Shigeru Miyamoto Optimistic About The Future of Wii U

Let's hope Nintendo can make up for lost time and get things moving.

That new franchise Miyamoto is working on possibly help the Wii U sales a little.

NO! personally I do not think Pikmin 3 will make a major difference to Wii U sales, I'm a huge Nintendo fan but have no interest in Pikmin 3 in the slightest.

I put Pikmin 3 next to Monster Hunter in that both games will have it's fans but neither are system seller's as I think both titles only appeal to a certain taste.

I think Nintendo need to get the likes of MK8 out the door, if they get this right with the online MP it could be the real system seller IMO.

i kinda agree with cliffordB here even i am not rly planning to get it least im undecided but then again the game looks amazing visually and i liked the nintendoland mini game of pikmin since i never played the others so as you can see im confused but who knows

they need more them pikmin though so hope 101 which gets release next after pikmin does better to improve Wii U

@CliffordB Well, Monster Hunter is a huge system seller in Japan; it ws an essencial part in PSP's success in the region.

Wii U is a success in Japan and Europe.. its the US where its struggling apparently?

@mr_moobs It's not a success in Europe.

Pikmin 3 will show a noticeable increase in hardware sales, they could even double, but a large part of that is due to the staggering low current sales. Almost any good exclusive would help at this point. But doubling bad numbers are still bad numbers.

And if Nintendo really has learned anything from the 3DS it should be games AND price cut and advertising. Pikmin 3 won't sell WiiUs if people still dont know WiiUs exist. And a price cut is needed in the face of the $399 PS4. And advertise all those games, well the 2013 games, telling people about 2014 Kart and Smash will make people put off a WiiU purchase until Chirstmas at least. If it weren't for Pikmin 3 - even w/ W101 and WW HD - I wouldnt even consider a purchase before then.

So now is Nintendos chance - advertise the monthly release of exclusives - Pikmin, et all, even Fit and Party - advertise the Ubi multiplats - drop the price, drop the 8GB, replace Nintendoland w/ NSMBU which nobody will buy once Mario Land comes anyway out generates Luigi sales.

Nintendo can do this, but it has to be proactive, and it has to be now. If they try to get by with the status quo and just add games the PS4 and X1 will relegate the WiiU to an afterthought.

Pikmin 3 should be the real WiiU launch, they have a 2nd chance, don't think they'll get a 3rd.

Pikmin 3 is the type of game that should be a system seller but it sadly won't be due to apparent lack of marketing in the west.

Nintendo has glut of content coming with at least one game a month until December. Now they need to start a new marketing campaign. Alongside side that Nintendo needs to price drop by $100 and revamp the bundle with a new game.

I'm not sure how if nintendo has the time too do this before november but they need to be aggressive showing up at every major event and convention.

@dev
2D Mario couldn't sell the wii u. 2d Donkey Kong doesn't stand a chance.

I'll do my part by purchasing Pikmin 3, TW101, Super Mario 3D World, Wind Waker HD, DKCR: Tropical Freeze, and Mario Kart 8... but will others? I sure hope they do, as I would hate to see Nintendo struggle this generation. Are those games enough to sell the Wii U? Time will tell. Hopefully they don't make the same mistakes in the future, because the gaming world needs Nintendo, and I truly love them. A little after Mario Kart 8 arrives, we should have a pretty good idea. Mario Kart's are always popular with gamers of every kind.

Pikmin 3 will have very little effect on sales of the WiiU console. People who already have the console will be happy to have a new Nintendo game to play, but I'm not sure that on its own it'll entice many people to fork out €350. Add the price of the game (RRP €49.99 in France) and you're at €400. And it's the summer holidays which is not a great time to release big games titles.

I love my WiiU, but it does have the stench of Gamecube starting to seep from its perfectly formed vents.

@Yasume or Japan...

Some people just like to make stuff up, i suppose.

I'm still not sure this is going to be enough to reverse Wii U's fortunes.

"After the hotly-anticipated game emerges it will be followed by LEGO City Undercover..."

You guys do realize that Lego City Undercover has been out for a long time, right? It's not going to follow Pikmin 3.

