Wii U news thread

Jimbob wrote:

In Chandra Nair's last "Big Story" raises the best point I've heard in a while: When you were a kid, did you care about sales figures? And what other industry does this anyway?

Dunno. Why not ask the twelve-year-olds who do the "Get XYZ to Christmas No. 1 so Cowell can't have it" campaigns every year?

Additionally, and Axis may be able to back me up on this, there's a certain contingent of people in the UK Big Brother fandom- notably on Digital Spy- who seem to live and die by the programme's ratings.

This really isn't a games thing, no matter how much the games press wants to tell itself how uniquely terrible it is.

--

There is a feeling there is a "sing-when-you're-winning" element to this discussion. When Wii was riding high, sales- if not down to the granular level of actual numbers- were regularly used to undermine and invalidate any suggestion that someone might hold a legitimate preference for PS360 and its- sigh- "shootybang games" and nobody complained about that. Suddenly, now that Wii U isn't exactly performing it's Terrible and Wrong.

beemoh wrote:

Jimbob wrote:

In Chandra Nair's last "Big Story" raises the best point I've heard in a while: When you were a kid, did you care about sales figures? And what other industry does this anyway?

Dunno. Why not ask the twelve-year-olds who do the "Get XYZ to Christmas No. 1 so Cowell can't have it" campaigns every year?

Additionally, and Axis may be able to back me up on this, there's a certain contingent of people in the UK Big Brother fandom- notably on Digital Spy- who seem to live and die by the programme's ratings.

This really isn't a games thing, no matter how much the games press wants to tell itself how uniquely terrible it is.

--

There is a feeling there is a "sing-when-you're-winning" element to this discussion. When Wii was riding high, sales- if not down to the granular level of actual numbers- were regularly used to undermine and invalidate any suggestion that someone might hold a legitimate preference for PS360 and its- sigh- "shootybang games" and nobody complained about that. Suddenly, now that Wii U isn't exactly performing it's Terrible and Wrong.

Agreed with this, though I don't frequent the Big Brother threads on Digital Spy much any more *shudder*

I'll just leave this here....

https://twitter.com/TwoTribesGames/status/427585813195792385

If only Nintendo had some sort of video to announce stuff like this....

???

!!!

EDIT: It's the sodding Indie Connection Sale, isn't it. 

That's a whole load of indie games I've got no interest in.

And here we go: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131717-Report-Nintendo-to-Bring-Demos-of-Its-Console-Games-to-Smartphones The link says it all, really.

I think this seems like a smart move - a big problem for the Wii U (according to Reggie and his lot) has been that you can't really show asymmetric gameplay in a video. This is getting that gameplay out there, on hardware that almost everyone owns, for free. Little effort diverted away from the games we all actually want, and no "freemium" rubbish either!

With apologies in advance, I am just going to have to remind you of what I posted back in very early December, an idea which all of you poo-poohed very strongly:

- I am thinking that Nintendo shouldn't ignore the smartphone gaming market.
- What if they took a part of their major releases and put a specially designed portion of the game, an exaggerated demo if you will, and sold it at a reasonable price on the smartphone market?
- Selling the game isn't the point though, although it will generate cash flow, no, the real point is to sell the game on the Wii U and 3DS.
- It would be like a income generating advertisement, as it would constantly remind the player that full and complete experience (with buttons) is waiting for them on the Wii U or 3DS.
- With such a massive number of people on their phones waiting to be tapped into, they will potentially expose themselves, or more importantly, their games to a very significant number of people.
- It would certainly appear logically that it could generate much needed exposure, without downgrading the brand.

Whilst I did state that they could charge a small fee for the 'exaggerated demo', which doesn't appear to be the case, what is being reported doesn't stray that far from what I floated:

According to a report from The Nikkei, one of the largest newspapers in Japan, Nintendo will be doing this by using smartphone apps to market its console games, and will go so far as to provide downloadable "mini-game" demos of Wii U titles that users can play on their Android and/or iOS devices.

The reasoning behind the move is reportedly to give smartphone-only players a taste of the experience without making the actual game available on non-Nintendo devices, hopefully converting these users into Nintendo customers.

The Nikkei also writes that Nintendo will use smartphones to expand its potential user base by spreading information (such as videos, screenshots, and the aforementioned demos) about new game releases via some kind of official smartphone app.

The report adds that all Nintendo smartphone content will be completely free, and that the company currently has no plans to bring paid or "freemium" games to mobile devices.

