DVD Talk Forum - Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

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Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Well, I'm keeping my Wii anyway, because it can still play Gamecube games, which I play more than Wii games anyway.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supermallet (Post 11383834)

Well, I'm keeping my Wii anyway, because it can still play Gamecube games, which I play more than Wii games anyway.

Ah, crap. I forgot that the new Wiis aren't GC compatible, and I assume that new lack of BC continues with the Wii U?

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Double Ah, crap. I've been waiting for it to pop up on Amazon as a pre-order to potentially order it. It hasn't shown up yet, so I started doing research. Looks like there's some kind of feud between Amazon and Nintendo that arose from a 3DS fiasco and as a result they no longer sell Nintendo consoles. Take it with a grain of salt, but someone on gamefaqs is reporting that they emailed Amazon and Amazon responded that they had no plans to carry the Wii U.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Seems like a dumb move on Amazon's part, leaving money on the table.

And IIRC, when the Wii U was announced, they said no GC support at all.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Yeah how big is this dispute that they'd refuse to stock a major console? Plus they already sell Wiis.

I've been out of the loop as to the release date. As of a few days ago for all I knew it could have been coming out next November. Thank you Nintendo for finally utilizing clickable sticks. Took you long enough. Not sure if the main buttons are force sensitive, but I don't think so? Maybe just the triggers.

Anyway I'm disappointed at the HD size, but the applications for the controller beyond gaming are good. Ever since the Dreamcast I've always wanted a damn personal screen for the controller (although Nintendo should have considered multiplayer with that controller from the start, VMUs had a ton of applications for multiple parties, it shouldn't just be for "player one" to have the best controller).

Now for the games....the main thing is a 3D Mario...that's not coming for a while, but at least we have Pikmin. I dunno, I've bought N64/GC/Wii all on launch day so I'm thinking about it, although with less hype than for the other three consoles (especially the 64) at this time.

Also from watching the video they kept harping on the home button. I might be in the minority but touting a button that takes you completely and instantly out of the game temporarily, and saying it is going to play an even bigger role is not a selling point. I get that it's necessary with the multimedia aspect, just like on the PS3 and the 360 but it seems more "intrusive" on the Wii for some reason (with the loud chime and bright screen), but maybe that's just me.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluetoast (Post 11384066)

Yeah how big is this dispute that they'd refuse to stock a major console? Plus they already sell Wiis.

That's what I thought, too, until I went to actually look for one. All the Wiis they have are "Fulfilled by Amazon" but sold by other sellers. (Although, it seems from camelcamelcamel.com they had the black wii in stock at the beginning of August?)

What is weird is if you go to the 3DS page, part of the product description is basically "which console is right for you" which offers a rundown of all the other handheld systems. http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-C...dp/B002I096AA/

The same goes for if you go to the Black wii Console page. They give a run-down of the other systems. And, just like with the 3DS, at the top of the page, they offer links to "Other consoles to consider." http://www.amazon.com/Black-Console-...dp/B005QWYKOE/

However, when you go to the pages of all the other systems, they don't have anything like that on their pages.

Here's a description of the problem as posted by a user on IGN:

Spoiler:

Quote:

The Amazon vs. Nintendo squabble about selling 3DS consoles has been dragging on for about a year. Supposedly, it all started off last year when the 3DS launch was less than stellar. Amazon had a lot of unsold 3DS consoles sitting around their warehouses, and they decided to start demanding a bigger wholesaler discount - equal to what Wal-Mart receives. (The Amazon vs. Wal-Mart soap opera is for another thread.)

Anyway, this request was flatly denied. Amazon requested permission to sell the consoles at a discount. Denied again. To strengthen their case, and try to bully their way into the bigger discount, Amazon complained that they have to replace a lot of the systems because of the screen scratching problem, and starting making a big production about sending each and every one back to Nintendo, wanting a full & immediate credit, which started to overwhelm Nintendo's intake for seconds merchandise, which started to make Nintendo really mad, because Amazon was sending over units that had such slight, almost nonexistent problems, that they were not used to being bothered with such trivial things. (Supposedly.) Previously, and for other consoles, Amazon just sold returned (working) consoles at a discount on their "Warehouse Deals" page, which Nintendo doesn't like, but Amazon claimed that they were losing ALL their profit margin on 3DSes with shipping faulty systems back to NOA, as well as dealing with unhappy customers that were leaving and/or not spending as much as previously.

Nintendo smelled bull (and rightly so!) and fired back and said that there WAS no problem with the scratching, and there was no way they were going to piss off all the other big wholesalers by giving Amazon a sweeter deal (when Nintendo already considers Amazon the scourge of the business world for not having any brick & mortar stores - which is why Amazon wasn't getting the Wal-Mart discount in the first place!) Now keep in mind, this was all going down right about the time the price drop was announced, which was another thing that pissed off Amazon. Nobody was buying 3DSes after the price drop was announced, and Amazon does not like having a warehouse full of crap that's not moving. Their business model is structured around moving out cold merchandise by marking stuff down (which of course Nintendo will not allow them to do on consoles.) Then, Nintendo poured gasoline on the fire by permitting Wal-Mart (and only Wal-Mart) to sell consoles at the new, lowered price a couple of days BEFORE the official date of the price drop, without losing their margin on the old stock. Amazon has (reportedly) not bought 3DS consoles direct from NOA since that day. (Though they've occasionally picked up some 3DSes from other wholesalers.)

