February, good spot. Thanks.

"I have problems understanding the math at work here. If sales in January were 57K and if they increased by 40% on a weekly average how can this lead to 64K in march?"

I'm also confused by the math here. 57,000 + 40% = approx. 79,800. Maybe January was considered to have 5 weeks and February had 4?

Regardless, they are still not good numbers. At least they didn't continue to go down.

Well 40% increase would be 80k which is still a low sales number so the point being made stands.

It will stay low until the games start to come out and the price drops a bit. Lego City Undercover is arriving in a few days. Pikmin 3 in 3 months. Zelda remake in the fall. And an xmas title or two likely one of those a major franchise. The yen is also dropping which will give Nintendo more room to lower the price. Thus sales should be higher a year from now.

IT is a marathon. I don't expect the system to be number one or anything here in the US. But it will look a lot more appealing in a year to 18 months than it looks now.

January was a five-week month. Sorry, that could have been clearer...

So for a 5 wk month it would have sold 100k?

Or is 40% increase already account for the shorter reporting period?

The plan is a 2nd screen videogame system experience.

Great, but that's not the public see it. They see it as a console that comes with a tablet, except it's not.

The Wii U could have fit on a tablet certainly, Tegra 4 is a good match in some ways technologically.

The whole "second screen" stuff they've tried to sell is dumb. We already KNOW two screens doesn't work for games unless you're doing some ultra wide field of view or ultra hardcore MMO stuff.

@Johnathon

Exactly and they could of gotten away with current Gen visuals because everybody has lower expectations of the graphics capabilities of a tablet than they do a supposedly next Gen console.

"We already KNOW two screens doesn't work for games unless you're doing some ultra wide field of view or ultra hardcore MMO stuff."

To me it works extremely well in ZombiU and in Nintendoland and both doesn't use the 2nd screen for some ultra wide field AND none of them is an ultra hardcore MMO.

@Phil M

The public will eventually learn about it.

@Jonathon

NintendoLand shows off interesting 2 screen ideas.

Standard split screen gaming is arguably better with 2 screens as well.

@Bob Johnson

"The public will eventually learn about it."

But that's the point, why launch a perceived inferior console right at the start of the run up to the 2 biggest console launches of the last 10 years? Everyone is waiting for the PS4 and XBox 720, everyone is I suspect saving their money to buy one of those machines.

There's no time for anyone to "learn" about it because everyones waiting for consoles from the big 2. And don't forget it's going to be in competition with the Android consoles which are going to be a lot cheaper.

The console manufacturer which emerges from the next 5 years is going to be the one that grabs the current market opportunities first, and I don't think Nintendo have done that.

I think it stands a chance of some success if they cut the price drastically, I think maybe $149 plus Mario Kart etc it would sell to keep it going, otherwise it's just going to be squeezed from all sides.

@Phil M

Well they didn't purposely launch a perceived inferior console out of the gate. lol.

They did what they did with the Wii. I don't see much difference. IT just wasn't a lead off home run.

But eventually the games pile up and the price drops and the public learns more about it and it looks more attractive.

The other guys aren't going to look super great out of the gate either. Their price points are going to be high. The games are likely to be ports of 360/PS3 games for a good year at least.
And launch games are going to be rough for the most part.

But as always if no one likes what they are selling and the games don't turn it around then they will fail. That is always the challenge.

The crazy thing is that they haven't even announced any titles to get people excited.

Would it kill them to release a couple screens of a Wii U Zelda or Mario Kart? It's like they're asleep at the wheel.

@Ian Well, they did announce those things. They just haven't shown them. Mario Kart and 3D Mario are going to be revealed at E3 (and playable, which makes me think they'll probably come out this year). They also announced that they are working on the next proper Zelda, although that will probably not be shown at E3 based on what they've said so far. We can therefore assume that it is several years away. The HD Wind Waker is also supposedly coming out this year. They also announced and showed off that incredible looking Xeno-whatever game. I doubt that will come out this year though. Presumably that yarn Yoshi game will come out this year. Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101 are obviously coming out soon. Hopefully Bayonetta 2 will make this holiday.

