Analyst: Wii U GameStop sales below expectations

GS:Sterne Agee industry watcher says hardware and software sales for Nintendo's latest fall short during holiday period at speciality retailer.

[LOL_WUT]

"Our conclusion is the Nintendo Wii U launch has been slightly disappointing,"

Ouch! ;) Nintendo need to lower the prices of each port they have. Why would anyone want to buy a port that offers little to nothing over the other consoles, and on top of that costs more? While their at it lower the price of the Wii U. Nintendo need to step their game up!

[dedicatedtogamers]

Even Nintendo's Iwata said "we do not expect the WiiU to sell like the Wii. But we believe that success is not simply judged by sales numbers".

Take that for what you will, but it's clear that the WiiU generation is going to be yet another generation where Nintendo just coasts along.

[miyamoto]

"But we believe that success is not simply judged by sales numbers".

oh that may not go well with many Nintendo fans here.

that statement just burns their numero uno source of pride,
their numero uno trump card to win an argument and
reason for happiness in life

[Kevin ButIer]

WiiU launch is slightly disappointing when compared to Wii. It doesn't feel ground breaking at all. Many casuals are jumping to Kinect, no to WiiU

[TristanV1]

i don't know what he's smoking but success=sales without sales a company will fail and that's the opposite of success

[xursz]

Agreed. Price of the WiiU is ridiculous at this point. Multiplatform games that look identical to Xbox360 versions isn't exactly selling me on the new system.

Nintendo will slash the price similarly to the 3DS.

[lilbroRx]

Not a chance in hell of a price cut anytime soon as the price has nothing to do with it not outpacing the Wii(its only behind by like 10% in sells and that is still almost more than the PS3/360 sold combined in the same time frame during their launch.)

People didn't buy the Wii U to play old PS3/360 ports, they bought it to play stuff like Zombiu, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101 and Rayman Legends.

You clearly had no interest in the system even before if all you are concerned about it multiplatform port comparisons(its all you state so it is quite clear).

A port will look and perform no better than it does on the console it was primarily developed on and all of the multi-plats on the Wii U were developed with the 360 as the lead system.

If beating everyone except yourself it losing then what does that say for everyone else?

[yeahokchief]

that's what i said back in november and everyone called me a "troll", the mods banned me for 2 weeks for saying it and all of my posts on the topic were deleted or hidden as spam.

you're welcome if you listened to me and held off on a purchase.

i've lost interest in the wii u entirely. just yesterday i was reading a reddit frontpage post about people complaining how skyward sword sucked. im not even gonna waste my time. ps3 ftw.

[user3915800]

This things has been around since the time of released all over gamestop in Texas, aparantly, dont matter were I go, toys r us, walmart, or any major saler has them. Dissapointing to see so many hardware from a great company, but the truth uis, most gamers are waiting to see what a next gen is, and to be honest the wii u is current gen. My bet is 720 will come out with all gun blasting and people will eat it up. whi9le sony in USA will stay down, but catch up worldwide, Nintendos WII-u will be last cause people see it as nothing more than just overprice hardware which a 8 or 9 year old system has been doing what they can do now. Sorry, although, I love my nintendo, this is 1 fight I will go away from and either PS4 or 720 will be my resource of wasted money, lmao...

[AWBrawler]

Really. That's your argument? Didn't Nintendo say they would prevent a shortage like the Wii? Well mission accomplished. Its closing in on 3 mill how is that bad sales for under 2 months?

[thezeldadoth]

even though their launch numbers are a million over other consoles. people are begging for this thing to fail and its not gonna happen, sorry.

[zillanoir]

I'll take this data and trump it with this newer data that states otherwise 2.2 mill worldwide sales yup! http://wiiudaily.com/2013/0...

[morkendo23]

The wii-u success would have been on much LARGER scale
if NINTENDO would had brought out SNES game portfolio
as kick starter.
1.MARIO
2.CONTRA
3.GRADIUS
4.R-TYPE
5.CASTLEVANIA
Those first 5 would have solidfied wii-U

[NYC_Gamer]

Nintendo has yet to offer anything that makes me wanna run out and buy Wii-U

[TongkatAli]

It has the best side scrolling Mario game to date, but Mario doesn't give you an epic experience. Its been there done that no story yada yada which is the problem with most first party Nintendo games even thou they're fun.