@Yasume Everytime I've had Wii U consoles come in, they've gone within days.
Its a shame there is so much bad press around it, its a wonderful machine with so much potential... havent played the PS3 at all hardly since getting mine.

I belive in Shiggy & Nintendo ... Once Pikmin 3, Rayman Legends, The Wonderful 101, Sonic Lost World, Batman Arkham Origins, Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag, Wii Party U, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, COD Ghosts & Super Mario 3D World come out this Fall people will Hop All Aboard The Train of Awesomeness that is Wii U ... then by March-April 2014 we should get Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros Wii U & Bayonetta 2 .

I have hope for the future of the Wii U, as well. The big problem with it at the beginning was they promised certain games in the launch window period, but REALLY missed it and pushed certain games like Pikmin 3 back about a year later than was to be expected, so we had to wait for games like LEGO City Undercover (great game, but not a big must have for alot of people) and deal with playing New Super Mario Bros U (which is great too, but it's a 2D Mario game ), AND third party games like Rayman Legends people where looking forward too was pushed to the fall AND went multi-platform cause of all this .

Hopefully from this fall onwards, Nintendo will do alot better, and the third party releases will get sales from the momentum of Nintendo's releases. I already plan to get alot of games come Fall

@WoodenSaucer Its not out in Japan yet. Which is what the article is relating to.

@mr_moobs same, I used my PS3 as a DVD/ Blu-Ray player and that's it. It's collecting ALOT of dust.

wii u is great its the negative comment on forum that make down

i wait for my great nintendo game complete with no majo bug or dlc on the disc

Lego City Undercover? Don't you guys mean The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD?

The future of the Wii U looks fantastic. With all these nifty games coming out, I'm sure Nintendo can get the boost it needs from that. MKWii got great sales and SSBB got amazing credit, so MK8 and SSBU could have the same incident, and that's a good incident! Some of those third-party games looks great too, especially Sonic Lost World. Heck, I am currently most hyped for Sonic Lost World.

i'm hyped-up for pacman in super smash bros and its new video game coming to the wii u pacman and the ghostly adventure

It'll probably be another 3DS situation. Poor start, but it'll be the cheapest 8th generation console out, and there will be some heavy hitting games coming out later in the year. I don't see Pikmin 3 being much of a system seller, but I think Sonic Lost World, Super Mario 3D World and Wii Fit U will shift consoles.

@CliffordB I agree to an extent, those games are system sellers to those fans. I am a huge Monster Hunter fan, so that made me get a Wii U fairly quickly once a price drop occurred.

Heh, if possible, those lessons outta be learned how to not launch a console. Those 5 months of me finally owning a WiiU console is going to be worth the tough wait. I could care less what bad press says.
B.T.W For you guys asking for a WiiU price cut. Had you considered after buying the $399 PS4 that you still have to buy a $40-60 game and if you wanna get online with that, you have to pay a monthly subscription?

...and why wouldn't he be? The Wii U has some stellar titles coming out for it. Super Mario 3D World, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, Donkey Kong Country: tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. 4, new IP, Sonic Lost World, Wonderful 101, Yarn Yoshi, and Pikmin 3 all look amazing.

Doesn't matter if PS4 comes with no game and requires a subscription. It still only costs a little more. People know you can't just buy the console- even Wii U buyers are likely to get a pro controller or Wii remote, rechargeable batteries, etc. I think my brother dropped about $600 by the time he left the store with his Wii U.

@Prof_Elvin_Gadd I am as well.

@Epicnessofme99 Good, friend! I forgot Sonic: Lost World as well. That is looking pretty good from what I've seen.

So once Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and the new Zelda are released what is Nintendo going to do then? Release no new first-party software for the rest of the Wii U's lifecycle, that's what. They can only milk their own franchises for so long/so many games a generation. But of course, the vast majority of people that post comments on this site simply don't want to face facts. No third-party support = big trouble for the big N. We'll see what Nintendo's master plan is 18 months from now when all those triple-A titles that I mentioned have been released, leaving them with nothing else to contribute to their own system.

My overly long earlier post can be summarized to - Nintendo needs to show a sense of urgency. Now IS the time for them to panic (WiiU, not 3DS w/ Dream Team and Pokemon). If they just think things will get better, they wont.

