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E3 2011: Nintendo stock sinks post-Wii U unveil

By Tor Thorsen

Investors wary of new console sell off game giant's stock on Tokyo Exchange, causing 5.63% dive; Iwata says console will likely cost more than $250.

LOS ANGELES--Yesterday, Nintendo unveiled the Wii U with great fanfare at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The console sports a host of innovative new features, thanks in large part to its revolutionary controller, which is centered on a 6.2-inch touch screen and boasts twin circle pads, a D pad, two shoulder buttons, twin triggers, face buttons, and an accelerometer, microphone, camera, and gyroscope.

Investors appear to be wary of the Wii U.

Investors appear to be wary of the Wii U.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, the console apparently didn't impress its stockholders. Today, the company saw its stock price sink 5.63 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closing the day at ¥16,930 ($212.18).

Daiwa Securities Co. Shuji Hosoi told the Associated Press that the drop was sparked by doubts about whether the Wii U will reach the same sales heights as its predecessor, the Wii. "People are puzzled whether this will really sell," he told the news service.

One barrier of entry may be the Wii U's price. Speaking to the Nikkei news service, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata indicated the new console will probably cost more than ¥20,000 ($250.47). The current-generation console began its life cycle selling for $250, but its price has since dropped to $150.

In a separate interview with the Wall Street Journal, the executive also declined to give a price for the Wii U, preferring to focus on the console's more innovative aspects.

"This is going to be able to create what I call a new format or new structure of entertainment," Iwata told the financial daily. "By taking advantage of this new structure of entertainment, great new ideas can be popped up by developers."

By Tor Thorsen

222 Comments

  • CloudStrife97

    Posted Jun 20, 2011 2:50 pm GMT

    @1588greatdane I never said every console sucks, I stated honest truths about them. Sony had the PSN offline for a month and a half, Kinect doesnt have any serious games for it and doesnt do near what we were promised it would. But if you checked my profile instead of just calling me a "PC guy" you would see I review games from every console and own every console. Think before you speak, you might look stupid =P

  • grbolivar

    Posted Jun 12, 2011 12:09 pm GMT

    @ash162 Did you saw the bird demo Nintendo showed of the WiiU? That demo is at most Xbox360 level pal, there's even a report here on GS somewhere saying exactly that.

    The controller is similar to the PSV? LOL just look at that tablet, it's f*cking BIG and UGLY, I bet you anything the scree resolution is even slower then the PSV.

    And knowing Nintendo, they will release this thing @ 400$ just for the new gimmicks... well Ninty, good luck with this console, sincerely, because me and a couple of friends not buying it.

  • ash162

    Posted Jun 12, 2011 9:57 am GMT

    i don't own a wii and i think motion gaming is a gimmick. But the wii-u could work out 'coz of two reasons:
    - its hd just like the ps3 and the x-box. There might be a difference in quality( as is the case that most third party games look better on the 360) but the devs wont be held back.
    - the wii-u controller is pretty similar to the ps vita so if the devs create games for that they might go for the wii-u as well. Not to mention the handheld is hd too!

    Now all is required for N is to price it right. And maybe for a while it will be fine until the next-gen comes knocking.

  • adriande2

    Posted Jun 11, 2011 2:25 pm GMT

    @grbolivar
    I disagree with that. I am a gamer and I have had a Wii for years. I actually balance playing between Wii and PC with a little Xbox on the side(just due to lack of games atm). And quite a few of my friends who are gamers own a Wii. There were actually quite a few games geared towards gamers such as Metroid Prime 3/Trilogy, Monster Hunter Tri, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Call of Duty, ect. The problem was that people saw the Wii as a non-gamer's or casual gamer's console when it actually had some pretty good hardcore games. Mainly, this is because of all the crappy shovelware games that pretty much washed out the good stuff.

  • grbolivar

    Posted Jun 10, 2011 9:05 am GMT

    ....and Nintendo did a very good job convincing non-gamers that you need a home console as you need a TV and a Stereo, just like that, and that's some remarkable marketing Nintendo did there. But with the Wii U... I don't know, I don't think the same idea of "you need this console to complete your home entertainment" will work here.

  • grbolivar

    Posted Jun 10, 2011 8:33 am GMT

    The Wii sold a lot because non-gamers were the only ones buying it, the real gamers (people that like gaming no matter the genre) are buying real gaming consoles like Xbox360 & PS3.

    Most of my friends with Wiis are absolute non-gamers with the Wii collecting dust next to the TV. They rarely use it and only to play stupid games like Wii Sport when they hold a party on their houses...

  • cptpeg

    Posted Jun 10, 2011 5:38 am GMT

    @montblanc512 I know what I said was far from reality but it was sort of based on the same argument as your comment.

    I've had every Nintendo console, and I loved the N64 and Gamecube, which were both surprisingly bad on sales. Then the Wii comes out and not only is there a lack of Nintendo games but there are next to no decent third party games. So all we're left with is a whole load of games where you have to wave your arms up and down or pretend to dance.

    Your comment on my idea about how we'd only be getting one Nintendo game a year, at least that would be more than what we've got from the Wii, I purchased the console on release, apart from playing Wii sports (because it was boxed with the console,) Zelda (which should've been a Gamecube game) and Mario Galaxy the console has sat gathering dust, 3 games in 5 years, that's a little pathetic. As I've already said, I know my original comment was lame, but I was touching on the fact that Nintendo need to concentrate more on trying to release the quality games that have helped build their name.