You're having fun, but you kinda feel stupid if that makes sense : / Blame Kojima and Atlus for giving me well crafted story lines.

[krazykombatant]

"no story... is the problem with most first party nintendo games" LOOOOOOOOOOOOL yeah nintendo first party games lack story. BAHAHAHAHHAHA

[TongkatAli]

Double post.

[MizTv]

Same here
If I got one what games would I get?
Zombie u maybe but what else?

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

Buy a wiiU!! It will stream next sony ps4 reveal at next e3 while ur in bed..

[PopRocks359]

I was going to say inb4 troll comments, but it seems I'm too late.

[ziggurcat]

i'm surprised it took this long for post-launch wii U doom articles...

[linkenski]

I know making that huge Gamepad couldn't have been cheap, but seriously couldn't they have done just something to the hardware, like the CPU, to improve it over the other consoles, so it would at least impress gamers?
It sticks out as a sore thumb to people who know little about gaming hardware that the Wii U simply performs worse than XBOX or PS3 in most ports, and it doesn't make it very attractive.

[Ck1x]

The PS3 has a more powerful CPU and it still gets bad ports, so I'm not understanding what you are getting at here. Games created from the ground up to run on the WiiU will look amazing once they start taking advantage of the hardware. But a port is just that, a port!

[joeorc]

"The PS3 has a more powerful CPU and it still gets bad ports, so I'm not understanding what you are getting at here. Games created from the ground up to run on the WiiU will look amazing once they start taking advantage of the hardware. But a port is just that, a port!"

Agree on most everything, a port is never "just a port"

that phrase get's used quite a bit but it's the perception that many people have of the meaning of "Port " that is not accurate in many cases. Many seem to think its just taking a game from one platform and making it run on another. Many times that is not only wrong, its down right bias to imply that it is the very same game just ran on another platform. because Many times its not the same game. there is changes to the game that changes it's very core game mechanic's or even outcome and Art work, sound UI etc.

What many still do not seem to stop and think about is the challenges of the design of the hardware will have a impact on the tool's that you may be using for your current system that may not be upto par with what the new hardware may have in it.

Thus you may have to spend more resources to upgrade your API's and tool chain's, which many times you may not have the resources and man power to take advantage of time with the new hardware, This is a learning process and Resource and man power part of the industry. its not a quick fix effort.

many make that mistake it seems.

[quantae06]

The Wii U is outselling the post launch numbers of the 360/PS3 had five weeks after it's launch. It's doing just fine. But because it's Nintendo and some people who hate Nintendo, they will always try to damage it's integrity, I'm not shocked by this article. I expect more and more lame articles like this one. While these articles are releasing I will be enjoying my Wii U, while other people complain over and over about something they don't like.

[wampdog29]

^THIS^

[iamnsuperman]

Well of course it is with Black Friday and Christmas. It would be worrying if it didn't. Looking at that period isn't good enough to judge on the Wii U success because those periods sales always go up (no matter what platform). It is the rest of the year that will be interesting

[TruthbeTold]

He was talking about the respective post launch weeks of the other consoles, which also would have been during the same 'Holiday shopping season' timeline.

I agree with you that this is a small sample size and we don't know yet if it's a success or not. But we do know that it's ahead of the trend of the same time period 6 years ago.

Personally, I would attribute that to the PSWii60 generation adding so many console gamers to the fold. There will be success for all in this new gen if the features, games, marketing and prices are right.

[Khordchange]

and the 360 and ps3 were released in the same time period

[1upgamer99]

The Wii U may be lower in sales than Wii, but it is still selling better than N64, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox360, or PS3 did during the same time frame. I personally wish "gamers" that did not pick a Wii up would pick Wii U up. They missed allot of great games on Wii and The Wii U has some great games out and coming up. Also virtual console has TONS of 9 and 10 4/5 rated games. With Gamecube Titles coming to Virtual console that is going to add a ton more. I love my PS3 but Nintendo has an awful lot of great AAA games.

