Nintendo

Nintendo’s Wii U is a capable little game console with a nifty touchscreen-equipped GamePad controller, but one thing it’s not is profitable off the bat. Traditionally, most console hardware is sold at a loss at launch because of high-cost components that provide cutting-edge graphics and processing power. To put it into perspective, it took five years for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox business to become profitable and four years for Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 to get out of the red. Nintendo’s modus operandi has always been to make a profit on every console it sells, so it was shocking to hear the Wii U would be sold at a loss. But Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime recently sat down with MercuryNews and set the record straight, explaining that the Wii U isn’t losing much money per unit sold.  More →

Nintendo’s (NTDOY) Wii U launched on Sunday to much fanfare. As gamers snapped up preordered consoles and games, scalpers took to eBay and Craigslist to sell Wii Us for double their value. Even without the availability of Nintendo TVii at the console’s launch, the Wii U is off to a good start. Naturally, the iFixit team broke out the screwdrivers and went straight to cracking the unit open. What did iFixit discover? For one thing, the Wii U has flash memory chips made by Samsung (005930) and an HDMI controller made by Panasonic. More →

The Wii U doesn’t have a hard drive like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Instead,  Nintendo (NTDOY) chose to include flash storage in two capacities: 8GB and 32GB. Unfortunately, the actual amount of storage users will have access to is significantly less than what’s advertised on the box. As Kotaku explains, after formatting the internal storage, the 8GB model has 7.2GB of storage leftover and the 32GB Wii U has 29GB of storage. Then, the Wii U operating system takes another 4.2GB of storage out of that, and leaves a grand total of 3GB and 24.8GB of storage for saving games, movies, downloadable content, etc. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Wii U doesn’t have a lot of storage, especially for those picking up the 8GB basic set. More →

Nintendo (NTDOY) president Satoru Iwata has already spoiled the unboxing ceremonies, but that doesn’t mean the Wii U doesn’t still have a few mysteries left to it. Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamato of the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid fame told IGN back in June that the game company was working on “experiences along [the lines of] the Xbox 360′s Achievements and PlayStation 3′s Trophies.” But according to 5th Cell co-founder Jeremiah Slaczka, developer of Scribblenauts Unlimited, the Wii U has no such system-wide accomplishments in place. Instead, it will be up to each developer to create their own Achievement-systems in their own games. More →

The Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii U doesn’t come out of for another 11 days in North America. To kickstart the new console hype, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took to the company’s Nintendo Direct webcast to do an official unboxing video of the $349.99 Deluxe Set. Most of the console’s extras – GamePad charging cradle, console “legs,” 32GB of internal storage and a copy of Nintendo Land – have already been detailed, but the fact that Iwata does the entire thing with “Mario-style white gloves” makes the unboxing all the more special.

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With 17 days to go until the Wii U console launches in North America, Nintendo (NTDOY) has only a handful of days to convince gamers on the fence why its new console is worth $299.99. As is the case with so many brand new products, the Wii U’s GamePad is a gadget that can only be understood after you actually use it. It’s incredibly light and its large 6.2-inch touchscreen is responsive despite the lack of multitouch. In terms of latency, there’s virtually no noticeable lag when streaming HD games and video to the GamePad’s screen. Nintendo has already admitted that it will be a challenge to showcase the Wii U due to its unique design. We’ve posted company’s first Wii U commercial below.
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Rarely does Nintendo (NTDOY) sell new hardware at a loss, but during a financial results briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed the Wii U will be sold below its manufacturing cost. Iwata explained that due to rising yen, it chose a price ”that consumers would consider to be reasonable” and not one based on manufacturing cost. As a result, Iwata warns that the Wii U will have a “negative impact” on the company’s profits in the months after the console launches. More →

If sold out preorders and sky-high grey market preorder sales are any indication, Nintendo’s (NTDOY) upcoming Wii U console is going to be a hit. The $299.99 Wii U is the first game console with a controller that incorporates a large 6.2-inch touchscreen, NFC, video chat camera and universal TV remote controls. While diehard Nintendo fans will flock to pick up a Wii U on November 18th, many consumers have been left wondering why they should pick it up over an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 when the new console provides no significant leap in graphics or processing power. Nintendo revealed on Wednesday in its financial earnings report that it hopes strong marketing will help it sell 5.5 million Wii U consoles by the end of the second quarter of 2013. The Kyoto, Japan-based game company also expects to sell 24 million Wii U games in the same time.

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