Nintendo had some fantastic scores on Metacritic last year, but sadly those high review scores didn’t translate into lots of sales. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is aware of this and says that Nintendo needs to rethink how they promote and sell their products in the future. This is probably why they’ve reached out to popular YouTubers in an effort to promote things such as the New Nintendo 3DS.
“Our products are receiving high scores but are still not selling as expected, there is much to be done in the way we incorporate aspects into our products that sell themselves, and in the way we communicate with consumers to promote and sell our products.”
IF ONLY WE HAVEN’T BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE 2012
One of the major problems with Nintendo: “We don’t make mistakes, people are just not understanding our awesomeness”
Wii U? not a fail, we just can’t communicate it well
A game flopped? well, obviously the marketing for it wasn’t right
YouTubers tell Nintendo to F#$% themselves? we’ll make efforts so they understand our policies
“Please understand” or else we’ll force you to “understand”
Except they do say all the time how many mistakes they have done since the Wii U was released, they are just not addressing the issue in a noticeable way…
“Mistakes” like “We haven’t been able to communicate the value of Wii U” is not recognizing mistakes, these are excuses
how about “WE WERE WRONG TO THINK PEOPLE WANTED A TABLET CONTROLLER”? or “YOU KNOW WHAT, WE SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE 3D EFFECT A SELLING POINT”, even better: “THE GAME WAS NOT THAT GOOD, WE’LL WORK HARDER NEXT TIME”
no, you will never hear them say anything that even resembles something like that, they’ll never take the blame for being lame, they’ll always blame on marketing or the consumer
just as they’re saying right now that their games are great, they have high scores, people are just dumb for not buying them
3D is the main selling point of the 3DS a long with the games…
Without the 3D, barely anyone would have bought it the first gameless year…
Sometimes you succeed, others you fail, the Tablet Controller was a risk and it could have been the selling point of the Wii U if they had marketed it from the beginning while releasing Nintendo games that actually made use of the Gamepad in unique ways other than Map/Inventory gimmicks…
When it comes down to it, the main reason for its current failure is the lack of games and marketing…
We still barely see anything…
They had 7 years to make games work the Gamepad in r&D and when NSMBU released it needed to use up what little gigs Wii U hard rive since they thought 8Gigs for 2015 and use that to make a 2D game work a Pro controller because they were too stupid not to work the game work the controller when that software was in R&D.
because all three big caps phrases are not true, even when you believe they are…
Well when you think about it, people ARE dumb for not buying them. I mean the PS4 has been getting low quality exclusives while the Wii U has been getting nothing but high quality, yet it still doesn’t sell well. It’s Nintendo’s fault yes but also the stupid consumers. Stupid consumers are stupid
People are not dumb, they just know what they want, and it’s not a Wii U
Nintendo, and especially Nintendo fans, should stop pretending that there’s nothing wrong. Wii U is not a great console that’s underappreciated, it’s an incredibly bad console
LMAO I was just joking XD But anyway I don’t even have a Wii U since I don’t have a first job yet (recently turned 16 last Thursday!) But I don’t think it’s a bad console. I think it’s really cool and creative and creativity is one of the things I live for in a video game (like when a game is creative i go crazy and really wanna play the game hence why im really into indies) Plus the games seem to be nothing but awesome with all the amazing scores they’ve been getting. Plus Miiverse seems really cool! I can tell once I get a Wii U I’d spend all day just reading a bunch of posts people make since they can be really cool and really funny XD
The Wii u is flopping sale wisely. It does not make it an incredible bad console or even close to bad at all. Its gettin very good reviewed games what else could one ask for
So people want overpriced garbage that doesn’t live up to its own hype?
You cannot be seriously saying that.
The system and its games are both great.
It’s got a lot of things that it needs, but it’s by no means a horrible system.
Only an anti-Nintendo twat would be saying that after all this time.
Wii U could have been a great console if they made it more powerful so that they can do tons of updates like make Wii U gamepad work Wii OS which is too weak to do. Make Wii U backwards to play GameCube games since the Wii U is too weak. Make Wii U gamepad work more than 25ft away since Wii U is too weak. Make Wii U Gamepad be able to communicate with a cell phone or tablet since Wii U is too weak. Only thing Wii U proved me wrong is that graphics can match PS4’s if they wanted to. But physical strength is too weak to add additional upgrades And new features.
