Pachter: Nintendo "Still in denial about Wii U failure"

From a GameInformer interview:

Let's talk Nintendo. Obviously the third-party ship is vacant for Wii U, but Nintendo still continues to make strong first-party games. Do you think that is enough to sustain the platform or do they need to make a drastic move and announce another console in the near future?

I think that they are not a particularly introspective bunch. I think that they are still in denial about the Wii U failure. You keep seeing this stat so we're up 82 percent – yeah, 40,000 units went to 70,000 units. Who cares? You're still trailing the other guys by a mile.

They need a new console that's competitive with Xbox One and PlayStation 4. If Xbox can sell at $349 Nintendo could make it and sell for $249. They won't because they still live in that old console world where they think they need to make a profit on the hardware. That means if they make a competitive console it would be more expensive.

The problem is I think they did a bad job with third parties with the Wii and they've done an abysmal job with third parties with the Wii U, so I don't think third parties would come back for a new console. If they come out with a new console and it is essentially identical programming language with the Xbox so the cost to port a game is zero, I'm still skeptical that third parties would support it. They possibly would, but only if the cost was so low. And that's the problem. Ubisoft got really burned on the Wii U making dedicated titles like ZombiU. Activision stopped making Call of Duty for the Wii U, and EA hasn't ever made a game for the Wii U. I don't think they come back.

Nintendo had brand messaging problems with the Wii U – some people thought it was an add-on for their Wii. Now Nintendo is launching a new handheld called the New 3DS that has games exclusive to it, which could create confusion with consumers looking to buy a new game for their regular 3DS. Why can't they figure this out?

Like I said, they lack introspection. I think that starts with leadership. Iwata makes a lot of bad decisions. I think he surrounds himself with people who allow him to make these bad decisions. It starts at the top. I think he is not a good leader.

I think the Wii was a dumb name and it's still a dumb name. I remember when the North American guys called me. It was April 1st and they said, "Before we tell you why we're calling you this is not an April Fool's joke – we promise. We've decided on the official name of the Revolution. It's the Wii." I said you have to be kidding me.

Wii 2 would have been a good name. [With] Wii U, people thought they were buying the GamePad for their Wii. Who didn't do their homework?

What you do you make of this, SW? Is Nintendo in denial? I don't think so. I think they've already accepted it, lol. It's just a matter of supporting the system until the next thing comes along.

At least WiiU has exclusives. Legitimate exclusives that aren't movies or coming to PC.

When has Pachter ever said anything knowledgeable about Nintendo. He doesn't understand them. His 100 "Nintendo is doing weird things" speeches can be summarized with: "I don't understand Nintendo." Done.

lol, yea more like Nintendo has already accepted that Wii U is a failure & realise they need to keep the early adopters & current Wii U owners happy. Iwata is no good CEO though. :P

^^This. Exclusives on other 2 consoles I can get on my PC at some point or another (most likely). You will never see Zelda and Mario on PC.

Pachter's points are too easily internet forum level. Sure, it doesn't take a genius to see Nintendo's issues start from the top, but Pachter's narrative (and a few strawmen) aren't something we've figured outs while ago

What? Why even waste a post writing this shit

Would of been a big hit if they sold it for what it's worth, I'd say about $149.99 right now.

I think the Wii was a dumb name and it's still a dumb name. I remember when the North American guys called me. It was April 1st and they said, "Before we tell you why we're calling you this is not an April Fool's joke – we promise. We've decided on the official name of the Revolution. It's the Wii." I said you have to be kidding me.

Meanwhile the original Wii branding was studied in design classes all around the worldGoes to show that, among other things, he also knows jack shit about marketing and branding.

Typical amercian myopia where the world seems to end at the US borders and anything percieved as silly in American culture, is a complete failure in any context. "Wii rymes with pee and is pre-school sland for dick FAIL". Ugh

but it does have the best exclusives right now

I like Pachter. He speaks logically most of the time. What he keeps putting to the side here is nintendo continuously saying they aren't in competition with the other two. Nintendo will let 3rd parties develop games but they will not abide by their command. Nintendo still wants control of their business.

That sounds strange and off putting but just look around at all the negative opinions regarding lack of content, buggy releases, and abusive dlc. Gamers are finally starting to say enough is enough. Nintendo saw this before hand and while they would obviously like wiiu to be more successful, they are viewing it as a transitional period.

Actually I think Nintendo is fully aware that the WiiU is a failure.

But you know Profits and such.

