Iwata: Wii have a supply problem

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says game giant is addressing hardware-shortage issues, promises improvement soon.

Nintendo's CEO and president, Satoru Iwata, has answered a number of questions in a financial results briefing on the company's Web site, including addressing the Wii shortage and mobile gaming, and hitting back at those who believe that the Wii and DS are not as high-tech as competitors such as the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

The Nintendo president admitted that Wii shortages were an issue, and he apologised for them by saying simply, "We are sorry that we were unable to sufficiently forecast this kind of demand." Iwata added that the original plan had been to sell the Wii through a variety of retail outlets alongside video game stores to reach a greater market penetration, although currently this is now off the table. The reason for this is, according to Iwata, "[We] have to supply enough to meet the demands from our existing customers, before we try to expand to new outlets."

One of the reasons for the supply chain problems have been production bottlenecks in the process. "Making a significant volume of the high-tech hardware, and making an additional volume, is not an easy task at all," commented Iwata. "In fact, when we clear one bottleneck for a production increase, we will face another one."

To deal with the Wii's supply-chain issues, Iwata said the Mario Factory is increasing production of the console and a "small increase" is expected in retail outlets starting from this month.

Iwata also slammed criticism of the Wii and DS from those who had said they are not truly next-gen. "While we are on this subject, it looks like some people are misunderstanding that Nintendo is not incorporating state-of-the-art technologies into its products," rebutted the executive. "Just as an example, we are using state-of-the-art technologies to realize the compact-sized Wii console with low power consumption."

Iwata also added that more premium content would be coming to the Wii Channel network in the wake of the successful Virtual Console, where classic games from past Nintendo platforms can be downloaded on the Wii. "When Nintendo thinks we have a channel which is worth asking our customers to pay for, we are in a position to make a business out of it," he said. "I am not saying that the existing services that we are offering for free of charge today will suddenly become a paid service."

Iwata also denied the possibility of expanding Nintendo's software into the similar market of mobile phone users or that the mobile phone market was a threat to the DS. He said that although there were some 90 million mobile phone users in Japan, these cell phones worked across a variety of different architectures, which required different game software for each. The 20 million-odd worldwide DS owners might be much smaller than the international mobile-phone customer base, but the former has a unified software platform.

"I understand many people have been predicting that mobile phones would eat up the portable game machine business in the future, since more than five years ago," Iwata bemused. "If their predictions were right, we would not have today's situation. ... In the case of the DS, when there are 16.5 million DS hardware units in Japan, software can become a million-seller if just one out of 16.5 hardware owners have purchased the software."

Iwata was also asked if Nintendo might hire Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment's ex-chairman and CEO, in light of his stepping down last week to "pursue other projects." "I don't think we will do that," Iwata said.

473 Comments

  • Mush_Mouth

    Posted May 17, 2007 9:41 pm PT

    @ encryptkeeper:

    Gotta disagree with you on one thing...the X Men Legends games have been pretty well made if you dig rpgs. You're right about the other ones, though...they're pretty crappy.

  • nothingasitseem

    Posted May 17, 2007 1:59 pm PT

    mmm, cake is good.

  • dirtyfunkmaster

    Posted May 15, 2007 7:10 pm PT

    i like cake

  • theKSMM

    Posted May 13, 2007 9:29 pm PT

    Nintendo's problem with the whole "next gen" argument is that the current generation is mostly defined by graphics--high-definition graphics to be exact. Sony's and Microsoft's ability to boast about multiple cores and ridiculous polygon fill rates doesn't allow Nintendo to compete on hardware alone. Miniaturization just doesn't seem "next gen."

    That's not to say that Nintendo can't enjoy tremendous success in this round. But they can't do it by leading on specs. They have to keep demonstrating that even without the most powerful system, they can provide the greatest entertainment value among the Big Three if the games are fun.

    Ironically, this is the same position that Sony had with the PlayStation 2 in the last round; they abandoned that position in their attempt to create the most powerful game console ever seen. It will be interesting to see how that gambit turns out for them.

