Activision Wary About Nintendo Wii U Performance

Wasn't Activision complaining immediately about Wii U sales even after Wii U had just sold 3+ million units, making it the second fastest selling console in video game history?

I'm not saying they don't have anything to complain about these past few months, but I remember them complaining early on when there wasn't any reason to.

( Edited 09.05.2013 16:01 by Sonic_13 )

companies need to stop pussy footing around the wii u and just release something on it already. ofcourse it won't do well if noone dont put any games on it. Considering how little there is right now, its done remarkably well though, just think if everyone pulled their thumb out their ass tomorrow, the thing would be a best seller.

Activision should just keep their products off Nintendo platforms for the time being, it's clear that most gamers would prefer to buy them on other consoles.

Sonic_13 said:
Wasn't Activision complaining immediately about Wii U sales even after Wii U had just sold 3+ million units, making it the second fastest selling console in video game history?

I'm not saying they don't have anything to complain about these past few months, but I remember them complaining early on when there wasn't any reason to.

I don't think Activision cares how many units the Wii U sold when their games perform abysmally on the platform. Activision went through the trouble of releasing a pretty solid Call of Duty: Blacks Ops II port to the Wii U. The response? Zilch. Nintendo fans didn't buy it. So I really don't blame Activision for being wary of the Wii U.

Arkwright (guest) said:
Activision should just keep their products off Nintendo platforms for the time being, it's clear that most gamers would prefer to buy them on other consoles.

Ceasing support of a system (one that isn't even 6 months old, at that) is not the way to make people buy more games for that system.

People weren't buying Xbox 360 games in the millions the first few months that console was out, either. Slow starting is nowhere near exclusive to Nintendo, and these companies are going to have the exact same problem in the next gen (which is why almost all of the major games being announced for them are ports of older games, like Call of Duty, Destiny, Watch Dogs etc. Systems don't launch with an install base, it's up to developers to build it. That doesn't happen by not making games because they don't sell record numbers the day the system comes out.

Jacob4000 said:

I don't think Activision cares how many units the Wii U sold when their games perform abysmally on the platform. Activision went through the trouble of releasing a pretty solid Call of Duty: Blacks Ops II port to the Wii U. The response? Zilch. Nintendo fans didn't buy it. So I really don't blame Activision for being wary of the Wii U.

Black Ops 2 for Wii U has outsold several of the PC versions of Call of Duty games and the Wii versions as well. It's not doing great by any means, but it's not doing so poorly that Activision can't afford to take that chance, especially when every year a new Call of Duty breaks all-time sales records.

They haven't stopped making them for PC, there's no reason to stop making them for Wii U (yet).

That said, "wary" is the exact wording I would use. If Ghosts performs poorly, I would imagine Activision pulling support in the future. Activision has always been pretty good to Nintendo though, so right now it's anybody's guess.

Mod Edit: No double-posting. Please keep things consolidated.

( Edited 10.05.2013 05:19 by Jacob4000 )

Not releasing any DLC for Black Ops 2 didn't help that game. Why pre order the WiiU version when the other versions get free DLC included?

Jacob4000 said:

Sonic_13 said:
Wasn't Activision complaining immediately about Wii U sales even after Wii U had just sold 3+ million units, making it the second fastest selling console in video game history?

I'm not saying they don't have anything to complain about these past few months, but I remember them complaining early on when there wasn't any reason to.

I don't think Activision cares how many units the Wii U sold when their games perform abysmally on the platform. Activision went through the trouble of releasing a pretty solid Call of Duty: Blacks Ops II port to the Wii U. The response? Zilch. Nintendo fans didn't buy it. So I really don't blame Activision for being wary of the Wii U.

If Activision (or anyone else) is comparing raw numbers, then they are fools. It's impossible to sell 4 million units of a game when there were only 3 million sold during launch. A better analysis of sales is to look at the ratio of games sold to systems sold. I don't know what it is for Call of Duty, but if you do that with many of the other third party games their supposedly terrible sales actually look pretty good.

True true. What can developers expect from system that just launched? 10 million copies perhaps? Give the system time first then ask for huge number of games sold on it, d'ah

Sonic_13 said:

If Activision (or anyone else) is comparing raw numbers, then they are fools. It's impossible to sell 4 million units of a game when there were only 3 million sold during launch.

Who said they expected it to outsell the user base?