[MonopolyRSV]

In the New Super Mario Bros games, Mario doesn't move as quickly and responsively as the SNES and NES games. The silly looking new suits make me not wanna play it also. I want quick multicolored Yoshi's stomping and flying. At this point 3D Mario is much more satisfying to control. Not because it can't be done but because Nintendo are relying too much on unnecessary gimicks.

[TongkatAli]

Don't pay attention to units sold guys. SOFTWARE sales is the real bread and butter and that is where its doing bad. Wii U is being sold at a loss. Will it bounce back ? Ofc, but as of now its not setting the charts on fire.

Game stop would rather sell more games then sell more hardware.

[xursz]

And it's selling bad in both departments, at least in GS estimates. Like iamnsuperman noted above, it better be selling -decently- (i use this term very loosely) during the Black friday / Christmas launch period, otherwise it'd be considered a complete flop.

I'll say it again, if Nintendo has any hopes to remain competitive even to current generation consoles they need one of two things and that is a Price Drop. I can't say how soon but i know its coming.

[LLJAF]

Iwatas spot on. The Wii numbers obliterated 360 and Ps3 but it still took the bronze medal.

[josephayal]

Not a bad console but I can't see myself buying a WiiU at this point

[ronin4life]

Just saw this on Nintendo everything... pretty saddening.

Seeme to be doing lukewarm in the usa, good in Japan and poorly in eu....
I do think it will do well long term however. ^͵^

@crillvirus
While I tend to agree with your argument(after all, we need something to compare with, and precedence is very important) it also can not be forgotten that the market has grown since then and equivalencies need to be considered as well.

But since no one will do the market growth math comparisons... well, we aren't left with a complete picture.

[Crillvirus81]

What a stupid article they don't even have all the numbers or attach rates but they wanna talk trash when in fact it's selling better then all the past consoles did during the same period except for the original wii man I can't wait till e3 to see what Nintendo has in store for us next Xmas when the next Xbox or ps3 come cause nintendo is setting them up for the kill again like when all the fanboys were saying the original would flop lol and we see what happened

[DaPrintz]

Its cheaper then the PS3/360 were in that period. You must have forgotten that.

[ozzywazzy]

Software, software, software is the name of the game. Truth be told, as of right now nothing screams buy me. The hardware isn't doing it any favors either.

[KrisButtar]

im wondering when the last system that came out, that didnt have the doom and gloom articles.

[chadboban]

Well, look for the latest console that came out before the internet got popular. There's your answer.

[dkgshiz]

The ports are very over priced. ME3 for $60 is not going to sell on the Wii U when you can buy the ME Trilogy on PS3/360 for the same price if not cheaper and it includes all three games.

[chadboban]

I agree with the price of ports being WAY to high, but that's not really Nintendo's fault. The price is entirely up to the publishers of those ports, not Nintendo themselves.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

w8ing for zelda.....

[Kevlar009]

The thing is Pikmin 3 will be Nintendo's first Core title, not to be released until later this year (Hopefully by March or April). ZombiU, ports of 360/PS3 games, and NintendoLand are all fine and dandy, but until Nintendo releases core franchises there won't be a general rush for WiiU from all groups. As of now the WiiU isn't a Nintendo console, it's a console with Nintendo's name on it.

Until Nintendo supports it with First party titles it just isn't a Nintendo Console. And if it's one thing I learned from the Wii is that it was only truly worth it because it had Nintendo.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

1. I never trust anything Gamespot says about Nintendo. Sorry, I know who is paying the advertising bills.

2. He doesn't have direct access to GameStops's sales numbers. The company definitely did not open the books for this writer.

Troll those fans, get those clicks.

[shackdaddy]

I'll buy one when Pikmin 3 and 101 comes out. I want to play SMBU and zombi, but I'm just a poor college kid so I can't be spending the small amount of money I have on a launch console.