Thinking about it just now they have announced high quality upcoming exclusives in nearly every major genre. But I think the issue is that people don't know in what time frame to expect these games. Will they come out soon or are they years away? You could interpret Nintendo's reluctance to put a date on it as a sign that they're still a long ways off, but I'm not sure that it's jus that. I think Nintendo likes to do these sort of "stealth" launches. I remember they used to hype games for years sometimes before they came out, and while they still do that some, they also now routinely keep things under wraps until just a few months before release. Case in point - Retro. What are they doing right now? We'll probably find out soon - certainly at E3 if not before. Recall that DKC:R was announced in June of 2010 and released in November that same year. Depending on what they're doing something like that could happen again.

@Micheal

A picture is worth a thousand words. A trailer is worth about 1800 pictures, depending on the framerate.

Pretty sure you can run games from an external hard drive.

We're at the end of the longest console generation in history. This is to be expected.

What's crazy is that Nintendo decided to launch a $350 console that's roughly as powerful as consoles that released in 2006.

I agree with A W, it's funny to see how a 36% drop in softwarebis completely ignored and how the argument of a long cycle is still brought up, regardless the fact, that the last cycle wasn't shorter (1998 Dreamcast launch in Japan - Wii/PS3 launch 2006) and that the last generation didn't saw a similar kind of downturn.
But it's more easy for the industry to blame Nintendo for everything, than to see what is wrong in general, because it would mean to take in consideration, that people are leaving the industry in great numbers because of the games, the industry is offering to them.
Nintendo's success in the last generation helped to bring new players into gaming, the industry never cared for these gamers and showed them the cold shoulder, concentrating on their traditional core gamers. Now everybody besides the ultra core gamers finds nothing of interest any more and is quitting gaming. Well done industry and good luck in making more expensive games in a shrinking market.

@Christian

The playstation 2 launched in 2000. The playstation 3 launched in 2006. Six years.

The xbox launched in 2001. The xbox 360 launched in 2005. Four years.

So yea, this generation is the longest in history. Not to mention, you're comparing new hardware (Wii U), with hardware that's been available for the last 7 years and has probably come close to the saturation point.

@ Ian

The start of a generation is, when the first machine of a generation is launched and it ends, when the last gets a successor. This means this circle was 8 years, according to your logic, it would be Wii 2006 WiiU 2012 = 6 year circle, that would be the same circle length, the best selling console of the last generation the PS2 had.

What you are talking about is the individual lifetime of a console, the short life the XBox experienced had nothing to do with the cycle length of this generation. The Dreamcast had a 3 year lifespan, but of course, the life span of the generation it belong to was not 3 years.
A shorter lifetime of a console is no sign of health, neither the DC nor the XBox were successful consoles, that can be used as positive examples of quick generation transitions.

"Let's not panic just yet. It's understandable console and game sells are down. The next gen consoles are on their way and some people will hold out, either for the new consoles or for price drops on previous consoles."

Sales are down since 2009 and they crashed horribly in 2012, that's no new development, that has anything to do with the new generation, additionally the new generation is not on it's way, it's here since last november and so far it hadn't put the industry in boost mode.

" Also, I'm sure many game developers are switching their focus to the new consoles. "

Developing games with higher development costs for consoles with a smaller install base doesn't seem like a smart move to me.

The price point is unfortunately matches the fall of the US dollar. To make a next gen console that is powerful, and not a profit loss may be impossible. However I will argue that controller did more harm than good. Do we need next gen gimmick $100 controllers?

If the US economy continues to spiral to the bottom you will see hyper inflation next next console generation. If game consoles rely on the USA for bulk sales they could be looking at an end. Profit will be no where near expected, because of the shrinking middle class(which currently runs on pocket change). Awareness of economy is the greatest factor to a successful console launch.

@ian

Nintendo spent their money on the 2 screen gaming experience. And not on the best visuals.

First if your going to put the word gimmick next to Nintendo in your paragraph as a negative effect to stem from the real problem the overall market is facing, I'm not going to pay attention to that, because I believe after this years CES and the PS4 conference a lot of "Gimmicks" are coming from a control mechanized standpoint in gaming.