Nintendo should release an updated version of Wii U just like the NN3DS. What good does a line up of good exclusives do when you can't make a profit out of it? Yes the PS4 and XB1 doesn't have any killer exclusives right now but what they have are 3rd party games that majority of people want to play.

As it stands the Wii U is just a Nostalgia platform for gamers who want to relive their happy childhood memories in the present. For an outdated piece of electronics they should just sell cheap

@ocinom:

The wiiu is already cheap. $299 for the console with 3D World and Nintendo Land.

I don't think they're in denial about the Wii U's failure. Internally, it's pretty obvious from the financial hit they took after the system's launch and the low sales numbers. Externally, they have Reggie side step questions of Wii U's performance with his PR talk.

To be fair, he's really not knowledgeable about Sony or Microsoft, either.

Wait. Patcher's opinion matters? His opinions are shit.

so like the kidtendo fanbase then

wiiu gona outsell gc!!!! yeah even though its tracking 3-4m behind at the same stage lmao

Well at least he was right about Sony doesn't belong in the Handheld business and he was right all along. Beyond that, all of his prediction are Bullshit.

He said that 3rd party devs probably won't go back to Nintendos next console and I believe that. Its why I think Nintendo went through so much trouble to consolidate their handheld and console divisions. It will mean that they will be punching out games all the time in the future. Its why the idea of a fusion console that can play both just won't die either. Because then every game they make will be on both devices and both machines will never know droughts like the 3DS/WiiU did. Kinda funny because if they do this and it works out well, then they won't need 3rd party support as badly as they do now.

Lol design classes.

I'm not sure if you meant that as a compliment or as an insult, because any knowledgeable college-trained person would know something studied in design classes is a bad thing.

I'm a college-trained designer and dont know what the hell you are talking about.

Nintendo is an out of touch joke, that has been making consoles with weak libraries since the n64. Their fanbase apologizes for every short coming they have with how talented the first party is (admittedly fantastic on all time, recently creatively deprived), while never demanding for more, and being perfectly fine with getting less.

I wouldn't write it off. As a failure sure its not selling like the Wii or out selling competition but profits are key

What does he want Nintendo to do? Shut the doors on all those Wii U owners? Nintendo is NOT in denial they've spent the last few years trying to fix their abysmal launch and PR regarding the Wii U.

Their fanbase is smart enough to own more than one console. This is why we don't care what Nintendo does.

TL:DR

Nintendo is stupid and cheap, we know that.

Lol Pachter.

I believe my math is rusty. If Nintendo sold 40,000 units and then claimed their sales went up by 82%. That would mean they sold 72,800 units, correct? If I am correct does this mean Patcher rounds everything and half asses his job? How is he to be trusted....LOL.

In all seriousness, Nintendo is out of touch. They are perfectly content to keep pumping out the same titles every generation and lack 3rd party support. That is what hurts them and it's sad they fail to see it. Also, not every console needs a gimmick. I know they revolutionized controllers, but it's time for a change.

Yup and never forget about that fabled Nintendo polish and them der artist.

Kidtendo is hopeless the leadership are a bunch of yes men. Everybody wants to keep their job so I doubt anybody will tell Iwata that he is fucking up and the company is in danger of failing. I imagine a bunch of old japs making fun of the west and drinking sake. Then Iwata has a great idea "lets call our console the wii u "and they all say yeah that is great boss. We need a gimmick lets make a tablet controller but we won't make it portable to keep our 3ds sales (drunk japs all agree).

Iwata says **** 3rd parties yes men cheer for their leader lolz...it's monkey's encouraging monkey's up at kidtendo IMO.

So you're saying you're okay with every poor, out-of-touch decision Nintendo makes so long as you get games you like?

That doesn't invalidate their poor ass decision making. There is basic shit they could be doing that they don't do.

huh... I didnt know racist comments were allowed around here.

Yes. Because I always own all the consoles. So I don't care what one or the other does or doesn't do. They balance out. Nintendo can stay Nintendo, the other two are way too alike enough as it is.

Are you trolling me... there is only one race the human race.

Well, the millions made on the Wii says they made some good market based decisions last gen. Sure they fudged up with the Wii U, but every top console messes up just like at Sony with the PS3 after the PS2.

"Basic shit" well that's your opinion. If Nintendo is the opposite of all the shitty trends this gen then more power to them. They're doing DLC right and don't rip people off the way EVOLVE does.

