The Skep-Tech: Nintendo's Reggie expertly turd polishes the WiiU sales figures

James O'Malley Features, Gaming, Round ups, Skeptech
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Reggie Fils-Aime, the friendly public face of Nintendo has been trying to explain away the WiiU sales figures – by drawing some dodgy comparisons.

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Speaking to the Seattle Times, Reggie defended the WiiU’s reputation as an ailing platform. He said:

“The dirty little secret is if you look at life-to-date numbers, between Sony and Nintendo they’d be pretty close in terms of PS4 vs. Wii U, with Xbox coming in third place. I think it’s going to be a three-horse race for the balance of this cycle.”

That’s some superb turd polishing. According to MCV, the PS4 has sold 7m, Xbox One 5m and the WiiU is on 6.17m as of early May. Whilst this isn’t bad, there’s one crucial difference: The WiiU has been out for 17 months, whereas the PS4 and Xbox One are just getting started.

Taking today (16th June 2014) as a yardstick we can estimate the rate that consoles are sold. Since the WiiU release in the US (its first territory) on November 18th 2012, there has been 563 days pass – so that works out as about 10,730 WiiU units sold every day.

For PS4 it works out as about 32864 units per day, over 213 days. For Xbox One’s 206 days that’s 24272 units per day.

Obviously these numbers are only estimates based on available data, and sales won’t be completely evenly spread because of Christmas/etc – but it shows the mountain that Nintendo need to climb, with the Xbox One currently actually selling about twice as well.

Think of it like this: If you had £100 and I had only £50, but was receiving £10/week versus your £5/week.. who’s really earning more?

But there’s one thing we haven’t considered: the games industry isn’t static. A good game can change the rate at which sales are achieved. Could major releases turn things around? Reggie described the forthcoming WiiU line-up:

“We are now at that point of having a great regular pace of software: “Mario Kart 8,” then it’s going to be “Hyrule Warriors,” then it’s going to be “Bayonetta 2” with “Bayonetta” packed in, then it’s going to be “Smash Bros” for Wii U, then the “Captain Toad” game, then we’ve got all of that great 2015 content.”

The WiiU and its competitors are at different points in their product life-cycles. When a console launches all it has to sell itself is a handful of games and as much hype as it can muster. Whilst the PS4 and Xbox One have relatively slim catalogues of games at the moment, both are at the start of their life.

The WiiU, by contrast, is almost two years in and is still a desert. Worse still is the product pipeline: whilst Microsoft and Sony have tonnes of games coming out – both first and third party, the WiiU has… little first party and third party is essentially non-existent.

This isn’t just editorialising – the numbers speak for themselves. In the recent E3 press conferences Microsoft demo’d 39 games, Sony 42 and Nintendo… 12. And of the forthcoming games – how many could be described as “system sellers” – games that people would fork out for the whole console to play? Does Nintendo have a Watch Dogs or a Titanfall? Whilst Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros will provide WiiU sales with an inevitable uptick… Umm… is anyone going to be splashing out big just so they can play Captain Toad?

So whilst the current sales figures – the week after Mario Kart 8’s release – might seem pretty encouraging, there’s very few reasons to assume that this sort of success will continue. The Mario Kart bump will not last forever – and there is scant evidence of future bumps to come.

So be careful – though everyone likes Reggie, it wouldn’t be wise to trust his analysis if you want to know what is actually happening in the console race.

James O’Malley
For latest tech stories go to TechDigest.tv

22 comments

  • nobody cares for this junk lying propaganda site….wii u Mario kart bundle is sold out in my city alone…..

  • nobody cares for this junk lying propaganda site….wii u Mario kart bundle is sold out in my city alone…..

  • You’re right. The numbers speak for themselfs. And based on the numbers you posted, xbox one is in fact third place and wii u a close second. Just like Reggie said.

    And Nintendo does have a watch dogs. It’s called watch dogs and it’s probably coming out this holiday. Titanfall? You mean that multiplatform game? What a joke.

  • You're right. The numbers speak for themselfs. And based on the numbers you posted, xbox one is in fact third place and wii u a close second. Just like Reggie said. And Nintendo does have a watch dogs. It's called watch dogs and it's probably coming out this holiday. Titanfall? You mean that multiplatform game? What a joke.

  • There’s also the fact that Xbox One did not sell 5 million units, but merely shipped 5 million units. Two very different numbers.

  • I just realize you have been using pounds. Must be the thousands of years of inbreeding in the UK…

    • £££’s are just a better currency than what you got! Its the stongest currency in the world and we are a tiny little island! So screw you with your shitty little inbreeding comment, and it is quite basic in regards to the sales numbers of the consoles, wii u has sold incredibly badly and WILL be discontinued sooner rather than later, id be surprised if it makes 4 years old!

      • You must be mad that some tiny colonies beat your pathetic excuse for a country.

  • You also forgot to mention the 1.2 million copies of Mario Kart 8 that sold on Friday and Saturday after the release. In two days it sold 1.2 million copies and moved hundreds of thousands more units.

    The NPD numbers this week will say it all.

    And you sir, will be wrong again on this as well…

  • Actually, Nintendo showed off 15 exclusives, all playable.

    Why are you lying? Why do you not have any integrity or ability to use a search engine?

    Devil’s Third
    Bayonetta 1 and 2
    Zelda U
    Hyrule Warriors
    Star Fox U
    Project Giant Robot
    Project Shield
    Super Smash Bros.
    Xenoblade Chronicles X
    Mario Maker
    Yoshi’s Wooly World
    Kirby’s Rainbow Curse
    Splatoon
    Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
    Mario Party 10

    Mind you, I left out games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare; Lego Batman; 20+ Indie games; Project C.A.R.S and a plethora of other games that are NOT exclusive.

    So I must say once again, why the blatant lies? Do you really think every one is less intelligent than you or something?

  • A website no one has even ever heard of telling us not to trust Reggie or the factual numbers…

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

    Now I see why no one has ever heard of this blog… Lol.

  • There's also the fact that Xbox One did not sell 5 million units, but merely shipped 5 million units. Two very different numbers.

  • I just realize you have been using pounds. Must be the thousands of years of inbreeding in the UK…

    • £££'s are just a better currency than what you got! Its the stongest currency in the world and we are a tiny little island! So screw you with your shitty little inbreeding comment, and it is quite basic in regards to the sales numbers of the consoles, wii u has sold incredibly badly and WILL be discontinued sooner rather than later, id be surprised if it makes 4 years old!

      • You must be mad that some tiny colonies beat your pathetic excuse for a country.

  • You also forgot to mention the 1.2 million copies of Mario Kart 8 that sold on Friday and Saturday after the release. In two days it sold 1.2 million copies and moved hundreds of thousands more units.The NPD numbers this week will say it all.And you sir, will be wrong again on this as well…

  • Actually, Nintendo showed off 15 exclusives, all playable.Why are you lying? Why do you not have any integrity or ability to use a search engine?Devil's ThirdBayonetta 1 and 2Zelda UHyrule WarriorsStar Fox UProject Giant RobotProject ShieldSuper Smash Bros.Xenoblade Chronicles XMario MakerYoshi's Wooly WorldKirby's Rainbow CurseSplatoonCaptain Toad: Treasure TrackerMario Party 10Mind you, I left out games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare; Lego Batman; 20+ Indie games; Project C.A.R.S and a plethora of other games that are NOT exclusive.So I must say once again, why the blatant lies? Do you really think every one is less intelligent than you or something?

  • A website no one has even ever heard of telling us not to trust Reggie or the factual numbers…BAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Now I see why no one has ever heard of this blog… Lol.

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