HaNks

its a no brainer at this stage - they need to get wii Us into homes without worrying about lost profit opportunities from the software unit. make it cheap enough and they'll move a lot more systems than otherwise. MK has lots of appeal and people getting the system will still buy other games. getting the price down on a MK bundle is crucial.

i thought it was bad they didn't do a 3d world bundle at xmas.

is this mode online? won't get to play it much if not.

fine with me. be nice to get some DLC tracks too, even if its only a few.

online gaming...it's a big thing these days. nintendo need to get with the times already, have a proper online network, comms, online options in all of their multiplayer titles. this is more a step in the right direction over smartphone games.

i'm looking for the toad toy when that one is up, don't want any of the 'food' though.

the funny thing is that the ergonomics of the gamepad is one of the best features of the console, regardless of how it looks. my problem would be the rest of the design - low horsepower, bad design/lack of features in the OS.

and the off-tv functionality is personally something that is not useful, aside from for VC games of which there are few released. we haven't seen enough compelling use of the gamepad to justify it as mandatory. it should have been optional, especially considering the price of the original wii...

the problem is bigger than the wii U...the real issue is that nintendo don't have a compelling digital platform/ecosystem for its customers to invest into. this includes outdated pricing strategies. they also treat online gaming like a fringe activity and only suitable for specific titles.

it looks like they're going to try and get it right with accounts next time around with the unified architecture console-handheld, but that's a ways off. nintendo didn't make the right investments and now they're paying for it. you can't blame the market or the media for their bad management.

day 1 my most anticipated 3ds title. online tournaments!

busty ladies there.

nice insights thanks. love the pre-rendered 2D look personally, a HD game made like this could look like the DKC concept art.

they are right. that they won't hit their own expectations but more than strong enough for themselves as a reseller. its all good business and the people who do buy it are generally satisfied.

finally some sense.

uncertain times. i'm not sure being a publicly listed company really serves nintendo either. valve are the best example and arguably the cutting edge of games companies. can do whatever they like and that pays off in all kinds of ways. in an ideal world nintendo would have people who understand economics as well as valve and go private. not sure about the japanese laws though.

i believe there's still a bright future for nintendo if they play to their strengths and reach parity with other platforms. and at an attractive price point. for example there's no excuse for why the VC service is so inept (could be a system selling, revenue driving feature) aside from bad management. this left-field QOL stuff could be profitable, but it's besides the point for many of us.

the wii U has been a perfect summation of how terribly out of touch their leadership is. there should have been much stronger investment in digital services & HD development toward the end of the wii lifecycle. and no high price being forced upon people with the gamepad. an overwhelming rejection by the market that could be seen coming a mile away.

they massively underestimated how much of the wii success was enabled by a lower price point. and anyone paying more than $300 for a console will want technological bang for buck...both in hardware and online services. the gamepad feature is simply not compelling enough use of this money. i don't believe nintendo has stepped outside of their echo chamber to get a feel for what the gaming consumer expects in 2014. they'd sooner step into other markets than get the core business up to date. which is sad.

@unrandomsam "Shows absolutely 100% that they are marketing agents not journalists." yup you certainly don't read ONM for 'fair and balanced' views about nintendo. to be fair it's quite overt that they're about about fan service and promoting the brand.

NL is better, but you're ultimately still getting an empathetic, fan-centred viewpoint. not that that's a terrible thing, on the contrary. there's a big market for it, both in terms of readers and nintendo as advertisers.

i believe with current leadership nintendo's downward trajectory will continue. they have not said enough to suggest that the core problems (creating a compelling digital ecosystem, pricing) will be fixed anytime soon.

dont care just want online to be good.

@gregrout this was an accidental pricing error, so no, nobody has their act in gear. title of the article is perhaps a little misleading.

@unrandomsam you've hit across the exact reason why 'sales' work. not everyone perceives every title to be worth its full value and by reducing it you unlock a whole group of customers who would have never bought in otherwise. and tempt a whole load more who weren't even on the radar, positive word of mouth, etc. perfect for titles like wonderful 101 which is fantastic, but sold/selling terribly. also hugely discourages piracy and used game sales.

the amount of people crying foul for day 1 purchasers is increasingly minimal. this isn't 1990 anymore, you are paying to play first and the sales keep money rolling in to fund the next title! i wonder if anyone at nintendo realises they'd make more money with a more flexible pricing strategy. we've been in the digital ecosystem era for a while already, it's time nintendo executives woke up to it. i actually think they are just far too slowly...leaving a lot of money and potentially satisfied customers on the table.

i said this in the other thread, but nintendo's software pricing philosophy is out of date in an increasingly digital era. they've never really done much discounting so don't have the data - but what all other publishers and indie devs are doing should be a clue as to how you get the most bang for buck from the consumer. all the while keeping them more happy and invested in a particular ecosystem.

games don't have to be slashed at retail (thats happening anyway) but these days people pay for the privilege of playing a game first. that's where the value is perceived to be. nobody is upset when a game is on sale months down the line because that's the norm. if nintendo want to get with the times, make more money and please more customers, they have to seriously rethink their pricing strategies (and a hell of a lot more).

