Topic: Why is no one buying the Wii U?

I think it's because of the negetive mentality that "fans" put out on the web. Granted all console have it's flaws, I find that nintendo's systems (and games) are more heavily criticized compared to other systems. For the more part people would think the worst off the bat instead of being neutral and wait and see like with the friend codes, video game prices over $60, Miiverse restrictions, etc. Even when it does something good, it is sometimes overshadowed by negetive comments which readers (especially non-register users) take into account. Combine with the weekly lack of knowledge doom threads and people will reach the conclusion that the Wii U have nothing to offer, even if it's debatably false.

Granted things can/are getting better but to the loud mass, they are at the same place when the Wii U started and this is the type of outdated/biased info that current protental buyer are getting.

>Drought doesn't bother you
No, you don't have time for video games, that's why you spend hours a day on a videogame forum.

>Third party games are trash
Yeah keep telling yourself that while the PS4 and Xbone owners get some of the best games out there.

You sir, are a drone.

No one here really knows why Wii U isn't doing well. It's laughable how some ppl here are convinced they do know. If it takes some teenagers on a forum to fix this problem, companies wouldn't go bankrupt.

@kyuubikid213 Okay, thanks for pointing that out. Not sure why the quote button messed up, but it's fixed in my post now.

Perception

We have this exact same debate on the OUYA forum where I'm a moderator. It all comes down to perception. PS4 is effectively functionally identical to Xbox One (esp. now Kinect is gone), and both have a fraction of the games the Wii U has. But Sony has had since well before launch, a laser-like focus on the core gamer market. They sold people a dream, and got that positive upward vibe. They filled in the content gap by coopting high profile indies to basically do their marketing for them.

Sony does have the good indies (Making the ones I actually enjoy anyway. The ones Nintendo has are the ones I would play but only if I ran out of the ones Sony has).

The only PS4 game I have seen enough of to make a reasonable comparison is Tomb Raider and it is a terrible version. Its like it is running on an underpowered PC with the graphics set too high. They thought making Lara's hair look like a Shampoo advert was more important than the best type of Anti Aliasing or Tessellation and making sure the framerate never drops below 60. I suppose the exclusives will be better but that is absolutely dire.

"Drone" in what respect? WaveBoy has clearly established set of individual preferences; he tends to gravitate towards retro games and unique experiences but isn't above third party titles or the occasional mature game either. His comment was presumably pertaining to his own tastes, which Nintendo happens to cater to better than the competition. His use of the word "trash" to describe third party titles is indicative of his opinion; it is not commentary claiming that the competition would better succeed in the market if they catered solely to his interests.

As for your "best games" comment, the majority of the highest rated games on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are ports of last generation titles or are multiplatform (or both). Thus, WaveBoy is able to play many games with his old hardware. Granted, many Wii U owners bring up ports when compiling a list of games too, but there are generally more original titles mentioned, even if that may only be by virtue of the Wii U launching a year earlier than the other two. The few titles that are original don't appeal to WaveBoy as they are, statistically speaking, largely made up of western titles that do not strike him as being imaginative and stray from the genres or styles he enjoys. They strike him as being stale and you could make a strong case that they are. Many believe the reason to buy the Xbox One and PS4 lies in the future, not the present.

The Wii U's controller, too, is undeniably different from what Nintendo offered last generation whilst the other two consoles feature largely the same control scheme. The quality and uses of the Wii U Game Pad can be debated, but this conversation pertains to one man's perception, not the industry. Given the facts and WaveBoy's own preference for unique experiences, it's not hard to speculate on why he would dislike the other two consoles and I'd hardly call him a drone as his tastes are not in line with the internet's general criteria for "Nintendo fanboy" either.

Perception is definitely a plus in any market. I think that underestimating hype is foolish, for that's what made the PS4 so successful.

Nintendo being conservative with their marketing is what hurt the Wii U, but they seem to be aggressive this year. This will help sales.

I'll be very honest, I still don't think the system is worth the money right now. There are games on the system that I want to play, but they are not enough to push me over the edge and get one. I got a PS3 and Xbox 360 a couple of years ago, so I'm still catching up on games from those two platforms, which means there is no rush to buy any of the new systems(Wii U, Xbox One, PS4)

Plus, the only game that may have pushed me to get a Wii U, is also coming to the 3DS as well. Since I already own a 2DS, I can simply buy Smash Bros on that system, and not miss out on the newest games in the series. Plus, with the Ruby and Sapphire remakes coming out this year and other 3DS games coming as well, my 2DS has more than enough games to keep me happy if I want to play Nintendo games.

The Wii U is a good system, and I intend to get one someday. But between the 2DS, PS3, and Xbox 360, I have more than enough games to play. I just don't need a new system right now.

The other possibility is that it will lose them even more money. How many units does it need to just break even with massive advertising costs ?

Unlike say making a game that as long as it is good eventually it will be worth something to them (see say Earthbound).

If people know about the Wii U but just decided they don't want it then that should be that. Concentrate resources on the people who do want it. (Instead of using the same resources to try and manipulate people into getting something they don't want).

