Iwata: Nintendo's future will be determined this holiday

What a sad company and pathetic console, really.

But the only one to blame is Nintendo themselves.

They're only true saving grace and spine holding them intact is the handheld business with 3DS.

Looks like they are screwed. Iwata and Nintendo are completely delusional if they expect the Wii U to compete with the Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3. The Wii U is the red headed step child of gaming, and this time their controller gimmick didn't appeal to casuals.

Private Hudson from Aliens can tell you Nintendo's future with one sentence. "Game over man, game over."

Considering Wii U still outsold that, that would cause quite an uproar.

lol putting all their bets on cat mario 3d world...saying silly line..like "one game has the power to change everything" ain't going to help..this is reality not some movie/anime story. Mario 3D World will boost sales but won't be as much as Nintendo wanted, just as WW HD remake which they touted to be a triple A title. With this line "he said that he still didn't think a major strategic overhaul was needed." Mr. Iwata you need to go! time to step down.

Look, we agree in this thread for a change :P

I'm starting to fear that the $300+ I spent on a Wii-U wasn't worth it. I mean, it was always going to be a secondary console for me. I'm much more interested in PS4 and what games it'll have to offer but Nintendo still has great games love. Plus, the console isn't bad. It's actually pretty good. Just doesn't have games.

I hope Nintendo is able to recover but seriously, you can't leave the Wii-U empty for a year and then start shaking the console once in a while until some games start to fall out. You need software all year long to friggn' sell the damn console!

I don't think anyone would deny that Nintendo can be fun. Or that their games aren't state of the art. But how fun? These days and possibly because of the economy people are tighter with their money. People want more addictive games that they will ring more value out of. Nintendo's accessible titles are their strong points for newcomers. But what does an old school gamer think about Nintendo's product line? They have tried strategies like getting Team Ninja to do a Metroid game. How far did it get them? How much money do gamers who try to support the Big 3 have to spend before they are noticed? The novelty Nintendo has usually hits with people that have never played Nintendo before. But what about people that have been through the generations. I'll end it here... Nintendo has printed money with it's stuff but where's the demand for what they are doing or have been doing in modern times?

Not sure if you had a point here.

Only doom and gloom.

The Wiiu is in a bad situation, luckily Nintendo as a whole isn´t. They need to refocus the whole strategy of the WiiU. Or even admit it will be a second console for core gamers and a console for casuals. And a second console and a console for casuals should cost less. We all know it wont repeat the success of the Wii. But with a healthy lineup, which is coming, and another and more significant price drop next year, things could change to aim, and maybe surpass, GC sales.

That´s what I really hope for. I don't want them to be a handheld only company. Id rather see them going 3rd party. Or maybe who knows, the Sony'Nintendo alliance dream would come true.

It wasn't much of a point. I just was wondering if people that have played since the NES or so care about the things they see Nintendo producing. Team Ninja is a great developer. Metroid isn't a bad franchise. This is Nintendo's idea of appealing to the core player. But how much demand did it have? We've seen this a few times with F-Zero GX by Amusement Vision (Sega) and Wario World by Treasure. Pikmin 3 was supposedly to be Miyamoto's promise to gamers. How much business did it really do besides satisfying a small sect who have nostalgia for it?

go 3rd party already, no one cares about Nintendo's consoles unless they are extremely cheap because they are good toys for children.

I do not anticipate Nintendo leaving the home console market anytime soon, but if the Wii U sales continue as poorly as they have been, I do expect a new console.

So they're banking everything on ... Super Mario 3D World?

Good luck.

@daveg1:

Nintendo doesn't understand the concept of mass market appeal. Sony and M$ have broad appeal because they don't cater to one specific demographic.

Most young kids don't want to play really kiddy games, they want to play games that they perceive as being mature, like COD and Killzone.

We have Nintendo saying "you are a kid, so here is a kiddy game," while what actually would sell is "you are a kid, so here is this really awesome shooter with blood and guns!"

They need to drop the Wii-U and create a console that is more similar to the PS4 and Xbone. Make people perceive it as more mature, and forget the old days of gimmicks and mario saving Princess Peach - at least for home consoles.

I don't know if this was posted in the past but I really like what David Jaffe has to say here.

It starts @6:50

This could be the only good solution if they are thinking about getting out of the console market.

I hope that day never comes.

So, according to Jaffe, the only way for Nintendo to live is to sell-out? I remember when that interview first reared it's head in on GN.

This is going to be a very interesting upcoming year for Nintendo. We're going to be seeing some drastic changes.

I see SM3DW selling quite a bit in Japan and pushing some units. North America not so much. So I'm not seeing much change happening in Nintendo's future.

Anyone wanna buy a WiiU? I think I played it for about 2 hours in 12 months.

Horray .... soon , we will be able to play Bayonetta2 on ps4

I hope they remain in the console market. They do things differently It'd be a boring place without their hardware.