@DarkwingLz i'm afraid not. pretty much every publisher these days runs frequent, largely discounted sales on their digital content, especially for titles that have been out a while. even on the eshop (ubisoft). nobody would do this if they were making less money overall. it drives sales when they have otherwise dried up or are too slow. simple economics. you get good data from it too, useful for maximising profits in the future.

problem with nintendo is they come at the software market in a different way, keep prices high forever. it can work at retail, but it's not well suited to cultivating a strong digital ecosystem.

shame nintendo would never do anything like this deliberately...hopefully they realise that you make more money on pure volume with steam level discounts.

i would rather have seen more bayonetta 2 footage, to be quite honest.

seeing as though its a prequel to LBW...why didn't they make the effort to release it beforehand? seems like odd timing in light of that, i might still get it though. the 50hz factor isn't helping either...

automatic steering? fail. won't see the light of day outside of japan either. really need something to scratch that ridge racer itch now that series is dead.

@ikki5 indeed but it doesn't sound like overwriting the 3ds mii impacts any existing save data. whereas the other way around...very poor oversight to overlook something like this is all i can say.

@Super_Gravy nintendoland data is lost too, damn. how did nintendo overlook something like that possibly happening? not cool.

@CapnKael you definitely selected to option to overwrite your NNID mii with the 3ds one? if so that's interesting as my wii sports profile is definitely gone. i only picked that option because i didn't want to the opposite to happen and lose 3ds saves (like ridge racer that links to your mii), damnit :/

@MouldyK if you select the option to use the 3ds mii, then i would imagine so. very poor of nintendo to overlook something like this when both miis are possibly attached to game saves.

best to select your NNID mii i guess. but then what happens to any game saves that are linked to the original 3ds mii?...

@sleepinglion only if you chose to replace your existing NNID mii with your 3ds system one, which was the first option. mine were both the same with the same name, but clearly save games linked to them differentiate, at least on the wii U side.

kind of gutted, but at least i'll be able to get the achievements next time around with the low level CPUs. just reached level star 9 too >_<

there is an oversight with the update, i just lost my wii sports club save. you need to overwrite either your NNID or 3ds system mii.

the problem is both of these miis potentially have save game data linked to them. i know of various 3ds titles that have this, so i didn't want to overwrite that one. i booted up my wii U and bang my profile was wiped. there will be more people losing mii-linked save game data after doing this.

would buy the SNES one, not the others.

must be a f-zero fan.

@JonWahlgren yeah the DS-10. seems they are quite different in their applications though. think i'll pick this one up for the convenience of having it on my 3ds all the time. may be a bit easier to get into as well

nice interview. it'd be great if we could get the DS-10 Plus on the eshop...specifically in europe where it was never released. or a new DS-10 for 3DS.

looks awesome...think i want to get it would i better picking up a copy of the DS version instead though? or the 'plus' version? the US only 'plus' version won't work on a EU 3ds will it? :/

baby steps, nintendo slowly invest a few pennies into improving services.

nice review and can't wait to get the game. the soundtrack alone makes my ears melt, considering the original is one of the greatest scores in gaming history. btw grammatical error near the end choose > choosing.

gonna be a long week.

that looks so good, just the cover art alone is lovely.

great deal for americans.

needs a hardware bundle.

so good. why nintendo aren't doing a hardware bundle for this is beyond me.

toad is the best.

dude needs to give it up and nintendo get koizumi directing some zelda. still got high hopes for the wii U title, but he said it himself, he's tired, he needs a holiday.

sounds great. and it can't be worse than the NSMB soundtracks.

needs more NES games. and remember not to put LTTP up before ABLW release, nobody wants to play it before, right? ;p

shocking that more investment hasn't been put into these areas already. nintendo are sitting on easy money with the back catalogue, if handled correctly. and a lot of goodwill with the fans/positive word of mouth.

i'm skeptical they'll get it right, given the level of ineptitude they've handled these services with thus far.

not worth it, already got the VC. poster and chest for £15+ extra no thanks.

now a soundtrack disc or a LTTP eshop code might be another story...

another VC banger, now how about some SNES heavy hitters & RPGs...

enough with the slow trickle of NES games, at this point wii U VC is just embarrassing.