  • G_W_13

    Posted May 12, 2007 10:52 pm PT

    honestly its not as bad as it sounds i see wiis for sale at target, bnestbuy and other places quite a bit.

  • juno_22

    Posted May 11, 2007 1:02 am PT

    who the heck would hire kutaragi lol

  • DreFullCircle

    Posted May 9, 2007 11:39 am PT

    all this means is that the wii is flying off the shelves. nintendo still had more unites available than sony. also, you guys brought this upon yourselves: NERD FIGHT!!!!!!

  • getoconnection

    Posted May 8, 2007 1:18 pm PT

    encryptkeeper
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thanks for fighting my battle dude. You are flaming some one who is on your side. READ ALL THE POST BEFORE YOU JUMP IN THE THE FRAY!!

  • powley

    Posted May 8, 2007 1:13 pm PT

    Good lord...some of you guys......geez.....bunch of cynical know-it-alls.

    I usually don't get into these "video game industry" debates.....but.....

    Go cry some more (some of you) guys............really.

    Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but no matter how cynical you are- the Wii (or Wii Remote) is not a piece of crap or any other kind of exaggerated cynical thing you can come up with to call it.

    I'm sorry.....sure gamepads are good for some games....great.....but the remote and Nunchuk have obvious benefits and appeals. Loosen up and have some fun with the thing.........it's just a toy.....it's fun. (however it's used.....whether it's Zelda or Wii Sports or Wario or whatever other game that'll come out)

    To take a page from the know-it-all book I'll say that if you don't see that you're a cynical idiot.

    Another thing.......the Wii is a great system.....they have sold lots....so don't worry cause in time there will be games.

    Sure......I wish there were more games out right now for me to spend my money on.....and you'd think there woulda been.......but christ.....it's still early......don't worry there will be more games. There has to be if they want to be competitive and make money that's the bottom line. I don't know what everyone is crying about.....have a little patience the world ain't gonna come to an end. Y'all have ANTS IN YOUR PANTS. ANTS IN YOUR PANTS.....lol.....calm down.....

    Look what's coming out.....Mario Party.....Smash Bros....Mario Galaxy.....Metroid.......Splinter Cell........Resident Evil 4 (I haven't played it yet so personally am excited).......MK Armageddon......Project HAMMER........Umbrella Chronicles......Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles........etc. etc. there will SURELY be even more.

    And if you don't like those games or you think some of em are kiddy......1. don't worry I'm sure there will be more adult games too......2. try to loosen up and have some fun......or 3. SHOVE IT and go play computer or buy a X360 or PS3.

    BTW take it easy the graphics will be fine too......

    They prolly just rushed these early games out the door. It's still early.

    Here's a good article for anyone who wants to read it....and it's true:
    http://www.wiichat.com/nintendo-wii-articles/16730-limiting-wii-bit-cynicism-future-games.html

  • Esteban011487

    Posted May 8, 2007 1:01 pm PT

    what a crapp Idea!!!.

  • Konfusion

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:13 pm PT

    "I don't think we will do that," Iwata said.

    Who would?

  • skuzmuffin

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    Stop calling nintendo the 'mario factory' its such a naff term

  • encryptkeeper

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:46 am PT

    "skaluv

    Actually you are suffering with the Wii version of Spiderman 3 because it is a Sony property and they put all of their resources into the PS3 version."

    All of their resources? The game got a 6.6 on the PS3, and some websites (no pun intended) gave the 360 version a higher score than the PS3, I think several cited framerate issues, which has been plaguing the PS3. A 6.6? That doesn't sound like a lot of resources to me. Truthfully, this is a license game, and there really shouldn't be any major expectations for a license game to be anything worthwhile. Plus, the games based on movies based on comics have been, well, mostly terrible (previous spiderman games, Xmen games, fantastic 4).

  • omgcracka

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:39 am PT

    Microsoft would be smart to hire Kutaragi... they might actually sell some consoles in Japan.