Actually people don’t know what they want there is a big difference of what people say they want vs what they truly why do you think games like COD or Battlefield sell like hot cakes? People may say they want innovation or something new but in reallity the feel more confrontable with what they are use to
Example of this the mario 2D games vs the mario 3D games people may said that games like mario galaxy and 3D world are the best mario games and take the series to a new place but the 2D games still sell better than the 3D ones
Why do you think other game companies rehash the same game over and over? The answer is because that’s what truly sells
So because PS4 is outselling Wii U consumers are stupid. But it’s smart to work on a console in R&D and not make it capable for 2015 and longer.
plz don’t contribute on the conversation if your gonna talk about power because power never helped ;) and ps4 is outselling Wii U in a wrong way who on earth would buy a console that’s been having glitchy and rushed out games that overprice DLC and never live up to their hype and if its cuz of the power then gaming is dead
That still doesn’t excuse the Wii U’s specs. Nintendo got lazy.
the Wii U is good enough its not like power is benefiting the other consoles with their broken games
NO EXCUSES.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Wd-2Nrobs
Watch this you filthy casual
Um 18 million PS4 owners with the most powerful console? yet the Wii U’s advantages over the PS4 is QUALITY GAMES, controller selections and that’s it and in the long run the bad games PS4 been having for over a year got it at 18million units. and PS4’a only advantage is “power.” It doesn’t even need a price cut. If a powerful console isn’t the answer, why want Nintendo make the Fusion on pat with Wii U then? Huh?
So if thought aboWhen Nintendo was working the Gamepad in 2008, why would they think 25ft range would be good enough 7 years later?
Also when Nintendo worked on WII U in 2008, why didn’t they think of merging Wii OS to Wii U OS? If they couldn’t do it because for some stupid reason they thought 1gb for the OS would be enough, why didn’t they just keep adding enough gigs until they could merge them instead of optimizing shit into 1gig? Also stupid for not adding more cores in 2008.
No, but seriously: I think Rafael is right, here. Even if, as you said, they have noticed something was wrong and publicly said it before, they tend not to adress each issue in a separate way. Over the course of the years, they’ve tended to behave more and more like a wall: you can throw countless ideas or ways to solve certain subjects at them, the community can cry out loud what they desire to be playing as much as they (we) want, etc.; but they fail to pick all that feedback and take it into account and instead it’s just as if every piece of it just kept smashing that wall I was talking about without any effect.
Just count the amount of times everyone’s been let down after a game convention or interview in which they explained they had no plans at the moment for Metroid, F-Zero or other franchises that fans were craving for and had constantly explained what they expected from them. It’s not that difficult to have a competent division reading people’s comments across the web and sending their impressions to their higher-ups.
It’s true that they’ve recently kinda redeemed that impression by doing things like the Ruby & Sapphire remakes (which were bound to happen but, let’s face it, had been something fans were hyped over for years), the Majora’s Mask remake (same thing) or acknowledging the Smash Bros’ community. But still, they’re more of a “create things” company than a “listen to opinions” company. And even if it’s certainly not a great idea to jump on Microsoft’s boat and keep amending errors in their videogame and marketing policies, it’s their own income there, it would be good for both the company and their public if they knew what they were doing right and wrong.
You think Rafael is right? Nope, your both wrong. The Wii U is an amazing console, and will be remembered as such..
Do you guys even realize that the Nintendo 64 only sold 3.5 million consoles it’s first full year on the market? And that it only sold 32 million consoles lifetime? Except the Nintendo 64 is remembered as one of, if not the greatest consoles ever made. The Gamecube fits into this catagory as well, and it only sold 21 million. The Wii U IS a great console, but most gamers today unfortunately are prepubescent teenage boys who play only dude bro games. THATS a fact.
I didn’t say WiiU is a bad console (I’m quite proud of owning one) nor was talking about Nintendo’s sale history. Please, read carefully before commenting.
