Iwata: Nintendo is going all in this E3

Really looking forward to this. Always will have a warm spot in my heart for Nintendo and the WiiU is a good system despite the hatred for it. My body is ready for E3!

You know what would get me crazy exited for nintendo at E3? A new more gritty and mature series. Something to show it's not all just for the kids, and giggles. Do a god damn Pokemon RPG! Why this hasn't been done on their flagship machines is absurd. Hell bring new shit not old shit to the table and lots of it and maybe I might consider them, but till then I'm still not buying Mario or any of the mario crews shit.

The PS4 is only $100 more if you

1. Do not want a game to play

2. Do not care about playing any games online

3. Do not care about getting a second controller for local multiplayer

The cost of entry is only 100 more for a newer, more powerful console that features "hard core" games. It's not that hard to understand.

A 199USD Wii U is much more appealing compared to the PS4.

@musicalmac: I honestly doubt a price cut would help with all these "not next gen" comments being thrown around.

The price on the sticker is $100 more. If you were actually going to compare the cost of going to the store, picking up a console, and coming home with a game or two that you can play online with your friends and at home with your family, the PS4 is about $270 more, plus tax.

That's great, but it doesn't reflect traditional consumer vision -- which means the PS4 only appears to be 100 more to buy than a Wii U. A small price to pay to get a much more powerful console.

Yeah. Nintendo's biggest mistake is being up front an honest about pricing their console when the competition is anything but.

Those comments don't affect the people that would want to buy one. I think a price cut would indeed help Wii U sales, especially if it was more in line with what the original Wii was priced at.

A 149USD Wii U with a couple VC or downloadable games included? Hmm....

Maybe Nintendo's problem is that they think like you. Either way, it's not good for Nintendo. A price cut, in my eyes, is a better idea than no price cut. Consumers will react positively to a console that's priced more like the original Wii.

@musicalmac: *looks at PS4 sales and the hype*

Sure it isn't.

So what would you suggest they do to fix the Wii U image? Do you have a solution?

The original Wii was priced at $250.

Yeah, and? A reasonable Wii U isn't even at $250. And it's selling fast enough to encourage Nintendo's execs to take pay cuts.

@musicalmac: Well, it may not be a fixable solution, but if they can market the thing better with the right games, it can at least stay in the market.

They're doing that now, they're releasing all the games they think we want now. It can always stay in the market, even if it's like a giant, three-edged blade in Nintendo's side.

I'm guessing there are a few reasons why the Wii U isn't selling.

You either want a Wii U or you don't. The Wii U is a better deal at the $300 price point than the Wii ever was at the $250 price point. There are reasons beyond pricing that are keeping the Wii U from selling. A price cut would only provide a temporary boost in sales from fence-sitters, and then the console would continue to not sell. It is destined to lose Nintendo a lot of money, unless Nintendo can figure out a way to make kids want the system more than they want a PS4.

I won't pretend to know the future, so I'll have to defer to you and your infinite wisdom.

From a few fans on the board, I can only conclude that the Wii U is doomed. D00MED.

What's ironic is that MS and Sony are doing a good job of making it look appealing, instead of completely, consistently disappointing.

Nice call!!

I don't know if you're being sarcastic... but I think it could be an interesting take on the Metroid series.

I think the Xbone is in worse shape than the Wii U, honestly. It's sales continue to get worse every month, and Microsoft is responding with a $100 price drop after only 7 months on the market. What is appealing about a $400 console with worse graphics and a worse first party than the $400 console right next to it on the shelf?

Haloz and Gearses ?

No totally sincere. I love Metroid. Owned the triple pack on Wii. I think that idea is great.

PS3 dropped price only 7 months on market. Nothing new in the console industry. You really think majority of the consumer public look into what the graphics cards can do, or know what first party means? They want to play COD, Madden, Elder Scrolls, Batman. They'll see that Both consoles have them and assume they are the same. PS4 will sell more, but your acting like everyone assesses value the way you do.

Sheep said the same thing when the wii u was 350 then Nintendo dropped the price and made bundles. So pardon me if I call bullshit on your post buddy.

The PS3 was in terrible shape at that point. Microsoft can still turn things around, too. They are going to need to focus on first party games, similar to what Sony did with the PS3, though, and they probably won't see a return on that investment until the next console gen. This console is going to hurt Microsoft, just like the PS3 hurt Sony. Microsoft just needs to build consumer loyalty and come back strong next gen.

