Topic: Nintendo: Fire Emblem on Wii U Would Need to Sell 700,000 Units to be Worth It

[Steel Diver]

You may want to buy multiple copies of this one. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34875

An entry of the Fire Emblem series on Wii U would need to sell at least 700,000 units according to Hitoshi Yamagami, a manger and producer from Group No. 2 of the Software Planning & Development Department.

In comparison, Fire Emblem Awakening on 3DS sold 900,000 copies globally while the Wii entry sold 460,000 units. No Fire Emblem game for the Wii U has been announced yet.

[broodwars]

Sorry, but I don't buy that number as accurate, given how relatively low-budget and simple the Fire Emblem games are outside the handful of FMVs every installment.  As I said on Twitter, when Intelligent Systems manages to turn out a Fire Emblem with the production values and play mechanics of something like Valkyria Chronicles, we'll talk about a Wii U installment needing to sell 700,000 units.  Until then, it just sounds like an excuse for Nintendo to not have to make the effort.

[smallsharkbigbite]

I don't care if the 700, 000 is real or not.

It's a solid game for a platform badly in need of solid games.  If Nintendo isn't willing to invest in the Wii U how can we possibly expectthird parties to?

[MrPhishfood]

Fire Emblem doesn't strike me as the type of game that should be on a home console. It can be on home consoles but iwouldn't gain any gameplay enhancements as a result.

[broodwars]

Fire Emblem doesn't strike me as the type of game that should be on a home console. It can be on home consoles but iwouldn't gain any gameplay enhancements as a result.

And it doesn't really gain any gameplay enhancements as a portable title, either. The way Nintendo's designed it, it's a fairly platform-neutral series.  For all the off-and-on play being portable offers, I prefer not having to hunch over tiny screens for several hours.  There's definitely something to be said for just lying back and playing a strategy game on your big TV.

[NWR_Neal]

That number doesn't seem ridiculously high. It actually sounds reasonable, but with the exception of Awakening, it's a number the franchise hasn't consistently hit (I'm pretty sure). I would think with the success of Awakening, the chances of a Wii U title increase.

[Spak-Spang]

Nintendo do you know how you get your lesser known games to sell.  Advertise, Advertise, Advertise.  Promote, Promote, Promote. 


Let the people get to know you and spend time with you and see how nice you are before demanding their money....and definitely don't just put them out on the street to sell themselves like they aren't a second look.


You got great second and third tier franchises...do something with them.

[smallsharkbigbite]

Notwithstanding this title should sell better than the Wii version because there are no alternatives right now. It's a good title to fill the schedule with and is needed absent strong 3rd party support.

I'd assume the 700, 000 is to hit the rate of return they want on this project and not a true break even point.

I don't get the whole portable/non-portable argument. People who travel a lot may prefer portables but I travel little and wouldprefer everything on a home console. I just want games that are fun, and this series qualifies as that.

[Soren]

New Animal Crossing games still looks pretty much like the Gamecube versions(which was originally an N64 game). I fully expect a Wii U Fire Emblem game to look just like the Wii version (which was, again, a slight upgrade on the GC version). Is the bump to HD so big it breaks the bank and ends up needing to justify selling over half a million copies justg to break even? Doubt it.

[Leo13]

That's disappointing. I thought Awakening had sold more copies than that.
Is that 900,000 just hard copies or does that include digital downloads?

[TJ Spyke]

I'd assume the 700, 000 is to hit the rate of return they want on this project and not a true break even point.

I would hope so, because even taking out 15% for retailers, 700K copies at $59.99 would net Nintendo $35.6 million (and I doubt the cost of development plus advertising for the game would come anywhere close to that).

[lolmonade]

So...I would take this as them saying "Don't expect to see an announcement for Fire Emblem on Wii U until at least a few more years", so they have a chance of meeting that target.
 
It makes sense....they're focusing on all of their "system sellers" to hopefully push more Wii U units.  Once they increase the install base, I expect them to push out more of the "niche" titles in hopes they can meet these targets.

[NWR_Neal]

Making games ain't about making your money back on a game. It's about making a profit on a game.

We can all sit around and try to figure out Nintendo's profit/loss analysis for a Wii U Fire Emblem OR we can look at Awakening's success, note that "hey, 700k isn't absurd for the series," and cross our fingers for a new FE on Wii U in a few years.

And for all we know, the 700k number is an exaggeration or maybe even a guess.

[Ian Sane]

This sounds like something I would hear from a third party, not Nintendo themselves.  So the Wii U is such a dud that Nintendo is showing disinterest in it?

Replace "Fire Emblem" with any third party franchise and it sounds like typical Wii U bad news.  "An entry of the [insert franchise here] series on Wii U would need to sell at least 700,000 units" sounds like third party excuse mad libs.