Yep, you can always tell the age of people here who think this is somehow new. This adolescent debate has been going on for decades. Anyone who was actually alive and old enough to be a gamer back in the 90s know that the immature gamer community used all the same tired arguments against nintendo then. The hate for yamuachi was just as fierce as the current hate against iwata. Nintendo was old and dying, they still used old cartridges. They didn’t use fancy fmv sequences everywhere like sony…blah.blah.
Today people recognize the n64 as being a great console with great games. Same will be true of the wii u.
Consumers are stupid all the time. Just ask apple. And gaming, unfortunately, has some of the dumbest out there, mostly because a lot of them still live with mommy….
Wii u is a flop… but still the best console out there.
Wii U is a great console and is pretty much the only next gen with good exclusive, but yeah it is pretty much a flop like the Gamecube.
just because it wont sell over 100 million doesn’t mean its a flop :/ 20 million or up is a success
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0UudoppDDs
…
How about getting rid of that stupid Youtube program for starters and letting people record your stuff whenever and however they like? Next good step would be coming up with smarter names for your consoles by not doing things like “New 3DS” and already that’ll probably double sales.
From there just observe what makes a bad option and please God Nintendo, just tell me you’ve learned…
I’ve already ran into so many peoples parents and grandparents that bought them the old 3DS… Cause of the damn name.
Even when I was standing in line on the 13th, everyone was joking around saying, make sure you specify you want the “New New 3DS.”
At least they have discovered the problem. If only people haven’t been talking about said problem for years already… Let’s hope they’ll start addressing this and other problem asap!
NO SHIT!!!!!! God damn how did it take you so long to figure that out? Holy Shit!!!
IKR
Because Iwata is dumb, stupid in slow. By the time he figures the issues Sony already will surpass that in technology or performance.
by losing more money man sony your so good ¦)
Really? Nintendo has plenty of money sitting around and yet they continue to make underpowered hardware. Are they just that stupid or are they doing it on purpose?
Thank you Hollowgrapej. And why would in 2008 think one gig for gaming and limit your updates for the OS at 1gig would be enough for 2015? Of the OS had 3gigs we could have been playing Brawl using the Gamepad rather than watching it. In 2008 and they thought Project Café ‘s specs would be good 7 years later.
And they got a lot of money and putting Money into Wii U they don’t need such as: in 2008 WII u can play Wii games yet use more money to put Wii games on the Eshope. That money and research could have been used to have GC adapter work on more than 1 game. GameCube tittles could have been used on Eshope. Adding more gigs to the OS could have been powerful enough to just merge Wii and Wii U OS togather.
How about letting the community advertise your games for free on youtube and other medias? I feel that is the biggest problem with Nintendo. Every content creator wants to play their games, but the copyright restrictions are a joke!
Except most Youtube channels that promotes Nintendo games are labeled as Fanboys and people just bash them for idiotic reasons…
WELL DUH! xD
LMAO this article looks to good to be true! They’re finally realizing this! HOLY SHIT MAN
nintendo has a stigma for being childish and thats the end of it really. It doesn’t help that they’ve made their console vastly underpowered and that all of their games lately have been so easy I can steamroll right through them. There was not a single challenge I can think of in skyward sword or link between worlds that I felt I had to think about.
Or that miiverse is constantly being monitored for any bad behavior or exchange of information, or that significant features are not included in online games, or that it recieves multiplayer games without access to dlc
Yeah, it doesn’t help that they also have people everywhere spreading misinformation like their games are kiddy, notably easier than anything else the industry has produced lately, or that they have to conform to the conventions of their competitors even though the people complaining about not having them would either not get a Nintendo console with them, or immediately complain about something else they’re “not doing right.”
Well cool. I hope they find a uniquely Nintendo way to promote themselves. The only thing I dislike about when Nintendo does these things, everyone wants to scream how “We all told Nintendo to do this a while ago!” then if it doesn’t work everyone defaults to “They should have done it sooner!” Maybe they don’t want to get into a visibility war with freakin Microsoft and Sony as that would remove funding from games to do. But what do I know? I’m not a businessman. I just watch people who’s job it is to make money, make money.