With those new titles coming, I'm pretty sure that'll boost sales.

I'm not sure how much Pikmin 3 will help the sales. It will probably boost them somewhat, it's a pretty highly anticipated first party game. But, it is pretty obvious that it will be Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 that make the Wii U take off, especially MK8.

The people who already have a wii u are the ones who are going to buy pikmin 3 and the wonderful 101, I'm not a fan of those games but I'm still going to buy them. However, I think that when wind waker comes out, consoles will start to sell, and when Mario kart 8 comes out, Nintendo will be just fine, because we still need smash bros.

I'm glad he's optimistic about the console and software he's trying to sell.

Eh, this is basically like the 3DS...once Nintendo releases one of their great games the system sales will skyrocket.

@koopakid Metroid, Star Fox, Kid Icarus, Mother, Star Tropics, Animal Crossing, Steel Diver, PilotWings, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, Battalion Wars, Excite, ect... Plus new frist-party IP's. Don't be so doom and gloom. "Face the facts" huh? More like face your opinion. Opinions are worthless my friend, and once you learn that you'll be much happier, and more intelligent. I'm not saying you aren't intelligent, but your statement was not.

@Haxonberik MH3U Hasn't really helped the Wii U sales in Japan much.
@mr_moobs Wouldn't call Wii U much of a success in any territory.

@rjejr

Judging from some comments of people (not in this article) about never having touched a Pikmin game despite calling themselves Nintendo fans and the first two games being around for about 10 years, I don't think Pikmin 3 will sell a ton.

Still, I am dying to get it because I have played and loved the first two. And after Nintendo increases their staff and master HD programming then the games may take less time, or more games may be produced at the same time.

@koopakid

Your complete omission of games like X and Bayonetta 2, Miyamoto's new IP and all the indie developers tells me a lot. Maybe you are the one only looking at the same old franchises.

I really think they should just blitz with major commercials showing the entire console not just the GamePad and current and upcoming games. They just need to put it in peoples faces relentlessly.

@koopakid I'm sure they will have a lot to deliver in later years. I predict a new IP (well this is actually confirmed), a new Kirby title for Wii U, a new 3D Legend of Zelda game, another 3D Mario for Wii U, Animal Crossing for Wii U, PilotWings for Wii U, a new Metroid game, possibly a new Star Fox game, a new Paper Mario game, Mario sports games for Wii U, a new Fire Emblem game, Mario Party U, Pokémon Wii U games, and possibly sequels to Mii games (Wii Sports U, Wii Music U, Wii Play U, and possibly a Nintendo Land sequel).

No wonder third parties are hesitant in bringing their multi-platform-games to the Wii U when even Nintendo "had a lot of trouble with the shaders in HD".

@koopakid so is it better for them just to release 1 game a year for wiiu's life

@WaveBoy - There are a alot of great DL games on PSN (and I'ld guess on Xbox360 but I wouldn't personally know.) Wiiware had a few like Swords and Soldiers and Chik Boom and World of Goo. Good games are out there, you just have to look in the right place. There are very few new and different $60 games, and I can't really say I can blame companies for not making them, too much of a financial risk. Same w/ big budget movies, all sequels and comic books, but there are smaller "indie" films that are still good.

@Funbunz
LOL, he got ripped off then. Got my Deluxe (Deluxe promotion GIVES you money) Wii U four months ago with Nintendo Land, Zombie U, and a Pro Controller for $350...you just gotta know where to look....subscription fees on the other hand are unavoidable. Sure they'll catch a lot of unsuspecting people, but think about it...lifespan of systems is about 6-7 years now...that's another 350 bucks you're paying on top of that $400.

@Bengals76

Sooooo, "everyone" wants what you want...to pay for tacked-on multiplayer (god, ME3 or Dead Space 2 come to mind...)? KK, GG, BB...don't let the great exclusives on their way in hit you on your way out.

@Dev i agree with you.

I didnt know Japan would like Lego City Undercover....

@R-Champ, sounds like you got a great deal. Swap Nintendoland for a new Zelda game and a golden Wii U and I'm in the next gen!

I'm having a lot of fun with this machine - more games than I have time to play. My partner, daughter and I were having a blast with Game & Wario - what's not to love?

