Hey Nintendo, nobody wants a Wii U under their Christmas tree this year
The buzz today is that the PS4 sold 12’000 units in 27 minutes on Amazon last week, and Sony claimed the trophy of the most sales for the month of November (although they haven’t disclosed any numbers), while Microsoft bragged as the Xbox One was the fastest selling console in the US last month with 909k units sold. In parallel, Nintendo have been pretty quiet about their sales…
Well, not entirely quiet. According to Market Research company NPD (and as reported by gamespot), Wii U sales have seen a 340% increase between October and November. Awesome numbers, but it is not surprising to see a huge increase for holiday season, and as ArsTechnica’s Kyle Orland puts it, that sounds impressive until you look at the October Data and realize the Wii U only sold 55’000 units in October. Which means about 250’000 were sold in November.
Fanboys will tell you that obviously new consoles will sell more than the Wii U because the Wii U was released last year. But November being the biggest month of the year for sales, the numbers for the Wii U should be concerning to Nintendo. Moreover, the Ars Technica article goes in depth to explain how most consoles tend to sell more on their second year than on the first. Which the Wii U is not doing. Another bad data point for Nintendo’s system.
If we set aside the raw power and performances of the device (that’s not what most players really care about), the Wii U is not a bad system. But it is somehow managing to miss its target. The second screen experience, which seems to be Nintendo’s only real selling point, is nothing more than a gimmick (just like the back touchpad on the Vita). The game library is not great, and will probably not improve with time, as developers are staying away from the device.
Laptopmag’s Avram Plitch made the Wii U one of its 5 “lumps of coal” gadgets nobody wants for Christmas, along with “Kid’s Tablets”, “iPhone 5C”, “Microsoft Surface 2”, and “Chromebooks”:
Unfortunately, the $300 Wii U is a waste of metal and plastic, with a lame touch-screen controller, mediocre graphics capability and almost none of the games people actually want to play.
the laptopmag article points a very essential thing: people will want the same console that their friends and family have. Having a huge community, and momentum, is essential for a console to survive, but for now the Wii U looks like it’s going to follow the same path as the Dreamcast.
Of course, Nintendo haven’t said their last word, and are still heavily promoting the device for Christmas (at least they do it here in Japan).
Fear my drunken photo taking skills!
Will that be enough to save the Wii U? I personally think Nintendo’s doomed to focus on its national market for the time being.
What’s your bet, and what is your next gen console of choice?
Like Sony needs to do with PS Vita, Nintendo needs to do with Wii U. The difference is that Vita is getting more sales because of Remote Play and PS4 hype. Wii U needs something like that (I don’t mean something similar to Remote Play but something to bring it hype). They’re doing great with the 3DS. They need to market the Wii U more like it.
Wii Sucks :)…. they already cancelled their online services with the old Wii console…
And vita does not? it has been filled with stupid baby games such as indies and legos,vita needs better games.For example,everytime Atlus releases a game it’s only for 3ds and nothing for vita.We need a new god of war not a remastered version,gran turismo,fatal frame with vita motion camera,tekken,naruto,fairy tail,a new old style silent hill,spyro,crash and many others.Since Sony has been released 60gb card games should be like at least 2.5 gb instead of just 1gb,for that,we are missing graphics and time of gameplay,for example 1gb we could beat the game in less than 5 hours with 2 or 3gb will be more time to play if they dont focus only that in graphics.Look at ps2 4gb and FF large,it will take you least 5 days or more to beat the game,same with grandia and others rpg.Thats what i think it’s just my tough.
Persona 4 Golden is an Atlus game on PSVITA; Tops any Game Atlus released on 3DS
Own both Vita and 3DS and while Persona 4 Golden in a great game, so is SMT 4 for 3DS…..Persona 4 is a redo of a ps2 classic and SMT IV is the first new SMT game in eons…..thing it trumps. Also don’t know if you have seen but Altus announced a new Persona game for 3DS…..Vita is going to struggle to get games over 3DS when 3DS has sold 40mil units and Vita a little over 6mil.
You must have missed it but they have also announced new Persona game for Vita, lol 😛
Yeah man, Persona 4: The Dancing is totally going to save the Vita and blow SMT IV out of the water!
At any rate, it seems a bit hypocritical to criticize the Wii U’s sales on a blog that’s mostly dedicated to the Vita. The Vita’s doing no better, and it’s had two years to get its *** together. I love my Wii U and my Vita, but there’s no denying that Sony and Nintendo both need new marketing strategies and better third-party support.
