Topic: Wii U is safe from the NX!? Seems to be true

I already knew this. They said NX was going to be a complimentary console for Wii U, to begin with, but everyone failed to read the words on the page, as usual.

It's not gonna happen, man. Maybe that was said a little while ago when Nintendo was still in their obstinate, "No... the Wii U can work, really...it'll get better." But the darn thing just isn't working out, and as a smart company, they're going to ditch it as soon as possible.

Plans change. Things change. Companies not willing to "roll with it" and switch up their plans soon find themselves not companies anymore.

Thing is, you're right. Nintendo IS a smart company. Smart enough to realize that the 12-14million install base the Wii U will likely have next year is too big for them to afford to piss off. If they lose consumer confidence from all those fans, they're gonna be up a creek without a paddle.those are the only sales they can count on and in 2016, those people aren't gonna want to hear "the Wii U isn't getting any more support. Move to the NX."

You seem to think cutting the system's life soan early will somehow soare them a loss, yet the Wii U has turned a profit. It took the PS3 six years to do that. Meanwhile, what happened when SEGA cut their new add-ons and systems short? The Saturn sold horribly due to a large collection of misfires including the "Saturnday" canpaign being ignored by the company that wanted the system out as early as possible and as a result had only ine game at launch and everyone lost consumer confidence because of the lack of support for SEGA CD and 32X. Then they pulled that same shenanigans again, cutting off the Saturn's lifespan, and as a result, despite the at-the-time impressive launch day (that actually looks a lot like the Wii U's launch, now), the system didn't stand a chance once a new and more interesting console from a company that had tons of consumer confidence to back it dropped. The Dreamcast only lasted two years.

So looking at video game history, Nontendo does NOT need to rush out a new console. They need to hook users of the old system before trying to rapidly move to a new one. Otherwise, they'll be gambling on an uncertain audience that at this point seems to just love to hate Nintendo no matter what they do.

@UGXwolf I hope you're right. Rushing the NX after disappointing Wii U sales feels exactly like a Saturn-Dreamcast scenario. I really hope this is red obvious to Nintendo's management, and that they realize they should avoid this mistake. It all seems too much like not learning from history and desperately falling into Sega's own mistakes until their demise. Nintendo really must avoid this, and I wouldn't even develop for NX or discuss it. I would support the Wii U strong for 3 or even 4 more years and only then announce a successor. Splatoon is doing wonders. It is the number one home console in Japan. There's successful DLC. There's hugely profitable amiibo. I really don't understand what's going on and what's driving Nintendo to talk about a new console.

Yeah I don't see how "only a ten mil" install base of the most loyal fans who actually bought the machine and enough software to help the company survive restructuring would be casually discarded. These are the people they can least afford to alienate, unlike the "fans" who are mainly interested in third party releases and clearly aren't interested in their core IP sufficiently to buy it.

This is the fundamental problem in the logic of people who say: copy the PS4 and success will come. They also said that when Nintendo was pushing the Wii. People who bought PS3 and Xbox DID NOT make that machine a massive hit.

Nobody is saying it's going to be "casually" discarded. As we've all pointed out, they have a fairly solid list of releases through the end of 2016 with Zelda as the anchor. That's nothing to sneeze at.

And yes, an install base of 10+ million is also nothing to just forget about. But it does pale in contrast to the other two consoles, which in turn puts Nintendo at the bottom of the market share. Like it or not, Nintendo IS in the same market as Microsoft and Sony, so there is a certain amount of caring that needs to happen.

Like I've said countless times: Coming from a Wii U fan, I love my system. But I also realize that Nintendo is working to phase it out and move onto greener pastures quicker then normal. And I've come to accept that that is the right business move for them, regardless of my (and our) personal feelings on the matter.

Wrong. A large portion of that market doesn't care and Nintendo can't make them care. Besides, 10 mil doesn't pale in comparison of 12 mil. It arguably does in the face of 21 mil, though. Thing is, Nintendo played Sony's game once. That didn't end well. Fighting fire with fire won't win this one.

@UGXwolf
What do you mean "wrong"? No, it's "right"! It's very "right!" You're telling me, if you would walk into a Nintendo share holder meeting, that those people aren't concerned with the rest of the market? THEY ARE! They very much are! In fact, it's pretty much what guides the large scope of their decisions!

And what the heck do you mean "10 mil doesn't pale in the comparison of 12 mil. It arguably does in the face of 21 mil, though." Look, man, I tried to like you - but WHAT?! 10 million "arguably" pales in the face of 21 million? Are you out of your mind? It isn't "arguably," it IS. BY A LOT. Like, ELEVEN MILLION a lot. Even 10 million to 12 million also pales by TWO MILLION. That's like the whole population of a city like Philadelphia!

You're belligerent man, go home.

Wait, when did the Wii U gain the extra 2-4 million owners to reach an install base of 12-14 million!? Anyway, it's not totally a numbers game, it's also one of engagement. When people don't buy third party games on Nintendo systems, said games stop getting developed for them. The Wii U would be doing great if many more of the 10 million people that own it weren't children or families who don't pay attention to upcoming games.