The 3DS took Mario Kart, 3D Land and a price drop to start selling. Now it's kicking ass and taking names.

The Wii U's getting Pikmin, Sonic, 3D World, W101, DK, MK and SSB. I'm sure it'll do just fine in the end.

(Though a price drop would be lovely)

@Prof_Elvin_Gadd: Haha, that was an excellent respose to Kool-aid man there.

I think Nintendo is very hesitant to announce anything over a year away, because they don't want to reveal all their cards. Personally, I think they are going to move the most systems with the arrival of Wii Fit U. Thats when I plan to get mine so my girlfirend and I can play.

Just frickin show us Zelda HD and Mario: The curse of the black star and everything will be fine

the wii u needs a price drop... and it also needs some good advertising. its needs that one game that says hey look at me and hey now buy me. i mean i love mario but if they want people to take notice they need something different.. word of mouth will sell this console very much.. develop some eshop games and people will take notice i gaurantee

and what the heck he means. this console should be easy to develop games for. this console isn't packing cutting edge technology or anything.. no im not saying that its a cheap console but its not a super computer.. they should have came to grips with this a long time ago.. games should have been dropping from month to month..

@CliffordB yall need to check out that Spinter Cell for Wii U, especially if it has Spies vs Mercs

I am a HUGE Pikmin fan, but no i dont think it will help boost WiiU sales much. Pikmin is a very niche series, and while its one of my personal favorites, i know most people would never buy a $350 console to play it. Mario, Zelda and Smash Bros are system sellers. I dont expect WiiU to see a big boost in system sales til next year, when Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World, Smash Bros and possibly a new Zelda game will be releasing. 2014 will be WiiU's big year, but one has to wonder if it will come too late.

Well, I've been waiting for it and I have see lots of forums for it. Even ign had a funny article about it.

@WaveBoy My thoughts exactly (1st post). About your 2nd post, yes Party U but also Fit U. I wouldn't count the casuals out yet.
About everyone else asking for a price drop, if you're in UK, Amazon and Asda have the Wii U Premium for £199 and Basic for £149. Don't think it'll go lower than that. PS4 without a game is £349, for comparison.

@rjejr Wow, spot on man. What else can be said? That's exactly what it is at this stage in the game. Yes, all these 1st party exclusives are awesome, and personally, I've pre ordered every single last one of them, and every single core 3rd party game announced as well, but that's cause I'm a gamer and that's just what I do. But these games will have very little impact on new customers if they don't even know the games, or the console for that matter, exist. And even if potential customers do know they exist, there has to be incentive to choose Nintendo over Sony. A $50 bill isn't much, but a $100-$130 price advantage PLUS an appealing new game bundled in, on top of backwards compatibility, free online, and Wiimote/Nunchuk functionality sounds like it could be enough to sway the masses. It's the trifecta of Wii U success: GAMES, PRICE ADVANTAGE, and ADVERTISEMENT. Each will fail in solitude, but together could massively change the Wii U's fortunes this holiday season, even enough to propel Wii U to top selling next-gen console if done properly.

Let's face it. Mk8, Smash bros or new Zelda should be a lunch title. In fact, all of those three should be released in first year after the lunch. Then they should start working on new 2d and 3d mario, pikmin, wii u fit and some good wii u sports.

No Metroid, no purchase.

@JaxonH - Thanks for the vote of confidence, helps balance the scales of the Chevy Chase gif, which I'm assuming was insulting, but hey, it's Chevy Chase, so who knows?

The problem with the Wii U is that there is no reason to have it at the moment. The adverage consumer thinks that the Wii U is just a Gamepad, which is where Nintendo's marketing failed. This could have easily been avoided if the system were given a different name, but Nintendo thought they could continue to live off the Wii's name. Nintendo claims that it is trying to reach out to the "hardcore gamer", but most will be willing to pay $50 extra to get a ps4, so where is the Wii U price cut? I only see the Wii U selling to casuals (which may not be as big a market anymore) and loyal Nintendo fans. Personally, I don't think any system will enjoy major sales until there are price cuts.

@rjejr
Actually the post makes a lot of sense Nintendo could sell the Nintendo Land bundles for $299 at a convience close out price and then bring the NSMB bundles later for the holiday season ... But who knows..

