Official Wii U Discussion Thread

Azuardo said:
I know it's UK, and that's it's Nintendo in the UK, and that it's MH in the UK - but you did say this was amazing. It's not. Of course it'll do better in the rest of EU and US.

As for #7 - you talking about Walking Dead: SI on the All Formats or Wii U chart?

But this is like the first big release of the year for Wii U. There's nothing amazing. What it does say is that simply - the Wii U needs games if they wanna see them in the chart. It just so happens that this is finally a big game and hey, what do you know - it charts. If Wii U had had other big names over the last couple of months then they would have charted easily. Again, it takes nothing to chart.

Sorry, I was looking at the individual formats for a moment. WD clearly riding off the success of the TV series and the TellTale game awards recently, plus it being an FPS. UK charts can be very gross to look at most of the time, but US is no different.

I'm not surprised WD charted either, but generally UK chart is more littered with crap than other regions.

Obviously the WiiU needs more games and this isn't "whey the console is saved forever", I wasn't implying that, but it's a positive because it's selling at all, people know it's getting new games and it's not even a popular franchise.
I think that once the bigger games come rolling, it'll be a lot easier to chart at higher places even on the WiiU.

It's just.. not as bad as people here seem to think. You make it sound like it's so easy that every console exclusive makes it to the Top10 at some point when I can't remember any launch-window Wii game doing that besides Wii Play (and look how successful the Wii was).

EDIT: WiiU Sales see a 125% rise in the UK over the last week

Not surprising, but yay! About time, I hope it lasts a little.

( Edited 28.03.2013 21:21 by SuperLink )

It's just.. not as bad as people here seem to think. You make it sound like it's so easy that every console exclusive makes it to the Top10 at some point when I can't remember any launch-window Wii game doing that besides Wii Play (and look how successful the Wii was).

I did mention the 125% increase in one of my other posts, but again, it sounds better than it actually is. 125% isn't much, and only equates to a few thousand units. There's still not too much to shout about right now with regards to Wii U sales - both software and hardware - but of course, let's hope it improves. The only way it's gonna shift units atm is through price cuts.

( Edited 28.03.2013 21:42 by Azuardo )

Retailers are dropping the price left and right, that isn't the issue at hand. HMV's insane price drop has helped a bit, but most retailers have said that dropping the price hasn't improved it as much as they hoped.

The main issue is advertising, the grand majority of people still have no idea what a WiiU is. There's definitely a problem here and it's Nintendo's fault; it needs major marketing, TV spots, banners online and in popular multimedia stores (not the ones going out of business). They've been so silent on it that it's legitimately frustrating sellers. If they're not working hard on a new marketing strategy that they plan to get out soon, I'll eat my hat.

They have some talented marketers and the money to do it, they managed to sell the Wii in UK afterall. That's why the total lack of marketing is so mind-boggling.

( Edited 28.03.2013 21:41 by SuperLink )

Sure. I won't go into the marketing thing because we know all about that. They need to completely relaunch the thing from quarter 3 onwards, though.

"I just laugh at the question...Unreal Engine 4, we're not PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or Wii U. It's next-gen technology. That's what we're aiming for. The truth is, if a developer wanted to take an Unreal Engine game and put it on Wii U, they could. Unreal Engine 3 is kicking ass on Wii U. The best games on Wii U are made on our technology. What more do you want from us?" - Mark Rein 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/03/29/unreal-engine-4-frostbite-3-will-not-support-wii-u[/url]

SuperLink said:
Like I said; it's UK. Not only is it the region Nintendo is weakest in, it's also the region where gaming in general is weakest. I think the #7 on the chart is pretty decent for a game that never sold well in the first place. (if I recall correctly, none of the previous MH games charted here)

And again, I expect it'll be much better in US and the rest of Europe too. I don't think that Capcom will be put off by a region they know is bad for sales, especially one where Nintendo-exclusive games that aren't Mario or Pokémon typically don't pierce the top 10 at all.

Really? I used to think that the UK was one of the strongest regions in the world for games/console sales? I thought we were one of the Top 5? 

Besides i think Nintendo have done pretty well in the last couple of year, i thought DS games have dominated the All Formats charts and the Wii with things like Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii etc etc..??.

Rein's comments on the WiiU mirror what was said about the Wii and previous Unreal Engines, to be honest the only notable thing is that he and the audience laughed when the WiiU was mentioned.

UE4 games will probably come to WiiU under other publishers eventually, and they will probably be better than PS3 or 360 ports those games may get, but UE4 was not built with any of those systems in mind, of course.

UK wasn't that bad for games once, but it has gotten far worse in recent years. The fact that almost every retailer that stocked games has all but gone down doesn't help, there is nowhere widespread or very well known that markets games. UK's games market isn't gonna go anywhere, but it is struggling. And yeah, games like Wii Fit and Mario Kart did dominate, but it wasn't ever extremely common for a Wii exclusive to get into the Top10.

