Intelligent Systems says a Wii U Fire Emblem would need to sell 700,000 to be worthwhile

[Knight]

The Wii U needs to pick up in sales before plans for any FE I guess.

[Rewjeo]

Between this comment and the whole "FE would have died if Awakening sold badly" I think we can pretty confidently say that we're going to see a 3DS FE14.

Although having SMTxFE on WiiU confuses me if that many sales really are necessary.

[Rehab]

This doesn't even sound like that big a deal to me, if they'd actually get off their asses and market market market their damn shit, but whatever

No I'm not exactly chuffed that you guys are talking about this like a pronouncement of doom and gloom after the fucking fantastic reception Awakening got, why do you ask

Edited July 10, 2013 by Rehab

[shadykid]

IS pls make FE14 on the 3DS

[Anacybele]

I'm getting really sick of people saying the Wii U is a flop and has bad sales and FE wouldn't do well at all on it. Do people really expect a fairly new console with a still small library of games to be a big hit so fast? And as said before, you people are talking as if a Wii U FE is coming out tomorrow. By the time one DID come out, the Wii U would be selling more, SMT fans would be introduced to the series via SMTxFE, and the console would have more hot sellers. You guys forget that Smash Bros., Zelda, Mario, and other stuff is on the way.

FE staying handheld only is a terrible idea. If it were made for both handhelds and home consoles, there would be more titles, thus more sales. plus, a home console has more power and can hold more content. Look at the issues Sakurai is currently having with 3DS Smash Bros. because of the limitations. FE is also text, character, and content heavy. Continuing to produce games only on the 3DS and future handhelds would cause the same issues and limit possibilities.

Damn it, if I could do so and spoke Japanese, I'd march right over to IS and give them a good talking to. I'd tell them that if 700k is their goal for a Wii U FE, they can do it if they really put their minds to it. They've proven that FE can be a hit with Awakening, they just need to take that up a notch and do the same with a Wii U title. Especially if SMTxFE sells well. I've always believed and still believe that FE has potential to become even more popular and Awakening has started to make this true. Future titles just need to keep that going. Come on, IS, there are fans that believe in you.

[shadykid]

I'm getting really sick of people saying the Wii U is a flop and has bad sales and FE wouldn't do well at all on it. Do people really expect a fairly new console with a still small library of games to be a big hit so fast?

alright

time to bring sales-chat to the Fire Emblem board

currently, the Wii U is tracking behind the Gamecube in all regions (fun fact: after launch it isn't even significantly beating the PS Vita in launch-aligned sales)

yeah, remember that system that launched back in 2001? the one that came with a brand new smash within a month of its release?

it had these same hit first party games, the typical 3d mario, smash, mario kart, zelda (minus a 2d mario, but it's clearly not doing much now)

also in the US, the top-selling game after NSMBU/Nintendoland is at a whooping 150k as of the May NPD, which is abysmally bad

FE staying handheld only is a terrible idea. If it were made for both handhelds and home consoles, there would be more titles, thus more sales. plus, a home console has more power and can hold more content. Look at the issues Sakurai is currently having with 3DS Smash Bros. because of the limitations. FE is also text, character, and content heavy. Continuing to produce games only on the 3DS and future handhelds would cause the same issues and limit possibilities.

this isn't actually a thing, these "limitations" are relatively minor (and obviously, the fact that they're making it for both consoles simultaneously is the cause in the first place)

[Lord Glenn]

I'm getting really sick of people saying the Wii U is a flop and has bad sales and FE wouldn't do well at all on it. Do people really expect a fairly new console with a still small library of games to be a big hit so fast? And as said before, you people are talking as if a Wii U FE is coming out tomorrow. By the time one DID come out, the Wii U would be selling more, SMT fans would be introduced to the series via SMTxFE, and the console would have more hot sellers. You guys forget that Smash Bros., Zelda, Mario, and other stuff is on the way.

FE staying handheld only is a terrible idea. If it were made for both handhelds and home consoles, there would be more titles, thus more sales. plus, a home console has more power and can hold more content. Look at the issues Sakurai is currently having with 3DS Smash Bros. because of the limitations. FE is also text, character, and content heavy. Continuing to produce games only on the 3DS and future handhelds would cause the same issues and limit possibilities.