That and I've had horrible experiences with buying launch stuff...

[DivineAssault]

Just show smash bros.. If it looks gorgeous & plays well, people will believe in them a bit more.. As of now, it really doesnt have any exclusives to show its potential

[BX81]

I don't understand the big deal about smash bros. It's just lame as hell to me. I will get a wii u for zelda and monster hunter though.

[specsmatter]

I love ppl on here like 1up, metroid32, kingwiiu (who is obvioulsy wiialpha) lol since before we knew what the Wii u would be about ppl kept telling them it will be nothing to write home about and of course the skeptics were right!!!! And these same ppl were made to eat their words.

Talking gibberish about how the Wiiu was going to be five and even ten times more powerfull than current gen because so much time has passed lol Front forward to today and they all ate their words because it def. isnt stronger and has a crappy cpu and a semi decent gpu that is held back because of having to do all the work the crappy cpu cant do lol

Another common slogan by the Nin. blind fans.... "Oh man bo2 will be 1080p native and so many more games like Mass Effect 3" Front forward in time and everyone who talked crap felt like a dummy because Wiiu isn't churning out hardly any 1080p games out and the ones that are forthcoming are cartoony games that any system can output in 1080p so plz dont feel like its accomplishing anything. Games like that are in no way taxing on the system. Ps3 and even xbox have a few games like that that are 1080p native.

Now you have the Rayman and Trine arguments lol hmmmm lets see (trine 2 in no way a complex game that should easily be able to be done 1080p) and Rayman? hahahaa What Rayman game doesnt look beautiful? Vita, Xbox, Ps3 and even my tablet and phone Raymans look gorgeous those cartoony graphics arent hard to make look gorgeous on any system.

I also love the "But Wiiu online is better" says who? Youuuuuu lol stop it man dont lie to yourself. Miiverse? seriously i rather have "Playstation Home anyday" First deal with the really long loading times then come back to us.

Finally everyone is hyping up Colonial Marines to be this super crazy graphical game lol Do some research for every person that says the game looks gorgeous in some aspects its lacking in graphics in other departments and the characters are said to be stiff as hell. I remeber the hype behind games such as Duke Nukem forever (hey didnt gearbox do that crappy game too?)

Besides of a handfull of exclusive games that everyone knows will be coming out for the Wiiu there is nothing that a current gen consumer would see any use for buying a Wii u for . Definitely not power because it isnt more powerful then current gen in many respects and systems like Ps3 even have better perks like blu ray drive, ethernet ( i hear many wiiu owners buying Ethernet dongles due to those internet hiccups lol) and killer exclusives like UC series, LBP and soon coming LOU that literally decimate the competition and look better than games on any system.

[ShaunCameron]

Sony fanboys' imaginations running wild, I see.

[AO1JMM]

Holy shit @ your wall of text.

[EliteGameKnight]

I can understand that you don't consider the Wii U a quality system. it has many problems, but so did the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. To say they didn't would be strait out fandom. A console release is a hazardous event and it shouldn't speak for what a console will become.

As I'm sure by your comment, you are a fan of PS3. looking back at its release, would you of thought what you think now. On it's release the PS3 cost the same as a typical computer, and though there was good reason for this by the amount of features, Sony saw a large loss in sales compared to their estimate by the PS2's sales. because of its uniqueness, many developers knew very little when it came to making games for this new system and resulted in it being the odd one out for a short amount of time.

But lets fast forward to now. You most likely love your PS3 and consider the Wii U inferior, and though the Wii U may seem just as powerful as the PS3 that's simply because developers haven't figured it out yet, which is fine considering the console is a little of a month old now. Give it time.

on your pointing out other users who clearly love this system. what right do you have to deny their happiness considering the first PS3 users were in the same boat. can't we all just get along. simply because you don't feel the same doesn't mean you should target them. Of course thos very users may have been rude also, but does that mean you should retaliate.

I'm sorry for if this offends anyone and though I expect disagrees. It may be the only way for me to get this across.