  • encryptkeeper

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:39 am PT

    getoconnection said...
    "let me remind you that Halo: Combat Evolved (which came out the same time as the original Xbox) for the original Xbox had a full orchestral score, in game music and better graphics."

    Let me stop you right there. The first Halo game did *not* look better than Twilight Princess. The levels were long, uninspired links of the same room over and over, which reminded me of Wolfenstein. The character designs were good, but they were certainly not *better*. And as for voice acting, sure it would have made the game better but think about all that has to go into the voice acting. First, casting the right people and recording dialogue usually happens during principle game development. Remember that the game was made for the Cube, and ported to the Wii. The controls were altered, but not the graphics. Nintendo has almost never been worried with realistic looks but rather more concerned with stylistic graphics and artistry. Practically everything in TP has some sort of artistic design on it, like props and sets in Lord of the Rings. Now back to the voice acting, remember that voice takes up massive amounts of storage. Have you ever SEEN the Gamecube discs? Obviously not, because if you'd seen them you'd understand. They chose to make a huge game with no voice acting due to limits on the media, not because they were lazy. And Zelda isn't the type of game you can just change discs on, due to backtracking (did you notice that it got between 9 and 10 out of ten...EVERYWHERE but Gamespot, which gave it an 8.8?????) which is a staple in the series. Now the next Zelda game for the Wii will probably have voice acting since they'll have the storage available. But for christs sake, stop complaining about the absence of voice acting. We'd be waiting on the game for another year if they did that.

  • ungodlyabyss

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:35 am PT

    What? Why did they ask that Nintendo if they would hire Kutaragi? It does'nt make sense.

  • encryptkeeper

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:09 am PT

    I think their quality control is the bottleneck here. Nintendo is pretty widely known to have the most reliable hardware of the three (of course no one is perfect) and that stringent control holds production down, no matter what you make.

  • getoconnection

    Posted May 8, 2007 9:57 am PT

    razu_gamer

    @gforce007_basic: With global warming constantly being talk about, don't expect humanity to run towards the Cell Broadband Engine. To achieve 50% more cpu power at 20% less power consumption (than it predecesor) is state of the art. As for graphics, its the devs that make it look good not the system..proof..spiderman 3.

    As for EU sales....DS is number 1 in UK. Expect Wii to follow. Nintendo are advertising it everywhere. I have even seen some 'dirty' adverts aswell...10.30 Channel 4 Fri.

    @biscuit fool: wiimote overrated?? Again, its the devs that make it good not the wiimote. The wiimote can do any motion...its the devs that have to use it correctly...
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Some one with more than half a brain has finally posted to this thread!!! THANK YOU razu_gamer ---

  • razu_gamer

    Posted May 8, 2007 8:06 am PT

    @gforce007_basic: With global warming constantly being talk about, don't expect humanity to run towards the Cell Broadband Engine. To achieve 50% more cpu power at 20% less power consumption (than it predecesor) is state of the art. As for graphics, its the devs that make it look good not the system..proof..spiderman 3.

    As for EU sales....DS is number 1 in UK. Expect Wii to follow. Nintendo are advertising it everywhere. I have even seen some 'dirty' adverts aswell...10.30 Channel 4 Fri.

    @biscuit fool: wiimote overrated?? Again, its the devs that make it good not the wiimote. The wiimote can do any motion...its the devs that have to use it correctly...

  • SolidSnake2020

    Posted May 8, 2007 8:01 am PT

    Thats bad.

  • Wryze

    Posted May 8, 2007 6:44 am PT

    The supply problem probably won't last for long hopefully, and as far as Ken Kutaragi is concerned, I wouldn't be suprised if Microsoft comes into play.

  • ahyumifan

    Posted May 7, 2007 7:36 pm PT

    It's Satory Iwata man... I don't even have to read the thread. He is the best CEO in videogame industry. And.. umm.... that question... Nintendo hiring Ken Kutaragi.... that is just stupid question... considering his worthless pride ruinned current console war.... He is bad business man (or he was good but he lost sense now..) even if he is not a father of PS, i still don;t think Iwata will hire him. And COME ON.. Sony did lots of s*** to Nintendo... Remember the rumble in controller... It's sony who copied Nintendo's rumblepak..

