@Cloud-San-VII I think not being able to make money off a Wii U version is a good excuse for not putting a version of the game on the platform. Do you honestly think it'd sell well on the Wii U?
I don't see what Iwata is getting at here. He says "what we really need to do now is to launch software titles for the Wii U that can take advantage of its unique aspects, one after the other," but let's take a look at the current Wii U line-up: Pikmin 3 doesn't require the Wii U gamepad Donkey Kong: TF doesn't require the Wii U gamepad Mario 3D World doesn't require the Wii U gamepad Mario Kart 8 doesn't require the Wii U gamepad Smash Bros doesn't require the Wii U gamepad Wind Waker HD is a remake of a game that didn't need the Wii U gamepad Bayontta 2 doesn't seem to require the Wii U gamepad
On the flipside, The Wonderful 101 requires it.
So if Iwata is talking about control methods, Nintendo isn't doing a very good job at getting consumers to buy into the "new ways to play" thing, since Nintendo isn't really incorporating new ways to play. If it's other things, like HD graphics and Miiverse... seriously? Those don't exactly make the Wii U that unique.
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to many of those games (Pikmin 3 can't come soon enough) but I don't see what Iwata's getting at.
The fact that so few people do it and to barely any degree is exactly why Nintendo should make their system region-free. Since so few people are doing it, Nintendo's need to monitor regions for sales potential won't really matter. Plus, with the way localizations are going, games that are going to come to your region will usually come out soon after the original release, so people are only really going to get games that are not going to their region. If it's going to have an impact on monitoring markets, it will be at most 10,000 people, and that's if the game took over a year to come out in a region and it was already in English.
I've only imported 2 games, but I'm glad I had the option to do so.
There's also other things to keep in mind too. Take, for example, people that move to different regions. We live in a global world, and people's jobs reflect that. Military families in particular.
Also, Damien, your definition of obscure isn't everyone's. A lot of what Atlus puts out has a pretty high pedigree among the RPG community, and a lot of people who speak English aren't able to play a lot of the games that they produce due to a lack of a European branch. Then there's games like EX Troopers, which had a sizable advertising push by Nintendo of Japan; if you were on this website, you probably saw a lot of news on it. There were articles on IGN, Gamespot, Destructoid, etc. and all reposted by forums and sites like GoNintendo. When there's a game that's pretty easy to understand due to its shallowness in the story department, and has zero chance of being localized, it'd be nice to have the option of importing.
Also, with the amount of languages that PAL regions contain, the releases of some games can be hampered due to the space needed for the text. Look at Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. It didn't get an English voice track that was in the US version since the text from all the different languages took up so much space. That's pretty crappy.
Face it, times have changed drastically in the past 20 years. With the internet, cultures collide and this world is truly global. Just look at all the different nations represented from users on this site. Using an example from the 80s isn't exactly helping your case, especially when a game like "Shadows of the Damned" is available at a local Wal Mart. It is not Nintendo's job to protect its customers from different cultures. If someone is importing a game, they probably know what it's about, and they're also probably an adult, since they have to order games with a credit card or paypal. Frankly, all Nintendo has to do in regards to games from different regions is just have a disclaimer saying that they're not responsible for games released outside their region. That way, if someone breaks a law in regards to buying a game that doesn't comply with their country's laws, Nintendo doesn't have to bother with it.
Just leave it up to the individual publishers on region locking. That way, if they want it, they can enforce it so they can better monitor regions. Look at Persona 4 Arena. But I don't see the point in enforcing it on every game.
By making the system region free, Nintendo will be able to get rid of a lot of the homebrew efforts going on with Nintendo's systems right now and also garner some good PR from it.
Well this sucks. If they were going to make the Gamepad just do that, then it seems like a waste to make spend so much R&D in the thing and make it so integral to the Wii U. Seriously, without the Gamepad, the Wii U could be way cheaper. If that's all Nintendo, the ones who would be likeliest to use the gamepad in unique ways, isn't going to use it for the most part, then why force it? Off TV play is wonderful, but most people buying the Wii U aren't going to see it as this great thing worth buying the system for until they actually buy it. Yeah, inventory management is way more efficient with it, and the HUD cleanup rocks, but most consumers won't likely care until they play around with it for a while. It just doesn't make sense from a business perspective to force the gamepad on people if that's all that's going to be done with it.
Frankly, from where I stand, Ubisoft seems to be trying harder than Nintendo when it comes to making the Gamepad something that really stands out. Say what you want about ZombiU, but its ideas were fantastic. Sure, its execution was questionable, but the things that it was doing with the Gamepad made sense to people and proved to provide an experience unlike any other. Then there's Rayman Legends, which based on the demo levels and challenge app I've played with friends provides something unlike anything else that is really fun.
He's making sense to me. If you are really a gaming aficionado, you're pretty likely to get a Xone or PS4, since all the third party games will be on those, and it's not likely there won't be enough games to entice you. With WiiU, on the other hand, if you don't like Nintendo games, why would you buy it?
If the Wii U doesn't have an amazing holiday season, it'll basically turn out like the Gamecube sales-wise.
@hwrose379 For what it's worth, we already knew about most of the games announced. The only new stuff I saw was: New Smash Bros. New Mario Kart New Donkey Kong New 3D Mario And all of those don't seem to do much differently then what we've already played. Don't get me wrong, I'll probably get them, they look fun, but there wasn't anything at that Nintendo Direct that really caught my eye (except X and Bayonetta 2, but I already knew about those). And I know I'm not the only one that thought that.