The Wii U is the only console with reasons to buy it. If the Wii U is doing this poorly I expect the PS4 and Xbox One sales to be even worse. If the Wii U sales are not just bad because it's a headstart, then I expect them all to become 'third party' after this generation. But that is better for everyone, right?
If you listen to GS or GT or GB or EBA almost none of the people there are really excited about these new consoles. They have to have them, and there might be cool stuff coming out in a couple years or so, but I don't think we've ever seen less excitement about new consoles than this generation. Consoles are done.

Agreed. It'll feel like the Pixies and their world in Fairly Odd Parents.

@KungfuKitten: Just stop

No you should.

Pfft... lol

@hoola: Sony and MS wishes they have a franchise with mass appeal. Sony wishes they have an icon as big as Mario or Master Chief.

There is a reason why Mario is considered the Mickey Mouse of Gaming (what you think of Mickey Mouse's relevance is a whole different story).

The Common Misconception of Nintendo right now is that everyone has THAT mentality.

THAT Mentality meaning Nintendo Games = Kiddy Games or games that are for "Kids" (putting more emphasis on the parenthesis for this one).

Nintendo doesn't make games for Kids, It's obvious to that Extent within their own games and the Line Ups for the WiiU and 3DS. For these Systems for the most part they have shown games that they know would get the Gamer's interested.

3DS: Etrian Odyssey, Pokemon X & Y, Metal Gear, Castlevania Lords of Shadow, Mario Kart, Kid Icarus, Kingdom Hearts, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem

WiiU: Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Smash Bros, Splinter Cell, Batman, Mass Effect, Ninja Gaiden, ZombiU, Call of Duty, Super Mario 3D World, Rayman

Those a games they have shown to us at Show cases of E3 and Nintendo Directs. These are Games they know Gamers would love to play and would love to have. However the Audience Nintendo wants is an Audience that's primarily killing the Industry.

The Audience that only goes for Looks and not the games. WiiU is failing because it's not "Next Gen" enough.

Pikmin 3 satisfied everyone who actually played it. Nobody has nostalgia for Pikmin. That's why it didn't sell. I have been playing video games since the Atari, and I can say without a doubt that the software Nintendo is putting out today is much better than it has been at any other point in their history.

They've released too many mario games recently for Super Mario 3D world to have any sort of major impact. As fun as it looks lt doesn't look different enough for the public to get excited or run out and buy it.

They need bigger and better looking games.

Like that stopped anyone from getting Assassin's Creed IV right?

I came in here to say exactly this. Guy needs to get fired.

It will take more than just a few games.

They need to stop being last place for online interaction for gamers. They are absolute dead last in terms of online gaming compared to others.

All they do is re-release old titles, HD remakes, franchise sequels, and franchise spinoffs. They have no original ideas. Nintendos foundation is built on the mantra of "same old shit".

They need to stop trying to gimmick their way into big bucks. Yes the touch screen on the ds was a hit, yes the motion of the wiimote of was a hit, but because they had good reception with those two things now they base their business model around trying to capture lighting in a bottle with other gimmicks such as 3d and tablets. Well its obvious no one cared about 3d because 3d movies never took off and neither did gaming hence why Nintendo is selling the 2ds. The tablet ship sailed awhile ago because the newness of tablets is gone after 2 years of them flooding the market and nintendos tablet is so far behind it cant even handle multi touch input.

They need to be more open to third party developers.

Oh Ricky, so much wrong in your post

Nintendo isn't going anywhere, and its not Nintendo's future he's talking about, It's all Iwata's future here. If they don't pick up this holiday, expect to see an empty chair in Nintendo's Board of Directors

At this point there are two outcomes I can see. The first being the WiiU has a good enough holiday season with it's lower price point and kid-friendly lineup to survive and keep Nintendo going forward with the WiiU. The second being the WiiU gets completely overshadowed by the PS4 and Xbox One, has a crappy holiday season, and forces Nintendo to make a major change.

It really looks like it's black and white.

They just need to bide their time while Sony go bust and then they are back in the game.

I wouldn't be surprised if restructuring has already taken place. I bet sales will pick up, and then shortly after when the company is out of the red zone Iwata will announce he is "stepping down/retiring".

Restructuring had been taken place a long time ago I thought.

I mean they merged their Handheld and Console divisions to one building. (unless I read that wrong.)

They are also banking on those three Wii Series games and that mario and sonic game which I expect to sell well.

It will get obliterated by ps4 and xbone. Save time, no need to wait for holidays, rethink your whole company strategy NOW. You had ZERO competition last year and you sold LOL worthy amount. In 2013 you'll get AC130'd by PS4 and thrown rocks at by Xbone.

Does Ninty even advertise the WiiU? I mean I dont think Ive seen many if any commercials for it.

PS4 and Xbox One would have overshadowed the Console anyway. (like it already has)

Yeah but its better than nothing. It at least brings attention to it and shows they're trying.

Maybe they should have tried advertising a year ago.

I'm actually kind of excited to get to play Wii Sports online.