Neither party cares to detail whether it is Amazon refusing to buy, or Nintendo refusing to sell. Rumor has it that it's Nintendo that put Amazon on the **** list, but I've heard at least one pretty well-informed Amazon employee that says that it's their buyer that's doing it. I tend to think it's Amazon.

Anyways, don't want to derail or anything. I just think it's incredibly silly if Amazon wouldn't offer this (and it seems it's only Amazon.com as at least the UK arm of Amazon already has it up.) It's already out-of-stock for in-store pickup from all the local Best Buys. Don't want to deal with Gamestop. I'll just keep the faith that Amazon comes through.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluetoast (Post 11384066)

Yeah how big is this dispute that they'd refuse to stock a major console? Plus they already sell Wiis.

They actually haven't stocked Wiis (or any other Nintendo hardware) for awhile. If you look at any of the bundles they have listed, they're actually all through 3rd party sellers.

Edit: tlwizard beat me to it. :)

Anyway, way back when, I was signed up to be notified when Amazon had the WiiU available for preorder, and just got this email from them:

Quote:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

Thank for you signing up to be notified when the Wii U is available.

Unfortunately the Wii U console is not available at Amazon.com at this time but please check back in the future, as availability may change.

We do have the latest Wii U games and accessories available now so check them out.

Thank you for shopping with Amazon Video Games.

Make of that what you will.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichC2 (Post 11382873)

Wonder if it's expandable at all. But I imagine a majority of the downloads would be virtual console style titles, could be wrong though.

Edit: Internal flash memory, SD card, SDHC Card, USB storage device

Yeah I don't see a problem here. Dunno if it supports SDXC, if it does you can add 64gb for like $30. If not you can get hard drives cheap.

Problem is that is another cost to the consumer that should be included in their $350 price. If the console is on par with the 360/PS3 then thats akin to going out and buying a launch 360 today for $350. Most people here have more than 32GB worth of Rock Band songs and map packs. 32GB is useless. Expandable is nice but another $100 purchase to make this a functional console on day one is laughable. So you're looking at over $500 w/tax and no games for 6 year old tech in 2012.

Once again Nintendo fails to recognize the needs of the core gamer. Like every Nintendo console of the past decade, this purchase hinges on how badly and at what cost is acceptable to pay to have access to Nintendo's library of franchises.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin (Post 11384124)

The 32GB system comes with Nintendo Land. Cry some more.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosingMyMind (Post 11384145)

The 32GB system comes with Nintendo Land. Cry some more.

They should have had it come with New Super Mario U & Duck Hunt!

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

It looks like a ton of people have started to get emails form Amazon pretty much saying they don't have the Wii U, have no clue when they will have it, or if they will ever have it. If you want it from Amazon, it'll likely still be through a 3rd party seller. That stupid Amazon/Nintendo feud is so stupid and the consumer hurts the most from it.

I have no clue where I'll preorder from now. Likely GameStop unfortunately.

This is pretty much off topic but my reason for selling it would be to fund my purchase of the WiiU. Anyway, what would you guys say would be a fair price to ask for it all? I'm thinking of offering it on eBay or Craigslist if I could find someone local. I'm just not wanting to overcharge so much that no one would even reply.

It is what is left of my Xbox 360 collection. This lot includes the original Xbox 360 20GB system w/ wireless controller and two plug and charge kits & headset/mic, 12 games (4 of which are Kinect games), the Kinect itself, and the complete original Rock Band set (drums, mic, guitar). Everything is in great condition and I've never had a problem with this 360 system. Here are the games...

-Bayonetta
-The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
-Dance Central 2
-Gears of War
-Gears of War Triple Pack (Gears of War, Gears of War 2, & Gears of War 2 All Fronts Pack)
-Grand Theft Auto IV
-The Gunstringer
-Kinect Adventures!
-Kinectimals
-Kung Fu Panda
-Rock Band 2
-The Simpsons Game

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supermallet (Post 11384061)

Seems like a dumb move on Amazon's part, leaving money on the table.

And IIRC, when the Wii U was announced, they said no GC support at all.

How much money do stores make on the consoles? Like the game companies, I didn't think the stores made that much, it's the games and especially the accessories that make the money, so Amazon should be good on that front.

I could be wrong. That's why I never understood why stores would even stock something like the PSP Go, where the game sales are all digital.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosingMyMind (Post 11383583)

lol I wouldn't trust ordering this from Best Buy's site.

Why? Is Gamestop any better?

