January 2013 NPD: Wii U apparently sells only 55,000 units

A new NPD sales figure indicates that the Wii U sold just 55,000 units across the US last month.

[NYC_Gamer]

Damn,that's crazy..Nintendo better work hard and realize they have to earn the core gamer and touchscreen isn't enough.

[JBSleek]

Gaining the core gamer doesn't equal sales. Casuals are the sells.

Nintendo needs their killer IPs to be the star like Kart,Pikman, Brawl.

[Software_Lover]

Apparently casuals are not the sales because it isn't selling.

[BattleAxe]

Core gamers are the ones who have bought over 70 million PS3s. Core gamers used to buy the 360 until Kinect came out. There is nothing on the WiiU for the core gamer, and Nintendo will not get very far this time around.

[TheFallenAngel]

Core gamers its what gives a good word to another person about the console and the games. Casual just get it because they see on tv. Core sticks with the console thru the thick and thin.

[Theyellowflash30]

70 million core gamers did not buy the PS3..... I know tons of "gamers" who bought the PS3 to play Madden and COD every year.

[PeZuS]

Just a heads up: This is the lowest month for an HD system ever in USA. Yes, that's right, not even PS3 back in 2007, or 360 in 2006 sold less than that in a month. PS3's worst month was over 80k in April 2007, and that was only a 4 week month vs. this January being 5 weeks (PS3: 20k+/week in April 2007, WiiU: 11k/week).

[Godchild1020]

The Vita also sold more in it's third month than the Wii U did. I'm not saying it sold more in 3 months, but it sold more in it's third month in the US (April 2012) than the Wii U did in it's third month (January 2013).

This is bad for the first next generation console. Hopefully Next month will be better.

[Shnazzyone]

Additional heads up. currently the wiiu is at over 3 million units worldwide in it's first 3 months. This is half of what ps3 sold in it's entire first year and more than half of what 360 sold in it's first year. So at this point wii U is selling faster than both those major consoles did in their first years.

[PeZuS]

@Shnazzyone: You mean shipped...WiiU isn't in high demand and thus it will take a while for the shipments to sell through. They've already dropped their projections once (by 1.5m) and I expect them to not even meet that revised projection (4m from launch to end of March).

Launch month sales are really meaningless when you go on to sell 57k in the next month...(and less in Europe, looking at Nintendo's sales charts).

[Gamer1982]

Thing is its only competing against current gen consoles. When next gen comes out sales will drop even more.. I doubt even Nintendo games can save this console now.

[N4g_null]

I think smash bros will help along with some other games.

For example the new monster hunter lets you play on the wiiu and have 3-4 3ds join you in slaying monsters. Sounds fun to me. Then you got free content coming to various games. Wii fit u is coming out also. Just like the ps3 it is wait and see time.

It would have been nice to see last story and xeno and pan tower on the wiiu instead. W101, is coming along with bayo2. Yet we still don't know what a lot of Nintendo studios are doing.

Another thing to note is the Zelda experience in Nintendo land is almost a full game along with metroid and Pikman(level 19 is pretty cool). Nintendo has a lot to top.

I think people will slowly see the trolling for what it is. I'm not sure what is wrong with Europe though even game stores are closing there.

Alien may get fixed I really hope they are listening to the players. Seriously i think lots of gamers are waiting on the hype trains until they can see what this gen is about. I'm not like the Sony controller rumors. I'm not sure how their tech will enhance movie gaming.

We have the same problem the ps3 had. Real gamers got had alot last gen. So a wait and see approach is needed. Plus not being able to play used games is going to hurt them purchasing power wise possibly.

What is curious is will the ps4 suffer the same faith?

[Bronxs15]

at this point, it's almost guaranteed that sony will sell more with the ps4. even if it's more expensive. wii u never had this level of hype that the ps4 has, and the ps4 hasnt even been shown off yet. ps4 pre orders will surpass wii u sales.

[N4g_null]

The ps3 had way beyond the hype of the ps4. Online games sell systems not hype, especially empty hype.