  • getoconnection

    Posted May 7, 2007 7:35 pm PT

    Personally, I think they should've looked ahead and make sure they had at least a good game every month, ------------------------------------------------------

    What fantasy world do you live in?

  • -Shadowbinded-

    Posted May 7, 2007 7:04 pm PT

    I'll admit... I had better expectations out of Nintendo and the Wii. I own a Wii, got it for Xmas, and I was super psyched playing Wii Sports with friends or Zelda to kill some time, but after I beat Zelda, and school was back, friends couldn't come over to play Wii Sports and I just left my Wii gathering dust for half a month ocassionally checking out new VC games, since other games weren't good.

    I was realy hoping that Nintendo would have put their most prized game on the top of their To-Do-List: Super Smash... you could see previews of it a year before the Wii came out, and I ask myself if a year AFTER Wii's launch I will still be waiting for SSBB's launch. Or at least drop an awesome game out there like Metroid 3.

    Personally, I think they should've looked ahead and make sure they had at least a good game every month, but I still have Wii Sports (duh!), Zelda and Monkey Ball, and a friend of mine has Zelda, Sonic and Red Steel. What a petty list really... Nintendo you disappoint me (but I still love you guys lol)... at least the Xbox360 has online play, which does a great job of making it through game droughts.

  • getoconnection

    Posted May 7, 2007 6:16 pm PT

    dtshakuras said @ getoconnection "Who said I was complaining,"

    dtshakuras words in previous posts: ---- I stood in line to get the first batch of Wiis because I was optimistic of the good games the Wii could offer with their innovative technology. Turns out their launch lineup wasnt that good.

    But seriously, I dont give a damn how well the games sell, I care how good the games are. Look at the top Wii exclusive games, excluding any VC games, that are rated at least an 8.0 by GS right now. It is so little.

    As for the Wii itself, I think it is an excellent system but I dont knoq why Nintendo and its partners dont utilize the full potential of it with the games they produce.

    Take Zelda: TP for example, While it is one of the best on the Wii so far (yes I have played it and I like it), I am baffled why Nintendo didnt give it in games voices or a full orchestal score or why its graphics wasnt as good as it could be.

    let me remind you that Halo: Combat Evolved (which came out the same time as the original Xbox) for the original Xbox had a full orchestral score, in game music and better graphics.

    I certainly dont recall having to read text boxes of characters when I played Halo.

    I dont see any reason why Nintendo cant get some more Third Party developers to release some good games on the Wii.

    Games like Far Cry took a huge plunge in ratings because their graphics were extremely bad.

    I cant believe how you can say Wii Sports has better replay value than Gears of War.

    Gears of War by itself has great replay value and I hope you know that it is the most played game on Xbox Live, it even surpassed Halo 2.

    Once games specific for each sport are released (doesnt matter which console) I dont see much reason to play Wii sports unless you arent a gamer at all and dont feel like spending money of games.

    For example, Far Cry was set in an exotic island with lush jungles and such but it was poorly ported and got crappy graphics.

    Yea I know some companies dont care how the graphics are when they are ported or dont bother to improve on it and thats why they usually get mediocre ratings and I dont buy them.

    Nintendo and its partners doesnt produce enough original Wii games that is good.

    Nintendo doesnt seem to hold them up to a very high standard.

    Nintendo can surely spare some people to make negotiations and deals with people to third party devs and ask them to make some games for the Wii that can really take advantage of Wii controls.

    I'm basically saying what the Wii can still improve on and I bring other system as comparison, not to say which is superior.

    But I blame Nintendo for not trying to change it for this console generation.

    But as you acknowledge the fact that they could have put the space to better use, why didnt they put a full orchestral score (not saying music in Zelda was bad, but could have some improvement) or touched up the graphics as I said before?

    So you know that if you look at these other continents, Wii and DS games definitely DO NOT make up the most games sold.(the most grievous rant-GETO)
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Getoconnection says if the shoe fits please, feel free to wear.