@rallydefault
They actually aren't doing that bad, honestly. Taking into consideration that 1st party software always matters most for Nintendo, they are always going to be okay like that. That's not even counting amiibo or VC, which they also make a lot of extra cash off of.

The only money Nintendo is missing out on is AAA 3rd party, but otherwise they are always on top with 1st party software. I'm pretty sure over half of Wii U owners have at least 2 Mario games, and probably Smash Bros. or something else and possibly more. That's plenty of money before they even take indies or 3rd parties into consideration, and that's where Xbox and PS are making their money.

It was already confirmed that NX won't be replacing Wii U or 3DS; the first day it announced along with the DeNA collaboration. That's what we need to be basing the discussion on, and if anyone actually read gaming news through and through, this forum topic would have never existed in the first place. Not to mention that with everyone saying Nintendo is always failing when they always make enough money(just like Sony and Microsoft). It really just isn't fun anymore, because it seems like no one ever understands what is going on for some reason.

Totally mate, just like the NES wasn't replaced by the SNES, which in turn wasn't replaced by the N64, which also wasn't replaced by the Gamecube, which didn't take a dive upon the launch of the Wii, which didn't gather dust after the Wii U game out. The Wii U, obviously, will be around forever, undoubtedly. No one understands that, they're just all so stupid!

We smart people, however, can sit tall, enjoying our ever expanding N64 and 3DO libraries while all the idiots wait for the next system. Pah! Never gonna happen!

@SCAR392 Nintendo will keep the delusion of Wii U and 3DS support being present after NX launch until the NX either is fully unveiled or released. It's a common strategy like would anyone who doesn't own a Wii U buy one if they blatantly said for example that no Wii U games will be released after November 2016?

You know who else is invincible and eternal? Me! All those other morons die off in droves because of 'mortal injury,' 'terminal illness,' or 'old age,' but not me. I'll still be kicking around in 2500, no conception of my own inevitable demise in sight... playin' on my N64, 3DO, and Wii U!

I am very happy that Iwata has confirmed that WiiU owners are a priority. This is only fair. I can't think of a single instance where alienating your existing audience has paid off. And yes, WiiU has a small install base, but it's a pretty active one.
At least the WiiU experience has been not entirely negative for Nintendo. They have learnt that no matter how small the install base is, good content will always sell. Mario Kart 8 is confirmed to have sold 5.1 million copies - considering there's only 10 million machines around, it's an insane attach rate, out of this world. By comparison, none of the games on the other consoles this generation has sold as much (copies/units rate).
Splatoon has been out for less than 30 days and it's close to 1 million copies sold. Still keeping in mind the copies/units sales, not many new and original IPs have managed to sell as much on other consoles. Probably only a few, if any. And I'm pretty sure WiiU games didn't cost as much to produce as most games on other platforms, making them even more profitable.
So with that in mind, would you personally abandon the WiiU audience altogether?!

This "only 10 million" install base is incredibly precious for Nintendo and they know they'd better not disappoint them.

You're the one that brought the X One into this, not me. Xbox One only has 12 million users. And no, in terms of console sales, doubling really doesn't mean much. Know why? Cause it's actually not a contest! Doesn't matter to Nintendo how well the PS4 does, so long as the Wii U turns a profit.

You're also referring to the share holders as Nintendo. Understandable mistake to make, but Nintendo's share holders do not call the shots. They do hold sway in the form of having money invested in the company, but as it stands, the sharehders with the most stock are the people who would traditionally call the shots, anyways. Thing is, Nintendo isn't your average company and while the rules aren't any different for them, they go about following thise riles quite differently. It doesn't take a gaming history buff to see that Nintendo is difficult to predict. This is generally because they don't act like your average company.

What you don't seem to get, however, is that those 10 million aren't a low priority, because those ten million can be lost with no guarantee on any kind of replacement. You may think the Wii U is doing poirly now, but just imagine how mich trouble they'd all be in if they lost the support of those that actually stick around. Going after the third party AAA with a new console is a gamble on an uncertain demographic that may cost Nintendo their existing audience.

Also @Haru17 anyone referring to the Wii U at 12-14 mil are assuming it'll sell that much by December 2016.

Wii U is more likely to be in the 10-12 million range by December 2016.

That's gonna depend heavily on what Nintendo does after this year. I don't believe most of you are dense enough to think Nintendo would get to the end of the year and just go "welp! That's all we've got! Hope you've got your wallets ready and think three years of content is enough!"

Pretty much no matter what they do that's about all they're going to get over the next year. It'll probably pass the 10 million mark after this year with the current lineup. Anything after that is going to depend on what they do, depending on how good Zelda is, what else they have in store, and when the NX launches. If the Wii U lasts until 2017 it might get up to 13 million, but that's probably it.

If you assume the next two years are going to be almost empty, sure, but at the Wii U's current average f about 3.5 million sales a year, that estimate seems more than just a little weak.

I'm not sure if your joking one way or the other, but those consoles were supposed to replace the past one, and they announced it specifically that way, while something like NX was announced not to and there's other things they can do with a new console besides just upgrading specs.

Otherwise, I definitely have my Sega CD and 32X system hooked up with multiple Game Genies in the cartridge slot, waiting for Sonic CD 2 to come out.