[Gamer1982]

Same problem as ps3 had? We have low blu-ray diodes? PS3 sold bad thanks to stock issues in most places. This was because Sony couldn't manufacture the blu-ray diodes fast enough.

[yeahokchief]

I gave all of the above comments +1. Lets look strictly at the facts.

1. We all have less money to spend. Everyone this year got a 2% increase in taxes starting January 1st because expiring social security tax relief not to mention more income taxes.

2. Nintendo has admitted that they will have a slow start with games, but they said that they want to start with a steady stream of games over the summer and later this year.

3. The console currently lacks exclusive games for the "core." Yes it has a decent number of games, but they are mostly re-releases.

4. Cores like me are all too excited about games like GTA V or Last of US or the PS4 to care about anything else. I'm having a hard enough time playing through the games I have and there is soo much freaking value with a PS+ subscription. Sony has me HOOKED.

Everyone knows the price will drop further when the PS4 is announced and launched. By that time maybe they'll have games. The question will be if the Wii U will still be relevant at that point compared to the PS4 in terms of power. If the PS4 is truly amazing I may never want to look back.

I think Nintendo really dropped the ball in designing this thing to be more than $300 with a game with a casual market in mind.

If kids and parents were again their audience they shouldn't have made it so expensive. $350 means it's going to be more for the type of people who do gaming as a real hobby yet they did not support those types of people with enough games to warrant purchasing the system.

They need to suck it up and start pushing out nothing but AAA amazing metroid, zelda, donkey kong, star fox,etc games THAT AREN'T GEARED SOLELY AT CHILDREN.

OR

Reduce their price so more parents can buy it for their kids.

You can't have the best of both worlds here Nintendo. Money doesn't grow on trees. There has to be value for somebody. Low sales just means it's not very desirable. So they have to make it more desirable or lower the price.

I totally agree with FallenAngel's comment. I was saying this back when they bastardized WoW. Cores are your repeat customers. When you start messing with the stuff they like, you're going to lose your repeat customers. So when the casual market naturally doesn't stick around, what are you left with?

Good luck Nintendo. Good luck. I suggest firing Fils Aime first before any more across the board paycuts. Get rid of the problem.

[skyrimer]

Great post.

[Captain Qwark 9]

"Cores are your repeat customers. When you start messing with the stuff they like, you're going to lose your repeat customers. So when the casual market naturally doesn't stick around, what are you left with?"

nailed it right here. the wii was a fad and nothing more. unfortunately it also wasnt a very good system and put a bad taste in just about every consumer and core gamers mouth. not saying it didnt have a few games that were amazing because it def did but as a whole it was a low quality console and nintendo did nothing but tarnish their name by selling it. yes they made huge profits for a few years but that is pretty much at the cost of their future.

never abandon your true fans for a few extra people on your bandwagon.

hopefully it picks up after their first party games hit the market. i may not be into nintendo anymore but i never want to see the day they go under. unless they joined forces with sony or MS and just did software, they are much better at that than they are hardware.

[ChickeyCantor]

"THAT AREN'T GEARED SOLELY AT CHILDREN. "

The fallacy of E-rating means "children only". lol

[user3915800]

likd I said a month ago, the wiiu its dead.

[WitWolfy]

It sure is... I bought mine back in December with Zombi U... Played it a few times; got bored then decided to buy Super Mario Bros U... Fiance plays that most of the time.

All and all the Wii U isnt living up to what I expected it would be... Its just a EXPENSIVE PS3+ or 360+ console.

Plus the lack of games it has at the moment isnt helping it either...

[HITANDRUN]

Executives in Japne are finalising their reports and saying we are f, who fault is it? Psst, here is my adviced, kill the wiiu and stop the enbarrasment. and money that comes draining with it. Get the samurai sword and bring US beast, not this garbage last gen console. Im about to burned my wiiu soon. Lol... wait I was smart enough not to buy one.