Damn it, if I could do so and spoke Japanese, I'd march right over to IS and give them a good talking to. I'd tell them that if 700k is their goal for a Wii U FE, they can do it if they really put their minds to it. They've proven that FE can be a hit with Awakening, they just need to take that up a notch and do the same with a Wii U title. Especially if SMTxFE sells well. I've always believed and still believe that FE has potential to become even more popular and Awakening has started to make this true. Future titles just need to keep that going. Come on, IS, there are fans that believe in you.

FE staying handheld is a great idea for a global product based out of Japan. Japan's "console" market is dominated by handhelds, with the 3DS and Vita making up almost 74% of the entire market (source). As the (relatively) paltry sales of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn (especially in Japan) show (compared to more recent handheld iterations), console-based Fire Emblem titles just don't want to sell in the portable-dominated market of the East.

Considering how well Awakening sold in the West, I don't think anyone involved in business would give up Awakening's combined sales for significantly lower sales in Japan and a potential possibility for higher sales elsewhere with an HD title on the Wii U (and, let's face it, "potentially" is a stretch given the much smaller install base of the console compared to the 3DS). That's just asking for the product to fail.

As much as I ride on SEGA for their decision to move Valkyria Chronicles from PS3 to PSP, their situation with that is similar to this. (Now, perhaps had the PSP had an actual install base (or at least one that wasn't heavily composed of pirates) and perhaps had SEGA actually marketed VC2, maybe that might have saved the series in the West. But, it made more financial sense for them to develop where they were going to get the most guaranteed sales, i.e. Japan.)

Edited July 10, 2013 by Lord Glenn

[shadykid]

ok while the Wii U is sucking, Yahoo exaggerates as usual

because while you could say the Vita is currently doubling the Wii U in Japan weekly sales, 10k vs 5k baselines aren't exactly something to crow about

here's some charts about sales btw (the left half is NPD hardware data for the US, right half is obviously UK):

:

Edited July 10, 2013 by shadykid

[Ema Skye]

They released their console way too early.

Like a release date of Summer 2013 would've been way better because the have popular games for it or are on their way.

I bought mine at launch and I hate having nothing to use it for because nothing good is out yet. =/

Tablet Gamepad thingy may look cool (and it is), but softwear sells hardwear.

Heck, Mario Kart 8 makes minimum use of the gamepad and Smash 4 won't use it at all! They're trying to hard to make it look cool but the Wii U is simply a souped up Wii with nothing to keep it afloat.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Dinfinitysignfina

[shadykid]

They released their console way too early.

Like a release date of Summer 2013 would've been way better because the have popular games for it or are on their way.

I bought mine at launch and I hate having nothing to use it for because nothing good is out yet. =/

Tablet Gamepad thingy may look cool (and it is), but softwear sells hardwear.

Heck, Mario Kart 8 makes minimum use of the gamepad and Smash 4 won't use it at all! They're trying to hard to make it look cool but the Wii U is simply a souped up Wii with nothing to keep it afloat.

it's not that they released their console too early, if anything they released it too late because the Wii brand had already fallen off a cliff in ~2011

the problem is that apparently Nintendo didn't have any post-launch software planned (which is bizarre after the 3ds launch), which is why you see that hilarious dip in the graph I posted earlier

edit: it's software and hardware

Edited July 10, 2013 by shadykid

[Anacybele]

FE staying handheld is a great idea for a global product based out of Japan. Japan's "console" market is dominated by handhelds, with the 3DS and Vita making up almost 74% of the entire market (source). As the (relatively) paltry sales of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn (especially in Japan) show (compared to more recent handheld iterations), console-based Fire Emblem titles just don't want to sell in the portable-dominated market of the East.

Considering how well Awakening sold in the West, I don't think anyone involved in business would give up Awakening's combined sales for significantly lower sales in Japan and a potential possibility for higher sales elsewhere with an HD title on the Wii U (and, let's face it, "potentially" is a stretch given the much smaller install base of the console compared to the 3DS). That's just asking for the product to fail.

As much as I ride on SEGA for their decision to move Valkyria Chronicles from PS3 to PSP, their situation with that is similar to this. (Now, perhaps had the PSP had an actual install base (or at least one that wasn't heavily composed of pirates) and perhaps had SEGA actually marketed VC2, maybe that might have saved the series in the West. But, it made more financial sense for them to develop where they were going to get the most guaranteed sales, i.e. Japan.)