Vita has P4:Golden, 3DS has:-
Fire Emblem, Tales of the Abyss, Project X, Bravely Default. And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head, there are loads of great, must have 3DS games, the Vita and Wii U only have a few killer games, this is the reason the 3DS is selling so well, amazingly…games (good ones at least) sell consoles, who’d have thought?
There are several good games for Vita such as Dynasty Warrior 8, Gundam Breaker, Akiba’s Trip 2, Time Traveler.. they were just not released in english version yet.
by the way Wololo… I cant login to access Talk…
Send me an email to wagic.the.homebrew at gmail, with a screenshot of the error you get, and we’ll figure it out
me too wololo
same problem here
The “Wii U one of its 5 “lumps of coal” gadgets nobody wants for Christmas” Link needs to be changed. Currently, it leads to the same place as the previous “developers are staying away from the device” link.
Thanks a lot! Fixed, hopefully the blog cache won’t be a ***…
The problem is that nowadays, game consoles need some kind of gimmick to sell, specially with Nintendo.
Nintendo should focus in games, not gimmicks. Gimmicks like wiimote and wii u pad can only get you so far, but mario, zelda, metroid and new IP os what made nintendo, nintendo.
They have thisn incredible ability to create new standards in gaming and to reinvent themselves and their IP. I just hope they see it before becoming the new SEGA.
Anyone who buys a Wii is only because they want to play some Super MarioZeldaKongPokemon repeated-to-exhaustion game. Other than that, what does the Wii have to offer? Sports game for Granma? No thanks xD.
That *** ad is EVERYWHERE! It’s even worse than the one where all of the family members are the same guy, like he’s Eddy Mirphy or something.
Well, i own a Wii U, a Wii, Ps3, Xbox 360, killer PC among other things, and unfortunately, my current gen consoles are sitting in the dust. I love my Wii U! and Mario 3d World is the most fun i’ve had with a single player/Couch co-op game in a long time. i also have Windwaker HD and Monster Hunter Ultimate, although remakes, doesn’t stop me from pouring hours into them. This console may have some troubles, but its far from “dead”. Nintendo has always relied on its 1st party games to sell, and so far, they have done an okay job at it. Wait for the Mario Kart, the Donkey Kong, and new Monolith game, and they just renewed the Metroid franchise, so we’ll see what’ll happen there!
TL;DR – Nintendo has nothing to worry about, i’m a dedicated Wii U owner who enjoys it greatly!
As for the other Next Gen consoles, i’m lookin forward to a ps4, since i have a vita. Unfortunately there isn’t a large library of games to peak my interest just yet.
Of course, poor performance of Wii U won’t destroy Nintendo but it is definitely troublesome for them.
Merry Cristmas 🙂 and Thanks for Every thing…new maps coming for Killzone Mercenary Dont forget…
I want the Wii U but not for Christmas Zombie U is pretty cool.
The Wii U is a solid system, but Nintendo’s marketing is absolutely abysmal. Naming it ‘Wii U’ in the first place was their first mistake, and their marketing team has continued to ignore some of the system’s stronger points, such as off-tv play. Speaking as an early-adopter of the system, I REALLY want to see it succeed, (and it definitely has the potential to), but Nintendo’s been very slow to put out great first-party titles that would attract consumers. Off of the top of my head, the only system-sellers that I can think of at the moment are Pikmin 3 and Super Mario 3D World. However, with the future releases of the new Donkey Kong game, Mario Kart 8, the yet-to-be-announced Zelda game, and especially Super Smash Brothers, I can see Nintendo turning the Wii U’s situation around if they play their cards right (will attract a larger install base as well as 3rd party devs). Another one of Nintendo’s shortcomings (which I think they are beginning to try to fix with the recent 3DS update), is their awful handling of accounts. Having $60 digital games tied to the console instead of an account is just ridiculous. I really like my Wii U, but sometimes I get the impression that the folks at Nintendo don’t fully grasp what they are competing against. (Even Iwata himself recently said that “Nintendo is not good at competing.”) I really hope that Nintendo can change this and make the Wii U a much more appealing system.
If you look back though at 3DS it had the same marketing strategy… Price drop after 10-12months & bring out all fan favourites.
All it needs is a good Zelda or metroid game and ill fork over a couple hundo
Yea, seems to be the only reason I spend any money for Nintendo at all, is for zelda.