You don't understand what irony is, you don't understand what my post was about. Frankly your argument here is more childish than the rabble you see from politicians during question time. In a way it's pleasing to see this sort of thing here on a gaming forum rather than from the dudes who control the cash

Please, go on. Seeing this on a gaming forum is almost refreshing

<opinion>
1. Nintendo didn't advertise it, show faith in it or plan it very well. The lack of launch hype/advertising was terrible. 4 generations of my family enjoyed Nintendoland as much as they did the original Wii but none of them would have known of its existence if I hadn't bought one. To this day, they're still not advertising it to the extent of their rivals.

2. They never offered any reasonable defence of their product in the face of mass criticism (mostly unfair at first but lots of it came true in the end).

3. They killed the Wii in late 2011-ish but didn't support it well in 2011 and then launched the Wii U well after with a disappointing selection of games and no virtual console. Every major late Wii game should have been upscaled or remastered before launch but instead we get an identical looking Mario game and a great minigame collection which should have more to it.

4. Their rivals basically bought the mainstream gaming media during the Wii's decline. The ridiculous promotion of Sony by IGN in the last couple of years has pretty much made the PS4 king without it having to try. PS4 is great value but doesn't have games to match yet. PS2 was the same. It ran away with that generation despite some really poor early games.

5. They had the same versions of popular games as on other consoles but the only television adverts for those games completely omitted the Wii U version.

6. They promised unique ways to play and only have made minigame collections with their ideas.

I don't think there was an issue with the gamepad until the sales dropped off.
I think 3rd parties were as bad as Nintendo with cheap cash-grab ideas for year one.
I don't think the gamepad is a difficult concept to sell and Nintendo's abandonment of it is worrying and serves as another reason for people to not buy it.
</opinion>

Aggressive marketing doesn't necessarily mean TV advertisements, and in this case, definitely shouldn't mean TV adverts. Sony are being really aggressive in the social media space and it's reaping them rewards. Big companies have so much data on consumers, it seems almost perverse to say "let's just blindly shout our message out on the biggest megaphone we can find".

It's not a case of "moar marketing", it's a case of smarter marketing

I bought a wii u, but i got very lucky, like, VERY lucky. I live in Romania, and prices here are the same like in the UK(because Romanian distribution companies get the games from there). Our salaries are very low in comparison to other EU countries, we have a minimum wage of about 200 euros/month:(
I found on the internet a guy who was selling his wii u for 120 euros, so i got one, sealed, with warranty. The seller was a spoiled kid, who got it for his birthday, but didnt even open the box:))

To be honest, I wouldnt have bought it, if it wasnt for the price. I currently own 3 games:( 3d world, donkey kong(i wanted the system for this game) and wwhd. all of them are gaming gems, but i think the majority of people ( not nintendo fans in particular) want to play games that their friends play, and the majority of people today play shooters and action games, and the wii u doesnt have that!

Let's face it, the wii u has weak specs in comparison to the competitors, and can't handle most of the upcoming games. LOL, even Ps4 and xbox can barely handle watchdogs, with 30 fps and less than 1080p:)) i dont wanna imagine how the wii u will handle watchdogs.
and this Quality of life thing sounds fishy, it seems to me that Nintendo is abandoning hardcore gamers for good,trying to win casual gamers back. i dont like this.
i just wish for a capable nintendo system, that can play all AAA third party games. It would piss all over M$ and Sony, with its brilliant exclusives.