Jacob4000 said:

Sonic_13 said:

If Activision (or anyone else) is comparing raw numbers, then they are fools. It's impossible to sell 4 million units of a game when there were only 3 million sold during launch.

Who said they expected it to outsell the user base?

No one that I know of. I was just using 4 million as an example. Call of Duty sold well for the number of consoles sold.

It didn't sell well regardless of the way you try to spin it.

Going off VGchartz (yes, we all know their numbers can be off) it has sold less than 200K units thus far. This corresponds to a rate less than half that of the 360 and PS3. This despite the fact that there's a lot more competition for a gamer's dollars (especially in the shooter genre) on those systems than there is on the Wii U.

Nintendo fans love to complain about publishers not supporting Nintendo systems, but it's hard to blame them when sales figures disappoint at nearly every turn. Can't expect companies to keep giving when there's very little financial incentive.

I'm getting tired of Nintendo fans blaming third parties. Activision has supported the Wii U and its games have sold poorly. They have every right to complain about low numbers. This isn't about a low install base; it's about their games not selling at all.

Nintendo fans bitch and moan when third parties don't support the system. Is it any wonder why they don't when they sell like crap? You cry out for third party games, then when they do arrive on Wii U, nobody buys them! Stop blaming the developers/publishers for once. It's obvious the Wii U isn't the place to sell third party games.

Raiden (guest) said:
I'm getting tired of Nintendo fans blaming third parties. Activision has supported the Wii U and its games have sold poorly. They have every right to complain about low numbers. This isn't about a low install base; it's about their games not selling at all.

Nintendo fans bitch and moan when third parties don't support the system. Is it any wonder why they don't when they sell like crap? You cry out for third party games, then when they do arrive on Wii U, nobody buys them! Stop blaming the developers/publishers for once. It's obvious the Wii U isn't the place to sell third party games.

Here here. I don't think many will bother with the Wii U, it poses too many problems to us developers, we would rather port to a platform that's easy to port to, and has the right kind of audience and numbers to accept our products heartily.

Jacob4000 said:
It didn't sell well regardless of the way you try to spin it.

Going off VGchartz (yes, we all know their numbers can be off) it has sold less than 200K units thus far. This corresponds to a rate less than half that of the 360 and PS3. This despite the fact that there's a lot more competition for a gamer's dollars (especially in the shooter genre) on those systems than there is on the Wii U.

Yes, Call of Duty is a bit of an extreme difference. Likely has to do with it a primarily online title (at least why most people buy). Many Wii U owners here have even said that they bought it for other systems because of the larger online base, even while they buy the Wii U version of other titles.

Nintendo fans love to complain about publishers not supporting Nintendo systems, but it's hard to blame them when sales figures disappoint at nearly every turn. Can't expect companies to keep giving when there's very little financial incentive.

Many other titles, like Batman and Assassin's Creed aren't that far off from PS3 and Xbox 360.

EDIT: Edited for clarification

( Edited 13.05.2013 18:15 by Sonic_13 )

^ Sonic, where on earth have you pulled that from? You need to wake up, I think.

Mass Effect 3 has sold diabolically on Wii U. Sold more than the PS3 version, which has been out since March 2012? Come on, mate.

Assassin's Creed 3 and Batman Arkham City are not close to the PS3 and 360 versions at all. Ninja Gaiden 3 I cannot vouch for across all platforms, but I know that it has sold extremely poorly on Wii U. And for Sonic Transformed, I have heard it's done best on Wii U, but is not a surprise given the popularity of Sonic on Nintendo consoles.

I'm all for having a sales debate, but when you start making stuff up, it just reeks of your love for Nintendo clouding everything in your sight. Why make excuses? It's clear that the vast majority of third party games aren't selling on Wii U. It doesn't gain you anything by pretending they're not as bad as it seems. It is.

I could imagine Tekken selling better on the Wii U than the others but its not really a competition...well not for us anyway.

I actually own Call of Duty on the Wii U, but i am disappointed about the amount of people online (no fault of Activision). Depending on how much money it costs to publish and port I can see the reason for perhaps not making a follow up, conversely if this doesnt cost too much then what's harm?

Sonic_13 said:
Wasn't Activision complaining immediately about Wii U sales even after Wii U had just sold 3+ million units, making it the second fastest selling console in video game history? .

