Six months in, is the Wii U dead in the water?

After the surprising mainstream success of the Wii, Nintendo has faltered a bit. Now that it’s been nearly six months since the Wii U launched, let’s take a moment to see how the console has been doing. Nintendo launched the 3DS at a high price in February 2011, and then slashed the price by $80 only six months later. Will its other console suffer the same fate?

[Jadedz]

Is the water, boiling (joking)?

It's obvious that the Wii U isn't selling at the respected level that Nintendo deems is decent, though they have other gaming platforms earning them profits to alleviate the Wii U's short comings.

Bailing the Wii out during of its software drought (around 2007/08), is amazingly reminiscent of what's currently going on with their successor console. Problem is; Nintendoland isn't the catalyst type of software that Wii Sports was for the original Wii. They (Nintendo) talk about how ''they've embraced online gaming and networking'' this generation, though to the trained eye (metaphorically writing - core gamers), they've completely missed the point.

Why doesn't Nintendoland feature online play?

Why don't announce new theme attractions, via DLC?

They've haven't done everything wrong though, that's why I'm a huge fan of Miiverse (complaint/suggestion box 1.0.1 - lol).

[Persistantthug]

I don't know what Nintendo can do to change its prospects now.

We'll have to see.....But time is ticking.

[darthv72]

some say too quiet but it is their thing to continue to work on the back end of projects while the front end is being satisfied with what is available.

Problem is...there needs to be more front end satisfaction. That is coming soon but to many....it isnt soon enough. I have no doubts there will be a plethora of quality nintendo stables for the wii-u.

That much is a given, it just seems they havent made the move to discontinue the wii while promoting the wii-u as the rightful successor. They dont need to pull all wii material off the shelves. just the core hardware.

All existing games and accessories work with the wii-u. They need to work on eliminating the confusion of the wii and wii-u but at the same time, convince those who are either getting a wii or just recently got one to trade up.

The 3ds was used more for ds games when it first came out but during that time there was back end development of 3ds games. Once those started rolling to stores on a more consistant basis...people who had a 3ds started buying games. those who were in the market for a ds, saw the 3ds as the better choice.

The same thing will happen for wii-u but nintendo has to want to make that happen, it wont just happen on its own.

[miyamoto]

Wii U is the complete "U-turn" of the Wii.

wii u is no ps3 that's fer sure

we you?
wii u is the most dumbest and corny name for a console ever

[Kratoscar2008]

People need a flashback to what happened to the PS3 in its firt months and then see it now. WIIU can do the same.

[Cam977]

But the PS3 wasn't considered "late" by some people. By that they mean compared to the competition, the U is "late" as the hardware is slightly superior to consoles released over 6 years ago.

In this case, gamers want change; thus, the U is more of the same (due to the specs) which probably puts many people off the console, regardless of how great some people may see it to be.

Yes, the controller is unique - but that's all. Popular publishers are dropping support and it's in its infancy - that is a bad sign. Compared to the next Xbox and Ps4 the U pales in comparison graphically-speaking. This is what will put many people off the U.

Moreover, the U's exclusives appeal to the complete opposite audience when compared to the 360 and Ps3's demographic.

That is why it's doing "poorly" right now. There aren't varied exclusives (they're mainly "casual" games) and it arguably arrived too late.

A said before this console is in its infancy; therefore, one cannot make such wild speculation theories this early. I think that we should give it a year or two then analyse whether or not it's "dead in the water" as the title suggests. Despite this, the early signs of success are faint.

[Captain Qwark 9]

um not the same. wii u numbers are abysmal. ps3 werent as good as its competitors but still not horrible

ps3 also was 500-600, had the best hardware of its current competition, and offered a blu ray drive which was jsut beginning to become the dominant form of next gen disc media.

the wii u is slightly more powerful than last gens tech, will be far behind the next ps3/720 and keeps losing 3rd party support every month.

[majiebeast]

Can we really stop trying to compare the PS3/3DS situation to the one that is going on with the WiiU right now.