So far there is very little software-wise I am (personally) interested in. That is one problem, the bigger problem is that I'm not really sure that's gonna change. Yes, perception. 3rd party support for the WiiU is basically non-existent. That in itself wouldn't be that big a deal but Nintendo just doesn't seem able to pick up the slack. Maybe HD productions + supporting the 3DS is just to much to handle (in a timely manner anyway), I don't know.
I always liked Mario Kart and it sure does look beautiful but honestly I can just play my copy of MK7. The incentive to invest into a WiiU at this point is low. I got a PS4 which right now is gathering dust, but that is gonna change, part due to multiplatform games, part due to exclusives and part due to Sony own efforts. Also I'm not "afraid" of a impending price-drop for the PS4. I think Nintendo is a victim of it'S own success. The Wii has people covered pretty well with a vast library of GC/Wii games (and there alot of Wiis out there). The same is true for the NDS/3DS. If you want your Nintendo-fix you don't need a WiiU, you might not even get the best out of it by buying a WiiU.
If SMT x FE and X and Bayonetta 2 live up to their potential and if E3 (or wuteva Nintendo is doing instead) is showing that Nintendo has more in store than it'S staple of mostly 'casual games' (I love MK7 and Luigis Mansion, but I got that already) then I will become interested again. MK and SMB is not gonna cut it for me, the gaming market has become way to crowded and diverse. Nintendo needs some new stuff and some old stuff, a mix of innovation and nostalgia. I wanna play some more Star Fox, Metroid Prime and F-Zero, and yes some Zelda, maybe something along the lines of a puzzle heavy Demons Souls with Skyward Sword motion combat (just spitballing here). But also something I haven't seen before, something to get exited about.
Unfortunately innovation wise Indies really outshine Nintendo (and almost any other major Dev/Publisher). Indies then again have become a Sony (VITA) and PC staple. This doens't bode well for Nintendo. They also need more niche support, something at which the 3DS excells, but this again would be up to the 3rd party developers and the WiiU is just not that attractive to create exclusives for., even rather "cheap" ones (meaning realtively low production costs).
I'm not certain what's it gonna take to push me over the edge. But I know what is going to keep me back, that is e.g. talk about "New Hardware" that is basically a complete buzz kill if I ever heard one, a library that lacks in quantitiy and diversity and a still somewhat anachronistic setup, when it comes to e-shop, region-locking and so on and so forth.
The Sony ecosystem just seems so much more appealing. You got region-free, cross-buy, cross-save, cross-play, you gout PS+ which turned into an amazing service. All this and more and Nintendo is just stuck 10 years ago. Why is there no cross-function with 3DS and WiiU (aside from that ridiculous MH3-Online insanity). I don't think this kind of idiosyncrasies are cute anymore. They maybe when it comes to certain aspects of gamedesign, business-wise they are for the most part not cute at all, esp. if the one thing you are adapting is DLC.
That means Nintendo faces an uphill battle, it hast to create quality (it'S reputation rests on it) as well as quantity for two systems, it has to innovate in an industry were big-name innovation is close to dead (and if at all it's technical innovation) and it has to play catch-up when it comes to the business side of things. I don't see the WiiU succeeding without Nintendo really pulling all the stops and going for it, not half-heartedly with "some merchandise, something something mobile and a QoL-Platform" (wuteva that means) but all-out. If they keep playing it "safe", so that a potential WiiU failure doesn't affect them to bad (a strategy I can understand) then the WiiU is gonna fail. Maybe that won't be the worst thing, a fresh start can sometimes be the only healthy thing to do.

I think in the beginning, it was a case of no games. At least, nothing worth buying a new console for if you already had a 360/PS3. Lack of games and too expensive. Now, they definitely have the games, but the problem now is there has been a full eighteen months of bad feeling around the console. Someone that might have bought the console at launch for £250 with Super Mario 3D World, might not feel so eager to buy one now, as each month we see the sales figures, and it can't shake the 'selling less than Gamecube/Dreamcast' comments. People can see how bad it's doing in sales, and it makes them think... hmm, do I really need it now, when in 12 months time they could be offloading them for £100 like the Gamecube? Because the sales really are bad enough for that scenario to not be utterly crazy.

People compare it to the 3DS turnaround, but the two situations are so different. First of all, the 3DS was never selling 40/50/60k a month like the Wii U, and more importantly, within 5 months they'd cut the price and sales shot up. It never had a holiday period where sales were awful, but Wii U has had 2 awful holiday periods. Stuff like that is hard to recover from, because no matter how good the games might be now, it's got that stigma attached.

Um except the holidays were the only time Wii U was doing well.

Also, sales were still down for 3DS beyond a couple of weeks after the price cut because it didn't have the right games and marketing until the holiday season that year.

@Peach64 Mostly agreed, that's what I alluded to with "perception". But I disagree with your assessment that games are no longer an issue. They are especially if you aim at a broader consumer base. One thing that also stuck with me is that Nintendo did themselves no favour at all with the whole Operation Rainfall dilemma. I agree that they made a turn-around on this, Bravely Default, was an extraordinary example of that. But still there is a bad after taste. Is this really the right homeconsole for me, even if not or not just into Nintendo games ? Region-lock didn't help especially here in Europe. I will never buy a European WiiU. It's just not gonna happen. Look at my poor countrymen when it comes to the 3DS and Atlus games. If I get one, I would import it, but that is pushing the price upward and it is also cutting myself out of my own market. This combined with the mostly terrible e-shop prices ..... ah well I was willing to deal with it for FE:A, so far nothing was released that made me willing to deal with for the WiiU. I said it before and I'm saying it again, if anything Nintendo should have opted for a "Western World/Rest" or something like it region-model. To cut us Europeans off from the North American markt is just as terrible, annoying and infuriating a thing as they could have done. Until FE:A came along, just for that very reason, I was boycotting them. Then I got weak ... still shame on them. That was a despicable move.

The Wii U sales went up by a large percentage in the holidays, but it was definitely not doing well. I think that perception is a big problem among Nintendo fans. I remember that day the December 2013 NPDs came out. The headlines were along the lines of Wii U has it's best ever month, or sales double from last month, and most people went crazy with the 'good news' in the comments, completely unaware of how bad 450k is for December. Sure enough, within about two hours we were heading into the worst Nintendo news day of the last decade where they slashed all those sales forecasts and went from predicting a profit to a huge loss.

It's a crappy situation, but Nintendo promised they'd learned from the 3DS, but they didn't. It's unfortunate now that the Wii U has a handful of amazing games, but a lot of people won't even consider it because it's kind of considered a flop.