It should be noted that the N64 and Gamecube didn't have good 3rd party support, which led to them doing pretty badly against their competition. It's not good for a company to have success with a product (in NIntendo's case, the Wii) and then fall back to lows that were in the company's past. If you own stock, you want the company that you own a part of to be growing; otherwise, you're not making money, and that's not good.
Pachter's an analyst. He gives advice to people who are thinking about investing a lot of money (i.e. hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) into companies of his expertise. If you were advising someone whether they should invest in a Nintendo or not, a company that has fallen greatly from its high point and doesn't look prepared to face its direct competition, what would you do?
Pachter's completely right on this one. It's what happenned with the Wii, and it's what will happen here if there's the same kind of support that the system is getting right now in the future.
A simple look around this site indicates that a lot of Nintendo fans are excited about the PS4.
Aaaaand three of the 10 games are ports. And they're all Nintendo games. It's unfortunate that not enough of the people who voted to make up this list played enough 3rd party titles to get any of them on the list.
Anyways, others are doing it, so I might as well list mine as well: 10) Pushmo 9) Super Mario 3D Land 8) Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance 7) Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon 6) Theatrythm: Final Fantasy 5) Resident Evil: Revelations 4) Kid Icarus: Uprising 3) Dead or Alive: Dimensions 2) Fire Emblem: Awakening (how this didn't get #1 on the Nintendolife list I'll never know. Don't get me wrong, Mario's fun, but there wasn't really anything exceptional in 3D Land in my opinion. Meanwhile, Awakening has blown pretty much everyone away) 1) Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (glad to see it's also #1 on so many of the users' lists as well. Truly a brilliant game.)
Now, for what it's worth, if Ocarina of Time and MGS3: Snake Eater were original games for the system, they'd both totally be in the upper echelons of the list.
There are some things in the article that I disagree with. Firstly, the idea that tablet/phone gaming is taking away from the console market doesn't make sense to me. The portable market, absolutely. Heck, I suppose it could take away from the Wii U, since the casual glance lends one to believe it's a gaming-tablet. But smart phones and tablets didn't seem to hamper the sales numbers for PS3 and 360 back when they came out and got more popular. Heck, I don't think they're really a reason for holding the systems back as it currently stands, seeing how Tomb Raider sold 3.4 million units (which is good regardless of whether SE thinks so or not) and Bioshock Infinite undoubtedly did really well if all the buzz around it is any indication.
Frankly, my perspective is that until the competitor's new consoles hit, the Wii U will never be able to hit its stride. Competition spurs interest, and as it stands there isn't much interest in systems, but rather games. And even then, none of the games that have come out recently that have had a ton of interest have been on Wii U.
As for another nugget of disagreement, I don't really think a price drop right now would help much for Nintendo. People with other sytems would still have very little reason to get it with the lack of original games for the system (it's quite literally a 2D Mario game (that looks incredibly similar to past ones from a casual glance), a minigame collection (albeit an amazing one) and a LEGO game. Not exactly stuff that will make the system a runaway success.) Heck, the stuff on the immediate horizon isn't going to help much either, with Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario not exactly being the kinds of games that sell lots of sytstems (although I have no doubt that Pikmin 3 will be the most wonderful kind of crack I suspect it to be). The system needs something to sell itself, and until that kind of experience comes around (an announcement would be nice), Nintendo won't see the sales they desire. The 3DS at least had exclusive games that we had seen in trailers at E3 and we knew were coming very soon to help make the price drop more effective.
@hwrose379 I don't think the article says that the system is doomed. It simply brings out the possibility of Nintendo taking the initiative to make it a more enticing product for consumers. Nonetheless, I agree with you. Give it a third holiday, and then we'll really be able to tell how good it will do.
@Tertis Or maybe they just didn't realize the system wouldn't be successful?
Frankly, yeah, the system needs a price cut. When the PS3 and 360 are delivering visuals and game experiences on par with the Wii U, and yet the thing costs over $100 more, something's wrong.
Of course, it's not just price. The current amount of games that we know are coming and have release dates are in dismally low levles. That, and user interest doesn't seem very high. Wii U owners don't seem to jump onto 3rd party games unless they're exclusive, and even then the sales numbers aren't as hot as publishers would hope.
In all honesty, I see this system being much like the Gamecube. There will be some good games that will be fondly remembered, but the current state of the system largely indicates the system will only really sell well during holiday periods (and launch, of course). That's not good when you just followed the huge success of the DS and Wii, which means lost investors.
@Einherjar Devs are constantly put through crunch periods and barely have time to finish the games on the platforms they put them on. Notice how it took Criterion another six months to put NFS:MW on Wii U from the other systems. That development time took quite a while and also cost money.
It's not a question of development talent. It's about how much time they have and how much money they can make. I understand more games the merrier when it comes to the Wii U, but would bringing Battlefield 4 really make enough money to make the endeavor worth it? I honestly don't know.
Why do people hate the fact that he won't self-publish Fez on Wii U? It'd cost a lot of money, and I honestly don't know if it'd be worth the venture on the Wii U, what with its paltry user-base. The lack of consistent releases is hurting usage as well. Yeah, we got three games a week ago. Next month, however, is looking as barren as February. That results in people not using their system.