Is that true? 2nd fast selling games console in history?  I hadn't realised that! ...So whats all the complaining about then....??

Not sure why people fuss over the "fastest selling console" thing like it holds any relevance. It's relevant to that very short period of time, sure, but that means nothing when that's about the only period the console did sell well. Practically every new console that launches breaks sales records and gains new "fastest selling" headlines. GameCube was the fastest selling console ever in the UK at its launch, too. Look what happened to that. It might have done alright when it first came out, but Wii U software and hardware hasn't been selling since then. That's what people are complaining about.

Azuardo said:
Not sure why people fuss over the "fastest selling console" thing like it holds any relevance. It's relevant to that very short period of time, sure, but that means nothing when that's about the only period the console did sell well. Practically every new console that launches breaks sales records and gains new "fastest selling" headlines. GameCube was the fastest selling console ever in the UK at its launch, too. Look what happened to that. It might have done alright when it first came out, but Wii U software and hardware hasn't been selling since then. That's what people are complaining about.

It is a shame that Nintendo didn't have anything to follow up its launch period to be fair. If they had Wind Waker ready in the launch period i bet it would have kept it going for a bit longer!

Azuardo said:
Not sure why people fuss over the "fastest selling console" thing like it holds any relevance. It's relevant to that very short period of time, sure, but that means nothing when that's about the only period the console did sell well. Practically every new console that launches breaks sales records and gains new "fastest selling" headlines. GameCube was the fastest selling console ever in the UK at its launch, too. Look what happened to that. It might have done alright when it first came out, but Wii U software and hardware hasn't been selling since then. That's what people are complaining about.

Actually, there was a massive spike in sales after Monster Hunter.

People want good games. Releasing good games boosts sales. This is something Nintendo should be leading on, but third parties don't need to have their hands held, either. The companies skipping the system because it isn't selling well right now are going to be missing out on a lot of sales when Nintendo starts releasing Marios and Zeldas and Metroids and Super Smash 4.

At the same time, Nintendo is in a unique position to perform on that front, which they've failed to do, and miserably. The best way to do that would have been to launch with a new title in at least one of their huge franchises. Instead they launched with Nintendo Land.

It'll be interesting to see what happens regarding games that launch simultaneously on all three platforms after Nintendo actually gets some first party titles out there. Unfortunately, that won't start happening until late this year, and by then the PS4 and next Xbox will be on their way in and the Wii U will be less relevant, not more. I think Nintendo GameCubed the Wii U by not releasing good games out the gate and skimping out on the hardware. No good games + nowhere near future-proof tech isn't a good recipe.

At least we'll get some good exclusives down the line. Next time, Nintendo should launch with a Zelda.

Actually, there was a massive spike in sales after Monster Hunter.

I don't think that whatever exclusive games they bring out there is still going to be much appeal for third parties. No matter what happens, Wii U is not going to be the system to sell multiplatform titles. I highly doubt any third parties are gonna be kicking themselves for not supporting it. It's also a huge missed opportunity for Nintendo to put their foot down before the PS4 and Xbox 3. They'll have had a full year to promote the Wii U and sell the thing with no next gen competition. But what have they done with that year? Absolutely nothing. Huge waste.

Azuardo said:
Considering the sales prior to MH3 were poor, the jump really wasn't as impressive as people make out. Good that people bought the thing just for MH3, sure, but hardly something to rave about. In fact, the only reason people were raving about it, was because it was the first big title in months and the first time that Wii U sales did jump. It's just a shame the jump wasn't anything special.

I don't think that whatever exclusive games they bring out there is still going to be much appeal for third parties. No matter what happens, Wii U is not going to be the system to sell multiplatform titles. I highly doubt any third parties are gonna be kicking themselves for not supporting it. It's also a huge missed opportunity for Nintendo to put their foot down before the PS4 and Xbox 3. They'll have had a full year to promote the Wii U and sell the thing with no next gen competition. But what have they done with that year? Absolutely nothing. Huge waste.

I know what you mean. Just think of what could happen if Nintendo had released an even bigger exclusive though, rather than an upgraded Wii port. They should be leading the charge, and they aren't.

On the exclusive thing, I meant that as more of a personal hope. I'm already happy with my Wii U, and I know the exclusives down the line will make me even happier. That said, Nintendo has sort of carved themselves into this niche where only their exclusives are worth buying and everything else on the system pretty much sucks. That's not a good niche to be in, and especially lately, where Nintendo's exclusives have primarily been in a sort of decline, being more casual and often just ports or remakes. I can only take so much of one new Zelda every 5 years, and I can't be the only one.