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by fujishig (Post 11384214)

Why? Is Gamestop any better?

I think so. Best Buy is notorious for taking orders online, then cancelling them later. Not sure about this item, but it's happened to me this week with the Witcher 2 game -- well, not cancelled but indefinitely delayed the order (even as they sent new stock to their stores), and has happened in the past with other games on sale I've bought from them.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I don't think stores make a lot of money on systems, so this is not a bad move on amazon's part really. It is not going to hurt amazon at all, and they will still have wiiu games up for sale.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I really hate Nintendo's tendency to reference the name of the console in all of their games.

Super Mario U sounds like a game about Mario going to college.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent L (Post 11384203)

I have no clue where I'll preorder from now. Likely GameStop unfortunately.

I would've preordered from Amazon, but I bit the bullet and went with Best Buy. Gamestop doesn't seem to want to let me do an in-store pickup for my pre-order, but Best Buy will.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obi-Wan Jabroni (Post 11384244)

I really hate Nintendo's tendency to reference the name of the console in all of their games.

Super Mario U sounds like a game about Mario going to college.

You ass.

Now that is all I'll ever be able to think when I say the title of that game or any other "U" game. :lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Tyner (Post 11384246)

I would've preordered from Amazon, but I bit the bullet and went with Best Buy. Gamestop doesn't seem to want to let me do an in-store pickup for my pre-order, but Best Buy will.

Yeah, I was absolutely going to go with Amazon. The entire "tax free" thing for me is enough to push me in that direction, especially for higher dollar items like this. I think I'm going with GameStop now since they'll likely do a midnight launch and I'm not sure what Best Buy will do. They are also giving $100 for the original Xbox 360, which I have. I'm thinking of trading that to them since that seems like a pretty good value, and then sell my Kinect and the games for that elsewhere.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decker (Post 11384233)

These are for in store pickup, though, and individual stores are already saying "out of stock" so at least they're keeping inventory. No guarantee, but I remember horror stories from past launches where people on Gamestop waiting lists didn't get their consoles...

edited to add: Just checked, every store in my vicinity is not no longer taking preorders for in store pickup via bestbuy.com.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I imagine a lot of the preorders have been made by resellers hoping that the Wii U sells as well as the Wii did at launch.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I have a feeling this will be Nintendo's last console. Everything about this thing is shades of the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was great, but suffered from poor developer support, and less power than its competition which released only a year or two later. Even the Wii U tablet controller (functionally at least) reminds me of the Dreamcast VMU. The only difference I see is that the Sega brand had been in decline for a while - perhaps one whole console cycle, whereas Nintendo is still pretty reputable, at least among the masses.

I wish Nintendo would limit their hardware to handhelds, and develop and publish on all platforms. I suspect even the fandom surrounding Nintendo's stellar IPs is starting to decline. Honestly it's kind of hard to get excited about ANOTHER Mario or ANOTHER Zelda. But that's probably more just my opinion.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I think that what Nintendo did with the Wii, and continuing with the Wii U pretty much locked them into being able to continue to produce hardware for many years to come. I think things were obviously starting to decline into the life of the N64, and that continued with the Game Cube. I think Nintendo realized that, and went in the direction of the Wii to try to pull in more of an audience, and it worked. With the number of people who are only recently getting on board with Nintendo who never played games before (or hadn't since the NES or SNES) mixed with the hardcore Nintendo fans like myself who will always stick with them, also mixed in with how Nintendo does indeed seem to focus more on the younger crowd than the other major players, I think they have it locked in to be a major player in the hardware development for quite some time.

Even the other big two realize that with the Move and Kinect. Heck, there have even been pictures out there, which could be photoshops or something else that show a 360 type controller with a large screen in the middle of it now. While the hardware from Nintendo seems to be at least a generation, maybe a half generation behind these days, they lead the industry in other ways to this day. Pulling in new fans is what Nintendo has been known for for a while, and that is why they'll be around for quite some time in the hardware capacity than anything else.

It's also quite telling that Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive. That should also keep a good portion of the hardcore gamers in general on board, or even bring some in that gave up on Nintendo already.

I think the entire industry is afraid of an incoming crash once again, and they are all trying to keep that from happening by trying to bring in even more consumers to the industry.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent L (Post 11384356)

It's also quite telling that Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive. That should also keep a good portion of the hardcore gamers in general on board, or even bring some in that gave up on Nintendo already.

I think you might be slightly overestimating the appeal of Bayonetta...

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

I don't see anyone buying a console for the sake of being able to play Bayonetta 2. The first game was average at best.

Re: Nintendo Console Announced at E3 2011 (Wii U)

Nintendo makes money on consoles, they're not getting out of the business any time soon.

They don't rely on software sales to subsidize any loss on more powerful machines as Sony and MS do.

They have legendary, unique franchises that are supported by fans and newcomers alike. Sure those would do equally well (or better) on 3rd party hardware due to install bases, but they realize those are crucial to selling consoles in the first place.