Menu
What's new
Troll Kingdom

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

What game are you playing on a Nintendo console at the moment?

!

Nintendo Admits The Wii U Is A Failure

By Taylor Casti Posted: 01/17/2014 2:45 pm EST | Updated: 01/17/2014 3:01 pm EST

It's been a year of console wars. While one could spend hours debating the victor, the loser has been obvious for quite some time, and Nintendo seems to finally be realizing that its Wii U is never going to be the most popular kid on the playground.

The company announced Friday that it is slashing sales projections by almost 70 percent. It now expects sales of only 2.8 million Wii U units for the fiscal year ending in March, as opposed to the company's earlier projection of 9 million.

By contrast, 4.2 million Playstation 4 and 3 million Xbox One units have sold since both consoles launched in November 2013.

Software sales for the Wii U were also halved from an expected 38 million to 19 million.

The company's failure to reach its target marks a third consecutive annual loss. Instead of the 100 billion yen profit ($958.5 million) expected, Nintendo now expects to post a 35 billion yen loss (about $335.5 million).

The successor to the extremely popular 2006 Wii console, the Wii U broke new ground by adding a second screen to the console experience. However, competition from more convenient cell phones and tablets for mobile gaming and more powerful consoles for experienced gamers left the Wii U with no distinguishing factors to set it apart from the competition.

The company's attempts to bolster Wii U sales with big title releases like "The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker" and "Super Mario 3D World" were moderately successful. But even a $50 price cut in September of 2013 to $299 couldn't supply the success the console needed.

Nintendo's 3DS, while still popular and successful in Japan, where it sold 4.9 million of its projected 5 million units, has also taken a hit in American markets, according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. As a result, 3DS sales projections were cut from 18 million to 13.5 million units globally.

The original Wii is a continued success for the company, albeit a small one. Projections were raised from 2 million units to 2.6 million units.

In light of these dismal sales figures and muted hopes for the coming year, the question remains whether Nintendo will continue to survive off it's mega franchises like Zelda and Mario, as The Verge suggests it will, or if it will change its strategy to adjust to the consumer market. Only time -- and the coming year's sales -- will tell.
Click to expand...
 
They should simply call the next thing the "Wii" again. I never liked the name Wii U -- sounds like a device that was made specifically for educational institutions.
 
I'm pretty sure we all made fun of "Wii U" for months and said "wait you control it with a pad thing and there's no good games yet won't this be a failure" so they should have listened to us really.

3DS is great though!
 
I started playing Fire Emblem again with my avatar as a girl and I named her "Michelle" and tried to make her look like Michelle Trachtenberg.
 
10512.imgcache.gif
 
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) - Yeah, that's right, I bought a new game on Wii. Two years later than everyone else I have to say this is a great game so far. It looks beautiful and the music's already sticking in my head.
 
I've been thinking about playing Prince of Persia again, but I PROBABLY WON'T.
 
I went back to an old unfinished SM64 game last weekend to grab a few more stars (up to 90 or so), and then left Mario sleeping at the top of the steps outside the entrance to the top floor. I don't think I ever quit out of the game so he's still asleep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top