You know I'm one of the biggest Nintendo defenders on this board, but even I have limits to putting up with Nintendo's crap. If they can't support the Wii U properly then maybe they should stick to handhelds. I've had the Wii U for about a good while now and while I really like the games I own for it, there's simply not enough of them as it is. They've spent entirely too much time focusing on 3DS instead of Wii U.

Uhm, the title is self-contradicting. Nintendo isn't going to E3, but hosting their own of E3 Nintendo Direct. They're going all out ... for their own special edition of Nintendo Direct.

So the price cut worked and the Wii U is selling like hot cakes now? I thought the Wii U was still selling terribly, but that would support my earlier claim that the problem isn't really the price, so now I just don't know what to think.

I'd rather get a true sequel to the Metroid series instead of a Prime sequel. They've never gone beyond Metroid Fusion and it is way overdue for a sequel.

The wii u saw a sales increase of 200 percent after the 50 dollar price cut. Logic would say if the wii u price dropped to 199 dollars sales would improve at a faster rate. If Nintendo drops the pad they could easily make the 199 price point.

Oh, good. Not that I would have a problem if you disagreed.

We've had side scrolling, fps, and pinball. Everyone genre gets a crack at it.

How much do you think the pad costs, and are you suggesting that they sell the console with no controller at all?

The wii u has the pro as the secondary option they should make it the primary option.

Not only that, but you can't fully operate the wiiu menu without one. You'd be asking them to overhaul the UI.

The pro isn't as good as the tablet, though. Are people really going to go for a worse SKU for $50 less? Haven't they already proven that they won't with the white Wii U vs the black one? There is a bigger difference between the controllers than there is between 8 GB of storage vs 32 GB, too.

I think Nintendo should focus on ways to make the Wii U better than it currently is, and market it. It is already substantially cheaper than any other current gen console. People are not buying it because it is perceived to be much worse than the competition. I don't think a price cut will give them any kind of sustained success.

I'm not sure I agree. Nintendo is literally bleeding money, and makes MS look secure financially. Nintendo doesn't have the ecosystem MS has, not even close.

And, judging by the recent losses, do you really think that sticking to just handhelds is an any better move?

Are you mad?

In the event they can't start selling more Wii U's and increasing production of quality games of it, then yes, it would be a better move for them to just focus on handhelds.

What do you think Nintendo should be doing?

No. The pro is a pretty good controller, too, but the tablet is the best controller on any console. It's better than the pro in every way but battery life. The pro has it beat handily in that department.

They need their console business. Once that is gone ANY trust by Nintendo fans is dead in the water. Shot in the head with a Desert Eagle. Not even the next handheld would save them from that backlash.

excited!

I really like the idea of Nintendo just creating a hybrid and developing all of their games for a single platform.

It's bulky and clunky as ****. The grips are horrible, I can't fathom why anyone would like it so much.

Now if they shrunk it down and made it more comfortable it'd be pretty good, I think they made the screen too big, a big screen needs a lot of space. A vita sized screen would be perfect I think.

And yeah, it's 3 hours of battery life vs. 80. The pro has the best battery life of any controller ever.

Just saying they need their console business isn't an answer. I'm asking what you think Nintendo needs to do to be competitive with their console?

I also don't buy the backlash angle. Fans will support what they like, and not what they don't. If what you said were true, more fans would be supporting Wii U but they're not. They are supporting the 3DS though, because it gives them more of what they want.

Nintendo reworks the UI and drops the tablet. The tablet cost 150 bucks for a replacement and only supports one plus uses memory and gpu power. Nintendo could also include a hard drive that is cheaper than the 32gb of memory but has much more space. Bingo 200 dollar wii u sales go up everybody happy.

If sales of the wii u went up 200 percent after the 50 dollar price drop a conservative estimate would put wii u sales at 300 percent. As for the online gaming that needs a upgrade cause it's at ps2 level from what I hear.

If the 3DS is really giving what they want, why was it underperforming in sales last FY and for that matter, why is this year being regarded as a SLOW year for the system?

It may not rectify the problem, but like I was saying to mac. Just advertise it better with the right games and it stays in the market. Because there's no hope of it getting in higher ranks than PS4/XBONE at this point.