I mean, I get people not liking him becuase of his tone and acting like a jerk, but the overall thing he's saying isn't that hard of a thing to understand.
@AcesHigh You need to get to playing Journey and Mark of the Ninja. We will be playing those in a decade.
I'm really impressed with this series. The naysayers can say what they want, but the amount of quality in this series as a whole, considering it's released yearly, is incredibly impressive.
@jgary1 That argument doesn't make sense to me. The gaming industry was able to remain largely unaffected by the economic crash, as it was actually able to grow despite the crash in 2008.
This is simply the results of a generation transition. You see it every single time.
That's a very good price for that game. I got it at that price, and it was well worth it for me. @luminalace You know what's really annoying? When a reivewer would harp on this game for its "lack of content" (which I don't get. I've put over 30 hours into it) and then that same reviewer would praise Steel Diver despite having waaaaaay less content (I'm looking at you, Audrey Drake).
@catamaran IGN's own scoring system indicates otherwise. 5 out of 10 means mediocre, according to them. Bad is a 3 for them. Thus, they say it just isn't very good. Not horrid.
And I'm pretty sure I said I really disliked the demo. A lot.
@DaemonSword You've got to keep in mind that he made that opinion when the 3DS was still $250 (and the Vita was announced to be at the same price, and memory card prices weren't given yet), support for the 3DS wasn't very high, and the Vita launch line-up was pretty darn good (as for the rest of the year... not so much). If you had to choose which one would win based on the circumstances, it wouldn't be a hard prediction to make.
Granted, that's obviously not the case now, as Nintendo cut the price on their system months after release and released two Mario games right afterwards, so it started selling well and third parties flocked to it. But if anyone would have guessed that Nintendo would cut the price of their new system by $80 right after launch when it came out, you'd think they were crazy. It just didn't seem like a move Nintendo would make.
Now, I don't think Colin's review is the best, but he does clearly show that he did not like the game. If you don't like something, then you should let people know. And besides, there are people out there who may be wanting a certain kind of experience. If they have a mindset like Colin, then they can use his review as a base, knowing that they'll like it as much as him. There is nothing wrong with more opinions on a game.
Also, 5.0 out of 10 on IGN means mediocre. It got a 4.7 out of 10. So he basically said it's slightly worse than mediocre. Not an abysmal, broken mess.
I was incredibly unimpressed with the demo. Frankly, it turned me off of the game, and IGN's review, based on my limited time with the game, seems to reflect the things I want in a game rather than this one. So I think I'll avoid this one for now.
And come on, guys, Colin Moriarty isn't a fanboy. He just gives his honest opinion on the games he plays, whether good or bad. Just look at his review for Ragnarok Odyssey, a Vita game that many Vita owners were looking forward to, and he gave his proffesional opinion on it and said it wasn't good. Then the video game community was mad, because he "didn't get it".
I'm willing to bet that the amount of people boycotting the game by the time September comes along is going to drastically decrease. 7 months is a long time.
@Schprocket The game was going to release in 3 weeks. Ubisoft's reasoning for delaying it had nothing to do with its development schedule (as you can see in this Nintendolife article you commented on)
@sdcazares1980 I'm assuming you didn't read most of the comments. That's fine, since there are so many. Most people are up-in-arms about how the game (that was finished) got delayed for the sole reason of having it release simultaneously with other platforms.
My condolences to the devs of this game. It would suck to have a game you've been working so hard on in constant overtime mode to just have the game you were about to ship out delayed for over half a year. All the work you put in was for naught, basically.
@FluttershyGuy Uh, what? They just showed their earnings recently. They seem to be doing very well. All of their games got to or exceeded sales expectations. They seem to have quite a future with AC4 announced today and Watch Dogs, not to mention more iterations of Just Dance. And, it's not like this game got cancelled. 7 months is a long time to be bitter about something, especially when it's something revolving around video games.
@Slapshot Then why not release it as a timed exclusive? I get that you're staying by your belief that there's some other sense of reasoning in the delay, but when Ubisoft states the delay was for the purpose of focusing on a multiplatform release on their Facebook page without a mention of any other reasoning, it's pretty hard to make sense of it all.
However, with this delay it's likely that Legends could be something truly special. Ideas get cut all the time in games, with time constraints being the primary issue. There's now 7 months to put more stuff in there, and that could really bumb up the quality even more. Sales-wise... not so much, at least from my what I (and you) can see.
@Neram From what I could tell that was a compliment. Candy floss is like the best of both worlds. It is healthy, since it is floss, and it is also delicious, since it is candy. Perfection in dental care, but used as a metaphor for a mod.
@theblackdragon Yeah, I look forward to seeing stuff hilariously out of context. Seeing "loving" in place of certain other words can be quite interesting. Also, the time saved on having to look at stuff could be considerably decreased. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of reports I've made have been regarding cursing.
@FluttershyGuy For what it's worth, all that Wii U stuff will still be there. Ubisoft is on record for saying that. And I'd hope the dev team wouldn't just let the game sit around for 7 months without touching it. That's a long time for an established game to sit.
@Everyone Guys, we're consumers. We have a choice in the products we buy. I'm not trying to emphasize that we should boycott the game. I'm actually saying something on the opposite side of the spectrum on how we don't have to be treated the same as the other systems. We're not born Nintendo owners. It's okay to be pretty pissed though, but don't go over the deep end.