Xb1 is the real flop its failing hard np hames besides whats on 360 same with ps3 and ps4 but at least ps4 has some horsepower unlike xb1
Wii u stands alone.
they could stop fucking over youtubers as a start
No-one with any working brain cells gives a toss about YouTubers.
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Sadly it all comes down to third parties. No FIFA, COD, GTA, Battlefield or even Assassin’s Creed anymore means casual gamers aren’t buying the Wii U. The quality of opinions of the games aren’t important, they are what sells. If the Wii U was as powerful as its competitors it would get the games, get the sales and then draw people in with Mario, Zelda, etc and wipe the floor with the other two consoles. Even Smash and Mario Kart haven’t seemed to work this time. I love my Wii U but I hardly ever touch it, gaming mainly on my PS3 and PS4.
No, it wouldn’t.
No one bought a Wii U for Ghosts, or Assassin’s Creed, or Watch Dogs, or ANY multiplat.
Third parties have FAILED TO SELL THE WII U.
You need to accept that their multiplats aren’t good enough to sell to the Nintendo fanbase.
They haven’t been done right, and until that changes, they can NEVER be Nintendo’s strength.
Am I the only one finding this a bit too hard to believe!??! HOLY SHIT MAN FINALLY!!!! IM FREAKEN OUT MAN!!! So they finally noticed how bad it been!!!! So maybe there IS hope for Nintendo to come to their senses
Here a hint. Take out the old bags and twinks. Place your product in cool looking commercial and advertise the shit out it. This doesn’t mean just TV commercials. TV, computer, radio, fucking ads on app, and the news stations.
they want to make money not throw it down the drain
The Wii u did seem like a flop at first, but its just way too many interesting exclusives headed our way. After 2014, I play my U more than any other console I own. I mean when I bought the damn system all I wanted were good games anyway and Nintendo delivered…so what’s the complaining about ???? 😔
Start by naming your new hardware better. Wii U and New 3DS is so confusing to the average consumer. You don’t need to sell us hardcore base, work on the moms and dads who buy this stuff for their kids but are removed from Nintendo Direct, game sites and blogs.
The Wii U’s main problem is the consistent game drought the first half of every year. While Nintendo has the best games, they just are not pumping out enough of them on a consistent basis. Kirby so far this year? Almost March, three months into 2015 and we have a Kirby game? And whats on deck for next month? April? May? June? July? August?.. Splatoon? Is that it? I remember somebody from Nintendo saying there would be one major Wii U game released every month of 2015. What happened to that? This game drought is actually worse that 2014. I can’t believe Nintendo only has Kirby and Splatoon to get through the first seven or eight months of 2015..
I know that the Holiday season will be amazing. But that does not help with the first half of the year..
Why the fuck is everyone forgetting Mario Party 10!!?!?!
Meh.
lol My thoughts exactly. I haven’t been interested in Mario Party since 2 or 3.
Um because it lacks online in 2015?
Because it’s a party game FFs. More than likely it will not have online multiplayer. I dont have four other people to play party games with. Give me one player games, or Gtfo..
The problem isn’t the game drought. Ever week 3 month old GTA 5, COD and AC tittles on PS4 and Xbox still is in top ten. The problem is Iwata is stupid and not to noticing problems months after Wii U launched wait until 3 years. That was stupid.
Oh NOW you just realized this Iwata, after 2 fucking years?! Moron!
Yea, makes you really question if these guys do need to step down. I mean seriously, what the fuck Iwata…
No. He REALLY needs to step down. I would’ve prefer Miyamoto to be in charge more so than fucking Iwata. Please understand this Iwata: YOU SUCK ASS!
A bit disturbing, that the head of the company is just now figuring this out. I could really elaborate on that entire Q&A, but it gets to a point where you get so frustrated with some of the things Nintendo does and says, you can’t even bother yourself with it anymore.
It is just expected from them. As if they’ll never learn.
I just hope they actually put some initiative into what they’re saying this time. Nintendo is constantly saying they need to do things, the problem is, they never do them in a timely manner. We wait years just to see them make dumb comments like this, that are almost insulting to their consumer base that has been saying things like this since the launch of the Wii U.