    (sidenote: If Nintendo would just apply some of the "suggestions" dtshakuras is purposing they may have a shot at selling more systems, lol)

  • skaluv

    Posted May 7, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    Actually you are suffering with the Wii version of Spiderman 3 because it is a Sony property and they put all of their resources into the PS3 version.

    Also the graphics aren't worse that the GC but most of them are the same due to the fact that they were probably developed as GC games and then ported with additional controller support to the wii. We are still awaiting better native WII games and online play but I am confident that it will come soon.

    I definately agree that nintendo dropped the ball on prepping the product for its level of success but I am still confident that it will be remedied.

  • eric_4_life

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:53 pm PT

    for all you high quality graphic haters, just look at the difference between spider-man 3 on the Wii, and the same game on the ps3 and xbox 360, because i decided to go with the Wii, I have to suffer not having additionnal playable areas, and details because of the cheap processor my system has. Lagging wouldn't be a problem if nintendo would be able to make games with decent quality. I am even ready to say that because the chose to work on motion sensing, the graphics of games are even worst than the game cube, and that pisses me off alot. So try to contradict this

  • alcheng

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:29 pm PT

    This is Nintendo's Paradigm: A gaming system is supposed to PLAY GAMES, and it doesn't have to be truly better graphics or better processing power. It doesn't have to have DVD playback because it'll be redundant. And Nintendo will NEVER hire Kutaragi because he's a liar.

    And who cares about Home and Little Big Planet? Who cares about High-Def? Who cares about High-Tech? Who cares about playing movies with game consoles? Nobody. Look at Microsoft and Sony, they're already screwing up. X360 Elite is a piece of ****, and so is the PS3.

  • gforce007_basic

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:26 pm PT

    The fact that Nintendo cant effectively mass produce a neutered console is laughable and embarrasing. And no one gives a rat's ass about power consumption ok, you get zero props for making sure your console is "energy efficient". You think game developers care about what the power consumption of a console is? They have to dilute their game design and water down the AI, the levels, the assets, everything, just to make their game run on Wii. Wii desperately needs a killer app not named Zelda but chances are, third parties will continue to release garbage for it, for the most part. But a more important question to ask is, will wii actually have a real killer app? What will wii's super mario 64, gta 3, mgs type of game be? Which game released on wii will push the platform, show thoughtful online connectivity, and make fans buy a wii just to play that game? At this point, I dont think that game will exist. And if it does, it wont use that wii-tarded wii controller. Why does SSB brawl not use the wiimote anyway? Because the wiimote/thumbchuk are worthless pieces of crap. I just hope the wii doesnt turn into the DS, where both consoles are only good at certain genres but suck at everything else. The DS has had a lot of success but I refuse to buy one till it starts getting sports/racing/fighting games that dont suck.

  • nobeaner

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:16 pm PT

    Who the heck asked that question about Ken Kutaragi?

  • gamer1

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:14 pm PT

    So what if the Wii doesn't have the graphic capabilities of other consoles? Games aren't about how pretty they look, they're about how fun they are. Sure there's at least a minimum level graphics should be at, but besides that what makes games great comes down to how much fun you have while playing it. If you want graphics go buy a PS3 or Xbox360, and stop complaining about the Wii's graphics because it's not about that. Nintendo is just simply taking a different direction than other companies. They are trying to find new ways to play games, and they don't care about having the system with the best graphics.

    In the end if you want graphics and processing power go with the PS3 or 360, if you want to experience something new and different go with the Wii.

  • GameDestroyer88

    Posted May 7, 2007 3:46 pm PT

    I was beginning to wonder why I didn't see any around.

  • dr23benway

    Posted May 7, 2007 3:02 pm PT

    I can't believe people are expending so much time and energy writing paragraphs about why the Wii sucks. If you If you don't like it don't buy. Quit your whining.