If Japan's market is so "dominated" by handhelds, why does Nintendo keep making home consoles anyway? Why didn't they stop after the Wii? Because they know that the Wii U will eventually become more popular. The Wii's life started out the same way and so did the 3DS's. Now look at how much of a hit they became. IS just needs to give it some time before it's truly a good idea to start production on a Wii U FE.

Awakening's success is exactly why a Wii U FE should be made. A Wii U FE has the potential to be Awakening 2.0, but with a bigger, better story and larger cast of characters. PoR and RD's sales don't mean squat. Home console FE games have sold well before. I reckon the very first one and the third one sold well seeing as they're Marth's titles. And weren't they for the NES and SNES?

FE should NEVER stay handheld. I also admit that I prefer home consoles to handhelds. Bigger screen, bigger games. Better graphics too, generally, but that's a minor reason seeing as gameplay is more important.

[Ema Skye]

it's not that they released their console too early, if anything they released it too late because the Wii brand had already fallen off a cliff in ~2011

the problem is that apparently Nintendo didn't have any post-launch software planned (which is bizarre after the 3ds launch), which is why you see that hilarious dip in the graph I posted earlier

edit: it's software and hardware

That would've been worse because they would've have had anything to put it out on. It'd be like "Hey guys we're releasing this new console but we aren't releasing any games for it but it can play your wii games so we hope its okay"

and yeah, they had nothing for launch of this console, which is really bizarre. "New" Super Mario Bros. isn't even new at this point (it's like the fourth game with recycled music and graphics there's nothing new about it).

[shadykid]

If Japan's market is so "dominated" by handhelds, why does Nintendo keep making home consoles anyway? Why didn't they stop after the Wii? Because they know that the Wii U will eventually become more popular. The Wii's life started out the same way and so did the 3DS's. Now look at how much of a hit they became. IS just needs to give it some time before it's truly a good idea to start production on a Wii U FE.

ok god damn it

you know why the 3ds took off after stumbling out of the gate?

it's because:

1. it had a price cut+actual games (the so-called "Holy Trinity" of 3D Land/Mario Kart/Monster Hunter in Japan, the former two appearing worldwide) within a year and before the holiday season, unlike the Wii U's 1 year before software other than NSMBU

2. Nintendo has no competition in the handheld space, the PS Vita is a freaking joke (as it result, it basically pulls all the major Japanese 3rd party support given that Japan is handheld land; more on 3rd parties later)

2a. Pokemon/Monster Hunter

3. western 3rd parties, which focus more on home consoles, have abandoned the Wii U entirely (see: EA)

[Anacybele]

Okay, explain the Wii then.

Also, the Wii U is getting "actual games" too and will likely outdo the competition, just like the Wii obliterated the PS3 and Xbox360 (the little white box sold so well that its sales were more than that of the PS3 and 360 COMBINED). And even WITHOUT many games to play, I'm still having fun with my Wii U. Miiverse is amazing and I often find myself spending at least an hour on there, for example. The console will eventually get a price cut as well. Every console does.

Whoever abandoned the Wii U are idiots. It WILL eventually do much better, just like the Wii and 3DS.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Anacybele

[Ema Skye]

Wii U honestly has nothing to make people want to get it. No one is rushing out to get any right now and that's why Nintendo is operating at a loss this fiscal year.

Like if they released "Mario Galaxy 3" or "Zelda Wii U" for Wii U at launch, I guarantee they'd be operating at a win this year instead.

Twilight Princess was able to carry the Wii for the early part of the Wii's life, and by the time people began to lose interest in it, Mario Galaxy, Brawl and Mario Kart were literally right around the corner.

[Anacybele]

People STILL want a "Super Mario Galaxy 3"? WTF. Nintendo has already stated that they will NOT be making one because of how difficult it would be.

And like I said, neither the Wii nor the 3DS had much to begin with either! Nintendo is trying to do the same thing with the Wii U and I believe they will pull it off.

People are losing interest in the Wii U, yet Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and a new 3D Mario are right around the corner. Hmm...

[shadykid]

Okay, explain the Wii then.

Also, the Wii U is getting "actual games" too and will likely outdo the competition, just like the Wii obliterated the PS3 and Xbox360 (the little white box sold so well that its sales were more than that of the PS3 and 360 COMBINED). And even WITHOUT many games to play, I'm still having fun with my Wii U. Miiverse is amazing and I often find myself spending at least an hour on there, for example. The console will eventually get a price cut as well. Every console does.

