty with every new version since the sublime SNES version (and the GBA version was awesome as well, both digital control).
F-Zero? Never bothered with that (yet)
and countless others. but these are existing franchises, where's the new stuff, the IP's that cater for Nintendo fans of old, not the new fickle breed who will desert them the moment something else marketed even better comes along.
I wonder how many Wii's are gathering dust. A lot i'd wager. Nintendo have let their old fans down this gen and there's no getting round it. Take those blinkers off guys, we all love Nintendo, just not this incarnation!
one last comment from me on this topic. when Wii is superceded and we look back what are you going to say were the highlights for you, something that Nintendo really excelled at games-wise?
We can't say for certain until that time comes, but I'll tell you this, it's already easily trumped the utter disaster that was the Gamecube in my eyes...
The Ganecube was a marketing disaster but it made some cracking games (In fact quite a few good games made it onto the Wii with minimal enhancements and has scored highly) and I feel is more true to the NIntendo philosophy.
I have said it one and I'll say it again, I've had every Ninty console (Barring the Virtual Boy) since the original Nes and the Wii is the one I am the most disapointed with. I feel in the blind pursuit of new customers it has forgotten the loyal fans...
If you really were an old school gamer i'm guessing the first thing you did when you gave wii play a go is smile.
Well you'd be guessing wrong, the first thing I did after playing Wii Sport for the first time was to check and see if the controller was set up right. Before you start, I've been playing games before your Dad got near you Mums knickers.
good for you. I was talking about wii PLAY not sports.
well i've been gaming since the spectrum days so you must be damn old.
I was a Speccy man myself! All those C64 fanboys were always bigging up their machines more colours on screen and faster proccessor but were knew where it was really at! All the best people had spectrums!
Talking about Wii play (It's sht btw) the only good game on it was Tanks, now that I would call a core game! Pretty tough, no continues, lots of levels, great stuff...Fishing, cow racing, neon pong, no...
But really i think gaming is starting to see its first signs of a generation gap between gamers. Basically guys post and pre sony. If you were around to appreciate the NES then you'll realise why the wii is so great. If you got in to gaming around the time of the playstation i think a lot of it will be lost on you.
Excellent point. I hadn't really thought about this before, but it explains why me and my (much) younger brother never see eye-to-eye when it comes to taste in videogames.
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). I found that the boxing is completely broken, another inherent problem with the Wii which they've recently tried to rectify with a pricey add-on... but it's even more broken than your average Wii game. The nunchuck barely registers.
