110°

GameStop President Tony Bartel Says Nintendo Wii U Sales 'Slower Than We Expected'

With core gamers focusing on Sony’s PlayStation 4 and the expected announced of a new Xbox from Microsoft, Nintendo Wii U hasn’t been receiving a lot of press. The console had a strong launch with sales paced ahead of the original Nintendo Wii, but while that console struck a chord with a mainstream audience, Wii U doesn’t seem to be following that same trajectory.

I caught up with GameStop President Tony Bartel, who recently discussed the upcoming PlayStation 4 launch, to get his thoughts on Wii U and the new Xbox console in this exclusive interview.

jagiii4050d ago

I have a Wii U and like it.

Highlife4050d ago

I have a WiiU and it is dusty.

redDevil874050d ago

I don't have a WiiU.

I win.

Moncole4050d ago

Everyones consoles get dusty because you dont move them around when you play them, all they do is stay in one place. Only way that they are not dusty is if you dust them.

FarCryLover1824050d ago

You ruined the joke Moncole...

darthv724050d ago

but that does not mean I don't like it. it means that i have dust in my house.

I think we all have dust in our homes. As for the wii-u, I have one too. It is a nice system but it certainly needs more games to call its own.

i use it to mostly upscale wii games (which it does quite well). will sales pick up for it? remains to be seen but the correlation of games to sales are an important factor (if not THE most important factor).

It reminds me of the PS3 at launch. You can see potential and yet you get the ribbings from others who dont have one proclaiming how its a failure and has no games.

when the games come out for it, it will sell. That isnt an automatic thing though. the key is "appealing" games. Everyone likes things that appeal to them but when it comes to games, not every game is as appealing to some as they are to others.

PS3 got appealing games. wii-u will get appealing games. People who scoffed at the PS3 for the lack of games eventually got one when the games came out that appealed to them. People who scoff at the wii-u will likely do the same.

Unless of course, they just have some sort of animosity towards the company to never be willing to try one and see if they like it or not.

SilentNegotiator4050d ago

What did they expect? Wii U's initial lineup is mostly trying to pander to the hardcore, of which aren't interested in a minor leap to play games that they can already play on the larger, dedicated communities on the Ps3/360. Even when Nintendo starts dropping the occasional Mario/Link/Metroid/etc game or occasional Bayonetta, they'll still be left with their basic fanbase; the sort that cared about Gamecube.

Gamestop would do well to cut back on orders for a while.

Highlife4050d ago

The problem with the Wiiu is the stupid name. Should have been called the Wii2. I had friends over and showed them Nintedoland and they said how much is the tablet. They thought it was an addon to the system. Once I told them it was actually a whole new system they weren't intrested anymore. To many people who don't go to game sites think this think is an addon.

1upgamer994050d ago

You CLEARLY do not have one then.

Moncole4050d ago

I knew he was making a joke thats why I made one/

gpturbo814050d ago (Edited 4050d ago )

mine is dusty because of the finish. also the fact that its stationary and never moves. gets more play than anything else ive had.
edit.. not very dusty. i get good air circulation.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 4050d ago
josephayal4050d ago (Edited 4050d ago )

Def Next Gen Console

IcicleTrepan4050d ago

If they did a price drop of about 50 bucks I'd buy one.

gpturbo814050d ago (Edited 4050d ago )

the price will be a non factor once the other two launch. if your worried about 50 just get a bundle

IcicleTrepan4049d ago

I'm not worried about the price, I can easily afford it. My concern is paying *that* price for *that* piece of hardware, and what do I get for my money? There has to be a good reason to spend all that money up front to play only a few games when I could easily take that same amount of money and buy many games for either my PC, 360, PS3, Ouya or Nexus 7.

For me, I just don't think the Wii does enough things to be worth the current price. It can't even play DVDs or BluRay discs. The fancy controller needs recharge after 3 hours. most of the exclusives they have currently are remakes of mario and zelda games from previous systems, and I'm not interested in buying ANY cross platform games for it when I already have a 360 and a PS3.

I'm sure that it's worth the price to some people, but anyone that already has other consoles I'm sure has to be thinking about the same question as me.. what does paying all of this get me?

TruthbeTold4046d ago

Saying that you don't want to pay *that price* for the hardware is fine, but let's not pretend as though Nintendo isn't taking a loss on every Wii U sold... The controller is expensive. It drives up the cost. If all you value is what graphics it's capable of, then it's probably just not for you. Nintendo went for a strong balance between good graphics, and out of the box 1:1 controller. Whether you're talking about motion controls, streaming to the screen, NDP in real time, etc.