  • malmeid2

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:54 pm PT

    killejo I have both the 360 and the PS3, and I recently bought the Wii and think it is a fantastic little machine!! It is amazing how much power they packed into that tiny little console (it is less than 1/3 the size of the PS3 or 360). The graphics may not be as good as the 360 and PS3, but it is designed for a different type of gamer. Instead of focusing on traditional technological prowess, they focused on simple short games with easy to use controls that encourage people to play together in the same home. This is the opposite of the PS3 and 360 which focus on more complicated games that generally need to be played online against a competitor. I don't understand all the hate and anger about this. The Wii will draw in lots of people that would not be interested in games otherwise. If I want a hardcore gaming experience with top notch graphics and great online competition, I will buy a game for the 360 or PS3. If I want a fun party game to play with some friends at home or a family-friendly gaming experience, I will buy a game for the Wii. My consoles are all co-existing on the same entertainment unit just fine. Increased competition between the big 3 console companies benefits everybody because it forces lower prices and innovation in order to compete. Even if you have no interest in one of the other consoles, you as a consumer will benefit from the competition. Quit all the bashing and enjoy whatever system you prefer!
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    You can believe what you want, but I don't honestly think that the Wii is going to draw multitudes of "new gamers" into the industry. I think that this "Wii rush" is a mixture of two things. The first is the fact that kids are getting more and more spoiled and whining to their parents that they want a new video game. The second is the parents response to the Xbox 360 and PS3 prices, and obviously they are going to flock towards the Wii. Period. Once the novelty of this fad wears off, and the other consoles drop into the $2xx.xx price level, the Wii is going to crash faster and harder than the gamecube. And as for competetion being healthy it is true, but it is also healthy when the console of your choice is leading the race. In case you hadn't noticed, the 360 is snatching alot of PS3's former exclusives because it has an install base nearly 5 times the size. Coincidence? I think not. While competition is good, consumers of the winning console still reap "extra rewards" so to speak.

  • killejo

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    I have both the 360 and the PS3, and I recently bought the Wii and think it is a fantastic little machine!! It is amazing how much power they packed into that tiny little console (it is less than 1/3 the size of the PS3 or 360). The graphics may not be as good as the 360 and PS3, but it is designed for a different type of gamer. Instead of focusing on traditional technological prowess, they focused on simple short games with easy to use controls that encourage people to play together in the same home. This is the opposite of the PS3 and 360 which focus on more complicated games that generally need to be played online against a competitor. I don't understand all the hate and anger about this. The Wii will draw in lots of people that would not be interested in games otherwise. If I want a hardcore gaming experience with top notch graphics and great online competition, I will buy a game for the 360 or PS3. If I want a fun party game to play with some friends at home or a family-friendly gaming experience, I will buy a game for the Wii. My consoles are all co-existing on the same entertainment unit just fine. Increased competition between the big 3 console companies benefits everybody because it forces lower prices and innovation in order to compete. Even if you have no interest in one of the other consoles, you as a consumer will benefit from the competition. Quit all the bashing and enjoy whatever system you prefer!

  • ElitesIgnorance

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:17 pm PT

    Why don't people just accept the fact that the Wii is just a Gamecube, with the littlest increase of the graphics, but with a different controller.

  • interpolred

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    Interesting! Well, hopefully tendo can continue producing Wiis and hopefully their supply increases.

  • BILLNYE6983

    Posted May 7, 2007 12:41 pm PT

    keeperofgames, "The only people who don't like the Wii are the ones that haven't played one Remember, it took the 360 a year to get its killer app, and now it's getting more and more great titles (almost) every month, I say give a Wii a year to 18 months and we'll be seeing some AMAZING titles for it"

