Are early console adopters being screwed over?

[noiseredux | 232]

22 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

And while I'm aware that the Wii U outsold every Sega console not called Genesis, that doesn't change the fact that it was a failure as a Nintendo console. 

 

oh, I don't disagree with that at all. As a Nintendo console (and explicitly as the follow-up to the Wii) it was certainly a failure. I was more noting that I was surprised it had actually done as well as it had.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

There is no supposedly a failure with WiiU.  It was a failure, the worst in their history.  How can that even be slightly sugar coated otherwise?

The trolling fake video game media had a field day pointing out Nintendo screwing up as they'd talk about their long history on the whole, but in particular since they got into toys and video gaming.  The WiiU was the only time in their existence that not only did they lose money in a quarter, but also over a totality of a year and it was multiple years.  The system also when it came out was basically sold at cost which was a little off for them, and the fact it never even out of the gate met expecations, and they ended up sitting on unsold inventory no less than twice having to shut down console production lines, they were losing money on every system.  I remember when the media pointed out how many in the hundreds of millions they were losing that even the mighty 3DS and their other assets couldn't cut off the bleeding.

Knowing all those problems, and the fact they couldn't afford to even lose more money taking a price cut, and Nintendo being Nintendo, they had zero motivation to cut the price.  The Virtual Boy on the other side of it though, they ignorantly didn't give it a chance to survive and sand bagged it before they really went deep into investing in more production, more units, more games the hardware was just old tech and cheaply reused so they could do the cut.  They were more concerned with the N64 and used it as a distraction and a sorry assed excuse to kill the thing (like killing Star Fox 2 for SNES due to the released 2 years later Starfox 64.)  The N64 they used as a money reason, the WiiU had none, they were stuck with that undead zombie crap system for 5 years.

[koifish | 555]

Sometimes it is the opposite. PlayStation consoles tend to have less features or lesser hardware as they get updated (at least up to PS3 and Vita) beyond power consumption. Nintendo consoles are typically also hackable only for the early versions, at least for several years.

[Link | 2,707]

3 hours ago, koifish said:

Sometimes it is the opposite... Nintendo consoles are typically also hackable only for the early versions, at least for several years.

Good point. The later versions of NES, SNES, and Wii all lacked features the original versions had. 

[Gloves | 11,759]

1 minute ago, Link said:

Good point. The later versions of NES, SNES, and Wii all lacked features the original versions had. 

Not Nintendo, but OG PS3s had the ability to boot linux built-in; later versions of the console had the feature removed, and they released firmware which removed it from the OG consoles as well. There are of course ways to get it back, and plenty of people who stopped updating their PS3s when that firmware was released.

Sometimes the original release has pretty cool features that are lacking in newer revisions.

Lots of people prefer the earlier versions of the PlayStation Vita as well, for the superior screen.

[Estil | 1,261]

The one thing I couldn't stand during the WiiU's lifecycle was Nintendo's commercials focused on kids.  Way to reinforce a stereotype Nintendo!  

I'm still glad to own a WiiU though.  I'm in no hurry for the Switch especially with a Switch Pro likely coming out later this year.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

9 hours ago, Gloves said:

Not Nintendo, but OG PS3s had the ability to boot linux built-in; later versions of the console had the feature removed, and they released firmware which removed it from the OG consoles as well. There are of course ways to get it back, and plenty of people who stopped updating their PS3s when that firmware was released.

Sometimes the original release has pretty cool features that are lacking in newer revisions..

Not to mention the awesomeness of full PS2 and PS hardware backwards compatibility on launch 60GB PS3s.

1 hour ago, Estil said:

 I'm still glad to own a WiiU though.  I'm in no hurry for the Switch especially with a Switch Pro likely coming out later this year.

I'm pretty convinced a Pro will come out in 2021. It just doesn't make financial or logistical sense for 2020. I also think we would have more concrete info if it were true. Manufacturing would have to start in May at the lastest for a holiday release.

[koifish | 555]

A switch pro console might also be delayed past 2020 because of the coronavirus outbreak. There are already stories of different manufacturing centers being shut down in China due to fear of spreading the disease, and it has made some electronics, such as Oculus Quest, become more scarce than before. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to affect further electronics as the situation progresses.

[Estil | 1,261]

6 hours ago, koifish said:

A switch pro console might also be delayed past 2020 because of the coronavirus outbreak. There are already stories of different manufacturing centers being shut down in China due to fear of spreading the disease, and it has made some electronics, such as Oculus Quest, become more scarce than before. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to affect further electronics as the situation progresses.

That would make sense.  That likely could go for the PS5 and whatever weird name the next Xbox calls itself.