Topic: Will the earlier release of SSB4 for 3DS kill Wii U sales?

Still waiting for the holiday Smash Wii U bundle that comes with all the cool gadgets and a nice price tag to get announced.

I treat my systems gently. But a game like Smash Bros? Naw man I'll totally destroy it.

The problem is that there is no example I could give to convince people that Smash on Wii U isn't going to crash and burn because of 3DS sales. Even when it comes out, unless it explodes with 10x the force of Mario Kart 8 people are still going to say that the 3DS version hurt it. So you can't win. I'll just keep saying the people who think this BS are wrong and they'll keep creating endless doom threads. Forever. Fun. Oh well, I'm off to grab Smash on 3DS. I've already put about 6 hours into the demo so...... yeah, seems worth it....

The fact that they managed to maintain relatively high sales in a fairly saturated market for the system despite the fact that a console revision is only weeks away? I think it's fairly safe to say that it is moving systems. As an Australian who has the option to get this New 3DS this year? I can tell you now that I wouldn't be getting Smash now if I didn't already have a 3DS. I've even heard a few people who were hyped about Smash say that they were still going to wait for the New 3DS. It's definitely a thing because it's a pretty nice and very price competitive console revision.

Fair enough. I haven't picked up the game yet myself, but based on playing the demo for a couple of hours I don't think I'll break my 3DS playing the game.

For the record, people are to blame for wrecking their circle pads; not Smash Bros. People don't have to slam their circle pads from side to side to break a grab or anything or to do a smash attack; they just do, and it can all be avoided with some self-control.

I bought Smash Bros. for 3DS, and I'll buy it for Wii U. Anyone who actually cares about the game is missing on stages and modes without both games, which is why it doesn't make sense to choose between 2 games.

On-topic version:
For the record, people are to blame for buying the 3DS version; not Nintendo. People don't have to buy a limited-content product where it's hard to see what's going on; they just do, and it can all be avoided with some self-control.

Here's a wrinkle I thought of just this morning that I don't think anybody else has touched on -

if SBB U releases on the leaked then denied date of Nov 21, will Pokemon OR and AS sales hurt SSB U more than 3DS SSB sales? Those Pokemon fans gotta catch'em all, I can see them putting off a U purchase until they finish their Pokemon games.

I just don't see why Nintendo would risk hurting sales of either by releasing their only 2 big holiday games on the same day, even if they are on different systems.

They released ALBW and SM3DW on the same day, so it certainly wouldn't be the first time Nintendo has done something like that. It would still be an odd decision if they launched the two games on the same day, since even Pokemon remakes sell millions.

Well that was an odd choice. so I guess it is possible then for them both to release on the 21st. SM3DW was THE big game last year and SSB U will be THE big game this year - if it gets out on time. In my house we aren't big Zelda gamers on handhelds just consoles so that didn't really affect us lat year, but we will get 1 of each Pokemon game Day 1. I can just imagine the crazy mid-night store openings for the convergence of those games. I was at the Brawl mid-night release and it had a good size group of people. Oh well, guess we won't know until we know what's in SSB U and how badly people need it Day 1.

Yes it is very dumb for Nintendo to keep releasing big Wii U games and 3DS games on the same day. JUST PLAIN STUPID. I BET PEOPLE HARDLY BUY BOTH ON THE SAME DAY. RELEASING SMASH WII U ON THE SAME DAY AS POKEMON GAMES IS ALSO VERYYYYYY DUMB TO ME.

Having two games launch on the same day only really has a big impact on sales when they're selling to the same people. There'll always be overlap but when you get GTA and Assassin's Creed on all of the systems there'll be a lot of it. Less so when you have Smash, a fighting game, on a home console and Pokemon, a kid friendly RPG, on a portable.

When A Link Between Worlds and 3D World came out at the same time? Well one was a platformer for one platform and the other was an adventure game for a different one. The people who are fanatical enough about Nintendo to have both systems wouldn't have hesitated to get both eventually. The more important thing was that both games were out before the Christmas rush so that they were clear in everyone's mind when people tend to buy all of the games at once.