@TBD Doing great. If I were in your position I would lack self-control and replace all F-bombs with "Gently Caress" and S-bombs with "poopedy poo".
@Knux Agreed on people over-reacting regarding no purchase. But the fact of the matter is that there's a ton of games releasing in September, with GTA V releasing that month. Historically speaking, that's suicide.
Not to mention the fact that Legends had virtually no competition prior to the delay. I fail to see how this makes sense from a business perspective. The amount of marketing required to make an impact right now would be nothing compared to what they'll have to do in September.
Just took a look at Ubisoft's Facebook page. Found this.
"We never want to delay a game and for that we're sorry. We made the tough decision to push back the release so we could offer it on multiple platforms. Stay tuned for more."
So that officially confirms what we already knew. I gained the a bit of respect for them because they at the very least stated the delay was for the purpose of emphasizing a multi-plat release.
Now just to be clear, I believe this is a dumb, dumb move by Ubisoft. The move to timed exclusivity would have garnered more sales for the game, since there wasn't really any competition at all for Rayman Legends. Now they're releasing it in what is arguably the worst month to release it in. They're shooting themselves in the leg with this one.
@Knux The game was coming out in less than 3 weeks.
Games take about 2 weeks to go through the process of being manufactured, shipped, and delivered to retailers. AKA "going gold".
The game was about ready to release, yet it was delayed for 7 months. Can you not see why people would be pissed?
@Knux Dude, almost no-one seems to have a problem with it losing exclusivity. It's because of a 7 month delay right before the game was about to release.
You've got to keep in mind that lots of people bought a Wii U this early on to play this game. To have it be delayed so far off and this close to release is going to be devastating.
Which is part of why I don't really get it. This is the perfect time to release the game. This will sell really well right now. September is a horrid time to release any game that isn't GTA V, especially this one. People don't have that much time to play tons of games. Part of why I just can't really accept the thing mentioned by @Slapshot is because Ubisoft didn't say anything about it. It was simply delayed. And that delay was also announced with the title coming to other consoles.
Now, there are worse things to have happened. I remember Japanese Xbox 360 owners got livid when Tales of Vesparia got announced for PS3 right after the game's release. To buy a system for a specific game and to then have it announced for a system that you may very well already own is pretty crappy. This situation isn't quite so bad since I doubt Wii U owners chose to get the system just for Rayman, but there are many early adopters who did.
@TheKingOfTown For stuff that's more minor, I'd be with you, but we were getting this in less than 3 weeks. It just got delayed for more than 6 months, and there wasn't any real explantation as to why the Wii U version was delayed outside of the fact that Ubisoft wants to put their focus on a multiplatform launch.
@Slapshot It takes more than 3 weeks for the process of a game to go gold. The game was ready, at least based off of the release for every major console game released. So people aren't assuming in saying this is a move solely to focus on a multiplatform launch (which makes sense from a business perspective, but to do so right before the game's release is a really low-blow to Wii U owners that were looking forward to play something truly captivating on their system).
Jeez, Ubisoft, what the heck? At least give some semblence of forewarning before delaying your games. Don't say, "oh, this game you were looking forward to play in less than 3 weeks? Yeah, that's getting pushed 7 months". That's not very kind to consumers. Give people at least a month in advance (and to be honest, we should have gotten more, since 7 months is an incredibly long time).
Comments 391
Re: Kotick's $8.2 Billion Buyout Makes Activision Independent
That's good for them. Now, if their franchises end up failing, they'll still be secure. And frankly, I don't think it's happening anytime soon.
Re: South Park Creators Cite Earthbound as a Major Inspiration for Their Own Game
@Cloud-San-VII I think not being able to make money off a Wii U version is a good excuse for not putting a version of the game on the platform. Do you honestly think it'd sell well on the Wii U?
Re: Satoru Iwata Aims for "Critical Mass" of Wii U Owners to Shift Perceptions
I don't see what Iwata is getting at here. He says "what we really need to do now is to launch software titles for the Wii U that can take advantage of its unique aspects, one after the other," but let's take a look at the current Wii U line-up:
Pikmin 3 doesn't require the Wii U gamepad
Donkey Kong: TF doesn't require the Wii U gamepad
Mario 3D World doesn't require the Wii U gamepad
Mario Kart 8 doesn't require the Wii U gamepad
Smash Bros doesn't require the Wii U gamepad
Wind Waker HD is a remake of a game that didn't need the Wii U gamepad
Bayontta 2 doesn't seem to require the Wii U gamepad
On the flipside, The Wonderful 101 requires it.
So if Iwata is talking about control methods, Nintendo isn't doing a very good job at getting consumers to buy into the "new ways to play" thing, since Nintendo isn't really incorporating new ways to play. If it's other things, like HD graphics and Miiverse... seriously? Those don't exactly make the Wii U that unique.
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to many of those games (Pikmin 3 can't come soon enough) but I don't see what Iwata's getting at.
Re: Nintendo Reveals The 2013 Club Nintendo Elite Rewards
I'm getting the posters. They'll look nice framed.
Re: Project X Zone Battles Into UK Top 20 in Debut Week
For a game as niche as that, I'd say that's good.
Re: Soapbox: Why Region Locking Is A Total Non-Issue
The fact that so few people do it and to barely any degree is exactly why Nintendo should make their system region-free. Since so few people are doing it, Nintendo's need to monitor regions for sales potential won't really matter. Plus, with the way localizations are going, games that are going to come to your region will usually come out soon after the original release, so people are only really going to get games that are not going to their region. If it's going to have an impact on monitoring markets, it will be at most 10,000 people, and that's if the game took over a year to come out in a region and it was already in English.