-For one the PS3 launched at 600$
-It had plenty of third party support
-It launched in 2 regions for the first4-6months
-When the pricecut came in summer of 2007 it sold very well in Europe. Amazon Germany/Asda UK have the basic model at 200 Euro and it still isnt passing the 360/ps3 on their sites. Nintendo shipped 370.000 consoles worldwide in Q1 2013(January-March 31).
-The PS3 showed things that couldnt be done on the PS2. The wiiU doesnt have a game out right now, that even comes close to Uncharted 2 or Godofwar 3.
-PS3 came in last on the market. Nintendo has a whole year headstart and so far, it seems like they wasted it.
-PS3 had bluray and it was cheaper, then any consumer bluray player on the market.

As it looks right now the WiiU situation is alot more grim then 3DS or PS3 ever was.

[NYC_Gamer]

PS3 launched at 600 dollars with limited software and sold more units monthly over the cheaper WiiU..Its time that Nintendo fans stop making excuses by trying to compare WiiU launch to the more expensive 360/PS3 launches 7-8 years ago.

[LOL_WUT]

Pretty much. 3rd party support is lacking and 1st party games are are still not available. ;)

[NYC_Gamer]

Wii U is in a tough spot because its lacking software

[josephayal]

The Wii U is struggling, Nintendo needs to move more software Asap

[Typical-Guy]

Did you see their latest Nintendo Direct episode?! It's all about Mario, Mario party, Mario and Luigi dream team, Mario and fucking puzzles shit, Mario and Keanu Reeves.... I mean seriously WHAT THE FUCK! Thank god I'm not a fan of Nintendo.
I was waiting for something to look forward on my WiiU other than Bayonetta 2

[Crillvirus81]

Well it was a Nintendo direct for 3ds so what you expected plus is the year of luigi so they showed his games at the next one at e3 we will see all there games and trust me Nintendos got a lot of secrets up it sleeve lets just wait till e3 before all you haters call it a failure cause I can guarantee it will be the best selling console this Xmas come nothing in Sonys or ms catalog sells like Mario , Mario kart etc those are system sellers I mean halo does but chances are really slim on seeing another one of those this year when 4 just came our a few months back same goes for gears and god of war ...Nintendo knows what its doing they are about to flood the wii u with constant software starting on June just watch and by the time the other 2 drop there new consoles Nintendo will drop there price that's a giving they just waiting to see how much ms and Sony charge for there's lol

[christheredhead]

I'm sure a lot of people are glad you're not a Nintendo fan because you have no idea what you're talking about.

I did see the lastest Nintendo direct and they only had 3 Mario annoucnemnts out of, I think, 12 total announcments. I could be wrong on the total announcments, because there werent many, but it was in the range of 10 to 12. I do know that Mario only took 3 of those slots, no where near as many as you claim.

So yes, I agree, thank god you are not a Nintendo fan as you have no idea that other games exist outside Mario. So, it's probably for the better.

[Jek_Porkins]

If it's true Nintendo held back first party games for the Summer update, that is unfortunate. Is it dead in the water? I think it has close to 5 million units sold in 6 months, which is about the par for the Xbox 360 and PS3 at the same amount of time in.

People want to see the games, I think it's a good system, we just need to see something that really pushes the console. An Achievement system wouldn't hurt either, I'd have bought some 3rd party games to play through again if it had a system in place.

[kneon]

The difference is the Wii U sales were far more front end loaded. After the first month or so sales plummeted to a fraction of what the PS3 and Xbox were doing this far in after their launch, and that's with the Wii U being much cheaper and the first of the next gen to be released.

So the fans rushed in and bought a Wii U while everyone else were too busying playing elsewhere to notice.

[Jek_Porkins]

Playing elsewhere or waiting for some quality games to justify the purchase? The Wii U didn't have very many compelling launch games, I bought one for the future prospects, which is the same reason I bought a PS3 at launch.

If they show some games, possibly offer a price break, they could be fine. We had all the doom and gloom talk over the 3DS as well, games and a price cut stopped all of that nonsense.

[kneon]

Sure some people are waiting for more games, but much of the former Wii audience have moved on. They are getting they casual fix on their phones and tablets.