So they can make sure they pay attention to every good review they get, but fuck paying attention to what any of your reasonable consumers buying your products have to say… Nice.
Huge sigh… They need to rethink a lot more than just their advertising.
I also have always felt Reggie and Iwata need to be more social in direct response to their fans. While you can ask Shuhei Yoshida any question or Phil Spencer as well on twitter, Nintendo is very limited in that regard. Reggie and Iwata don’t even have official accounts to where they can communicate directly with fans… Which is apart of marketing and advertising, is applying yourself to the ever changing social world. When they are social, they usually only answer a bunch of ignorant questions everyone already knew the answers to, while dancing around every important question people bring up. They also want to bump up advertising, but then piss off everyone advertising their products for free for them on Youtube… *face palm*
Nintendo isn’t direct enough, which is ironic.
Wish they realized this a year or two ago.
Oh well.
A new major game every month isn’t even feasible let alone necessary. I don’t even remember playing that many games when I had the time to play games all day. We’re getting Splatoon, Zelda, Starfox, Xenonlade, Pokken (Possibly), Mario Party, and there is still games unannounced.
I was just going on what I heard someone say, that a game would be released every month of 2015 on the Wii U. I thought it was Reggie who said it, could be wrong..
Either way Zelda, Starfox, and Xenoblade are all Holiday games. They need to spread these games out so people can stay interested in their console all year, instead of just during the Winter months..
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And yet consumers feel the need to complain and argue their points and voice their opinions about what a company should and should not be doing. Nintendo is a gaming company that makes great games…..what more can u ask for? Why complain when they’re doing their job ?
Because they keep making mistakes and doing whatever they feel like instead of listening to anybody. The Wii U is a gaming console and the whole reason you buy a console is to play games on. THERE ARE NO THIRD PARTY GAMES. Not everyone wants to play just Nintendo games. Meanwhile, the other two consoles offer you a wide variety of third party games to choose from as well as their own exclusives. People aren’t complaining just for the sake of complaining. They want Nintendo to improve. There are several other things that I could bring up that I think they’ve screwed up but I’ll stop right here. You should be able to understand it now.
Who Cares About 3rd Party Games? Their 1st Party Games Are Doin Great From My Eyes!! Im A Wii U User from Canada and I Play Smash, Mario Kart,Wind Waker, Donkey Kong TF, Mario 3D World And Etc. First Person Shooters are BORING!!!!!
That’s just your opinion.
Yes those games are goid. But did it get wii u to breach 10 million by 2014? Nope. Yet Ps4’s broken rushed games and glitches got n it at almost 20million? Why because they thought about 2015, 2016 and 2p17 back in 2008. Yet Nintendo wanted to make a console more powerful than a PS3 in 2008.
No the real reason why PS4 is selling so damn well is because of Microsoft and their Xbox One. You see this is basically what happened in a more simple way that I JUST came up with XD. So basically Nintendo was all minding their own business like “Ok were gonna the Wii U have a load of quality games! Hopefully it can compete with the other consoles when they release!” and It was actually going to as well! But then… There were some people who only thought of the easy way out… Those people who didnt care about anything but the monnies… “Heh heh heh!”, Microsoft laughed in mischief. They set a bomb right next to their ultimate enemy… Sony. “Alright guys with this bomb we’re gonna be rich! Our ultimate enemy will be defeated!!! All we have to do is set this thing right ‘ere…” *Ka- ching!* The bomb was set. “Alright guys we did it! Meanwhile at Sony. Just like Nintendo they were minding their own business getting ready to reveal they’re next console. “Well guys, how exactly are we gonna unveil the PS4?” “hmmm…”, another Sony worker hummed as he was thinking. “How about we wait until Micro goes first?” He finally answered. “Yes that’s a great idea! Then we can see what we’re up against!” So then Micro got tired of waiting and decided to unveil their next console. “OK press the button guys! It’s time to unleash the bomb!!!!” They said in excitement! “RIGHT” *BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM* The bomb was loud!! The bomb was no other than… The Xbox One! The console with all the DRM that no gamer ever wanted!!! “Booo!!!” the gamers shouted! “we arent buying this crap!” Meanwhile Sony was floating at the top of the competition all of a sudden!!! “Woah what’s going on?!?!? All this excitement from the gamers!” But at Microsoft… They were the ones who got injured by the bomb! Now they lost all of the hype there was for the Xbox One with the DRM Bomb! “Crap we fucked up guys! Retreat! Retreat now!!!” Nintendo was nothing short of surprised by the situation! “Guys looks like something happened…” they said… “but what exactly is it? anyway it doesnt much right now… what does matter is Sony is up at the top and we’re at the bottom…” This story ended with both Nintendo and Microsoft being affected by the DRM bomb that Microsoft set… Now Sony is at the top with the other 2 hoping to be like them one day… Will things get better for them? We’ll have to see! THE END
Oops!!! I forgot to say this was more of a story i cam up with! Sorry XD Anyway as you can see there are some errors here and there but I think i got it right for the most part… Hm! You know im very proud of myself for this here story i wrote!