I've only imported 2 games, but I'm glad I had the option to do so.
There's also other things to keep in mind too. Take, for example, people that move to different regions. We live in a global world, and people's jobs reflect that. Military families in particular.
Also, Damien, your definition of obscure isn't everyone's. A lot of what Atlus puts out has a pretty high pedigree among the RPG community, and a lot of people who speak English aren't able to play a lot of the games that they produce due to a lack of a European branch. Then there's games like EX Troopers, which had a sizable advertising push by Nintendo of Japan; if you were on this website, you probably saw a lot of news on it. There were articles on IGN, Gamespot, Destructoid, etc. and all reposted by forums and sites like GoNintendo. When there's a game that's pretty easy to understand due to its shallowness in the story department, and has zero chance of being localized, it'd be nice to have the option of importing.
Also, with the amount of languages that PAL regions contain, the releases of some games can be hampered due to the space needed for the text. Look at Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. It didn't get an English voice track that was in the US version since the text from all the different languages took up so much space. That's pretty crappy.
Face it, times have changed drastically in the past 20 years. With the internet, cultures collide and this world is truly global. Just look at all the different nations represented from users on this site. Using an example from the 80s isn't exactly helping your case, especially when a game like "Shadows of the Damned" is available at a local Wal Mart. It is not Nintendo's job to protect its customers from different cultures. If someone is importing a game, they probably know what it's about, and they're also probably an adult, since they have to order games with a credit card or paypal. Frankly, all Nintendo has to do in regards to games from different regions is just have a disclaimer saying that they're not responsible for games released outside their region. That way, if someone breaks a law in regards to buying a game that doesn't comply with their country's laws, Nintendo doesn't have to bother with it.
Just leave it up to the individual publishers on region locking. That way, if they want it, they can enforce it so they can better monitor regions. Look at Persona 4 Arena. But I don't see the point in enforcing it on every game.
By making the system region free, Nintendo will be able to get rid of a lot of the homebrew efforts going on with Nintendo's systems right now and also garner some good PR from it.
Re: Miyamoto: GamePad's Touch Screen Primarily Used To Make Navigating Menus Easier
Well this sucks. If they were going to make the Gamepad just do that, then it seems like a waste to make spend so much R&D in the thing and make it so integral to the Wii U. Seriously, without the Gamepad, the Wii U could be way cheaper. If that's all Nintendo, the ones who would be likeliest to use the gamepad in unique ways, isn't going to use it for the most part, then why force it? Off TV play is wonderful, but most people buying the Wii U aren't going to see it as this great thing worth buying the system for until they actually buy it. Yeah, inventory management is way more efficient with it, and the HUD cleanup rocks, but most consumers won't likely care until they play around with it for a while. It just doesn't make sense from a business perspective to force the gamepad on people if that's all that's going to be done with it.
Frankly, from where I stand, Ubisoft seems to be trying harder than Nintendo when it comes to making the Gamepad something that really stands out. Say what you want about ZombiU, but its ideas were fantastic. Sure, its execution was questionable, but the things that it was doing with the Gamepad made sense to people and proved to provide an experience unlike any other. Then there's Rayman Legends, which based on the demo levels and challenge app I've played with friends provides something unlike anything else that is really fun.
Re: Pachter: Nintendo Has Lost Its "Mojo"
He's making sense to me. If you are really a gaming aficionado, you're pretty likely to get a Xone or PS4, since all the third party games will be on those, and it's not likely there won't be enough games to entice you. With WiiU, on the other hand, if you don't like Nintendo games, why would you buy it?
If the Wii U doesn't have an amazing holiday season, it'll basically turn out like the Gamecube sales-wise.
Re: Video: These Japanese Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Trailers Are a Sight to Behold
Those trailers put a smile on my face. I can't wait to play this game!
Re: Review: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GameCube)
The graphics on this games look better than most Wii games (and its a Gamecube launch title)
Re: Pachter: Without Third Party Support Nintendo Fans May End Up Buying A Second Console
@hwrose379 For what it's worth, we already knew about most of the games announced. The only new stuff I saw was:
New Smash Bros.
New Mario Kart
New Donkey Kong
New 3D Mario
And all of those don't seem to do much differently then what we've already played. Don't get me wrong, I'll probably get them, they look fun, but there wasn't anything at that Nintendo Direct that really caught my eye (except X and Bayonetta 2, but I already knew about those). And I know I'm not the only one that thought that.
It should be noted that the N64 and Gamecube didn't have good 3rd party support, which led to them doing pretty badly against their competition. It's not good for a company to have success with a product (in NIntendo's case, the Wii) and then fall back to lows that were in the company's past. If you own stock, you want the company that you own a part of to be growing; otherwise, you're not making money, and that's not good.
Pachter's an analyst. He gives advice to people who are thinking about investing a lot of money (i.e. hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) into companies of his expertise. If you were advising someone whether they should invest in a Nintendo or not, a company that has fallen greatly from its high point and doesn't look prepared to face its direct competition, what would you do?
Re: Pachter: Without Third Party Support Nintendo Fans May End Up Buying A Second Console
Pachter's completely right on this one. It's what happenned with the Wii, and it's what will happen here if there's the same kind of support that the system is getting right now in the future.
