David Jaffe, the outspoken creator behind popular Playstation franchises such as Twisted Metal and God of War is not entirely convinced that the Wii U will be anywhere near as popular as Nintendo’s Wii console which launched back in 2006. Jaffe believes that the families that originally purchased the Wii will have simply moved onto other things such as Apple’s immensely popular iPad.
“I don’t think it will do anywhere near as well as the Wii did.”
“… I think there’s a large enough percentage of people who bought the Wii as something other than a gaming device, and turned it into the fad that it was.
“Most of that percentage is going to go away now. I don’t think enough of them have become ‘gamers’. They tried [the Wii], now they’re onto something like free-to-play MMOs and then they’ll move onto something else. How many of them got converted into actual gamers? I don’t think a large portion.”
“A lot of kids want iPads, iPhones and iPods now. And a large portion of the people who would’ve been interested in traditional Nintendo stuff, beyond core gamers, are just as happy playing Storm in a Teacup on iPad versus a new 3D Mario,” he said.
“Between those two audiences going away and the number of choices core gamers already have on the other systems – which, let’s be honest, a lot of them like super-amazing graphics on their 3D TVs and stuff like that – a lot of people are going to be better served going to the competition.”
“I think the Wii U is going to be less successful than the Wii, probably 50% less successful,” he said.
“I don’t think you’re going to see the Wii U at number one in the next console generation.”
Totally agree, i love Nintendo but they’ve got it all wrong here.
Hopefully they prove me wrong
Elaborate
I agree with him. There is no doubt in my mind that Nintendo will be successful with the Wii U, because it will. Nintendo will always sell well enough just on their core franchises alone. But the Wii U will NOT be as huge as the Wii was. They will be successful next generation, but not nearly as successful as they were this generation.
I, honestly, don’t think it’ll do as good as the Wii. But I’m tired of Sony hatin’. >:l
Yeah, I doubt it will do as well as the Wii. I mean, any system next generation will be hard pressed to do that well.
But I think saying that we’re not going to see “the Wii U at number one in the next console generation” is a pretty bold statement, in my mind.
At any rate, regardless of how well it does, i’m definitely getting one.
To paraphrase George Takei: “You are a douchebag. That’s right. A douchebag”.
As the other comments have already stated, I doubt we’ll see “Wii sales” with the Wii U. It will do pretty well, just not as well as the Wii. That’s my prediction, at least.
Saying it won’t be as successful as the Wii is a bit stupid, considering the Wii was IMMENSELY “successful” thanks to the casual gamer market. It sold a hell of a lot more than the Gamecube or N64, so does that mean the N64 and Gamecube were UNsuccessful? No, of course not.
On paper the WiiU probably won’t sell as well as the Wii, but why should that matter or be a huge criticism? I don’t see why it matters.
My thought’s exactly. Sony just loves hatin’. >.<
ditto
Yeah and maybe we will be surprised and the wii U will sell very well. But The wii is the 3rd best selling home console of all time below the ps2 and ps1 so that will be hard to beat! Even sony and microsoft didnt do better than the wii! So its kinda lame for this sony producer to be hating.
I only needed to read God of War and Twisted Metal to know why he was saying it.
I have a firm belief that this rests entirely on price. The Wii at $250 was a great price for a system (when comparing to the 360 / PS3). If Nintendo wants people to buy into the Wii U, they will need to be competitively priced so people will think it’s a bargain.
same as your current game twisted metal. it will not sell as many copies.
Nintendo isn’t aiming for the causual market… Just because the causual gamers move on to Apple doesn’t mean that it will boost sales for the PS4/next Xbox. I’m confident that the Wii U will do well, just not as good as the Wii.
I put about as much faith in market analysis from David Jaffe as I do video game knowledge of any sort from Michael Pachter.
Will the Wii U see as high of sales as the Wii? Probably not. But then, I doubt anything will see those kinds of sales ever again.
If Nintendo includes some decent first party games AT LAUNCH, none of this launch window bull, the Wii U will do just fine.
(And frankly, I can’t recall the last time I played any games David Jaffe made anyway.)
That would make sense if the casual audience was the primary target. However, I think Nintendo is looking to turn those casual players into core gamers. If Nintendo markets the hell out this system like they did with the Wii, and people start seeing what they can do with it, then I think it’ll be another success. Supposedly, those people that bought a Wii are now supporting other HD consoles because they wanted to do more. If that is true, the brand Nintendo alone with their games wil convince those people.