At this point Nintendo should be putting damn near anything they can think of on the Wii U.  Even if Fire Emblem was released on the system and sold less than 700,000 units, having another great game would make the Wii U lineup that much stronger and could encourage console sales.  At this point individual sales are not the priority because the userbase is small and will automatically cap any game's sales.  The priority right now should be to sell systems.  This whole thing reads like Nintendo needs to be wait for the Wii U to sell better before it is worth their while to release certain games on it.  Well with that attitude the Wii U is probably never going to sell like that.  Why would I buy a console that Nintendo appears to not be putting 100% into?

[paleselan]

The number sounds quite reasonable, especially when EA wanted Dead Space 3 to sell 5 million.

[Vahne]

@MrPhishfood
Compare Radiant Dawn to any of the portable Fire Emblem games. There are plenty of gameplay enhancements in that game over any of those portable FEs.

[smallsharkbigbite]

Making games ain't about making your money back on a game. It's about making a profit on a game.

This is true and it's why I haven't been as hard on third parties. They've sold some wii u games and done projections that show they won't make money and they are dropping support. People like to argue about them being jerks or having flawed business models leading them to support different consoles, but at the end of the day they are making rational decisions.

My problem is Nintendo is also a hardware manufacturer. They have a profit cycle where games lead to console sales which lead to more games sales which lead to more console sales and round the wheel spins. A successful console leads to more profit than any individual game could. I understand EA not wanting to lose money by sacrificing a game or two until the wii u user base builds, but I don't understand why Nintendo wouldn't. Nintendo has a game issue and not greenlighting games will lead to less profit in the long run.

I also think it's not a very good pr thing to say. Give me, "I would love to work on FE in the future and see how we can improve and expand the franchise. Right now, our team has been given other exciting opportunities that I can't reveal at this time. I'll give you more updates at a later date."

That implies they want to make quality games and that the user base will still get a great game it just won't be FE.

The way they came off is that the userbase will get more games if they buy more games. Like the userbase is responsible for the wii u not having games and not Nintendo.

[Luigi Dude]

Well we technically are getting a Fire Emblem for the Wii U.  Nice to see everyones already forgotten about Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem which is a Wii U game.  Yeah we don't know what the gameplay will be like yet, but considering Fire Emblem is the more popular series of the two, it shows Nintendo isn't completely against having Fire Emblem on a current home console, since the Fire Emblem name will carry most of that games sales.

[the asylum]

Meanwhile Nintendo knows that any Mario Party they **** out will sell millions

Guess what we'll be getting instead of Fire Emblem U?

[Kytim89]

At this point the Wii U needs all of the games that it can get. Even if Nintendo made games that did not sell very well, but had a cult following, it is much better than the situation the Wii U is currently in with no games.

[Luigi Dude]

Meanwhile Nintendo knows that any Mario Party they **** out will sell millions

Guess what we'll be getting instead of Fire Emblem U?

We're getting Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem instead which I just said in my above post.  Seriously, are some of you blind as **** or what.

[Adrock]

Considering how ready and willing Nintendo is in releasing new installments of established franchises, if they felt Fire Emblem on Wii U could make them money, they would make Fire Emblem on Wii U. It's the same reason F-Zero is MIA. They don't have faith in the series being profitable enough to spend two years developing it.

Unless this is a red herring, what else could Intelligent Systems be working on if not Fire Emblem? If it's Paper Mario (minus stickers), I'd honestly rather have that.

[Ian Sane]

Luigi Dude's right about Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem.  So with that on the way why did Nintendo feel any need to mention this 700,000 units stuff.  They already have some sort of Fire Emblem title in the works so why even bring up the possibility of a different one?  This also suggests that the SMT crossover somehow doesn't count as a "true" Fire Emblem game and that's not how Nintendo should want us to see it.

I do not get this company's approach to PR.  They could have not mentioned any of this at all.  We all forgot that a Fire Emblem is due for the Wii U because they made a comment suggesting there wasn't.

[smallsharkbigbite]

I believe Atlus is developing that game. At least the youtube trailer i found started with atlus presents. They have a different cost structure and different expectations than a Nintendo developed game. With other games, usually the gameplay follows the first listed. I.E. sf x tekkan was really sf4  with tekkan characters.

[broodwars]

Well we technically are getting a Fire Emblem for the Wii U.  Nice to see everyones already forgotten about Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem which is a Wii U game.  Yeah we don't know what the gameplay will be like yet, but considering Fire Emblem is the more popular series of the two, it shows Nintendo isn't completely against having Fire Emblem on a current home console, since the Fire Emblem name will carry most of that games sales.

As soon as Atlus shows more than concept art from existing MegaTen/Fire Emblem games strung together, I'll consider that a real game.  Until then, it's practically vaporware.