Well I see the following happening...

1. Right now Target has the basic model on sale for 240.00... Now they cannot keep Wii U's in stock.. (Though the question is.. how much do they order.. and are all those basic ones??)

2. The Wii U is getting plenty of first party support with just enough 3rd party support to make a hard push for the holidays no matter what the price point is..

3. The system is a year old almost.. by the time the holidays come around.. it will have better Black Friday Deals... and should sell a boat load..

4. In addition.. whether you think it needs one or not.. it will most likely get a price cut.. even if it forced.. like the Target one...

5. Something to remember the system has sold 4 million units a system that by all rights and purposes.. depends on first party games to sell it.. and has had very little first party support.. for the first year...that by any standards should be considered impressive.. in this day and age.. (Really think about it.. can any other system that had.. what most would consider one or two titles to pick up upon launch and the most expensive price point pending on where your at could actually do this??)

6. The price cut is coming.. and will most likely be there in time for the holidays..as thus.. I to am optimistic..

I love when people say "I'm not getting a Wii U until they announce an HD Zelda." Like they're afraid that Nintendo won't release a Zelda game on Wii U, it's just a ridiculous thought process. I got my Wii U at launch because I knew there would be games for it that I had to own. All of the Nintendo first party greats and third party games as well.

Yeah, there is no zelda game now, and I'm not going to pay around 300 to play another "new" mario game. I was excited for Pikmin at launch when I played the pre-launch demo, not anymore. It looked fine then, it's been a year. No excuse. The reason people are waiting is because come holiday there may be some other amazing consoles out (and actually ready with games and multimedia features), at barely a higher price. I'll make my choice then. If Nintendo was ready at launch a FULL year early like they were supposed to be I would have gotten one and never looked back. I can't be alone in this thinking, and I think it may have been a fatal mistake for them (even if there is still hope it will be a slow recovery, unlike the 3DS).

@Ren that is exactly how I'm feeling. I usually support Nintendo first before I do Sony, but now with such a small price difference, I might get a ps4 before I get a Wii U. I'm waiting till the holiday season to decide too.

I'm optimistic about the future of the Wii U as well.

I hope Pikmin 3 and the other games make the Wii U do a lot better but with the coming of Xbox One and PS4 it doesn't look like it. But lets just hope I am wrong on this one.

Pikmin 3 is a niche title. I don't understand why Miyamoto is making such a huge deal about that game. It is sure to be great, but not that many people enjoy that kind of game to make it a blockbuster hit or console selling game.

Metroid, Zelda, Mario Kart, and so on are the games people buy Nintendo consoles for, not pikmin.

Also this article said Pikmin will be followed by great games like Lego undercover? I bought that game months ago and already sold it back on Amazon, how is it coming after Pikmin? LMAO.

I also believe that the Wii U will do better as time goes on. IIRC, Nintendo itself only has about 5-6 games on the console right now. Btw, "it will be followed by LEGO City Undercover" Might want to fix that!

Pikmin will NOT sell consoles, it is a highly anticipated game by people who played GameCube, a relative small number of people including myself, but holds no sway or draw for a new crowd. New crowds are. Reeled in by familiar big names, ground breaking visuals, low price point, fantastic advertising and something truly innovative (the wii remote). The Wii U has not yet shown anybod these in a forum available to the masses, and pikmin 3 holds none of these properties.
Nintendo need to find something that works for them and then WORK it, and once the tide of quality starts with Pikmin 3, to keep that wave rolling and do not relent for a moment till they'd convinced a lot of new consumers to ride it with them

@EvisceratorX you might want to read to the end of an article before correcting people. It states that as Lego is not yet out in Japan, where the reference interview was held.

@GamerJunkie AGAIN. Read properly, Lego is not out in Japan yet.
LMAO? LMAOAHFSYA!!

what nintendo need is just good commercial and fixin problems and making online game !

I don't get why he's optimistic, if they don't drop the price by chistmas the PS4 will destroy it. If they do drop the price, they'll almost certainly be selling at a loss thanks to that pointless controller.
And if you aint got the hardware sales, you can forget about making up that loss with software.