    This is exactly my point, when PS3 fans say, "it will be good", everyone flips out on them, but the Wii which also doesn't have any big titles (not even big ports) doesn't get called out on it, and when it does everyone uses and accepts that, "it will be good", and that is just lame. My only point is that if your gonna say that there is nothing that makes the PS3 worth the buy then you may as well say the Wii isn't either because GAMES are the only real thing that the consoles are missing, that is the main point I've been trying to make. For some reason there is a double standard that since the Wii is 'innovative' (and innovative doesn't always mean good) and cheap it's ok if they make lame games. I don't like games based only on story or only on gameplay, or only on graphics, you need to combine all three together, which is why I think games like Metal Gear Solid are the best because it's really good at all three of those things, graphics aren't everything but they certainly are something, regardless Nintendo made no real increase in graphical power and that's lame. For some reason people now think that it's somehow more impressive to make a game with unique gameplay than one with good graphics, it's not easy to make a game look really good, if you can do anything really good in a videogame it's impressive, but my point is, I like games that have all three parts, story, gameplay, and graphics. I love Zelda games so I'll probably end up buying a Wii once a few good Zelda games have come out for it, and when it's really cheap. But if no good Zelda games come out I won't buy one. I don't care how many they sell, and I don't get why anyone else would, it's like everyone cares more about their favorite console 'winning' than if it makes quality games.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted May 7, 2007 11:51 am PT

    Regginator14520 "WIi's sell out very quickly in North America and Japan. According to some people, Europeans are not buying the Wii that much? Well that's their problem."

    Actually, I may know why - the Wii is just simply so unappealing in terms of its power. Plus there aren't any games that appeals to the Europeans. They love the hardcore racing games (just look at the F1 game for the PS3, & all those X360 racers), & great action games & games of other genres that uplifts your feeling of immersion, unlike the kiddy games, which Nintendo seems to have a stubborn penchant of developing. True, you may say that some (barely just very few of them) of them have mature stories like the Zelda games. And, even though it's good & we may play it, it's just so stupid of them to just make frustratingly simplistic 1-button striking gameplay method, & JUST SO FEW WEAPONS unlike almost any of the other games that have ever been made by just about EVERYBODY else. Why? Because we love variety, dude. Nintendo always keeps on making seemingly faceless carbon-copy sequels in all of their franchises, only that they all cover almost every genre of gaming that exists. It creates the undying impression on us that they are just so afraid to deviate from the aged franchises & make unique & interesting games, which every other company have always been doing, & many gamers like me have always been yearning out for. The power of the Wii is just SO similar to a last-generation console called the Xbox, only that the Wii's CPU is 4 MHz slower than that of the Xbox, & its GPU is stored with about 22MB more RAM than that of the Xbox, at least according to the pre-Wii launch sources. But I don't know if it's even as powerful as that of the Xbox's, because the graphics on the upcoming Wii games just... I don't quite know what it is, but it just looks inferior to many of the Xbox games that I'd ever seen, & that surprises me. The graphics in Metroid Prime 3 was so terrible! The textures on the models are so blurred, & unrefined, and that the environments in that game & some other games just doesn't seem as clear & detailed as those of games for the Xbox like even BOTH Halo games, & plenty of other games. I'd have thought that Nintendo would have upped the ante in terms of the graphical power, which SHOULD BE BY NOW!

    I'm an Euro who lives in Australia, plus I can still see a few Wiis in EBgames from time to time. The price of the Wii is a rip-off! It should have been US $150 (or AU $200-250), otherwise Nintendo should have put in more power like, for example, 1.5 GHz, a nice GPU that's twice as powerful as that of the Xbox's graphics (perhaps the graphics could've looked as good as those of the exclusive PC games from 2003-2004. eg. No One Lives Forever, TRON, Half-Life, Far Cry, Doom). But no, Nintendo are just ripping the customers off. Many people in two certain countries either don't care about overpaying the value of a console, or have no patience at all. Me? I'm just gonna wait until the price drops far, far down to what I'd suggested. The Xbox 360 is excellent value, while the PS3 may be hard for many people to initially pay for, unless they like to pay for the perceived value that it has, but the Wii is a downright rip-off, funnily enough!