I don't think Pokemon will hurt Smash Wii U sales, and I don't think Smash 3DS will hurt Smash Wii U sales. I also don't think it will hurt Smash Wii U's system selling potential either.

Smash Wii U will likely flop in Japan, and it would have done so even if the 3DS version didn't exist. Home consoles are dead in Japan. Period.

You act as if this hasn't happened before

They're both worth buying, dude. If people only buy one version or the other, who cares? I don't have any problem with the controls or seeing things on the 3DS version. I can maybe understand if you're playing on the regular 3DS, but anyone who cared about seeing stuff better would have bought the XL in the first place.

I don't get all the hate for either version. People were bashing the Wii U version, too. I seriously don't care.

Well now that we know the dates - my kids have been playing a ton of SSB on 3DS, and we were very excited to get the Nov 21 date this morning, and I was considering a midnight release like I did for Brawl, my kids are even old enough now they could play in the tournament, but w/ Pokemon coming out the same day and the kids being so addicted to those games we may just wait until Christmas for SSB U. Technically it won't lose a sale, SSB U will have long legs, but I wouldn't be surprised if 1st week numbers are a tad lower due to the Pokemon "gotta-catch'em all" fans who have also had a month of SSB playing, so it's a combination of the two.

Overall sales won't suffer, Day 1 # might.

I have seen plenty of people online mentioning that now that the 3DS version gets released earlier they will also get that one. I guess most didn't really consider getting the handheld version. On the other hand, I have only seen like one or two people mention that they will only get Smash for the 3DS, but those people weren't even bothered with getting a Wii U anyway.
Keep in mind that this is merely anecdotal evidence and doesn't have to mean anything, but going by this releasing the handheld version first was the way to go.

Agreed. I've seen the same. I got the 3ds version merely because of the direct and because it came first. I do adore it and I respect the heck out of Nintendo for putting a full experience on the 3ds but I'm itching for the WiiU version even more now. I have used the 3ds version to convince a few people that don't play smash to buy the wiiu version.

Why? They cater to both demographics this way. Not everyone has both systems and even if you do how does that inconvenience you? You just pick up both games on the same day. Plus it is good marketing hype. If a 3ds owner goes into a store and sees a ton of people buying a Wiiu game and talking it up they may decide to buy a wiiu for Christmas. And vice versa for the 3ds. I'm passing on pokemon but I have to go to the store to pick up smash...I may see enough folks talking it up or playing that I may decide to impulse buy pokemon. Possible win win for Nintendo...and me.

See I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to Pokemon. The only gaps in the run of Pokemon games I have is the GBA era because I didn't get a GBA and Pokemon Platinum. I have Red, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Pearl, Soul Silver, Black, Black2 and Y and most of them I got on day 1. And I think the only one I wasn't ridiculously hyped about was Black 2 which I ended up getting because it was on the shelf and I didn't have it. But I wouldn't skip Smash for it. Not for a half-step release. I don't know, I don't think it'll have as big an impact because in my mind they're entirely different things. Smash is a must have, Pokemon this year is more of an also and

Anyways, there are always multiple games being released at about the same time every year. It's not anything new. It might hurt a bit when it's something massive and something slightly less so on the same system if they've got a similar target demographic. But that's unavoidable. And it's better to have people see multiple games that interest them on a platform than them thinking there's nothing for them. It would have been worse for Nintendo if they didn't have Smash on both platforms. No question.

Going back, late 2007 I remember Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 launching at almost the same time. I know of people who didn't get Prime at the time because of that timing and I don't know if they picked it up later. I don't think it made that much of an actual measurable dent. Fairly early the next year the Wii got Smash Bros and Kart right ontop of each other and if there was ever going to be a market overlap it would be that. However of the people I know who had a Wii most people got both. I think Smash is a big enough game for certain kinds of gamers that they're not going to skip it.

I also want to mention that the 3DS version was in development before the Wii U flopped in sales...