I'm pretty sure that at this point, the majority of people that wanted a Wii U and ZombiU as a combo have already picked up the system. Doing this three months after such a game has been launched doesn't exactly jump out at you as an attractive deal, even if the Pro Controller and additional game adds value. This may have been better with New Super Mario Bros. U as the bundled game, as at least it would have a chance at appeal to a wider demographic.
Furthermore, I'm pretty sure a lot of people want to see a Wii U SKU that's LESS expensive, not one that is more. I just can't see many that have overlooked the Wii U to this point suddenly picking this up, especially since it's specifically aimed at a certain market. And for that market, there were already retailer-specific bundles that offered something similar to this, so this was never really something that was in great demand to begin with. I just hope Nintendo isn't putting together too many of these bundles, since I don't see this offering flying off shelves too fast.
Not to mention that this is pretty ironic after the stunt Ubisoft pulled yesterday with Rayman Legends. lol
I agree. If there's something to be learned from this, it's that once an exclusive doesn't mean always an exclusive game. I think this is especially true for a third party game on a Nintendo system in this day and age. I didn't think it would happen quite this soon, but now that Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge has set the precedent, I expect other Wii U third party 'exclusives' to follow suit, including Bayonetta 2 eventually.
I'm kinda looking forward to this game, if only to get another chance to play as Momiji. The game wasn't a very convincing reason for me to pick up a Wii U, but I can certainly see myself adding this game to my PS3 collection in time. But man... this seems like nothing but a bad omen for the Wii U, though...
I honestly don't think people are THAT confused, though. The simple fact is that regardless of branding, the Wii U isn't the Wii. If Nintendo has done nothing else with the system, they've proven at least this much from a perspective of initial impression. Regardless of if the average consumer is aware that the Wii U is a new console or not, it just doesn't have a lot of mass market appeal right now. If anything the Wii branding should be HELPING it more right now in that regard.
This is the 'message' Nintendo has struggled to send, but as of right now, it doesn't look like they have anything to change that in the near future. It has already used the sequel to a 30+ million-selling Mario game to no avail, and now, it's just trying to make a stand by insisting that a price drop isn't coming. The problem is that things are only going to get worse at this rate, regardless of it the masses know that the Wii U is a new system or not. It needs to give the average person a reason to even pay attention to it.
It's cool. I agree with the part that you omitted by mistake, but at the same time, Nintendo wouldn't have been so quick to drop the 3DS' price by so much if it believed that the software would change things. Truth be told, the 3DS' early lineup wasn't terrible, minus a true system-seller (which I'm not sure it still has in most regions). The problem was the system itself not convincing people it was worth the original asking price.
The Wii U's first year is huge, and Nintendo's already spent three months of it in a lackluster fashion, not counting what will be a slow February and March, too. I'm not sure if Nintendo can wait on Sony and Microsoft to reveal all of its next-gen cards before they make a move. The system is already struggling to prove it's superior to the PS3 and Xbox 360 as we speak. Nintendo has to convince the masses that the Wii U is a worthy purchase or find itself in a very difficult situation soon.
The 3DS' price was dropped because of a very significant lack of demand. Nintendo itself admitted that much by saying its sells were much less than they had expected it to be that early in its life. The Vita had nothing to do with it. Very few people simply wanted to pay $250 for it.
Right now, the Wii U is following the very same path. Not only have hardware and software sales been unimpressive of late, there is nothing in sight that suggests that things will turn for the better. Nintendo's aware that Wii Us (both models) are sitting on shelves much longer than they were supposed to, and a price drop is usually the best way to address the situation.
Now that Iwata has addressed the situation, I'm actually MORE inclined to believe that a price cut or a significant chance in the Wii U SKU strategy is in the cards. Not to call Iwata a liar, but this isn't exactly a situation where such an adamant response will be of much help. The system has fallen so fast, it needs something to spark interest, and unfortunately, it won't be any software release for the first quarter of the year, knowing what we know now. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the system continues to struggle to move units until around June, which would be way too long of a drought for a new console to start off in.
Nintendo's hoping that what it announced at its latest Nintendo Direct presentation will eventually help move hardware in a major, but I don't even see Wind Waker Wii U helping that much at the end of the day. There's always the likes of Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., but there's no telling when they will come. If this keeps up, Nintendo won't have a choice but to cut the retail costs of the system sooner than planned, especially with multiple new consoles hanging in its shadow.
A 50/50 chance is what I'm giving a price drop by September's end.
This is sad news to hear, but I'm not surprised. To me, this is a byproduct of this gen in terms of not only financial challenges, but the mentality that most of the industry has adapted. What I mean by that is that there's such a pressure to create AAA-quality franchises nowadays, I think it hurts a game like Epic Mickey. Heck, the fact that Junction Point decided to use the buzzword "Epic" for a Mickey Mouse game says plenty about the direction this game was developed in, and even with Spector's involvement, it became something too important for its own good.
I suspect that while this game wouldn't have been as open-world in prior gens, it possibly could have become a better game with a closer-to-home approach for just making a fun Mickey Mouse platformer. What's strange is that this series debuted on the Wii, a system designed to provide the simpler, yet creative gameplay experiences this game could have been. No doubt that there was some reason for the decisions that Disney and Junction Point made for this game; I just think those decisions were influenced by the negative nature of game development in this day and age.
Epic Mickey 2 wouldn't be the first multi-platform game to sell bad when the original game was a Nintendo-exclusive title. De Blob 2 suffered the same fate, and even Viewtiful Joe 2 comes to mind as a game that migrated to another system, yet failed to sell. Say what you will, but I don't think there's a doubt that this happens, especially on Nintendo systems.
Still, to respond to FallenOneX's curiosity, I think Epic Mickey's 2 failures are actually because of the first game. The original EM was a game that received so much hype, and I think its success was more because of that hype than the quality of the game itself. After it received such mixed reactions, it was really only academic for EM2 to take a step back, and the fact that the game didn't fix the problems of its predecessor certainly didn't help its cause either. Even so, I think there is some truth to what you're saying, especially when considering the contrasting elements of the Wii and the PS3/Xbox 360 in this gen.
Yeah... it's the fact that the game's not in physical form that makes this bundle less enticing than it probably should be. Still getting the game, but knowing that it won't be coming with a case, game card, and [possibly] an instruction booklet feels like I'd be getting short-handed, as trivial as it may sound. Plus, while I'd like to have a "special edition" system in my collection, this one isn't sending off the 'coolness' vibe to me.
The fact that I'm somewhat bummed out about this probably means that I'm looking for Nintendo to do SOMETHING with the 3DS that would interest me enough to give buying one some serious thought. Not even Pokemon X and Y managed to send those chills of excitement down my spine, which says a lot.
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