Nice story. Lol.
XD Thanks!
Fuck youtube scum players
Get a real fuckin job you freeloaders.
Playing a game for views is lame also its copy right infringement plan and simple.
Wii u is a great console. I use it more than my ps4. Only for Shadow of mordor, tlos, gtav, cod, a very few others. But that’s because I got bored of fps games from last gen. But hey to each its own the ps4 is good in hardware but lacks variety and quality games. If only the two companies could work together like they had planned in the 90’s we would have Nintendo’s PlayStation 4. But well I hope the ps4 keeps selling just as good because out of all 3 companies they are the ones who need to sell the most.
How cute the commenters are, thinking Iwata did not think this for a while.
Listen guys, just because he never talked about it before does not mean he did not think about it before.
Nintendo should bring their edge back with their marketing, they need to do commercials, not just showing the games but the CONSOLE, and they need to have their more aggressive motto back, Get N or Get Out! lol
geeez fooking christ you don’t say Iwata-san… you have been saying the same thing about 2 years now but done nothing to address this issue. To be honest the Wii U is a very good hardware and propose something different. There are so many things they can do with it and so much potential but Nintendo does not show an example of it never mind any third party studio.
Yes smash and Mario Kart had done a good job but what about taking one risk and put a game which show the capability of the game pad and why the gamepad was chosen in the first place. Which could be also a good alternative for enabling player to experience new ways of playing i think it was the original idea).
Honestly open the gate flood to the fans and accept the criticism from everybody in the world. I will be harsh some will be pointless but with time and the right resources the wii U can be save and the next generation of hardware will be in line with the competitor while being different.
Now I understand the reluctance to put games on mobile but for the love of god put some freaking apps… Ok the 3DS needs love but more efforts need to be done on the wii U side. Nintendo Tvii has disaster for Europe and it shows that Nintendo does not understand the European market cause they never try to understand it.
I know it won’t be read by any Nintendo staff but now it’s time to think about saving the wii U and think fast on what else the system can do. For Europe what will replace Nintendo Tvii? Why not doing what Microsoft doing with Sky or Canal +? why not allowing someone with a subscription to watch they movie program on the wii?
In UK and I think even in Europe, TV advertisement need to be more strategic and more often. 16:00- 19:00 in UK (ITV, BBC1,BBC2,BBC3 and Channel 4) and 18:00 – 20:30 in France (TF1, France2, France 3, M6, Canal +, direct 8 and NJR12), Easter arrive and Nintendo needs to do something. Summer is also a good time to release games cause kids have more time to play not bloody September.
Oups I went on and did not release I wrote a book, I stop here but you get the idea.
i dont like the essays here :(
To be honest i didn’t intended to write so much but as well as critising nitendo i try to give some ideas /solutions hence the essay.
Of course you use YouTube as the thumbnail
No fucking shit, Iwata! I can’t believe I defended this guy awhile back! (Not counting defending him against the “death to Iwata” or “I hope Iwata dies in the hospital” comments, since his incompetence isn’t a thing to wish death on a person for.) Time to finally flex that bank muscle of yours, Nintendo! Like buying out fucking Capcom & Sega if they are open to being bought!