    Good luck for following Nintendo's ideology. I don't like what they've done, which is why it's so fortunate that their are competitors in the market in this very cut-throat, expensive business. The Wii, from the developers' perspective is a HUGE waste of 6 years' of time, coz it seriously inhibits their exploding creativity, coz, I mean, they'd already been working on games of roughly the same graphics in the LAST generation. That generation is supposed to be OVER! Now, that doesn't seem to be the case. And you can already see the results in the difference of content between the games for the big 3 (PC, Xbox 360, & PS3), & the Wii. The chart certainly, rightly so is so highly skewed in favour of the Big 3, as I called it.

  • dennis8

    Posted May 7, 2007 11:22 am PT

    I LOVE NINTENDO :p

  • Snake329

    Posted May 7, 2007 10:35 am PT

    Dn3, That comment of mine was in no way directed towards you. All I did want to direct towards you was the comment of the Wii being 5 times more powerful than the Xbox. It's not. Again, look at the specs. Oh, and I never classified you under any label. I was just trying to make a point of the IGNORANCE found on these threads. Never once was this aimed at you. Also, my comment about DQ8 and it's orchestra was just to prove a point to the N Fanboys that the not having an orchestral score in Zelda is pure laziness. These N Fanboys really tire me with their idealistic views. They are so blinded by their own egocentrism on the Wii, that they can't see the true matter of facts regarding the Wii's software and weak hardware. Yes, WEAK, excluding the bluetooth technology on the Wii-mote. Sweet stuff there. Oh yeah, Vornykx, the gamecube definitely did not have better graphics than the Xbox. The frame rate issue goes down to the individual game. I love Nintendo, and I love the Wii, I just think that they could have done better. Period.

  • Shtinky

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:48 am PT

    Actually, originally iwata said they WANTED to hire ken it was in lots of games blogs. He probably said this to follow up his earlier remark. Either way, I don't think he meant any disrespect to ken.

  • GonzoGuy

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:46 am PT

    The funny thig is that I think in a couple of years all the PS and Xbox fanboys are going to be kissing Nintendo's *** even if they still don't want a wii just for the fact that nintndo is really expanding the market and that's good for everyone. Then the third party publishers will have plenty more money and resources to do the hightest work they want to be doing for the ps3 and 360 but isn't as profitable right now.

  • GonzoGuy

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:41 am PT

    NOW they're admitting to a shortage?
    This weekend marked the first time I actually saw a Wii in a store. What I don't understand is if they were planning to sell at an expanded number of retails to begin with, how could they fall behind the demand so drastically. As for the folks who say the wii can't compete with competitors: perhaps that's true on the polygon count, but when it comes to the fun factor I think it's the best. It does kind of suck that there haven't been too many new games lately but I can hardly notice with all the stuff I'm still getting through from when it first came out.

    Hell... I bet that even after Metroid, Order of the Phoenix, and Resident Evils, I'll still be playing wii sports with my (rapidly slimming) wife every other day.

  • KronikKilla

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:22 am PT

    Wrong, they were hired to make a CD-ROM add on to compete with the Sega CD. And yes, the PS controller, color of the system, etc. was a direct rip off of the SNES. Ken Kutragi is probably one of the biggest liars this industry will ever see. Too many broken promises to the consumer is why he is now unemployed. And I'll be happy if they can get the Wii back into stores, I was planning on buying one awhile ago, but have to find one in stock anywhere, and I have about 20 Gamesopt/EB stores around the area, along with about 15 mom and pop game stores, none of which have one in stock.

  • smoothn00dle

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:17 am PT

    If Nintendo hired Ken, he comes full circle! Ken started PS project from Nintendo and he defeated Nintendo and Sega. Left Sony and go back to Nintendo. This time Cell chip and blu-ray the Wii!

  • Phazevariance

    Posted May 7, 2007 7:53 am PT

    Ok, First of all, Sony was hired by Nintendo to make the super nintendo but Nintendo rejected the design and went elsewhere for production, so Sony finished it up and sol dit as the PSX, not that htey ripped it off, but they made the design. And not hiring Ken is a good idea, since Sony basically fired him for mishandling the PS3 launch. That's why he was demoted, then he stepped down all together.

    Lets hope lots of good Wii things come soon, because we need some new games and channels to keep us interested...

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