Posted Wed Jul 30, 2014 at 10:18 AM PDT by Trevor Ruben
Right now, the attach rate between Wii U owners and 'Mario Kart 8' owners is an almost unbelievable 42 percent. Unfortunately for Nintendo, however, it's more likely the low Wii U sales account for that number more than the success of 'Mario Kart 8,' and that's in spite of the kart racer's 2.82 million copies sold.
During the company's quarterly financial report, Nintendo spoke of great fortunes in the future, but ultimately had to relay a quarterly loss of $97 million. Wii U sales were up to 510,000 - that's a 160,000 improvement over the same quarter from last year - putting the total number of units moved for the struggling console at 6.82 million. 3DS sales were down to 810,000 from last year's 1.4 million over the same quarter.
Despite the iffy numbers, however, Nintendo is forecasting a net gain of $196 million over the fiscal year, bolstered by an expected 3.6 million Wii Us and sold in the same time period. The upcoming slate of releases for both consoles - 'Hyrule Warriors,' 'Bayonetta 2,' 'Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker,' 'Pokemon Omega Ruby' and 'Pokemon Alpha Saphire' and, of course, 'Super Smash Bros.' for both the Wii U and 3DS - are the driving force of Nintendo's positivity. There's also the impending release of Nintendo's NFC-focused amiibo platform, a toys-to-life sort of thing that did wonders for Activision and Disney.
'Super Smash Bros.,' though lacking the casual appeal of 'Mario Kart 8,' is likely to move a good number of Wii U consoles in the direction of the hardcore crowd. Many are awaiting the game's release to dig into their pockets for the full console, and those are the kind of video game buyers who stick with a console for more than one game. Unfortunately, with a severe lack of third-party support on the Wii U, the catalogue beyond Nintendo's core titles isn't too inviting.
Nintendo has made the mistake of over-promising on sales in the past. A positive outlook isn't going to change the numbers.
Source: Forbes
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