The Situation
Michael:
Okay. To set the scene, Nintendo recently adjusted its sales forecast for the Wii U and 3DS from 9 million to 2.8 million and 18 million down to 13.5 million units, respectively. To make matters worse, this means that the company is headed for its third consecutive annual loss (even after the year of Luigi, for crying out loud!) So yeah, things are pretty bleak right now. Satoru Iwata has announced that he will take on a 50% pay cut, with other members of the board sharing the responsibility via like-minded salary reductions.
In truth, not many people expected the Wii U to meet its original target of 9 million units shipped by March, 2014, but the console is currently stuck in a paradox where there aren’t enough games to play, and developers are apprehensive about getting on board because of the meagre install base.
So, how can the company turn things around?
Griffin:
Uh oh… I wonder if Michael’s bad Wi-fi happened.
Oh, there you are!
Christian:
I can talk about the disappointing launch lineup. I’m fond of analyzing disasters (because I’m sick in the head).
Griffin:
I really do feel bad for Luigi. Put in charge for one year, and it was just kind of a flop.
Michael:
Mamma Mia! Poor guy.
Christian:
Not for a lack of good games, though.
Griffin:
Wait, Christian – did you say you have a Wii U? I only just got my own, and despite the poor sales, I’m actually quite enjoying it.
Christian:
I don’t have one, actually! I’m a broke college kid so I’m waiting for more price reductions. But I’ve had every major Nintendo console until now.
Michael:
I’m with Christian on that one, although I used to have a 3DS and Wii until quite recently.
Christian:
Call me an outside observer, if you will.
Griffin:
It actually seems to have more good games at this stage than Gamecube did, which is odd because that’s the comparison people seem to be drawing in terms of how the system’s life may pan out.
Michael:
It’s definitely in the same niche as the GameCube.
Christian:
My 3DS has caused me to skip more classes than I care to admit.
Griffin:
Same! Well, when I was in school that is. Though I think you make an important point about 3DS.
Christian:
I think it’s just that the launch titles were almost all exclusively remakes of old games. It’s true that the GameCube didn’t get love until well after release. Back then I made fun of it, but now I play it more than my 360!
Michael:
I mean, you could draw comparisons with the 3DS to an extent too. It had a really bumpy launch.
Griffin:
For me, one of the huge problems with Wii U isn’t that it’s not a good system, because I think it is. Handhelds have just gotten so much better. Sometime last year, I was playing Fire Emblem Awakening (my game of the year), and for the first time ever while playing a handheld, I felt a particular emotion. That emotion was: “There’s nothing a console could do to improve this.”