[kneon]

It's still too early to declare the Wii U dead, but if it does in fact fail hard then possibly the best option for Nintendo is to get out of the home console business and just do handhelds and software for PC's and other consoles.

All those hardcore Nintendo fans will play their games wherever Nintendo makes them available.

[BullyMangler]

ha haa . only 55 thousand units sold ? . if the system has yet to have REAL games on it, how could it sell so low . shame shame shame on nintendo .

[Trunkz]

As much as I am a Nintendo fan, I think many of the casual's have moved to things like Ipods, and other devices. Nintendo is trying to cater to an group back 5 or so years ago, they don't want to lose this group so they try to do a mix of casual/semi powerful when many of these "core" gamers want power in their console and a fair amount are willing to bust of some cash.

While the Wii U is a great machine for Nintendo fans, they aren't going to be stealing many PS/Xbox fans over.

[LOL_WUT]

A price cut is imminent

[KrisButtar]

I believe the ps3 in it's 1st yr, it's lowest month was 80k in the USA. This doesn't look good

http://m.neogaf.com/showthr...

[konnerbllb]

not a nintendo fan but I'd like to point out wiiu hasn't been on the market for 12 months.

[KrisButtar]

it was the 6th month after the ps3s release when it dropped to 82k

which it shows in the link

[Darth Stewie]

Wow and the PS3's lowest sku cost $499 while the Wii U's lowest sku is $299.

[N4g_null]

What if the ps4 sales are even belowe these wiiu numbers? Some thing is going on with this market. The hype and baiting was too much last gen possibly. It should have been gaming best years but many games last gen where barely playable. Lots of talent was lost also.

We may need a crash to purge the trolls.

[KrisButtar]

I think if the ps4 sales are looking like this, MS likely won't release a new system, also I see terrible Wii U commercials, makes the gamepad look like an add-on... NOT a new system. We did lose some good studios last gen, hoping we won't lose more. I don't think we need a crash though, as I have played some great games, batman AA/AC, red dead, darksiders, dishonored, dark souls,etc

[N4g_null]

I'm really curious to see how the other two sell. It's weird how so much praise comes from the Internet for Sonys moves and then no one buys hardly any thing.

The move was like that. Oh it's better but no one bought it. The kart racers oh it's better but no one bought it. The smash bro clone oh it's better but no one bought it! The vita oh it's better but on one bought it. I see a trend happening here. The hype is not keeping up with the sales. There is a disconnect here. The trolls and analyst along with a weak media presents might be causing problems. That disconnect is dangerious if you bet to big. Arrogance or greed are the reason for most shut downs.

Hopfully the next Sony system is affordable. Please spare me the I can't afford it ok because I can easily spend 2-6k just on gaming etc since that is what my next pc will cost. There are not many gamers that can afford the high end price just case nvidia.

What happens when game mechanics no longer matter and it is all about looks?

I guess we will see. Luckily there are better communities to talk with real gamers.

[Jek_Porkins]

If this is to be believed it is not good news, I just don't see how a new console could do that poor, unless it's a precursor to the next generation and the economy just doesn't support or warrant new consoles just yet...ouch.

[NYC_Gamer]

It's about software and that is what the Wii-U really lacks at the moment..

[ozstar]

Nope, its marketing plain and simple.

Nintendo needs to re-think how it should market itself against MS + Sony in US and EU.

[kneon]

What can they do to fix the marketing? The core Nintendo fans will have bought it and will continue no matter what.

For the rest of the core gamers there's just not much point to the Wii U, sightly better graphics than the console you already have and ports of games that we've already played. Wii U exclusives outside of the traditional Nintendo franchises are few and mostly uninteresting compared to what other systems have to offer.

The casuals either don't care any more or are happy with what they have, what's new and compelling for them? I don't see anything to get this crowd buying in numbers again.