A simple look around this site indicates that a lot of Nintendo fans are excited about the PS4.
Re: Feature: Our Top 10 3DS Games - Summer 2013
Aaaaand three of the 10 games are ports. And they're all Nintendo games. It's unfortunate that not enough of the people who voted to make up this list played enough 3rd party titles to get any of them on the list.
Anyways, others are doing it, so I might as well list mine as well:
10) Pushmo
9) Super Mario 3D Land
8) Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
7) Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
6) Theatrythm: Final Fantasy
5) Resident Evil: Revelations
4) Kid Icarus: Uprising
3) Dead or Alive: Dimensions
2) Fire Emblem: Awakening (how this didn't get #1 on the Nintendolife list I'll never know. Don't get me wrong, Mario's fun, but there wasn't really anything exceptional in 3D Land in my opinion. Meanwhile, Awakening has blown pretty much everyone away)
1) Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (glad to see it's also #1 on so many of the users' lists as well. Truly a brilliant game.)
Now, for what it's worth, if Ocarina of Time and MGS3: Snake Eater were original games for the system, they'd both totally be in the upper echelons of the list.
Re: Oh Snap, Now Rayman Legends Is Coming To PS Vita With Exclusive Content
Why is this on a Nintendo news site? This is news about the game coming to the Vita.
Re: Zelda Oracle Titles To Have an Initial Discount on the 3DS Virtual Console in North America
Never played these, so I'll probably get both of them. Can't wait to try them out.
Re: Rayman Legends Release Brought Forward to 27th August in North America, 30th August in Europe
Good. I hope that gives it a better chance to succeed.
Re: Talking Point: The Next-Gen Console War is Wii U's to Lose
There are some things in the article that I disagree with. Firstly, the idea that tablet/phone gaming is taking away from the console market doesn't make sense to me. The portable market, absolutely. Heck, I suppose it could take away from the Wii U, since the casual glance lends one to believe it's a gaming-tablet. But smart phones and tablets didn't seem to hamper the sales numbers for PS3 and 360 back when they came out and got more popular. Heck, I don't think they're really a reason for holding the systems back as it currently stands, seeing how Tomb Raider sold 3.4 million units (which is good regardless of whether SE thinks so or not) and Bioshock Infinite undoubtedly did really well if all the buzz around it is any indication.
Frankly, my perspective is that until the competitor's new consoles hit, the Wii U will never be able to hit its stride. Competition spurs interest, and as it stands there isn't much interest in systems, but rather games. And even then, none of the games that have come out recently that have had a ton of interest have been on Wii U.
As for another nugget of disagreement, I don't really think a price drop right now would help much for Nintendo. People with other sytems would still have very little reason to get it with the lack of original games for the system (it's quite literally a 2D Mario game (that looks incredibly similar to past ones from a casual glance), a minigame collection (albeit an amazing one) and a LEGO game. Not exactly stuff that will make the system a runaway success.) Heck, the stuff on the immediate horizon isn't going to help much either, with Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario not exactly being the kinds of games that sell lots of sytstems (although I have no doubt that Pikmin 3 will be the most wonderful kind of crack I suspect it to be). The system needs something to sell itself, and until that kind of experience comes around (an announcement would be nice), Nintendo won't see the sales they desire. The 3DS at least had exclusive games that we had seen in trailers at E3 and we knew were coming very soon to help make the price drop more effective.
@hwrose379 I don't think the article says that the system is doomed. It simply brings out the possibility of Nintendo taking the initiative to make it a more enticing product for consumers. Nonetheless, I agree with you. Give it a third holiday, and then we'll really be able to tell how good it will do.
Re: Club Nintendo Rewards Updated With Some Retro Classics
If I didn't already own Super Metroid and Super Mario 64, I would totally jump on those.
Re: Feature: The Biggest Wii U Games of 2013 - Spring Edition
I certainly love the "TBAs."
Re: New Research Claims Wii U Success Hinges On A Price Cut
@Tertis Or maybe they just didn't realize the system wouldn't be successful?
Frankly, yeah, the system needs a price cut. When the PS3 and 360 are delivering visuals and game experiences on par with the Wii U, and yet the thing costs over $100 more, something's wrong.
Of course, it's not just price. The current amount of games that we know are coming and have release dates are in dismally low levles. That, and user interest doesn't seem very high. Wii U owners don't seem to jump onto 3rd party games unless they're exclusive, and even then the sales numbers aren't as hot as publishers would hope.
In all honesty, I see this system being much like the Gamecube. There will be some good games that will be fondly remembered, but the current state of the system largely indicates the system will only really sell well during holiday periods (and launch, of course). That's not good when you just followed the huge success of the DS and Wii, which means lost investors.
Re: No Battlefield 4 For Wii U Because DICE Wants To "Play It Safe"
@Einherjar Devs are constantly put through crunch periods and barely have time to finish the games on the platforms they put them on.
Notice how it took Criterion another six months to put NFS:MW on Wii U from the other systems. That development time took quite a while and also cost money.
It's not a question of development talent. It's about how much time they have and how much money they can make. I understand more games the merrier when it comes to the Wii U, but would bringing Battlefield 4 really make enough money to make the endeavor worth it? I honestly don't know.