Anyway, on a lighter note, here's a lovely article;
70+ upcoming WiiU games!
I think Nintendo's silence and the past few months have definitely been concerning.. a lack of games now may be an issue, but a lack of games in the future probably is not. To get even more games and support, the console needs sales, and to get that, it needs a couple more strong games and marketing. It needs this before the PS4 launches too. I know Nintendo are capable, it's just a matter of whether or not they'll pull it off.

Selling off Wii Us at at cheap price is a very bad sign as far as I'm concerned. These retailers want to get rid of their current stock, so sell it off a cheap price to get rid of it. That means they will be very reluctant to get them back in stock in future (especially if they don't move fast at a cheap price). Nintendo need to do something to stop confidence in the Wii U spiraling out of control, otherwise big retailers are going to be reluctant to stock them in future. 

I'm not panicking or anything. :-/

( Edited 30.03.2013 15:50 by Trepe )

Hmmm, still odd...

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/04/amazon_promoting_rival_consoles_on_nintendo_product_pages

^Apparently it's got something to do with back when Nintendo of America refused to solve an issue with DS hinges that Amazon customers complained about.

The same issue doesn't exist on other regions of Amazon, they stock and recommend Nintendo consoles and everything. It's just Amazon US.

To get a li'l more conversation going, what does everyone think of the WiiU VC situation so far? The Wii supported many different platforms but the WiiU seems to only support 3 so far. Are they saving some surprises for the VC launch, or will VC releases be even slower than they already are?

I think we'll see at least all of Nintendo's systems which were already available on Wii. N64 certainly will, but I understand how re-developing a perfectly compatible emulator for the new hardware may take some more time, especially if they aim for an uprender of those games to at least 720p, like I expect they should, since most 240i N64 games were given the 480i (480p in the case of NTSC versions) treatment on the old Wii hardware.

For the other manufacturers, it might be more complex to answer. Megadrive and Master System is up to Sega... PC-Engine up to NEC... Neo Geo up to whoever owns the rights to the brand nowadays, I lost track of that a long time ago... But surely Nintendo has already discussed these matters with the relevant people by now...

Now there's the whole 60Hz issue thrown in Europe though... What are they going to do?? Re-release everything in 60Hz from now on? It's not easy to answer. They seem to be willing to make that extra effort, judging from the last two releases, but the answer might not always be so easy (like with localized games in the case of other languages than English or where rights and content differ between the NA and PAL regions...)

It's a tough call on many respects and Nintendo's silence on it is once again a bit worrying. I do worry that SEGA aren't as behind Nintendo as they once were, but Wii's Arcade and Neo Geo support has been a lot more recent so those may turn up again. PC-Engine is probably bust because Hudson are bust, iirc it stopped getting support after Hudson stopped doing its thang.

To be honest though, the Wii launched with 3 systems supported for VC and within months had more, with a healthy rate of like 3/4 releases per week. It seemed slow to us back then, but jesus the WiiU has been on the market for like 5 months already and it's still not launched. 3DS barely gets any releases either. The system has so much potential but I'm a little worried that Nintendo aren't realising it. If they've been lax on the subject so far then who's to say they haven't scouted SEGA or anyone else for support either?

And yeah I wonder about 60Hz too, but surely converting 50 to 60 can't be too hard? All 3DS VC games so far have been 60Hz, even ones with language and stuff.

SuperLink said:
And yeah I wonder about 60Hz too, but surely converting 50 to 60 can't be too hard? All 3DS VC games so far have been 60Hz, even ones with language and stuff.

Besides, the NES is the only console on the 3DS VC which could present the 50Hz issue, since handhelds don't have that problem and have always ran games at the same speed, regardless of the region.

That's true, and I kinda doubt Nintendo are intending to release SNES games on 3DS VC.

It's a bit worrying, but I really hope they continue to make the effort with 60Hz releases. Sony have been releasing the NTSC versions of PS1 games on PSN in order to solve the issue, this is anything from simple games like Spyro to big RPGs and I can't recall many Europeans really complaining about the lack of language options.

In an ideal world, Nintendo would let us choose between 50 and 60Hz like on the GC. The filesizes for VC games are far smaller than most eShop games, so I can't imagine it'd be extremely difficult to implement having both in one with the option to switch. Still, I'm happy Nintendo started at all, so I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic. I'm mostly just worried about which platforms will be offered, because I really want N64 and MegaDrive games to still be supported.

( Edited 03.04.2013 00:29 by SuperLink )

I emailed Nintendo UK about clarifying the 60Hz issue for the future, but they said they will not be coming out to announce anything. That means no announcement that all future games will be 60Hz or not. We just have to wait on a game-by-game basis, which I think is wrong. The fact they won't even come out to say "it's on a game-by-game basis" is equally annoying. Speak to your fans, Nintendo!! There wasn't even an announcement of acknowledgement from all the huge feedback from fans raging at 50Hz. Nothing to say "We hear you, PAL Nintendo fans! We have heard your cries and will release the next game in 60Hz!" We just had to wait till one day before it arrived. I don't understand why they don't say anything. Extremely frustrating.