[Software_Lover]

Those are my thoughts. Microsoft and Sony need to think about a major price drop on the ps3 and 360 and just hold out for a while. Holidays 2014 isn't a bad idea in my book

[konnerbllb]

It would be good for them yes but it wouldn't be good for the industry. The industry is ready for change, the next big thing. We need next gen to push the publishers to release more ip and take more chances.

[Sarcasm]

^Also to add that the current crop of consoles is also stagnating PC gaming. A mid range GPU can basically net 60fps+ maxed detail on most of the games from today to 3 years ago.

Hopefully once the new consoles come out, we'll see higher quality PC ports and of course higher quality PS4/XB720 games.

[lilbroRx]

It has not games, nothing more nothing less. People will buy the console when it has something they wan to play. Until then, why would anyone be interested?

Its not complex but lot of people want to make it out to be much more than it is.

[Kratoscar2008]

Ouch that must hurt, we need good games soon or the WiiU wont live enough to see good games.

[Neoninja]

Honestly they need to market the Wii U better. I haven't seen one commercial on tv for that thing. They need to get the word out and let the consumer know this is a new and better hardware than the Wii.

Saying that though, I'm sure once bigger name games come the sales will go up.

[SpiralTear]

I agree with many of the other posters that software is what will help the Wii U at this point. During the month or so that a new console is in "debut mode", everyone is starting to eyeball it and it gets a respectable amount of attention, all things considered.

I think the Wii U is stuck in that awkward period between its debut and the next major flow of software. It's happened with many other consoles (which I won't note by name). When more games come out, that's when we'll see a spike in sales. It may not skyrocket, but it'll at least be better.

[BlackWolf]

The main problem is that there aren't enough "eyecandy" games for the system. Also, the advertisement is minimal, if existent at all. These are points that Nintendo need to work out so the console get more satisfying sales.

[N4g_null]

The hardcore gamers are driven off eye candy gamers arnt they. The seems to be the problem for the industry to solve or will they keep exploiting that?

Yet are there enough eye candy only gamers to support a industry or will they all go pc. This would hurt Sony the most I believe.

[BlackWolf]

Umm... Interesting, I must say. In fact, it's true that these killer app are driving forces in buying or not buying a console. But it's not a problem, just a fact of the gaming industry.

As for the total exodus to pc goes, I don't think it'll happen in a long time. I'm optimistic about a good generation for the big three.

[cyhm3112]

shit consoles,shit games, that's what you get, touchscreen say hi~~ nope..hehehe

[jaymart2k]

Wii U Gamepad >>>Kinect >>>> PS Vita Back-Touch Panel

[kneon]

I like how you specifically mention the Vita back touch panel while conveniently ignoring the superior touch screen on the front.

The Wii U controller has a lower resolution resistive touch screen while the Vita has higher resolution OLED capacitive touch screen with multi-touch support.

[axisofweevils]

Of course, that's still 20,000 more than what the Vita sold in the same period......

[ozstar]

Well at least Nintendo didn't spend much money on it.

Imagine if the PS4 or 720 don't catch the market?

[DialgaMarine]

Ah yes, the amazing Wii-U... Doesn't do sh*t, nor does it sell. So where are all the Ninty fanboys, who are all about TEH SALEZ, now?

[ozzywazzy]

Nintendo going third party. Mark my words bookmark this article. Those numbers are embarrassing. To a Japanese company they are seppuku worthy.

[MadMen]

LOL - as my last 5 posts have said in the past 3 months that got so much slack

the WiiU will be a failure, in comparison to the wii guaranteed.

[hollabox]

Nintendo might be better off recalling all units sold and upgrading their hardware to justify the cost of the unit. They made an next gen system to compete in the current gen market. Many gamers including myself are waiting for Sony and Microsoft to see what they have to offer. I've seen what Nintendo has to offer and frankly I'm not impressed. Nintendo is using a tri core CPU that has a core design dating back to the late 90's with slightly faster clock rates and more cache. I'm not paying another $350 for system that barely outperforms my PS3 and 360. Now if Nintendo drop the price to $200 I might be interested.