[BlackWolf]

Don't be sorry. There aren't many people here saying what you just have. Every one has a voice here, and deserves to be heard (of course, if it's not a constant hating or a fanboy rant Lol). If you get disagrees, just laugh at it. It's probably a horde of graphic whores.

[specsmatter]

I am not offended in anyway and respect your position. I am only calling out the ppl tht talked so much trash on the ps3 and all the psychics that ate their words later on about the Wiiu. Like what you like but dnt talk crap and then feel even stupider when skeptics were right about the wiiu. All you have to do is read comment history of the above mentioned and youll see what i mean. My quotes were taken out of their troll mouths and im glad thy were made to look dumb.

[AO1JMM]

Cannot wait to see the Xbox720 and PS4 numbers in the future.

[Jadedz]

The UK is the only place where it's having trouble gaining consumers interest. People want to see a 3D Mario, Zelda U, Smash Bros., Retro Studios, the new Monolith Soft game currently being developed for the Wii U.

It seems as though history is repeating itself (3DS launch period), so it's up to Nintendo to convince nay-sayers why it's a good idea to purchase a Wii U

[wiiulee]

lol....silly analyst cant find anything bad to say so they come up with this nonsense...that gamestop sales are below expectation...wiiu is already at two million im sure they were expecting sales to be less with their bad mouthing....people are buying wiiu's wherever there are good bundles....nintendo's projection is still on cue for the wiiu and by the time competition is out wiiu will be up 8 million units or more

[profgerbik]

People just need to realize Consoles will never sell as much as they once did unless they are truly something to behold.

Remember when the PS3 first came out and it practically blew everything even PC's at the time (of course they slowly got better as PC's always do) out of the water?

With all the things being sold these days, ipad, android tablets, tablet PC's, phones that are just as powerful as thousand dollar PC's.. It's just ridiculous how many things we have now that literally all do the same thing.

That is the main problem Nintendo knows this, that is why their sales even in Japan are dropping heavily as Japan is becoming like all other places and getting obsessed over phones and tablets, now they are crazy over iphones and all that jazz.

It's going to be tough and gaming companies are really going to have to think hard and like I said break ground like they used to but sadly with how fast technology is devleoping for almost everything these days, I don't see that happening.

That is why you see so many companies investing in other things, for instance Sony knows this as well that is why they have broke their bank investing in Gaikai. Gaikai can eliminate the need to even own a console or handheld anymore. It's a sad future but it's the one people have chosen.

They would rather have their silly phones and tablets that have practically reverted us back almost 20 years as far as progress goes. It's honestly stupid and I believe it has to do with today's generation of kids that are beyond stupid living the YOLO way.. god forbid for even saying that retarded crap.. They will buy anything they are told to but it's not even that a huge majority of them don't even know what they are buying. They simply buy it because everyone else has it or simply because they are told it's good.

I can't stand today's society I really can't, all I see is a steady decline in almost everything because of how ignorant people are becoming.

I just hope for every ones sake and I know I am sure many of you might have seen my gripes about the Wii U but I truly hate to see any companies have to fight so hard in such a stupid world.

I mean the PS Vita is a perfect example in a sense that people have just completely lost touch with real gaming. It's literally the best portable gaming device in the world hardware wise (not going to get into games, not trying to start wars here).. So it's shocking seeing something so amazing struggle so badly because of how dumb people have become.

I notice it simply when I just go out and meet new younger people, they are dumb as all fuck it's unbearable. Yes I had dumb people around when I was younger but not nearly as many. It's like trying to find someone with any grasp of real intelligence these days is like searching for Jesus or something, it's seriously that difficult.

Maybe my city is filled with morons and I have sifted through all the good people I could find but it seems like the whole world is gradually becoming more and more stupid. It's hard to imagine people could actually de-evolve but I think we actually are.

[BlackWolf]

I agree with you.

The Wii U may not be the most powerful console, but it can offer a good experience.

The Vita is another misunderstood console. As you said, it's the most powerful handheld at the moment, it's just that it has had a terrible streak of bad luck.

[V0LT]

PS3 did not blow PC's away at any moment in time.