Whether Nintendo developed a controller you think is a gimmick or not is beside the point. And if you are a person that creates chip sets that go in to the technology we use, you have the authority to enlighten us on the power of the consoles, smartphones and the like, but if not then please refrain from that hollow argument as well. The point Christian has been making is extremely valid and if you are paying attention you will see that the gaming sector is moving into a direction of more at cheap, and has been for some time now. Your getting large swaths of PC / Console core gamers that are using Steam for deals only. You are getting gamers that have been educated to wait until the price drops on hardware, or to wait until the special edition software hits the selves with all the DLC contain in it for next to nothing, and your getting the buy it used because... argument. The Core gaming market is erratic and they are looking forward to the next bad news to argue over the net about, and to justify their buying habits. They obviously are not playing AAA games at good lengths or are not playing games at new retail prices. They are plaing them at used and sell prices. Then some are using outlets like Gamestop (which every core gamer seems to hate but continue to use) to get back more money off of their used / sell games to buy more used / sell games they may not like despite the grand epic time it and money it took to make them.

All I'm saying is that the Big three are really not noticing the trend here, and are continuing to produce high powered consoles at the expense of better graphics. I think the problem most have with Nintendo as of now doesn't stem from what they did, or what they are doing via controller or power per say. I think the problem is in the fact that they have joined the pretty graphics HD era when they seemed to have railed against it for a time. Gamers keep saying stupid stuff like "if they had of made a Wii2 HD and just had a standard controller then..." then what? You would be OK with that. They did just that and you are still not OK with it. I'm still trying to figure out what a standard gaming controller really is because in my experience with console gaming there has never been a standard controller. Any fool could have predicted that Nintendo would eventually catch up with the TV market once they believed the saturation was good enough. Now gamers want to talk about game consoles and computers supporting TV sets they couldn't even fit in their house or afford (4K anyone?)We are stuck arguing about sales records and power when we should be playing games on those systems. So what does that tell you about the deliver methods and enjoyability of those game that take so much money to make. People aren't enjoying them like they are some of the lesser titles on iOS and android devices.

All I have to say about the whole thing maybe for a blog post or something, but All I'm saying is if people are waiting for this or that because this or that has not occurred; this is not a good sign of things to come. It is a bad sign because there are too many people trying to predict the future rather that enjoying what they have now. People are not happy with now and that is what is causing this rift. Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft are going to do what they need to do to survive or they will leave the gaming market in some fashion. We are the market they leave when they do.

/rant

@A W Great rant. I'd like it twice if I could.

" It's true that the economy isn't great, people are holding back, but that just supports my explanation as to why I'm waiting to replace my PS3 with a PS4. I don't have the money to buy everything I want. I know other people are doing the same, because it's discussed a lot, at least around here. And it makes sense."

It may make sense for you as a customer, but the question is, does it make sense for a publisher. Games like Assassin's Creed and Watchdogs will be released on 6 platforms this holiday (maybe more, if handheld ports will be added). Developing these games for 6+ platforms means to spend more money on the development of these games then for previous games, but it doesn't mean you can sell more copies of the game.
I am pretty sure, you won't buy a game on the PS3, if you have the chance to buy this game on the PS4, on the other hand, publishers can't ignore the current generation, because of it's big installed user base.
You can argue that this is the typical situation between 2 generations, but it is not. The current generation had already to high development costs, this lead directly to a reduced output in titles and a more and more limited variety in genres. This specialisation on fewer genres lead to a focus on a certain type of gamer and the group, this type of gamer belong to was never big enough to justify the costs of the AAA games, that were made during the last years.
This lead to unoptimised buggy games with tons of DLC, season passes and all the other ways to milk the gamer.
Now it seems, the industry has driven even these gamers away with their games, because the free fall on 2012 can only mean, that hardcore gamers are leaving the market.
In this situation is the launch of new pricey consoles with even higher development costs the last thing the industry needs. What is really needed is a way to bring new customers into the business, instead of trying to make 1080p ports of games, that people can play on their existing consoles in 720p, the industry should try to make new games for the existing consoles, because they are so affordable, that non gamers would buy them. Something the new $500+ generation will not achieve.