Re: Fez For Wii U Is Highly Unlikely Unless Nintendo Pays For It
Why do people hate the fact that he won't self-publish Fez on Wii U? It'd cost a lot of money, and I honestly don't know if it'd be worth the venture on the Wii U, what with its paltry user-base. The lack of consistent releases is hurting usage as well. Yeah, we got three games a week ago. Next month, however, is looking as barren as February. That results in people not using their system.
I mean, I get people not liking him becuase of his tone and acting like a jerk, but the overall thing he's saying isn't that hard of a thing to understand.
@AcesHigh You need to get to playing Journey and Mark of the Ninja. We will be playing those in a decade.
Re: Ubisoft Reveals Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Special Editions And First Gameplay Trailer
I'm really impressed with this series. The naysayers can say what they want, but the amount of quality in this series as a whole, considering it's released yearly, is incredibly impressive.
Re: Review: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
Dang. 3DS is just having a knockout year right now.
Re: Aliens: Colonial Marines Seems To Have Been Abducted From The Wii U
And nothing of value was lost.
Re: U.S. February Sales Figures Make Grim Reading for Wii U and Wider Industry
@jgary1 That argument doesn't make sense to me. The gaming industry was able to remain largely unaffected by the economic crash, as it was actually able to grow despite the crash in 2008.
This is simply the results of a generation transition. You see it every single time.
Re: Vita Knocks 3DS Down to Second in the Japanese Charts
Also, way to go Far Cry 3! I never thought a western game at this time of year would permeate the top 10 in Japan.
Re: Vita Knocks 3DS Down to Second in the Japanese Charts
If you combine the two 3DS version sales, they're neck and neck. I hope this continues, because competition is a very nice thing.
Re: Nintendo's Stock Price Jumps Higher than Mario
Hooray for currency getting weaker!
Re: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Price Slashed For North American eShop Release
That's a very good price for that game. I got it at that price, and it was well worth it for me.
@luminalace You know what's really annoying? When a reivewer would harp on this game for its "lack of content" (which I don't get. I've put over 30 hours into it) and then that same reviewer would praise Steel Diver despite having waaaaaay less content (I'm looking at you, Audrey Drake).
Re: Review: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (3DS)
@catamaran IGN's own scoring system indicates otherwise. 5 out of 10 means mediocre, according to them. Bad is a 3 for them. Thus, they say it just isn't very good. Not horrid.
And I'm pretty sure I said I really disliked the demo. A lot.
Re: Review: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (3DS)
@DaemonSword
You've got to keep in mind that he made that opinion when the 3DS was still $250 (and the Vita was announced to be at the same price, and memory card prices weren't given yet), support for the 3DS wasn't very high, and the Vita launch line-up was pretty darn good (as for the rest of the year... not so much). If you had to choose which one would win based on the circumstances, it wouldn't be a hard prediction to make.
Granted, that's obviously not the case now, as Nintendo cut the price on their system months after release and released two Mario games right afterwards, so it started selling well and third parties flocked to it. But if anyone would have guessed that Nintendo would cut the price of their new system by $80 right after launch when it came out, you'd think they were crazy. It just didn't seem like a move Nintendo would make.
Now, I don't think Colin's review is the best, but he does clearly show that he did not like the game. If you don't like something, then you should let people know.
And besides, there are people out there who may be wanting a certain kind of experience. If they have a mindset like Colin, then they can use his review as a base, knowing that they'll like it as much as him. There is nothing wrong with more opinions on a game.
Also, 5.0 out of 10 on IGN means mediocre. It got a 4.7 out of 10. So he basically said it's slightly worse than mediocre. Not an abysmal, broken mess.
Re: Review: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (3DS)
I was incredibly unimpressed with the demo. Frankly, it turned me off of the game, and IGN's review, based on my limited time with the game, seems to reflect the things I want in a game rather than this one. So I think I'll avoid this one for now.
And come on, guys, Colin Moriarty isn't a fanboy. He just gives his honest opinion on the games he plays, whether good or bad. Just look at his review for Ragnarok Odyssey, a Vita game that many Vita owners were looking forward to, and he gave his proffesional opinion on it and said it wasn't good. Then the video game community was mad, because he "didn't get it".
Re: Reaction: The Rayman Legends Delay Is a Low Blow, But The Apocalypse Isn't Here
I'm willing to bet that the amount of people boycotting the game by the time September comes along is going to drastically decrease. 7 months is a long time.
Re: Wii U To Get An "Exclusive" Rayman Legends Demo Soon
@Schprocket The game was going to release in 3 weeks. Ubisoft's reasoning for delaying it had nothing to do with its development schedule (as you can see in this Nintendolife article you commented on)
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/02/ubisoft_confirms_rayman_legends_delay_isnt_down_to_development_issues
It takes approximately two weeks for a game of this calibur to go gold. So it was basically done.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@sdcazares1980 I'm assuming you didn't read most of the comments. That's fine, since there are so many. Most people are up-in-arms about how the game (that was finished) got delayed for the sole reason of having it release simultaneously with other platforms.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
My condolences to the devs of this game. It would suck to have a game you've been working so hard on in constant overtime mode to just have the game you were about to ship out delayed for over half a year. All the work you put in was for naught, basically.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@FluttershyGuy Uh, what? They just showed their earnings recently. They seem to be doing very well. All of their games got to or exceeded sales expectations. They seem to have quite a future with AC4 announced today and Watch Dogs, not to mention more iterations of Just Dance. And, it's not like this game got cancelled. 7 months is a long time to be bitter about something, especially when it's something revolving around video games.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@FluttershyGuy Rayman Legends. Because it was finished.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@Slapshot Then why not release it as a timed exclusive? I get that you're staying by your belief that there's some other sense of reasoning in the delay, but when Ubisoft states the delay was for the purpose of focusing on a multiplatform release on their Facebook page without a mention of any other reasoning, it's pretty hard to make sense of it all.