That all said, good job that they have actually listened and released all recent ones in 60Hz. Some communication is badly needed, however.

Not sure what to make of the VC business on Wii U, though. Given what we've heard so far (very little), I kinda think we won't be receiving anywhere near the same amount of VC games as on Wii. I'd like for any ones added to Wii U to be given extra care and treatment. e.g. online in MK64, spruced up resolution, etc. Not really feeling the whole VC side of things anymore, though.

The fact that a few late Wii VC titles had WiFi play gives me hope, but it does feel like Nintendo aren't really pushing it on WiiU when it could easily be a huge feature if they played their cards right. Online, gamepad, tons of games, I dunno. I have no idea what they're doing, they're being silent on far too many things right now.

They're currently restructuring the company to sync handheld and console operations (and more I'm assuming), and they probably are trying to come up with some huge things, so I'm sure the VC situation won't be bad forever. But right now, I can't believe I'm looking back at how well Wii VC went fondly! Really, the only negas were 50Hz and the prices, but man did they put an impressive library of games on it in the end, it beats the libraries of any competitor and with the WiiU's features it could be amazing.

It's definitely wrong, and stupid to boot, unless you have something to hide... Yet more uncertainty will continue to put the Wii U under a grey cloud. 

Deus Ex: HR DC

Sega Add Disclaimers to Aliens CM Trailers

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/04/03/sega-adds-disclaimer-to-aliens-trailers

Delayed

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/aliens-colonial-marines-wii-u-delayed-6406343?

( Edited 03.04.2013 20:36 by Linkyshinks )

So..

Both versions of Monster Hunter are either out of stock or having shortages in UK. Wow? I don't think anyone expected this, least of all Capcom. I'm pretty happy for them. Assuming it's got more success in other regions than UK, it sounds like Ultimate is the game they needed to secure a western audience for the series.

Could explain the little less than impressive initial sales and its complete drop off from the Top 40 altogether. They clearly didn't meet the demand, and I guess they were right to not expect it. Surely most had placed pre-orders so Nintendo would've known, though? But it at least gives a good impression that there's a bit potential there for such exclusives. Get them on the system and meet the demand and people will buy them.

Retailers probably pushed the game for both systems to give it a bit more advertising, so even those who pre-ordered it were enticed. It is a bit of a casual game afterall, it captures gamers of many tastes despite how it can be hard to get into.

What is more telling than anything is that the 3DS version is out of stock. I can understand them not expecting much of the WiiU version, but even the 3DS version is having issues which means Capcom outright underestimated how popular the game would be in UK.

Hopefully the beginning of a little WiiU uptick at least.
Incidentally, Luigi's Mansion got the #5 spot on the top 10 last week even despite Good Friday, not bad at all.

EDIT: Deus Ex not til 2014, so much for helping to fill in the gap.

( Edited 03.04.2013 16:18 by SuperLink )

Azuardo said:
I emailed Nintendo UK about clarifying the 60Hz issue for the future, but they said they will not be coming out to announce anything. That means no announcement that all future games will be 60Hz or not. We just have to wait on a game-by-game basis, which I think is wrong. The fact they won't even come out to say "it's on a game-by-game basis" is equally annoying. Speak to your fans, Nintendo!! There wasn't even an announcement of acknowledgement from all the huge feedback from fans raging at 50Hz. Nothing to say "We hear you, PAL Nintendo fans! We have heard your cries and will release the next game in 60Hz!" We just had to wait till one day before it arrived. I don't understand why they don't say anything. Extremely frustrating.

That all said, good job that they have actually listened and released all recent ones in 60Hz. Some communication is badly needed, however.

Not sure what to make of the VC business on Wii U, though. Given what we've heard so far (very little), I kinda think we won't be receiving anywhere near the same amount of VC games as on Wii. I'd like for any ones added to Wii U to be given extra care and treatment. e.g. online in MK64, spruced up resolution, etc. Not really feeling the whole VC side of things anymore, though.

I could imagine Nintendo are going to test the water to see if its worth it. I am guessing they wouldn't want to put 60hz games on the VC simply because they are too lazy to spend any time with it (and time is money after all). However the counter argument is that more people might buy VC games if they were 60hz. Hopefully that works out to be more beneficial for Nintendo.

Selfish as it sounds at the least the American versions would be nearly good enough for us in the UK. But i doubt they'd ever segregate us from the rest of Europe.

Maybe more on this is being saved for E3....Nintendo are definitely working on something, they want to maximise revenue on this surely!

Lol what, Deux Ex won't even come out this year? *sigh*

A friend got LEGO City Undercover, I'm getting Pikmin 3 when it comes out. We'll swap games when we've both completed ours.

At the moment I hardly play on the Wii U. I still have the VC games, NSMBU and most importantly Trine 2 to finish, but there's so much other stuff to do.

Linkyshinks said:
Delayed

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/aliens-colonial-marines-wii-u-delayed-6406343?