[avengers1978]

It hasn't sold 5 million yet, the wii u still hasn't hit 4 million yet

[Jek_Porkins]

I've heard different things, I'm not really a numbers guy, don't care about them, just care enough for these things to make enough to warrant games and new consoles in the future, but I thought I read they shipped over 5 million consoles, or something to that affect.

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

ps3 at launch at 600 dollars still sold more than wii u at 299 the first 5months
http://i.imgur.com/yyShITu....

yep wii u is pretty much screwed, nobody is buying that ting. The casuals has moved to spmartphone/tablet gaming. And btw Wii was the least played platform this generation.

[Old McGroin]

"ps3 at launch at 600 dollars still sold more than wii u at 299 the first 5months"

Yup, good point.

"yep wii u is pretty much screwed, nobody is buying that ting."

I bought one :(

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

is it collecting dust?

[Old McGroin]

"is it collecting dust?"

Actually, since I got Monster Hunter neither my PS3 or 360 has gotten a look in! I don't have a huge amount of time to play games any more but since I bought MH on day one I've managed just over 100 hours already, it's crazy addictive!

BUT, if Monster Hunter didn't exist then I'd imagine my Wii U would be collecting a nice thick layer of dust all right!

[AngelicIceDiamond]

People say bring the games but its Its kinda hard when major third party's are skipping your system.

And there's really nothing Nintendo can do about that.

No support, no games.

[arbitor365]

its been dead since january.

the lowest the PS3 ever sold in a week was around 50K and the xbox360 60K. and those were one time events. rarely have those consoles ever fallen below 75K

the wii u has been selling in the 30s or 40s for almost every single week so far this year

2013 (rounding to the nearest thousand)
week 1 -- 126K
week 2 -- 49K
week 3 -- 38K
week 4 -- 34K
week 5 -- 37K
week 6 -- 37K
week 7 -- 39K
week 8 -- 36K
week 9 -- 30K
week 10 -- 29K
week 11 -- 29K
week 12 -- 55K
week 13 -- 66K
week 14 -- 45K
week 15 -- 34K
week 16 -- 33K
week 17 -- 31K

demand is well and truly dead for the wii u. which is why people are selling them on ebay for markDOWNS. that is unheard of for a new console, even one that doesnt sell well.

[Terror2k9]

I have never owned a nintendo console that has made me wait this long for a new game ever.I remember a time when a systems came out games were ready to be released and I am not talking about some port of a game that came out 2 years ago.It was games that were being made during the devolopment of the console.Now they want you to buy a console and leave it there gathering dust while we wait months and months to get 1 game.If this is the way we the consumers are to be treated I will not be buying another nintendo product.It is sad that all we have so far are ports New super mario u was just as if someone modded new super mario from the wii and changed some things.Don't get me wrong it was the only fun I have had with the Wii u. But it is clearly not enough that since november-dec that I bought the unit nothing has shown me the reason for my purchase! A DAMN SHAME!

[Old McGroin]

It will be interesting to see how both the Nextbox and PS4 sell over the same time period of 6 months, especially as they will surely cost more than the Wii U did at it's time of launch. Their sales figures over the first 6 months will show that either the Wii U really is as lame a duck as a lot of people say it is or that hardware sales are low due to the economy.

I have a Wii U, it's a cool little console and I'm enjoying the hell out of Monster Hunter but I can't help but wish I had more of a choice for games. A 3D Mario, Smash Brothers and a new Kart game will hopefully give the Wii U the help it sorely needs. And maybe a new IP Nintendo? Not gonna hold my breath for that though!

[gk07]

U guys b@@@@ to much up in here for real

[Terror2k9]

Stop protecting consoles they don't give you nothing! If they dont give you any software,it is just a energy user in your household.People act like if microsoft,sony and nintendo give you anything out of the billions of dollars they make off us customers who love games.If we buy a console thinking we will get new games when you bought it,guess what that is what we expect.To say ohh we don't have no third party support this is why you will wait till the summer to get pikman 3.No you give us nothing till then.Nintendo never gave up with the n64 and gamecube and had hardly any support as they all went to sony.Nintendo still had great games.Now it seems to take so long to make 1 title the consumers are suffering.

[gpturbo81]

same shit, different month