However, with this delay it's likely that Legends could be something truly special. Ideas get cut all the time in games, with time constraints being the primary issue. There's now 7 months to put more stuff in there, and that could really bumb up the quality even more. Sales-wise... not so much, at least from my what I (and you) can see.
@Pikminsi Welcome to the internet.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@Neram From what I could tell that was a compliment. Candy floss is like the best of both worlds. It is healthy, since it is floss, and it is also delicious, since it is candy. Perfection in dental care, but used as a metaphor for a mod.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@theblackdragon Yeah, I look forward to seeing stuff hilariously out of context. Seeing "loving" in place of certain other words can be quite interesting. Also, the time saved on having to look at stuff could be considerably decreased. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of reports I've made have been regarding cursing.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@FluttershyGuy For what it's worth, all that Wii U stuff will still be there. Ubisoft is on record for saying that. And I'd hope the dev team wouldn't just let the game sit around for 7 months without touching it. That's a long time for an established game to sit.
@Everyone Guys, we're consumers. We have a choice in the products we buy. I'm not trying to emphasize that we should boycott the game. I'm actually saying something on the opposite side of the spectrum on how we don't have to be treated the same as the other systems. We're not born Nintendo owners. It's okay to be pretty pissed though, but don't go over the deep end.
@TBD Doing great. If I were in your position I would lack self-control and replace all F-bombs with "Gently Caress" and S-bombs with "poopedy poo".
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@starshaped420 I doubt MS or Sony are concerned about this game at all. This was all on Ubisoft.
If that was an attempt at satire, try a little bit harder. I couldn't tell.
@dps5pt It's not a belief. Ubisoft stated on their facebook page that the reason for the delay was to focus on a multiplatform release. It is a fact.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@Knux Agreed on people over-reacting regarding no purchase. But the fact of the matter is that there's a ton of games releasing in September, with GTA V releasing that month. Historically speaking, that's suicide.
Not to mention the fact that Legends had virtually no competition prior to the delay. I fail to see how this makes sense from a business perspective. The amount of marketing required to make an impact right now would be nothing compared to what they'll have to do in September.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
Just took a look at Ubisoft's Facebook page. Found this.
"We never want to delay a game and for that we're sorry. We made the tough decision to push back the release so we could offer it on multiple platforms. Stay tuned for more."
So that officially confirms what we already knew. I gained the a bit of respect for them because they at the very least stated the delay was for the purpose of emphasizing a multi-plat release.
Now just to be clear, I believe this is a dumb, dumb move by Ubisoft. The move to timed exclusivity would have garnered more sales for the game, since there wasn't really any competition at all for Rayman Legends. Now they're releasing it in what is arguably the worst month to release it in. They're shooting themselves in the leg with this one.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@Knux The game was coming out in less than 3 weeks.
Games take about 2 weeks to go through the process of being manufactured, shipped, and delivered to retailers. AKA "going gold".
The game was about ready to release, yet it was delayed for 7 months. Can you not see why people would be pissed?
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@Knux Dude, almost no-one seems to have a problem with it losing exclusivity. It's because of a 7 month delay right before the game was about to release.
You've got to keep in mind that lots of people bought a Wii U this early on to play this game. To have it be delayed so far off and this close to release is going to be devastating.
Which is part of why I don't really get it. This is the perfect time to release the game. This will sell really well right now. September is a horrid time to release any game that isn't GTA V, especially this one. People don't have that much time to play tons of games. Part of why I just can't really accept the thing mentioned by @Slapshot is because Ubisoft didn't say anything about it. It was simply delayed. And that delay was also announced with the title coming to other consoles.
Now, there are worse things to have happened. I remember Japanese Xbox 360 owners got livid when Tales of Vesparia got announced for PS3 right after the game's release. To buy a system for a specific game and to then have it announced for a system that you may very well already own is pretty crappy. This situation isn't quite so bad since I doubt Wii U owners chose to get the system just for Rayman, but there are many early adopters who did.
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
@TheKingOfTown For stuff that's more minor, I'd be with you, but we were getting this in less than 3 weeks. It just got delayed for more than 6 months, and there wasn't any real explantation as to why the Wii U version was delayed outside of the fact that Ubisoft wants to put their focus on a multiplatform launch.
@Slapshot It takes more than 3 weeks for the process of a game to go gold. The game was ready, at least based off of the release for every major console game released. So people aren't assuming in saying this is a move solely to focus on a multiplatform launch (which makes sense from a business perspective, but to do so right before the game's release is a really low-blow to Wii U owners that were looking forward to play something truly captivating on their system).
Re: Rayman Legends No Longer a Wii U Exclusive, Delayed to September
Jeez, Ubisoft, what the heck? At least give some semblence of forewarning before delaying your games. Don't say, "oh, this game you were looking forward to play in less than 3 weeks? Yeah, that's getting pushed 7 months". That's not very kind to consumers. Give people at least a month in advance (and to be honest, we should have gotten more, since 7 months is an incredibly long time).