State of the Wii U

[Canyarion]

What do you think, will it recover and get good lifetime sales this gen? I thought it was doing just fine, until I read (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-02-playstation-4-uk-launch-sales-are-over-250k) the XB1 and PS4 already outsold Wii U in the UK. That's pretty drastic.

Nintendo just came out with their best game in the last 3 years... and it sold like crap. Even in Japan, where they love Mario, it had the lowest first week sales of a 3D Mario ever. (On the other hand, ALBW also sold pretty poorly so far.)

On a more positive note, yesterday a friend visited me and apparently he saw the U for the first time. When he saw us play Nintendo Land (Mario Chase), he said "I want that." After seeing some more games, he later asked me if I thought it was worth the purchase, because he was really considering it.
Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros. are also coming up, among other good games. Wii Sports Club could pull in a few more customers.

Thoughts? Will the Wii U recover like the PS3 did, or is it doomed to be another GameCube?

[Vampyr]

It's selling worse than the Gamecube.

Also, it has a different problem than the PS3.

The PS3 was something people wanted but it was too expensive.

The WiiU is something no one seems to want, even though it's relatively cheap.

I'm not sure what to think about it. I don't personally see it making a comeback, but at the same time...what is Nintendo going to do? They basically have to support the Wii U...they can't release another console. I know the 3DS is doing amazingly well, so they can maybe just ride on the money from that. I'm sure the Wii U will get an influx of sales when Smash Bros and Mario Kart come out, but I don't think it's going to be massive numbers.

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens. The 3DS started off slow but made a turn around. Maybe if Nintendo combos the release of Smash Bros with a price drop and a bundle?

The marketing for the Wii U has just been atrocious. Most people don't even seem to know it exists, and part of those that do think it's the same console as the Wii.

[BreakABone]

It's selling worse than the Gamecube.

Also, it has a different problem than the PS3.

The PS3 was something people wanted but it was too expensive.

The WiiU is something no one seems to want, even though it's relatively cheap.

I'm not sure what to think about it. I don't personally see it making a comeback, but at the same time...what is Nintendo going to do? They basically have to support the Wii U...they can't release another console. I know the 3DS is doing amazingly well, so they can maybe just ride on the money from that. I'm sure the Wii U will get an influx of sales when Smash Bros and Mario Kart come out, but I don't think it's going to be massive numbers.

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens. The 3DS started off slow but made a turn around. Maybe if Nintendo combos the release of Smash Bros with a price drop and a bundle?

The marketing for the Wii U has just been atrocious. Most people don't even seem to know it exists, and part of those that do think it's the same console as the Wii.

I would wager, the major difference with the Ps3 and the wii U was that 3rd parties NEEDED it to succeed. So they continued to support it even when it wasn't financially feasible.

Nintendo doesn't have that luxury.

It looks like they are in for some rough times ahead. Even worse than hardware sales, is they don't have those select 3rd party titles that the n64 and Wii got to fill in the gaps between their major releases. And nothing on the level of Rare as a 2nd party.

It's going to be interesting to see what they do with indie games next year, but the future doesn't look bright for the console.

[Vampyr]

The thing is I think Nintendo has too much cash on hand from the Wii, and too much success with the 3DS, to outright fail as a company.

The last time a console failed but the company didn't, Sega became a third party developer.

I wonder if we'll see that happen to Nintendo, except they continue making handhelds? Maybe Microsoft buys Nintendo and they become a 1st party dev for Microsoft, in addition to controlling a new Microsoft handheld branch. :o

Probably insane speculation, but it's fun to do.

[Canyarion]

Isn't Nintendo more likely to buy Microsoft? ;)

I wonder how casual gamers are going to fit into this generation. I don't see them picking up a XB1 or PS4. But will they cave in and buy a Wii U in the end? Is it going to be the perfect family Christmas present?

And will more hardcore gamers pick it up when there are titles like SSB and Bayonetta 2?

[BreakABone]

Isn't Nintendo more likely to buy Microsoft? ;)

I wonder how casual gamers are going to fit into this generation. I don't see them picking up a XB1 or PS4. But will they cave in and buy a Wii U in the end? Is it going to be the perfect family Christmas present?

And will more hardcore gamers pick it up when there are titles like SSB and Bayonetta 2?
Nintendo isn't even worth nearly as much.


The thing is I think Nintendo has too much cash on hand from the Wii, and too much success with the 3DS, to outright fail as a company.

The last time a console failed but the company didn't, Sega became a third party developer.

I wonder if we'll see that happen to Nintendo, except they continue making handhelds? Maybe Microsoft buys Nintendo and they become a 1st party dev for Microsoft, in addition to controlling a new Microsoft handheld branch. :o

Probably insane speculation, but it's fun to do.

Yeah, it's a distinction a lot of people don't make.
Nintendo the company is fine.
The Wii U isn't.

I mean if push comes to shove, they can continue to sell the Wii U at a slow clip, and hope costs come down where they are at least making money on all of them and software sales.

They haven't really been losing money recently, but not really making a ton either. Think last quarter posted a 6 million dollar profit, which in this day and age is like development of a game or something.

[Canyarion]

Someone linked this article and it's really well written.
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/03/why-nintendos-wii-u-and-3ds-may-be-your-best-bets-this-holiday/?__lsa=3d83-ae5d

[Vampyr]

I agree that the Wii U is awesome - I'm very glad that I have it and I'm not buying a PS4 or a One any time soon. Super Mario Bros. 3D World is one of the best games I have ever played.

But unfortunately that's not translating to new people actually picking up the system.

[Jason1]

I don't know I mean im pretty worried about the WiiU. I know I will pick one up eventually, but I admit even I haven't gotten one yet. Im a huge Mario fan so its been getting harder and harder to resist...I'll cave one of these days. But the sales have been BAD. So bad I just don't know if it can ever really recover. Even if it does fail miserably, my prediction is Nintendo limps along with the WiiU for a few more years then releases another home console, hopefully much more aggressively marketed. I just don't see WiiU being Nintendos last home console, even if sales continue to be terrible.

[Blix]

They had no killer apps and did really bad promotion for the system when it came out. You can sell a system out of hype alone but Nintendo's marketing was terrible. Now the sales, as far as I know, have picked up. The system was sold out on the gamestop website for some days and is now back in stock which means they should be moving units once again.

I do not see a comeback as impossible seeing how they are going to be releasing five major titles next year. They have what it takes to make that comeback but I hope their marketing dept. does a hell of a lot better.

http://myvideogamenews.com/2013/11/23/wii-u-moving-a-lot-of-systems-on-gamestop-com/

When this news came out I checked gamestop.com and verified it was indeed true.

[Jason1]

Bundle WiiU with Super Mario 3d World and id probably pick one up tomorrow. Even though I liked wind waker a HD remake isn't a system seller for me. But its starting to get harder and harder to resist picking up a WiiU while it has NOT been hard to resist getting an Xbox1 or PS4 because there are no games that really interest me.

[Canyarion]

So it's really picking up sales in Japan. So far I've also read good reports from NA.

Did you see today's Nintendo Direct? Some good stuff.

[Blix]

So it's really picking up sales in Japan. So far I've also read good reports from NA.

Did you see today's Nintendo Direct? Some good stuff.

http://gaminrealm.com/2013/12/25/wii-u-sells-100k-japan-last-week/

It seems it is, indeed.