Topic: How is Nintendo going to get Wii U sales up.

They need a killer app

Amiibo is doing amazingly well, so what about a Skylander / Minecraft / landmark hybrid but with Nintendo character using Amiibo

Call it, Amiibo land or Nintendo World or smething like that. If kids are addicted to Minecraft, imagine a game like that but with better graphics, gamepad off-screen support and Nintendo theme building sets and stuff

I would totally buy that. Wanna make a world with Fire Emblem pieces (castles and cool temples and stuff) as well as Metroid futuristic cities and stuff and be able to use my favorite Nintendo characters to run and jump through that world (I kinda love running with Zero Suit Samus at high speeds and jumping really high in Smash Run mode of Smash Bros 3DS)

That's my opinion

Wanna see others peoples opinions

Nintendo fans will buy Nintendo stuff. That's what the Wii U is now. A true Nintendo machine that stands on its own. Sales pick up only with very special games.

they're in the black. which is a huge step above where htey were the last 4 years. boosting sales will just come from exclusive games. mario kart 8 boosted sales, smash brothers boosted sales, I imagine zelda U will boost sales.

it's simple, they need killer apps and hype. no one is going to Nintendo for the hardware. they're going to nintendo for the games.

Agreed!

They're not going to do much better than they already are. The sales are low because the hardware is just inherently undesirable, the console is too weak to attract older gamers and third party, and the concept is confusing and has no useful benefits, and there's nothing they can do to fix any of that without a new console.

Gotta love threads full of armchair analysts.

Has anyone pointed out that with this current marketing, which presumably is not good enough for many in this thread, that Wii U sales are increasing, and that the company is making a profit?

Furthermore, this is a hardware and a software company. They are selling lots of software. Maybe they just need to focus on great games for the next couple of years and work on the next hardware. Maybe thats what they are doing - avoiding doing a SEGA by releasing consoles too soon, but giving the Wii U userbase enough great games to maintain their reputation as an excellent software producer, to tide everything over and then to try and make their next cosole better.

Whatever their reasons, I am sure they have many highly paid marketing staff members with reasoning behind what they are currently doing and how they are doing it.

Gotta love useless drive-by posts.

HA!

Well, I did minor in business. That's gotta count for something, right? Lol.

Besides, it doesn't take an expert to see that the name Wii U confuses people. But I see what you mean. There are a lot of opinions people have that can't possibly be weighed against those with an actual marketing position at Nintendo.

Okay, if we are going into this again, I'll go ahead and give my take.

I think the first thing we really have to do is identify the problem. The Wii U's problem is basically that it is failing to appeal to consumers as the best console purchase. That sounds obvious, but it helps to identify point blank.

So let's look at the things that Nintendo isn't already doing that would increase the Wii U's appeal.

• More games spread across a diversity of demographics and genres released per month.(Whether it's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd party doesn't matter. If the Wii U got 10 great diverse games every month, no one would care if it doesn't get Assassin's Creed, as there would simply be so much to play)
• More marketing of games and the system itself.
• More demographic neutral marketing about the system (If you sell your system as being only for families, those are the only people who will be brought in by the ad)
• Stronger "next gen" perception. (People need to feel like the Wii U is a "next gen" system that brings something new to the table, that can be graphics, controller, whatever, but it can't just be "Nintendo's Xbox 360" in the 8th gen)

Here's how I think Nintendo should tackle these problems. First, they need to set aside a large amount of money, and use it to either develop a ton of their own games, or underwrite 3rd parties to put their games on Wii U. I don't think the former is very feasible, as there is a large development time involved, but I do think that the latter is if Nintendo is careful. They need to sign temporary contracts with EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Namco-Bandai, Capcom, Square-Enix, etc. to get them to put their games on Wii U and include the system in advertising, but set an end time such that their install base will be large enough that underwriting is no longer necessary.

The second point is fairly self explanatory.

Third, they need to overhaul their marketing so it isn't telling people "This console is fun if you are 8 and play video games with your family". Advertisements just need to tell everyone that "This system is fun". Feature games ranging from Mario 3D World, to Bayonetta, to CoD, to Madden, to Skylanders. Don't just show families playing the Wii U together, show some teenagers and young adults using the Gamepad in creative ways themselves.

The last one is partly dependent on advertising, but if Nintendo doesn't feel like the Gamepad is catching on, they should consider rolling back to Wii Motion Plus compatibility, and stress that as a key system component.

Go back to Wii motion plus compatibility?Would't that be downgrading?Cause going back to motion plus ain't going to help anything,that market is gone.

What can I say apart from this is the kind of stuff I'm studying about at Uni.

I wouldn't say that. The market's not gone, there just isn't a dedicated product anymore. The Wii's biggest market was kids and young casual females. Kid's certainly haven't stopped preferring easy and intuitive control schemes, and I've spoken to many girls at school who don't play other games but are huge fans of Just Dance. Advertising the Wii U as a "Next Gen HD Wii" certainly has potential to renew interest in the system as something different. That said, let me reiterate that they definitely shouldn't do that unless they don't think the Gamepad is catching on as a system defining feature.

If Sony discontinued the Xperia Compact line of phones, the market for smaller sized, but full specs smartphones wouldn't disappear, there just wouldn't be a product for that market anymore.

"Next Gen HD Wii?That's a terrible name,that will confuse people more than the Wiiu's name.Which people still think the Wiiu is a add on to the original Wii,which is sad.

Oh that wasn't a name, that was a description.

Also remove the Nintendo Creators Program, that is crap.

My bad then

This topic has been done to death. I seriously think people are going to be still creating these threads right up until after they release the Wii U's successor. At this point people just need to accept that the Wii U isn't going to be competing with the other two. That what we have is a platform that was successful but not a smash hit by any stretch. One that despite that is still a critical hit and still has some fantastic games to offer.

So ok, you want to moan about how "they haven't advertised". Fine. Frankly I think is a load of BS and a complete mis-read of how consumers make purchasing decisions post 2010. But ok, that's your line. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy what is IMO one of the the best platforms Nintendo has ever produced. And right now we're in the middle of what will probably be looked back on as the most productive period of the Wii U's life. This is their Galaxy/Prime/Smash/Kart 07-08 period.... and you're complaining about marketing instead of soaking it in.

My bulleted list of replies:
1) Talking about this does not mean that we're not enjoying what we have now.
2) I agree, this topic has been done to death. I tried to dispell it as old news from the get-go, but stuff like this always spreads wild debate regardless.
3) It is true that, in this age, more people know what they want and have the tools to research for it themselves, but not everybody. That is not the majority of the industry (especially casual gamers, and clueless parents buying it for their kids).
4) I agree: nothing at this point is going to make the Wii U a smash hit. It's too late. It was too late almost a year ago, when we found that Mario Kart 8 didn't move systems in large numbers. And I agree, it's still a killer system, and people don't know what they're missing.