  • Seram

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 4:55 pm GMT

    @the09system
    "'I wonder how many of these investors are actually gamers?
    I'm guessing none."

    How many Wii players are actually gamers? lol

  • taddia

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 4:22 pm GMT

    This post is home for haters and fanboys it seems, everything wrote about nintendo in a positive way gets thumbs down lol (and this very comment will too ofc X|

    I think Wii U looks AWESOME. Period. I just hope it doesn't happen as it did on the Wii:
    3rd parties not being able to use properly the technology, ending up ruining the very same console life cycle with ugly games

  • Agent3sephiroth

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 4:13 pm GMT

    People look up something called eyefinity. Thats a better example of multiple monitor gaming.

  • montblanc512

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 2:19 pm GMT

    @x7c8r9, it can't be. Nintendo knows it wouldn't sell. Besides, nintendo's style is more to offer a cheap system, and then ruin you with it's required extras (Seriously, Wiimote: $40, Nunchuck $20, Wiimote plus $20, and that's not including the tablet for the drawing games, and the fitness board, and the zapper. Think about that, just four controllers to play most games is $320+$250 for the console. To get the most out of the Wii, it only costs about $20 less than the PS3 Starting price for the better model, and lets face it, you can't play jack without the nunchuck, smash is the only non-nunchuck game worth playing )

  • montblanc512

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 2:12 pm GMT

    @cptpeg, I'm a big Ninty fan, and even I think that was the worst idea I've ever heard. Then we'd get one game a year, and half would be the same. What we need is third party developers who don't consider the Wii U as just a toy and make nothing but shovelware. I agree with markiewicz in that regard. I was excited about the Wii U though, and it's possibilities, but I was interested in what the wii could do too, which nobody ever decided to utilize the right way. I also despite my history of ninty love, have lost faith in Nintendo. I think Wii U will be good, but I also know that I'm not paying more than $300 for the thing, and if the controllers are expensive may not get it at all. For the same reason I didn't get a PS3, I'm not rich, and though I love gaming, it's not worth two paychecks for the system alone. So unless this thing comes out with some awesome games out of the gate, including third party stuff, I just can't trust Ninty with my money. Especially seeing how little return I'm seeing for investing in a Wii. Yay, a Kirby game and skyward sword, that'll keep me going for a year and a half (that's sarcasm in case it was missed), Seriously, even if Skyward Sword is the greatest game I've ever played, it doesn't change the fact Sony and MS have games coming out all the time that look good, and nintendo just abandoned us for like two years.

  • x7c8r9

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 1:21 pm GMT

    well hopefully it won't be as expensive as the PS3 at it's launch.

  • markiewicz

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 1:05 pm GMT

    @ ctpeg no it's a terrible idea.... for the love of God... I know they can make great games from a gameplay standpoint. But I really want to see people who make Zelda games to create a new game, a new franchise. Imagine if people working for From Software worked for Nintendo instead. Would they have made Demon's Souls? No, most likely they would just create Zelda 27 and even though the game itself might be great from a technical POV and extremely well put together, I'm just fed up with Link, Mario and all the rest of the cast. I'm not really interested in what Nintendo does, but what little interest I have in their consoles (mostly the DS) is thanks to the 3rd party developers willing to bring NEW experiences. I had very low expectations for N during this E3, but they managed to be underwhelming nevertheless. What you just wrote would be a final nail in the coffin. The people who bought the Wii are either casual gamers or hardcore N fans who don't mind buying the 28th Mario game. There are exceptions, as always when you talk about a 70-80 million user base, but imho this is the tendency. And frankly I haven't seen any real will to change that.

  • -Canas-

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 12:18 pm GMT

    We get it Nintendo, you want to make video games for our parents and sisters. Seeing as how I live alone and have my own television I very rarely experience the problem of having to share my TV. Gaming is usually done alone, and as much as i'd like to bring all my friends together to flail our arms about my living room like buffoons, most of us would rather get drunk at some dingy nightclub. It's a cool piece of technology, no doubt, but more of a step sideways than a step forward.

  • cptpeg

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 12:11 pm GMT

    I love Nintendo but all the third party crap that's been released recently is making them look a little pathetic. I would love to see Nintendo hire a load of staff and go completely first party with their console, only release games made by Nintendo. Think of how many series they have at the moment:

    Mario (including kart, party, tennis,etc.)
    Zelda
    Luigi's Manson
    Animal Crossing
    WarioWare
    Metroid
    Kirby
    Fire Emblem
    Pokemon
    Earthbound
    Nintendogs
    Starfox
    Donkey Kong
    Pikmin
    Ice Climbers
    Kid Icarus
    Wii Sports
    Wii Fit
    F-Zero
    Super Smash Bros

    It would ensure nothing but quality games are released and with the extra staff they could start developing new characters and games.

    I know it wouldn't happen but it'd be cool.

  • CISX

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 11:31 am GMT

    ... I HAVE PS3, WII, XBOX360 AND PC, FOR MI THE BEST CONSOLES ARE THE PC AND THE WII!!!!!!!!

  • CISX

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 11:30 am GMT

    BAH, NINTENDO RULES, THEY ARE MORE ORIGINAL THAN THE OTHERS, WE ALL KNOW THAT SONY AND MICROSOFT ONLY CLONE THE NINTENDO IDEAS

  • the09system

    Posted Jun 9, 2011 11:25 am GMT

    I wonder how many of these investors are actually gamers?
    I'm guessing none.