Please god may X be released on the wii u before it goes the way of the dodo if it absolutely has to dodo. ._.
The Wii U is definitely headed in the same direction as the Dreamcast. Released a year before the other next-gen consoles, underpowered, lack of strong 3rd party support, heck it even features a screen on the controller! Wii U is definitely in a bad spot to be in. The Wii U will survive on wind’s breath, but Nintendo is definitely past their prime in the console market. Like always, Nintendo’s first party games will keep them afloat. I know a lot of people, TONS, who are waiting for the new Super Smash Bros. release to get a Wii U.
Now, that’s not to say Nintendo is doomed. Far from it. The 3DS is selling like candy. It’s obvious Sony does not know how to market the Vita. But neither does Nintendo know how to market the Wii U, so I guess it’s a fair game.
But yes, people don’t want a Wii U under their christmas tree. People do WANT a Wii U (for first party games), but it’s like getting a 10″ TV when all of your friends are getting 50″+ TVs.
Actually the numbers are a little off….WiiU sold 240K units in November in the USA alone….probably closer to 500K worldwide….Also first week of December numbers are up and close to 200K units week one of December. So the trend is up and in the fact of the ‘hot and hyped’ HD twins releases WiiU is not selling that badly this xmas…I think its momentum will continue with games like DKCTF, MK8, and SSB all in the first half. Some of the statements like the library is lame and will never improve is just stupid when you consider Nintendo will be putting games out on it for the next 4 years….also the 3rd party support has been spotty but it is better than Wii ever was with already 2 Batmans, 2 COD, 2 ACs, Injustice, Me3, Deus EX, NFSMW, Rayman, Splinter Cell as well as exclusives like Lego City, MH3U, W101, and Sonic. I have enjoyed the system quite a bit especially since the fall when so many good titles started coming out. Also Gamepad is far from a gimmick…..for those that care for it offTV play is awesome…you can play console quality games on a living room handheld and Tvii…the web browser, and miiverse are all well done on gamepad…heck you can even run you Wii software offTV now. I own/buy all systems and love them all but am so tired of WiiU negativity and bashing. Its a good system for $300 US and in its life you know it will get Zelda, Metroid, more Mario as well as other Nintendo gems and both some exclusive 3rd party like the upcoming Bayonetta2, X, and SMTxFE as well as additional multiplatforms….Watchdogs and Child of light from Ubi are still both coming in 2014. Everyone I know that owns a WiiU seems to like the system.
“Hey Nintendo, nobody wants a Wii U under their Christmas tree this year”
Says you.
I for one picked up one just after the launch of Super Mario 3D World, based on the strong reviews of that game. I’ve loved every minute of playing with my Wii U thus far. It’s a nice complement to my Vita and my PC.
I can safely tell you that the numbers are up because we started releasing fan favourite games & bundles for the Wii U. This & also our extremely high rated games from reviewers across the board & most anticipated games such as MK8 & Smash Bros coming next year (2014)
Tzosin
I would take the wiiu over a ps4 or xboxone right now.
No game on both new systems interests me, the wiiu has some solid Nintendo games.
what a opinion… go away fan boy…
Is it just me or the nintendo games are awfully repetitive?
exactly.
I use my Wii almost everyday mostly for WiiMC, my kid plays the games on an external HDD, it’s a lot of fun if you have it softmodded.
You get to play those same games on the game controllers screen on the WiiU.
I’m just about to check out Guitar Hero on the small screen. All from a SD card.
Thats 1 reason its better than the Vita, it can play Wii games and backups, the Vita cant.
Remember the part when Sony said they didn’t want their system to be like th psp and hacking every inch of the psvita? of course you dont Nintendo Fanboy
I got a Wii some months ago, I spent an entire month playing Super Smash Bros Brawl, but after that it fell to obscurity , heck I play my GameCube much more than my Wii.
All they have to do is release amazing pokemon games on the wii u and then they would sell:P
Wii U sales is worse than PSVita.
Doesn’t mean its a bad console. a household gets 1 console but multiple handhelds.
I’m getting one for Christmas. The games that are on it are few, but awesome. I don’t care what others say about it, it’s an awesome system!
People have to realise the WiiU has more 1080p exclusive games than the PS4/XO.
So if they are after hi res gaming the WiiU wins.
Don’t believe me then go check it out for yourself.
It might not look as good but its true. The PS4/XO have more 720p and below games where the WiiU has mostly 1080p games.