Totally agree on the missed opportunity here. I think they should have upped the price another $100 for some future-proof tech, and that would have solved a lot of their problems. Having the cheapest console didn't work on the Gamecube, it helped the Wii but that was a success for other reasons; I don't know why they continue to be so obsessed with having the lowest-priced system. Gamers have proven time and again that they're willing to pay more for something that lasts longer and has better support.

justonesp00lturn said:

On the exclusive thing, I meant that as more of a personal hope. I'm already happy with my Wii U, and I know the exclusives down the line will make me even happier. That said, Nintendo has sort of carved themselves into this niche where only their exclusives are worth buying and everything else on the system pretty much sucks. That's not a good niche to be in, and especially lately, where Nintendo's exclusives have primarily been in a sort of decline, being more casual and often just ports or remakes. I can only take so much of one new Zelda every 5 years, and I can't be the only one.

Totally agree on the missed opportunity here. I think they should have upped the price another $100 for some future-proof tech, and that would have solved a lot of their problems. Having the cheapest console didn't work on the Gamecube, it helped the Wii but that was a success for other reasons; I don't know why they continue to be so obsessed with having the lowest-priced system. Gamers have proven time and again that they're willing to pay more for something that lasts longer and has better support.

I agree that Nintendo exclusives are worth having more than anything, but i know if given the chance i'd rather have FIFA on the PS3 than the Wii U. Simply because I can't remember a time when a Nintendo iteration was ever better than the others, likewise with a few of the other multi-plats.

I still think Nintendo should be considering a 1080, Waverace, Fzero, Starfox, 3D Donkey Kong, Pokemon (fully fledged title) but instead all we get are copious amounts of Mario spin offs instead.

I love Mario but i think we are safe to say that I don't really want any more Mario sports titles/Party titles for a little while.

Haha, no surprise here then!. I'm not buying a Wii U until they slash the price by half.

Azuardo said:
^ Sonic, where on earth have you pulled that from? You need to wake up, I think.

Mass Effect 3 has sold diabolically on Wii U. Sold more than the PS3 version, which has been out since March 2012? Come on, mate.

Assassin's Creed 3 and Batman Arkham City are not close to the PS3 and 360 versions at all. Ninja Gaiden 3 I cannot vouch for across all platforms, but I know that it has sold extremely poorly on Wii U. And for Sonic Transformed, I have heard it's done best on Wii U, but is not a surprise given the popularity of Sonic on Nintendo consoles.

I'm all for having a sales debate, but when you start making stuff up, it just reeks of your love for Nintendo clouding everything in your sight. Why make excuses? It's clear that the vast majority of third party games aren't selling on Wii U. It doesn't gain you anything by pretending they're not as bad as it seems. It is.

I never said they sold more and I'm not making anything up. Maybe the data on VGChartz is vastly wrong, in which case I am wrong, but I am not making up anything myself.

I have a feeling that you believe I am talking raw sales numbers which I clearly stated that I am not. Doing so is simply foolish since you have two systems with 77+ million units sold and one with 3.45 million. In nearly all cases, the game will have sold more (likely significantly more so) on the systems with the install base that is over 22x the smaller one.

To get a sense of how well a game is selling cross platforms with different install bases, you have to compare the percentage of owners who have the game.

Now lets look at Mass Effect 3:
0.05m Wii U copies sold. 3.45m Wii U systems have been sold.
0.05/3.45 * 100 = 1.45% of Wii U owners own the game
1.09m PS3 copies sold. 77m PS3 systems have been sold.
1.09/77 * 100 = 1.41% of PS3 owners own the game

If you have other sales numbers, please share.

( Edited 13.05.2013 14:48 by Sonic_13 )

It certainly wasn't "clearly stated" that you weren't talking about sales numbers.

Regardless, I find this to be clutching at straws here.

It's extremely likely that there are an awful lot of casuals and not-so-hardcore owners of the PS3, which means any sort of percentage of game copies sold per console units sold is always going to leave quite a low number. You could argue that any game that sells 1-5million is still extremely poor considering the install base numbers. But hey, if it makes you feel better by telling yourself the numbers aren't as bad as they actually are, more power to you.