This is generally how you replied to me (selected quotes):
- I have no desire to see most of the Wii U and 3DS library on a mobile phone.
- But like the Kid says, most of their actual games wouldn't translate all that well. You need real tactile buttons to get that Nintendo feel from a game.
- I don't know whether it would be financially beneficial to Nintendo or not, because their handhelds are pretty thriving; I wouldn't want to see the transfer anyway, because I'm a fanboy and I love my Nintendo handhelds.
- Companion apps*, possibly. Games, no.
- Nintendo needs its exclusivity.
- So the overall idea is to attract smartphone users into buying Nintendo consoles? I think that particular market is way too fickle for that to work, for all the 'casuals' the wii picked up that hasn't really transferred well to wii U, has it?

I actually had a micro hissy fit and gave up trying to get my point across on that, as it was clear (by the replies) you weren't getting what I was saying.  At no point was I saying that whole games should go on phones, just demos, even if I added they should charge for them, essentially calling them small games. Now it seems that you think it is a good idea Balla.

I will be really pleased if they go ahead with this, as it is a massive market to advertise to, and advertising something truly unique, only available as a full experience on a Nintendo console. Again, apologies for how I may be sounding on this, but I had to get it off my chest.

Oops!  Let's find what I actually said:

Balladeer wrote:

[A bit about companion apps.]

As for porting their games to 'phones, it would work well with some (the Phoenix Wright Trilogy were fine on my iPhone, bugs aside), but not others.  I don't know whether it would be financially beneficial to Nintendo or not, because their handhelds are pretty thriving; I wouldn't want to see the transfer anyway, because I'm a fanboy and I love my Nintendo handhelds.

So what I said was actually responding to the title of your thread (which for those who don't wish to seek it out was "Could Nintendo make phone games that would work to its advantage?") rather than your original post, in which you do indeed suggest a demo. approach.  I probably skimmed the OP and the posts below it, and I apologise for that.  And my handheld point is irrelevant, because Nintendo are porting over Wii U games instead.

However, I feel like my line in the list above has been taken slightly out of context, because the previous sentence in my post is (I hope this is clear) referring to porting entire games.  I still wouldn't care for this, or not until the games are well past their sell-by date anyway.  Demos. are fine though.  

And as others have said, there are a good few Nintendo games which wouldn't work without the buttons, especially on the Wii U (which I why I suggested handheld games in the first place).  Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong...  

  

...huh. Now I think about it, although it's a smart idea in theory, how many Wii U games will actually work in practice?  My post above made the assumption that some Wii U games could be ported over and lose little in the transition...

Maybe it's not as smart as I at first thought - not because of any problem with the idea itself, but because of the number of actual games that could be demo-ed in such a manner.  I trust that Nintendo will be sensible enough to pick games that work, and yet, they may then find themselves limited in their options.

Regardless, the best thing about this whole practice is that making a few demos. for 'phones should be cheap and easy.  At worst, it will flop and Nintendo will lose a relatively small amount of money and time.  I think a lot of the reason for my previous upbeat post is that Nintendo isn't wasting time making (or porting) full games to the iOS, which was what many suggested might happen!

That is my point Balla, I was trying to convey a concept of demos on smartphones and it constantly drifted off to not putting full games on them.  I attempted to steer it back, but people were not reading it properly and taking tangents I wasn't discussing.  I never suggested that they put full games on phones and don't want them to, especially if we are talking about new games. The quotes were really just to give a feel as to where the conversation was being taken and nothing personal, nor intended to be out of context.

I still think that the 3DS is perfect for the smartphone demo as well.  You can never have too much advertising, and I believe they are an even better fit.  As for the control aspect, I did touch on it, but not in depth:

It does not mean that Nintendo make a bad product, as I am completely sure that they could translate any of their games to a very high quality standard on Android/iOS.

I do believe that they could make any of their games work as demos, with the important part being the advertisement that goes with it - Even better on the Wii U/3DS.  If they can't get it to work properly, then I am sure Nintendo won't proceed with it - why would they?

Well apparently it's all academic anyway.

Balladeer wrote:

Well apparently it's all academic anyway.

Makes sense. This always sounded like complete wishful thinking to me.

Reworking their classic games so they were playable with a touch only interface, just for a free "demo" that wouldn't play anything like the full game, seems like a lot of work.

Plus, it would lead to the inevitable:
"As you've ported one level, why not port the rest too?"
"Why is the demo on my phone but not the full game? Where do I buy the full game? Do I buy the cart at the store and plug it into my iPhone??"

There seems to be something about the heady combination of Nintendo and Smartphones that makes the media lose their sanity.

It's been a long two weeks. We'll find out for sure in under 40 hours.