Apparently there is WiiU Homebrew coming soon. It’s posted here: http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=67142
There is no info on it yet but it says to wait and see. Anybody have any inside info or idea about it?
Its not far off. There will be a bigger announcement shortly.
I like my Wii u.. Ive got ps4,vita,xbox360 but the Wii u gets the most usage in our house. Co-op mario is amazing
Ps3, xbox 360, decent gaming pc, vita owner here and definately buying a wiiU this christmas. Its the only other console i dont have that will offer me something different to what i already have, ps4/xbox one are just overhyped with no decent launch titles and even then wont offer what i think nintendo can offer me, the zelda and mario franchise alone is enough for me to buy one
The only thing that Nintendo could save the WiiU is a monter hunter for it.
The wii u is a magical machine and will prove all to be so sooner than later. Pokémon is the magically made anime turned video game that will also prove Nintendo’s exclusive titles.
Thank you to all who hate or are bitter towards the gaming system without you how would it be possible.
I really love the Wii U. I got one 2 weeks ago :).
I don’t know why people hate on the Wii U so much……although it seems to come more from die-hard PS or Xbox fan-boys…the Wii U offers exclusive titles that you can’t get anywhere else….it may not be a graphics power-house like the PS4 or Xbox One, but graphics do NOT make a game…..gaming is all about fun, replay value and entertainment….Personally, I have gotten MORE fun out of playing Mario games than I would EVER get out of Call of Duty franchise…..but thats just me….granted Call of Duty has better graphics, but who cares….to me, Mario is more fun…..The Vita has better graphics than the 3DS, but look whats selling….I got a Vita last year, hated it, sold it, got a 3DS, and recently got another Vita pretty much given to me…but what do I enjoy more? the 3DS….all comes down to personal preference…..I’ll stick with my Wii U over the Xbox One and the PS4 for the time being…until they can really grab my attention with either of those systems, i’m stick with my Wii U…..the Wii U gave me Super Mario Bros U on day one…..what can the PS4 or Xbox One give me?
IM STILL GOING WITH PS4. Heck I’m done with nintendo games, back then I played the sonic on psp when I hack it and finished the Rom game. And I’m through with any sonic. So let nintendo get bankrupted. You’re not a psvita to me cod games is what I like
I don’t want a wii u for christmas cause i already have two of them (PAL and JP).
I don’t se why do people keep on hating on the wii u, it has great games and is much cheaper than PS/ONE. I think I’l also buy a PS4 later for NIS games but stop hating on the only good next gen home console today.
It is true that it doesn’t meet commercial succes but it will end as the gamecube, a great console with great games who didn’t dominate the market.
I’m like you. I have a WiiU and like it. What I hate is the lack of support for online gaming.
And the game controller is the most uncomfortable controller ever. 10 mins of gameplay and my hands cramp up. BUT the pro controller is the best. Its like the 360 controller but that little bit more comfortable.
So the WiiU has both, the best and worst controllers at the same time.
And yea, its getting the next gen games for it so no need for a PS4 yet till the PS4 exclusives come out. I’m waiting to find out what console the next Hitman game is coming out on then I’ll get that console. If its WiiU then I’ll be happy, if not I’ll have to get a PS4.
Actually many people do
Nintendo has always been making gimmicks,even back to the nes with the zapper,power glove,the speedboard,ROB,and a *** ton more!
Nintendo are complete morons when it comes to the WiiU.
They need to get off their *** and tell the game devs to make games for it and to support it.
Have you tried to have a multiplayer game on Assassins Creed 3 on the WiiU? It took me 6 hours and it didn’t find a game. Out of the 3 weeks of trying I had 1 multiplayer game and that didn’t finish as it dropped out. It took me a total of 3 mins to get a game on the PS3.
Now if the game devs supported the WiiU like they do the PS3 it would be doing a lot better.
The game devs dont want to support it because Nintendo aren’t supporting it themselves.
If Nintendo dont care what happens then why should the game devs? In the end its the customers that loose for buying this expensive brick.
What nintendo should be advertising is the WiiU is the only console which can play Assassins Creed 4 with 3 screens. Yep, AC4 with 3 screens.
1, the TV.
2, the gamepad.
3, the companion app on the iPad/Android.
Its great on 3 screens. You got all the data on at least 1 screen so no need to look through menus for that map as its just there.
Thats the type of thing Nintendo should be pushing to consumers. Saying it can do things the other consoles cant with the same games.
