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Nintendo selling Wii games to the wrong crowd?

April 22, 2008 in Industry News comments 11

According to an analyst, Nintendo are having trouble selling games for the Wii due to relying too much on traditional advertisement. A prime example used is Super Smash Bros. Brawl which sold 1.4 units during its first week but the sales have now dropped by about 90%, only selling a measly 100 copies a week within the last few weeks. The analyst said they struggled to advertise in a way which would reach a broader audience. The analyst says advertising on GameInformer and 1up.com isn't enough to sell a game well.

Retailers are having trouble selling new games on Wii because publishers are relying on traditional advertising methods for videogames, an analyst has said.

Retailers have expressed concerns in a recent New York Times article, which investigated how many games were being sold for Nintendo's console.

Speaking about Super Smash Bros. Brawl, GameStop employee Xavier Pervez said, "We sold a couple thousand copies in the first week, [but] it's dropped off significantly now. Maybe 100 in each of the last couple of weeks."
theundertakergonzo via computerandvideogames.com »
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  • 1
    Sonic Flash Apr 22, 08
    Nintendo advertisements have always been terrible and underdone. For Halo 3 they launched massive viral campaigns and epic commercials, and for SSBB all they did was a stupid "Wii would like to play" commercial. They're awfully lazy.
  • 0
    kik36 Apr 22, 08
    Well not to mention I don't have a frickin' Wii, because they haven't been in stock since November in my area, and I have lost interest in buying one at this time. And I'm not going to get raped on E-bay or Amazon to get one. If I had a Wii, I woulda bought Smash.
  • 0
    Akashi Apr 22, 08
    Yeah after seeing what rockstar did with GTAIV and using posters the size of LA buildings to cover the streets. Nintendo needs to up there game.
  • 0
    Final Blade Apr 23, 08
    This is why console sales means nothing at the end of the day. Unless you can sell games to the right crowd, the consoles sales doesn't hold a candle on you being on top.
    Thats why i feel Nintendo is actually not doing as great as they should.
    • 0
      Ameer Apr 23, 08
      Console sales don't mean 'nothing'. Despite's Nintendo's laziness towards their own game marketing, those Wii's are still selling like chocolate hot cakes on a winter's day.
      • 0
        Final Blade Apr 23, 08
        Read the next statement:
        "Unless you can sell the games to the right crowd" Which means your not going to get far in the gaming world if you not able to sell the games.

        Console sales alone aren't going to make you successful, you need a strong balance between Both. Which is how Sony and PS consoles have had success the last two generations.
  • 0
    Miss Razz Apr 23, 08
    It's true that their advertising isn't the best. If you don't have the internet, you're pretty much screwed when it comes to knowing about Nintendo games. (e.g. the only advertisements I saw for Mario Kart Wii were a bunch of posters the actual game stores).

    - - - - - -

    This is exactly why I'm worried about the advertisements of the new Fatal Frame game. It's a series that wasn't very well advertised on the PS2, but when the new game was announced for Wii, people hoped that Nintendo (being the publishers) would give the games a much-needed boost in marketing.
    Well... the game is being released this Summer, and not a hint of advertising has happened.

    Nintendo might be lazy when it comes to advertising their own games, but they are absolutely USELESS when it comes to advertising their third-party games (such as Fatal Frame).
  • 0
    Galacticdramon Apr 23, 08
    Sales have dropped to 100 units a week? Oh good, maybe there are enough units for them to start selling the thing to our crowd now?
  • 0
    Remino52 Apr 23, 08
    Yeah since brawl is an epic game they need to make more epic commercials.
  • 0
    Mikstaslaya Apr 23, 08
    This is why ignorant losers buy the Wii, only play Wii sports, and than complain about how the Wii got boring in a week instead of actually buying the great games that Nintendo has been refusing to advertise for...
    • 0
      Miss Razz Apr 25, 08
      It's not the "ignorant losers" fault though. If Nintendo doesn't advertise their products then people aren't going to know about them. Not everybody has access to the internet or to gaming magazines, so it's up to Nintendo to educate people about their games.

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