[Drainage]

thats good for me considering I was only gonna buy first-party games or games with unique features on the Wii U. If the sells are a failure (which i dont think they are) , nintendo will up their game like they did with their 3DS, which ended up first round KOing his opponent the Vita (RIP)

[metroidfusion2]

Wow it seems the crybaby gamers can't wait for anythimg any more and use anything to bash another console ha lol did the ps3 and 360 launch games look like the games coming out now no theey didn't and I'm sure its going to be the same for the wii u and the wii u is stronger then the ps3 and 360 but by how much no one knows and will not know until a FULL SPEC SHEET IS RELEASED AND THE WII U AS OF NOW HAS 10 NATIVE 1080P AND 60FPS POSSIBLY MORE ANF SINCE PEOPLE HAVE A VERY HARD TIME USING GOOGLE I WILL LIST THOSE GAMES THAT I KNOW AS OF NOW scribblenauts unlimited,skylanders giants,rayman legends,mightu switch force hyper drive edition,toki tori 2,monster hunter 3g ultimate,puddle,transformers prime,trine 2 directors cut,ninja gaiden 3 razors edge and like I said before I'm sure there are more and more are coming damn the retards do like to not do research and o for anybody that looks to confirm these games you might have to do deep research and just like the other syystems the graphics will improve over but people will keep hating and nintendo doesn't care because they will be successful like always and the dumbasses need to do research on gaming history and I think I know what nintendos plan is its obviously to give 3rd party time to sell and for more 3rd party to get on the system and nintendo will releasr 1st party titles here and there to give 3rd party even more chances to sell so its probably nintendos greatest plan evver and its funny how people keep bitchong shut the fuck up and wait lol

[specsmatter]

Youve been made look like an idiot numerous times on this site. You were one of the blind saying bo2 would be 1080p nat. lol what happened? You were also saying wiiu would be 5 times more powerfull thn ps3 what happened ? lol You must be dying inside lol
By the way your list of cartoony non taxing on the hardware 1080p nat. games like Rayman, tori tori and trine in no way is impressive. Show me complex games tht are 1080p native thn you can talk a lil.

Bottom line i remember your comments from before and your other accounts and the wiiu is far frm the monster you were boasting about.
And shut up with dumb argument tht ps3 had no games at launch tht looked as gd as now or launch games on wiiu. We had Resistance tht reviewers were blown away by at the time an was def. nxt gen. What game did wiiu have tht was def. nxt gen? noneeeee you tgought it would be zombieu and we all knw how tht turned out graphics not even better thn three year old current gen games.
Facts is facts wiiu will be a gd system especially due to ppl tht love its 1st party offerings but dnt act like its better thn current gesystems like ps3 bcus although tht might be your opinion its not in the mind of others for various reasons.

Bott

[Shnazzyone]

Yup, overpriced ports are overpriced. As long as I can snag an elite bundle when I have my money for it. not too concerned. I mean do they expect ps3/360 sales of games at launch? It'll take a bit before wii U has the numbers to pull that off.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

OR- OR-

1) Everyone was expecting WiiU to sell as much as Wii.

2) Even Reggie said that they were amping up production of WiiU so that they would not have shortages like they did with Wii.

3) Retail Store Buyers/Suppliers purchased many units from Nintendo.

A) Searching for the next big Christmas gift of 2012.

1 Stores maake most of their money during Christmas time.

2 Having the “Big Gift” of the year causes foot traffic
& other sales.

B) Not wanting to miss sales if WiiU blew-up like Wii.

C) Because the stock was available, due to 2nd point.

In conclusion, words and boxes on shelves don't bother me, as long as you put the information in context.

[ozstar]

"presumably" because Gamespot isn't bitching over lost revenue from the ad market this year.

[chukamachine]

40million sales for wii u imo. Stated this from day one.

[Fel08]

Kinda sad, but Nintendo's just got an interesting piece of hardware with no real market for it. It's too expensive for the casual crowd, there's no "killer title" for the Nintendo fan, and nothing new for the hardcore gamer.