I do hear you though that Nintendo, as well as Sony and MS have to give consumers compelling reasons as to why they should fork out large amounts of cash for new consoles at this particular time. All 3 will have their struggles because many people are just fine with the consoles they have, and there will be support for them for a good while to come. (original Wii notwithstanding).

1upgamer994050d ago (Edited 4050d ago )

I love my Wii U, but I have a feeling that, all next gen is going to pop and fizzle compared to last gen. I don't mean fizzle out, just sell slowly, but eventually have good numbers. Oh sure the fanboys are going to grab their baby at launch, and love it and kiss it, and numbers will be great the first week or so, but the sales will slow sooner than later. There is just too much competition for your electronic dollars today. I do not mean to be negative, but it is a fact. My partners dad just picked up a new top of the line TV and it has tons of free apps, I downloaded quite a few, and one was a "Kart Racer" It was FUN, the graphics were GREAT it used a top of the line game engine which was proudly displayed while loading(I can not for the life of me remember which one) I was shocked in fact it looked better than most current gen games,and it was FREE online play as well which for sure tells me Live is dead. I for one will NOT pay for online play like I used to. My point is there is not as much as a rush to get the next console. Again the gamers are going to grab them right away, but the average person, not so much.

mcstorm4050d ago

That's well said and I have been saying this for a bit.

I expect the 360 and PS3 to carry on outselling the WiiU, PS4 and next Xbox when they come out for the 1st 12 to 18 months and then when the big name games are dropped from it people will more over to the new console as they will have some big games out for them. I see MS putting out Halo 5 after the 1st 12 months. Sony doing the same with GT and Nintendo giving us Mario Kart to get the sales up on all there consoles to give them the must have games.

I am also impressed with my WiiU I got BO2, Sonic Allstars, Tekken Tag 2, Nintendo Land, MarioU and ZombieU for mine and they are work and play very well on the console. BO2 impressed me a lot as I have not had a COD since MW2 but the WiiU controller works well with it and the pro works well to.

PopRocks3594050d ago

This is an old duplicate. How did this get passed?

Jadedz4050d ago

Anyways, I have a feeling that a lot of people expected the Wii U to sell at the same level of its predecessor (Wii).

PopRocks3594050d ago

Pretty much.

To be honest, I'm not surprised by its current numbers. It's much more expensive than its predecessor and the price was what helped the Wii last generation. It's a huge contrast given that Nintendo went from cheapest new platform to most costly.

wantonGamer4050d ago

I know the folks over at Nintendo sure did.

1upgamer994050d ago (Edited 4050d ago )

UH, No see above what I wrote....I do not think ANY game console is going to FLY off the shelves after the first two to three weeks...gosh I guess I should save my post just to prove I am right.....Oh and patcher is almost always wrong.....

lilbroRx4050d ago

I've said this before. I seen duplicates of Wii hate news get passed many times, but I've had plenty of positive news stories failed by the mods because they were "similar" to another story from a completely different site.

The moderation on this site is not balanced at all.

jakmckratos4050d ago

Drop the price $50, announce some games that aren't 2D side scrollers or HD remakes and bring back more classic series besides Pikmin 3...and for gods sake show off a worthwhile new IP..then you have my permission to buy.

LOL_WUT4050d ago

Give it a price drop then i'll consider it. ;)

syphon324050d ago

This is by far the most accurate comment in regards to the wii u. Rehashes of old games won't cut it. They may not be able to drop the price just yet. But jeez, release some decent games already.

Show all comments (44)
280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1012d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref1d 19h ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde1d 18h ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19721d 17h ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville1d 16h ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21831d 8h ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos1d 7h ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 7h ago
isarai2d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref1d 19h ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan1d 19h ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00723h ago(Edited 23h ago)

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19722d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

2d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19722d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

2d ago
2d ago
Zeref1d 19h ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde1d 18h ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19721d 18h ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19721d 17h ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows1d 17h ago (Edited 1d 17h ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref1d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier1d 14h ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto1d 16h ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21831d 8h ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto1d 6h ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 6h ago
Hofstaderman1d 21h ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts1d 16h ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate1d 13h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts18h ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 2h ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel8d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger887d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing7d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS7d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder7d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff21837d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.

80°

The Nintendo Partner Spotlight Sale Is The Perfect Excuse To Get These 6 Gems

Huzaifa from eXputer: "The Nintendo Partner Spotlight sale event has discounted a number of worthy titles on the Switch. Here are 6 of them you should check out."