Plus, they will look at the controller and get the hang of it more easily since they might have used an iOS device before. And if Nintendo offers the games, then the core audience other than Nintendo fans will buy it. For example, Dragon Quest X is coing to Wii. That is as popular as Monster Hunter in Japan, but because Nintendo has been publishing the game outside Japan, DQ is becoming more popular in the West. The Wii U is backwards compatible with Wii games. If Capcom and Square Enix announce the next Monster Hunter and Kindom Hearts including for Wii U, then people will want the system that can play all of those. And because Nintendo’s involvement in Dragon Quest, it is not likely that it’ll get ported to non-Nintendo systems.
As for Jaffy, he should watch what he’s saying. We could say the same about the upcoming Twisted Metal. After that, there have been a lot of BETTER games than Twisted Metal, and this gen of gamers are not particularly into that kind of game. All this hate from Sony has gone way overboard.
Even if it doesn’t outsell the Wii, I do believe it’ll break 50% atleast. The thing about the Wii U is that it seems to cater to 3 markets. That’s casual gamers, “hardcore gamers” and Nintendo fans. Now ofcourse Nintendo fans are onboard and for the other two it’ll take some persuasion. I don’t think the hardcore market will be too difficult to attract what with all this 3rd party developer buzz. And I do believe atleast a small portion of the casual market will perhaps buy out of curiosity. Either way, I’m thinking Nintendo will atleast have 2 out of 3 if not all 3. It just depends on what moves they’ll make next.
In all honesty, Do I CARE how well Nintendo is doing? They won’t go bankrupt for a LONG time, and I’m going to be getting all of Nintendo’s systems eventually. You see, as long as Nintendo releases any Mario or Zelda game as a launch title, it will sell INCREDIBLY well at launch.
This guy is a dumbass. Nintendo knew the casual gamers wouldn’t stick with them, so that’s why they called the system “Wii U”, so casual gamers would think it’s almost the same. They’re trying to keep EVERYONE. Sure, it won’t be as successful as the Wii, but it will still surpass the Xbox 720 and PS4, since it’ll have a huge amount of time without competition.
Also, is anyone else getting tired of these idiots comparing video games to cell phones? They need to learn that there is a GIANT difference. I will never buy an iPhone/iPad/iShit.
Sony Contractor predicts Nintendo’s failure. News at 11.
I think the way he frames the Wii’s success as “a fad” in the first place shows he probably didn’t think the original Wii was going to be a success at all, probably for reasons like “Casual gamers aren’t real customers” and “Nintendo’s bowing out” or something. Now the Wii U won’t be as successful because it’s not appealing to those non-customer casual gamers enough… or something.
Meaning we probably shouldn’t put any stock into anything he’s saying.
Also curious that 50% just so happens to put Wii U under the PS3’s current total.
Then again, a 50% reduction wouldn’t be the worst thing ever in video games. PS3 currently is around 40% of what the PS2 was.
-:[] i made a little angry guy…
Ell nah! Moved on to apple ipad? Fuck no. That shit is way to expensive and useless.
I’m confused, Jaffe. They’re not gamers, but they’re playing free MMOs and iPods/iPads? Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Herp!! Derp!! Derp!! Derp!! I’m such a Sony fanboy. Wii U is gonna totally flop. Buy my new twisted metal game. Hurrrrr!!! I’ll just say stuff that leads to Sony getting hated and eventually hacked again. Uuuuurrrrrr!!
why would kids want an expensive ipad or iphone. Yea apple has games that are cheap but theyre not full retail games and it has weird controls. I think the Wii U was a good name to choose so that the casuals can notice it and see whats new. If they are to see that it keeps the wii tradition along with better online, graphics, contoller and a good price against the other conoles. It will sell alot…..might sell more than wii who knows. I believe core gamers will come back also. we’re getting all the games now not to mention there will be new 3rd party exclusives. Xbox has they’re halo and gears, Sony god of war, killzone etc, Wii U endless possibilities.
I don’t think so the wiiu may start slow but it’s going to have major 3rd party ports of the hardcorez favorite game. What jaff does not understand is the hardcore are only loyal to the best games they can afford.
The casuals will get it just because it will look better and have the same casual games like wiiu sports maybe? Resort, play, sports all sold yet they all look horrible on hdtvs. Sure the casuals bought up the $700 iPads and they will buy the next wii for wiiu Mario kart, Mario 6, the next resort, play, sports, etc. SimPly because Sony and ms can’t make games that fun.
