A news article about Nintendo

[Uber_Challenger]

I was checking the news on yahoo.com's main page and I noticed this article because it had a picture of Link riding Epona. I was just wondering what everyone here thinks about what it has to say about some of the troubles Nintendo looks to be having in terms of sales as well as what your insights may be on why this is happening (besides the slump in the economy of course, lol).

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/842-as-sales-slip-nintendo-faces-uncertain-future

[hisak]

Well, first I don't think that Yahoo is a very reputable news source, but he makes some valid points. It's hard to judge poor software sales when Nintendo is barely releasing any software, but I think things will pick up slightly for the Wii when Zelda is released and a great deal for the 3DS when Mario Kart comes out.

He's also overselling the influence of Operation Rainfall, but any press for that is good press.

[Uber_Challenger]

I think things will pick up slightly for the Wii when Zelda is released and a great deal for the 3DS when Mario Kart comes out.

Do you mean Skyward Sword? Or a Zelda game that is coming after that?

BTW, Luigi's Mansion also has a sequel coming out sometime for the 3DS, so that'll likely boost sales as well.

[JordAnime]

Luigi's Mansion won't sell as well as Mario Kart. 

I'm glad to see Operation Rainfall getting more press attention, and it's good to see that the pressure is on Nintendo.  I feel there's a lot of 3DS sensationalist stories; Nintendo oversold the 3D aspect of the system on its own without great software to back it up, but it's not like there's a ton of direct competition at the moment.  We'll have to see how Vita does, and in the meantime I don't think 3D is really going to become a standard on cell phones for some time, if ever during 3DS's lifespan.

I think their hope for Wii U is that it's going to be out a year or so before the next-gen platforms.  I think perhaps the Wii may have had a better software lineup if it came out in 2004, instead of 2006.  At least this time, they seem to be releasing outdated hardware with a gimmick first so that developers get to work on titles earlier.  By the time the Wii came out, most third parties had already exacted their strategy with HD gaming, and spent millions of dollars in investments in new technology, so back-peddling to Wii would have just been a waste. 

It may well be the story this time around as well, with more advanced systems from Sony and Microsoft coming out between 2013 and 2014, but that still leaves a good two years for Wii U to get underway.  There's been a rumor that the next Xbox is being bumped up for 2013 instead of 2014, we all remember what happened when the Xbox 360 came out a year earlier, Red Ring of Death anyone?