And again Nintendo should start yelling at the game devs for stupid things like removing things out of games that other consoles have. Batman Arkham Origins, on the PS3/360 its got multiplayer but they removed it from the WiiU version.
The WiiU version still has the 2nd screen on the controller but its not as good as Arkham City.
So why release the game 2 weeks after the PS3/360 versions and removing features? Do Nintendo want to sell games and consoles? It doesn’t look that way to me.
WiiU games are usually released about 2 weeks AFTER the PS3/360 version.
WiiU version is missing features.
WiiU version has no or very limited online support.
WiiU has no advertising for good features.
WiiU has no support from its creatures (Nintendo)
And they wonder why its not selling?
BUT to end this, There is talk of a WiiU homebrew launcher or similar getting released soon. Now when the WiiU can run homebrew and backups the sales will start. People like it when homebrew can be run on their console. Isn’t that why we are all here? Waiting for VHBL and TNv4?
And before you say “Oh, but backups will kill sales of games” Thats total ***. Do you see PS3, 360, Wii, PSP games all stop because they can all run backups? Nope not at all. Just about every console can run backups, its only Vita that cant. ALL other consoles can run backups and I still see sales of them so backups dont kill game sales at all. I can run backups on my heavily modded PS3 and I still buy games.
Nintendo SUPPORT YOUR CONSOLE YOU MORONS!
I’m from the generation of gamers that has grown up with Atari 2600, NES, SNES, Gamebooy, Mega Drive and such things.
The problem is, gaming has evolved in thhe past years, whhen you ask a teenager nowadays if he knows games like Secret of Mana, Ninja Warriors, Shining Force and co, they just shake their heads and ask you where they can get thoose Next-Gen titles.
Nintendo was always a family console, had many great titles in the past, tried to stay on a lvl for the family. The Gamecube was a “storekeeper” too, the Wii was a big evolution and got many kudos for its “revolutionary” concept. But it only had a few exclusive titles and many family titles that didn’t make it on Xbox360 and PS3.
Nintendos way to stay a family device is a good thing, but they missed it totally that nowadays we hhave more “core” gamers that want better graphics instead of a enjoyful long playtime and replay value of the games. WiiU has too few exclusives that would be worth to buy it, even thhe hyped ZombieU is a joke. And for 300$ you get consoles nowadays that have more power than the WiiU, thats the main reason why devs won’t develop for WiiU, it was stated right after the launch of the WiiU, that it technical specsare too low to build good games on it with next-gen graphics.
Nintendo should switch the way they plan those devices. Pppl enjoy Super Smash Bros and other titles, but they also want AC4 and BF4 with graphics comparable to XOne and PS4. That may open the path for new exclusive Nintendo titles withgraphics ppl want.
McDonalds sells the most meals, but I don’t eat there.
Wii U sales aren’t an issue – I REALLY like playing FPS games on it (the gamepad is handy) plus I get the advantage of the exclusive content such as Wonderful 101, Mario 3D and Pikmin3 and really enjoy it.
I can afford all the consoles if I wanted them, but none will show up under my tree this year. We’re having a lot of fun with the Wii U and already have too many great games to play.
Next year? Maybe.
if it would be cheaper i would already have one.
the 3rs has got more games then the vita but a lot of those games are just *** right now I own more games on my vta then I do on my 3ds, what’s the point of having a hand held that’s as powerful as a GameCube if the majority of the games look like ds games, to me it’s a no brainier why the wii u is doing so bad everyone is begging for majoras mask on both 3ds an wii u so what do we get a link to the past and wind waker omg Nintendo just give the consumers what we want as for mario on the wii u I hate it the 3ds version is way way better to me it’s as if Nintendo lazily ported the 3ds game over to the wii u with some slight changes and to me that’s were the problem lies with the wii u Nintendo support the 3ds over it, I got a ps4 on launch day and there are better games outt on ps4 and Xbox one then the wii u
And to people who say wait for donkey kong wait for smash brothers for mario kart really I’m really going to buy the exact same game that I already own on my 3ds why not think outside the box Nintendo instead if churning out the same games why not re release a hd next gen version of breath of fire 1 and 2 why not re release a next gen version of crono trigger, those people who claim that they use the wii u everyday are full of it mine has been unused , I played wind waker a bit of mario a bit of monster hunter which looks better on 3ds by the way, wii u is doomed cause of Nintendo
As for the vita it will persevere the same way the psp, games like ff 10 should see it outsell the 3ds
Anyone who says that final fantasy x will not put the vita in most homes is taking ***