So it is actually possible the wiiu will sell like the wii plus the hd systems due to the wide range of game types rather than marketing pandering.
The wiiu is the only system that also supports 2d gaming on disk with serious games not just downloads.
Sony was given the industry by 3rd parties the last few gens. This is no longer the case now. Sony is clearly out of touch with console gamers and many are only attached to the myth and hype of Sony as there games don’t really sell.
david jaffe seems to forget one thing: whilst the wii U attracted many casual gamers and people who never played or owned any of nintendo’s previous consoles such as the N.E.S, super nintendo, gameboy, the truth is the wii lost a large majority of video game players, as 3rd party titles such as tekken, anarchy reigns to name but many graced the 360 and ps3 and not on the wii.
i believe that the wii U will address that issue and that nintendo will try and attract gamers, who are looking forward to something other than the dance games, quiz titles etc.
and as for sony, well, frankly who cares.
Damn!!!! A lot of trash talking by Sony the last couple of weeks! They’re starting to sound a little scared to me? I always buy every system when they get released and have really been disappointed with the PS3. Now that the Big N is winning back the 3rd party devs I really don’t see any reason for picking up the PS4 a few years down the line. For me it will be a battle between the WiiU and the next xbox in my house for which one will get more play time!
If someone offered me the choice: I would take a Nintendo 3DS with $250 in software over a $500 iPad any day.
Plus, did Mr. Jaffe even consider the fact that there are always more and more young people to fill the gap of new gaming enthusiast, from people who may have grown out of it. The number of people who interact with games is increasing not decreasing. Nintendo probably won’t sell 86 million Wii U consoles, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to have wildly successful sales.
The Wii sold a LOT so I don’t think the Wii U will be the same, but I know it will do very well in sales.
It won’t be as popular, but I think the Wii U will be very impressive, having HD, third party, and online that impresses EA and Ubisoft, and let’s not forget Zelda and Mario that is sure to follow.
Besides, who would want to spend that much money on an iPad just for gaming?
I devices aren’t gaming devices
As stated before; yes, the Wii sold a LOT, cause it expanded to casual gamers, but it also lost a lot of hardcore gamers. The Wii U is aiming to regain all those hardcore gamers with the great 3rd party titles that will come Ubisoft and EA are really excited about it, so it’ll be easy. And I think they’ll manage to keep some of their casual gamers as well. So maybe it won’t sell as much, but it will still be very successful.
As for Jaffe, let me remind you that Wii U comes with amazing graphic capabilities as well, so stop, hatin’ is bad.
Ummm… Duh? 50% less is still good though.
I think it won’t do quite as well, but I think he’s very wrong. I know TONS of people who have the Wii console, and all of them will buy new consoles within a number of years from release. Many of them have ipods and such, but they don’t consider ipods games REAL gaming. Anyone who wants games will buy the wii U, not an ipod.
Wow this guy is so wrong. Sure Wii U might not sell as much as the Wii but it will still do well in my opinion. Besides I’m getting one no matter what!
I’m just kind of worried that since there are rumors flying around about ps3 dropping to 199 it will boost sales and the late adopters for the ps3 might not buy the wiiU but then again they are the late adopters that are probably still playing ps2
yes totally true
*PLEASE NOTE* A.Sony is scared and beginning to run out of ideas.
B. everyone is mad because Nintendo stepped it up BIGTIME.
C.Fanboys only have 1 argument… “its not gonna sell well” Because,bad graphics,bad online,kiddie games,etc have all been taking care of. and sony cant capture the casual crowd for shit. all there “casual” games suck except for MDR and LBP.
D.unless apple REALLY comes out with a game system,it will NEVER take over the casual or the gaming industry all together. with its gay controls…the only reason ppl play that crap is due to bordom or doing somethin to pass time,i have never heard of a “hard core” ipod/ipad player you buy and ipad to do things like distort pictures and video chat (which the wii U has) not for gaming
E. the only reason apple is brought up is not because of the casual gamers, but simply because of the controller…(which was around wwaayy before the ipad and other ishit)
PPL. PLAYING ON THEIR 3DTV=FACE-PALM. Nice way of promoting your 24inch sony 3d tv. If ppl. had 3dtv NINTENDO would have already made the console do that but 3d is still not big as a FAD yet!
I might say this is true. The Wii became a fad for casual gamers. The Wii U will definitely become successful, and it will invite core gamers to the platform, but casual gamers may not want to upgrade.