Whoever abandoned the Wii U are idiots. It WILL eventually do much better, just like the Wii and 3DS.

actually, the PS3 (~80m) and Xbox 360 (~80m) are catching up quickly to the Wii (~100m), the former might actually beat it worldwide in the end

and everybody knows the Wii took off because of motion controls and the influx of casuals, the former which has lost its luster and the latter which has left for iOS/Android/other mobile stuff

Twilight Princess was able to carry the Wii for the early part of the Wii's life, and by the time people began to lose interest in it, Mario Galaxy, Brawl and Mario Kart were literally right around the corner.

no

Wii Sports carried it to that point

That would've been worse because they would've have had anything to put it out on. It'd be like "Hey guys we're releasing this new console but we aren't releasing any games for it but it can play your wii games so we hope its okay"

well, releasing it early with the assumption that they could've had software to back it up to (seriously, what in the world was Nintendo doing after 2011)

People are losing interest in the Wii U, yet Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and a new 3D Mario are right around the corner. Hmm...

once again this also happened to the Gamecube, didn't do much

[Anacybele]

I still see a striking similarity to how the lives of the Wii and 3DS began and think that Nintendo is trying to repeat their success with the Wii U by taking it slow and steady. And you know what they say about that. It wins the race.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Anacybele

[shadykid]

I still see a striking similarity to how the lives of the Wii and 3DS began and think that Nintendo is trying to repeat their success with the Wii U by taking it slow and steady. And you know what they say about that. It wins the race.

ironic, because the PS3 seems to be doing just that against the Wii

also that makes no sense, because the Wii exploded out of the gate (seriously, it might have been PS2-level pace before fizzling out)

Edited July 10, 2013 by shadykid

[Ema Skye]

well, releasing it early with the assumption that they could've had software to back it up to (seriously, what in the world was Nintendo doing after 2011)

Probably looking at the 3DS, oblivious to the price cut they made, and thought:

Wii had an awesome launch lineup. So did the Gamecube. and I think the N64 might have as well.

3DS didn't.

Wii-U certainly does it.

"Slow and steady" may win the race, but it makes your money run red and that's a bigger problem. Spend too much time in the red and you'll be out of the race before you had a chance to win.

[Blademaster!]

Trying to reach 700k when Fire Emblem has traditionally sold worse on consoles doesn't seem like a smart business move. IS already has a lot of work to do if they want FE14 to be as innovative as FE13. With the Wii U being in the slump that it's in right now, I'd say wait and see how FE x SMT turns out, and then maybe we can see an FE game on the Wii U. Otherwise, they should just stick to the 3DS.

[Anacybele]

Funny, Miyamoto and Aonuma don't even use dollars since they're Japanese (unless they go to the US, obviously).

Duh, money can't stay in the red forever. I didn't say this slowness should last forever. And I agree, IS should wait to make a Wii U FE until the console pulls out of its slow start.

[CT075]

i would get behind a wii u fe in concept but businesswise i can see it just being a huge flop

[Nobody]

Sorry for saying that, Anacybele, but your clearly don't know how the video game market works. Rarely, and I really mean rarely, a console that is selling as bad as the wii u menages to recover. At the best situation, it will be a gamecube 2.0, what means it will have great games that might be successful and it will be profitable, but will have a terrible market share and most likely will be ignored by third parties. The U is selling right now about 30k per month in america and 5k per week in japan. The 3ds sells 5 times that in america and incredible 10 times more in Japan. If radiant dawn sold so badly on a significantly healthier home plataform (wii) I really doubt FE would sell well on the wii U, that might struggle to reach the gamecube user base.

Btw before the price drop the 3ds was selling 20k per week in Japan and 90k per month in america. Far from doing as badly as the wii u

Edited July 10, 2013 by Nobody

[mai]

well, releasing it early with the assumption that they could've had software to back it up to (seriously, what in the world was Nintendo doing after 2011)

Didn't Skyward Sword come out in 2011? Maybe they could have made Skyward Sword in HD and released it as a Wii U exclusive (along with the Wii U) in 2011... I mean, it's not like they were doing anything after 2010, really...

On-topic, 700k doesn't seem so unrealistic anymore for FE. Hard, yes, but not impossible (as it would have been before Awakening). I still like FE better in handhelds than home consoles, though (even if FE5/9/10 are some of my favorites in the series).

People talk about SMT x FE, but do we know anything about that game? We only got that 20 second trailer, and Atlus is in a pretty bad position right now, isn't it (since Index filed for bankruptcy and all that)?