"It was foolish to ship the WiiU without a new Mario or Zelda title ready"

The Wii U shipped with a new Mario title ready.

"For example, I wish I had known Apple was going to release their newest iPad early, 8 months after the previous version, because I had just bought an iPad a couple months before"

Apple is releasing new versions of their products regulary, does it really make any difference, if the new iPad is introduced after 8 months, instead of 12 months?

"So I take it you are against the arrival of next gen consoles because it will cost more to make games for them?"

It's irrelevant, if I am pleased by the thought of new consoles or not, what I am saying is, these new consoles won't help the industry in it's current crisis and I am saying, that launching a new product, that requires bigger investments on the publisher side and a big investment on the consumer side inside a crash situation doesn't make sense to me.

"If hardcore gamers are leaving the market, where are they going? "

They quit gaming, there are plenty of other ways to spend your money in the entertainment industry.

"They kind of have to, as consumers will want the next big game on the next big console and developers will want to work on games that take advantage of new hardware. "

Do they? Is the group of consumers willing to set up a new console under their TV big enough? It means to abandon the old console due to the lack of backwards compability, it means loosing your XBLA/PSN games, it probably means to pay $70 instead of $60 for a game, that's identical on the gameplay level, but runs in 1080p instead of 720p and comes with better anti aliasing and more shaders. It means switching to a platform, where the releases will trickle during the first years, because of the huge installed 360/PS3 user base and the high development costs. And last but not least, it means switching to a platform with an even more limited variety of games and genres, because this generation has shown, higher development costs directly lead to a lesser variety in games - publishers simply don't take the risk to experiment when budgets are like what they are today.

Or how about this one, 'video game industry under threat by ongoing console oligopolies'. I wish that were the headline on every major gaming site every single time a new AAA game is released.

We don't even have Wii U sales numbers, the numbers in this article are based on numbers that were estimates, spread by people who claimed to have the information from sources with access to the NPD numbers.
These unproven - never official - numbers are now put in direct relation with the NPD statement about an increase in weekly sales of 40%.
This means the original number - one that may be valid, but can also be false, a number we just can't check - is used as a basis for a calculation with a variable from an NPD statement.


Source:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186741/At_57K_sold_Wii_Us_Janua ry_performance
_is_historically_abysmal.php#.UUMsmjd9iW-
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57569583-235/uh-oh-nintendo-sold -57000-wii-u-u
nits-in-the-u.s-in-january/

EDIT: Despite beging based on estimates, the numbers are matching the official numbers, which means I have to apologise for criticising the methodology.

The independent brand has taken that market over, and they have been reluctant to make console games. I see a lot of them starting to make games for the e-shop markets these days, but exposure is a key method that the console market has to work on. I see e-shop doing a good job of exposing me to other types of games like Trine 2 and Runner, but it took a generation just to get that working right. I think that's why the Lego games are so popular, because they provide that other gaming experience that is sorely lacking these days in many games.

Well, every game will end as a shooter. If a game is successful, then team and budget will increase and business will put pressure to make next iterations as broad and mainstream as possible. You can say bye to "risky" design that would put ppl off.

I think that If you look up "Shooterization" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Mass Effect 3.

A W-

"The independent brand has taken that market over, and they have been reluctant to make console games."

Rather it's console manufacturers and major publishers that been reluctant to utilize their talents. I think most indie talents would jump at the opportunity if ever given the chance.

@ Mario Kummer - The backlog issue would actually be a problem for some people. The last thing that those people would want to do so is add more games to their catalog (unless the games are short and/or simple).

@ Jeferson and Mario

I agree with the backlog issue and I think missing backwards compability will make this issue worth.

@ Christian Keichel - Fortunately, that's not the case with Wii U and 3DS, but in case of the PS4, there have been no announcements on backwards comparability so far (although, I won't rule out comparability with PS3 games, but I did wish that it would be compatible with PS1/PS2 games).