Axis1500 wrote:

There seems to be something about the heady combination of Nintendo and Smartphones that makes the media lose their sanity.

The headline in GI.biz' daily newsletter was "Nintendo goes mobile". Nuance!

oldschool wrote:

- Companion apps*, possibly. Games, no.

I think that's what I said (or certainly thought) which is sort of agreeing with what you said right?

Treesmurf wrote:

oldschool wrote:

- Companion apps*, possibly. Games, no.

I think that's what I said (or certainly thought) which is sort of agreeing with what you said right?

I wouldn't have thought so, as I was talking about demos and you were answering with Apps and games.  Nothing personal with the quotes used (which is also why I didn't mention names) from anyone, it was just to show how far away from point the conversation it went and why I got a little frustrated by it.

Quote :

So the overall idea is to attract smartphone users into buying Nintendo consoles? I think that particular market is way too fickle for that to work, for all the 'casuals' the wii picked up that hasn't really transferred well to wii U, has it?

What I said above was just to trying to understand what you were going for but it wasn't answered at the time, but as I said elsewhere on this forum an approach of trying out new IPs on smartphones first may be way to do that?

As axis said I guess we will see where Nintendo's positions lies after the investors meeting.

The_Jaster wrote:

Quote :

So the overall idea is to attract smartphone users into buying Nintendo consoles? I think that particular market is way too fickle for that to work, for all the 'casuals' the wii picked up that hasn't really transferred well to wii U, has it?

What I said above was just to trying to understand what you were going for but it wasn't answered at the time, but as I said elsewhere on this forum an approach of trying out new IPs on smartphones first may be way to do that?

As axis said I guess we will see where Nintendo's positions lies after the investors meeting.

Well, I can answer it now   

Yes, it is. I don't think the market is too fickle for that, as the point is more about ensuring continued brand recognition though demos as advertising. It doesn't matter that a small percentage of potential customers may make the transition, as the market is so vast, that any percentage of incremental business is good business. It reminds people how awesome Nintendo products are, then when they see a console bundle on special during a shopping trip, the potential to convert to a sale is significantly increased. The only issue is cost versus return, but I can't see a big cost, but I can see a big return.

As for new IPs on smartphones from Nintendo as an extra conversation, I am not in favour of that. I think all of their IPs should be exclusive to Nintendo consoles, be it large Wii U games down to small 3DS eshop games.

Iwata & co will take pay cuts.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/447224/satoru-iwata-and-shigeru-miyamoto-to-take-pay-cuts/

Nintendo still posted a net profit though.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/447219/nintendo-reports-revenue-and-profit-declines/

Nintendo to announce $1.2b share buy back.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-29/nintendo-plans-1-dot-2-billion-share-buyback-after-wii-u-flops-1

Some Iwata quotes:

Quote :

“I’m concentrating my mind on how to rebuild Nintendo rather than how I would take responsibility when things don’t work out in the future."

“The Wii U isn’t in good shape, That’s the presumption we have as we consider reform.”

Just came across this bit of news about some developer of Dreamcast shooters thinking about releasing something for Wii U. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/01/developer_of_new_dreamcast_shooter_redux_dark_matters_has_plans_for_wii_u_and_3ds_eshops

So I hear that DS games are coming to Wii U..

shanks wrote:

So I hear that DS games are coming to Wii U..

I am just reading up on this.  My guess before I read it is that we will have to buy and download them, when what I want is a plug-in USB device that uses actual DS cards.  I shall now read and see what it is.

UPDATE: Doesn't really tell us much at all, but still, it will very likely mean buying the games again (for the VC) and although I may consider some, they will likely charge too much, especially outside America. A DS Player would have been so much better, or even better still, a 3/DS Player.

There are some DS games I have yet to catch up on, but they're the more obscure ones that probably won't get a VC release.

I wonder if Super Mario 64 DS will be one of the first again. (also wonder if I still have my copy some where *goes off and looks)

SEGA has confirmed a new Sonic game for 1/4/U in 2015.
Of course, the internet being what it is, everyone's convinced that the 3rd Nintendo Sonic game has lost exclusivity...

I'm not sure if this is me being stupidly optimistic but having read about Nintendo considering mergers and aquisitions, i can't help but feel that at some point in the near future there will be an announcement along the lines of Nintendo and Sega join forces.

Rattlecat wrote:

I'm not sure if this is me being stupidly optimistic but having read about Nintendo considering mergers and aquisitions, i can't help but feel that at some point in the near future there will be an announcement along the lines of Nintendo and Sega join forces.

Either that or they're getting back into the love hotel game.