If that's what Nintendo is missing this gen then they aren't missing shit.

Wii U will be dead in early/late 2016. Youll be forced to play on other platforms while you waiting for Wii 3... Thats Nintendo for you. Lets see what Nintendo will offer to its Wii U base in 2016/2017/2018/2019 and at the end of this generation we gonna talk again about who provided more and better exclusives/games in general.

Dont defend Nintendo and Wii U because they had a strong second year ( 2014 ). See beyond that , we are already in 2015 while Wii U future in 2016 and beyond is already cloudy.

Honestly, their decisions on the hardware front might drive them into the ground eventually if they continue down this path, but their 1st and 2nd games are continually impressive. So clearly I would love them to make better decisions (consolidation of online accounts, better hardware and a ton of other things) but for now my PS4 and X1 will satisfy me until the next Nintendo GEM drops.

Where there is smoke there is fire. 3rd party support for the wii u is horrible to put it mildly. Sales of the wii u are terrible. Software sales are horrible. Obviously the leadership has to take some responsibility.

Opinion?

They handle digital distribution in the shittiest way possible. Not opinion, cold hard fact

They handle online id's in the shittiest way possible, and have been doing that for a long ass time. Not opinion, cold hard fact unless someone really loves how Nintendo has handled online over how Xbox Live has been or PSN. The only thing they've done correctly is what being free?

They release games with less features or missing obvious ones for instance: Super Mario 3D World has coop and Mario Party is a party game with multiplayer - zero online multiplayer in both. Apology/excuse for this "bu bu nintendos games are best on couch'...um they can do both, a mediocre studio like Bungie had games that offered split screen and online play. Nintendo is supposed to be the greatest of all time right? unquestioned best ever? Great then they don't get an excuse or an apology for it, they should be held to the standard that comes with being the greatest ever. And it is ridiculous that those games don't have a functional online play. Basic shit in 2015.

Splatoon is launching a primarily multiplayer game, because when they announced they led with multiplayer, has no proximity chat, no voice chat, none of that. Socom 2 had head sets and voice chat...on the PS2. Halo 2 had voice chat on the Xbox. The Xbox One and Playstation 4 launched with a headsets.

When they do online, it's not always consistent. Because while Mario Kart 8 is mostly fine, Smash WiiU is laggy and inconsistent. Again we're in 2015, and they are doing this shit wrong. It be one thing if all they ever made were single player games like Mario, Zelda, and Metroid, but they don't. They also do make Mario Kart, Smash Bros, have a new ip that is multiplayer in Splatoon, and their spin off mario stuff like Party and the sports games are multiplayer. Plus when they add coop, they are in a great position to do both.

Let me put it another way Bayonetta on the PS3 and 360 had leaderboards, because the people who play those games, get those games, and play them at a high level will play to speed run, to pile on trophies, to pile on a big time combo score. That same game ported to the WiiU and it's sequel, made by the same developer didn't waste their time with a leaderboard. A basic fucking thing, the simplest fucking thing you would expect from a game built around getting high scores.

But, no it's just opinions.

@SolidGame_basic: I like patcher is 100% correct. I was a hardcore nintendo fan until the Wii came out. I would not buy a wiiu for $99 because those types of games don't appeal to me any more. Nintendo has lost touch with reality and under Iwata will never capture a fair share of the western market.

Nintendo is insanity. There is a reason why they are way down in 3rd in marketshare. I think he understands nintendo perfectly. They have their heads up their own ass. They lost touch with reality after the wii was a success.

keep dreaming hermies, pc is not getting all ps4 or xbox one exclusives. pc will get the afterthought failure exclusives not worth a damn, yes.

I agree with this totally. I have visioned this since the end of the gamecube.

And yet their games are still spectacular even with those problems. Tells you something doesn't it. You're right and I guess one day we'll get a mario party with online play. But until then it's not really the end of the world.

Kids use to be excited like

Now they are like

Classic sheep deflection tactic.

Nintendo just doesn't "get" the video game market anymore. Which is a shame because they were the leaders of the market not too long ago. But after the SNES they just lost sight of reality and where technology was going and it was all down hill after that. The WiiU can be salvaged but Nintendo will have to BUY 3rd party exclusives and drop the freaking price of the system.

Nice try I'm not a sheep. I just don't take video game so damn seriously. And I own all the systems so I don't care who does what.

I believe it. Nintendo hasn't been relevant (competitive) since Gamecube. I still think that the Gamecube was their best controller design.