Home Gaming Nintendo admits it’s in trouble

Nintendo admits it’s in trouble

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MarioSad

Nintendo is not in the best position right now, thanks to its Wii U and to a lesser extent, its 3DS not quite igniting the gaming world.  Though it hasn’t quite made the loss analysts expected, it’s still not riding a wave of cash all the way to bank as it did earlier this generation with the Wii. Nintendo knows it’s in trouble – but is confident it can pick itself up.

“Currently, the overseas sales of Nintendo 3DS are still at a stage where the changes in the market are starting to emerge”, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said in an address. “We are aiming to make the momentum of Nintendo 3DS in the overseas markets more visible before summer this year. 

The 3DS is going to be home to an incredible lineup of great games, including a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, on top of already available ones like Luigi’s Mansion 2.

The bigger problem is the Wii U, which Nintendo admits having trouble marketing. The biggest problem? That damned name. The “Wii” name has become synonymous – at least amongst the hardcore gaming crowd – with shovelware, kiddie junk, so many gamers are giving it a wide berth. Worse is that because of the name, many believe it to be an add on to the Wii instead of a brand new console.

"We have not been able to solidly communicate the product value of Wii U to our consumers yet, which has been a grand challenge for us," he said.

"Some have the misunderstanding that Wii U is just Wii with a pad for games, and others even consider Wii U GamePad as a peripheral device connectable to Wii. We feel deeply responsible for not having tried hard enough to have consumers understand the product."

The other big issue is the stark lack of great games, whether first or third party. There’s a handful of genuinely incredible gaming experiences to be had, but it’s just not enough at the moment.

"Wii U might still have no such captivating game title as Wii Sports for Wii, with which people immediately comprehended its product value, but it surely has a lot of factors appreciated by users," he said. "We would like to take time to work thoroughly for its penetration, by making various efforts to have many people understand its product value as well as enriching the software lineup.

"Wii U has lost momentum due to the release pace of first-party titles which has not lived up to consumers’ expectations. Starting with Pikmin 3 scheduled for release in the upcoming July, however, we will intensively launch our key titles to give sales momentum to the platform.

With Nintendo bowing out of the big E3 keynote this year, you might imagine that the company won’t have much to show – but Iwata’s pretty confident they’ll have something of worth to show off in their smaller presentations at this year’s expo.

"As a decisive factor in buying a console is that you cannot play a much-anticipated title without the hardware, we will do our best to have you feel from this summer to the end of this year that there are plenty of great games for Wii U.

"We have many titles whose release dates are yet to be announced. At E3, we will disclose more specific information about the titles for the rest of this year and early next year."

What do you think? Can the big N claw its way back to market dominance? Or is the company on its way to becoming another SEGA? I’ve learned to never discount Nintendo – so I’m…not quite confident, but pretty hopeful that the company can turn it around.

Last Updated: April 25, 2013

14 Comments

  1. Ultimo_Cleric_N7

    April 25, 2013 at 15:37

    Uh Oh……..Guess Mario couldnt collect enough gold coins to keep the company profitable.

    Reply

  2. RedJoker

    April 25, 2013 at 15:38

    If Nintendo was really desperate for cash, they would launch a full RPGish Pokemon game upon the world. That would bring a truckload for sure.

    Reply

    • umar bastra

      April 25, 2013 at 15:48

      isn’t pokemon an rpg?

      Reply

      • Slade Boender

        April 25, 2013 at 16:11

        pokemon an RPG? HA! Thats like saying Gran Turismo is like a racing game. Honestly “you” entitled gamers these days

        Reply

        • umar bastra

          April 25, 2013 at 16:31

          Right, almost like calling Street Fighter a fighting game

          Reply

      • RedJoker

        April 26, 2013 at 07:45

        Haha Lets think more 3rd person over the shoulder view? That’s what I ment by “full RPGish”

        Reply

    • Craig Boonzaier

      April 26, 2013 at 12:54

      They must release a Pokemon MMO.
      My moneys would flow into that game.

      Reply

  3. FoxOneZA - The Chosen One

    April 25, 2013 at 15:49

    It’s more than a Nintendo thing, it’s Japanese products becoming irrelevant against the Apples and Samsung’s of today…

    Reply

    • BeatzByChrisBrown

      April 25, 2013 at 16:17

      Samsung and Apple don’t make console but they provide gaming to the casual market which is Nintendo’s bread and butter.

      Reply

  4. OldVideoGamer

    April 25, 2013 at 16:20

    Even if the Wii-U gains a little traction in the next 6 months, THE BAD BOY BROS are going to take it into an ally and give it a good beating.

    Looks like Mario has had one shroom to many.

    Reply

  5. Hit Cairns

    May 23, 2013 at 02:22

    I just don’t understand why they didn’t have the AAA titles for launch… what was Nintendo thinking?

    Reply

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