[lilbroRx]

The console is being sold at a loss. It is already being sold under the cost of the unit.

[hollabox]

How much is the question? If Nintendo is losing substantial amounts of money on the Wii U they need to fire their engineers. Nintendo is using a CPU with the core design dating back to the GameCube, a GPU based off the AMD 4600 chipset, and only 2 GB of slow DDR 3 ram with no blu ray or DVD playing playback capabilities.

They put all of their marbles into that touch screen which is only average compared to most tablets of similar size. Not trying to be a hater but I use to love Nintendo back in the 90's, hell even purchased the GameCube and like it. But this Wii/Wii U crap I just can't see myself paying that much for reused or dated hardware with the same old franchises they have been milking since the 80s.

I can see in 3 years Nintendo pulling a Sega and coming out with a new console if the Wii U bombs completely. They will probably change the console name, pick a VIP or two as a scapegoat, apologize to their fan base and announce a new console at TGS 2015 with the release date 09/30/2016.

[lilbroRx]

The GPU is not based off of the 4600 chipset. Its a completely custom chip. They found that out like an hour or 2 after Digital Foundry released that rushed writeup.

The DF article has long since been shot full of holes. A large number of pros in the neogaf thread that they actually got the info from called them out for it. It was written for nothing more than easy hits to the site by Nintendo haters.

Go to the source if you want correct info. Even DF contradicted themselves in their later analysis of NFS: Most Wanted for the Wii U.

All of what you are saying is misinformation. Go to the pro's for the facts.

[hollabox]

From all accounts its Direct 10 with 320 shaders which are the specs of the 4600. The only thing that might be custom about this chip is it DRAM. If information is sketchy about Nintendo specs its because of Nintendo themselves, if the chip was so great Nintendo would have parade it like they did the N64 and GameCube. Instead they put in an overprice, under performing GPU and call it next gen.

The GPU in the Wii U is faster than the PS3 and Xbox360, but not by much. From what I have read and seen, overall performance might only be a third faster. Given the age of both GPUs, you would expect Nintendo to release a product at least twice as fast. Like I said they need to fire their engineers and project planners if this is the best they can do in 6 years.

Bottom line is, this system should have been released in 2006. Its overpriced, and underperforming with not enough great software at this time to succeed. Nintendo tried and true franchises is getting old, its no longer for everybody. The lack of true next gen performance is showing with first and third party games. If you watched the video of Mario running on an emulator and compared it to the recently released Mario, its hard to spot the difference. Many third party games also look and perform better on 7-8 years old hardware as well.

If you look back at the launch of the 360 and PS3, third party games using the same assets as the GC, PS2 and Xbox made the current gen games look unprofessional in comparison. This was the same with the Dreamcast compared to PS1 and N64, SNES and Sega Genesis compared to the NES and Sega Masters System. I can't say the same about the Wii U at this point in time. Oh and please don't give me that developers had time to figure out current gen systems, they had similar time with every previous generation, and the new systems almost always looked better.

[MegaLagann]

Well, at least the Wii U ambassador games will be nice.

[skyrimer]

I think that just like PS2 hype killed the dreamcast, PS4/XboxNext hype may kill the WiiU.

next gen hype is holding LOTS of sales, and developers are stepping down from WiiU since the system is not moving enough sales, making it a catch 22.

[Ck1x]

Sega's bad hardware mistakes killed the dreamcast that's what happened! How was Nintendo able to survive with 25mil GC sales? DC probably would have went on to sell that amount and more if Sega had the money to support the system financially. The DC was simply an amazing system for it's time and it's failure had everything to do with Sega than it did Sony. People have been writing Nintendo off since the PS1 was established, but they are still very much alive and relevant as a games company today. So if anything hurts the WiiU in the long run, it will primarily be from bad decisions that Nintendo may make concerning the system and not from Sony or Microsoft.

[DiRtY]

Who would have thought that the Xbox 360 in its 8th year (!!!) outsells the successor of the winner of its own gen with a 5:1 ratio?! That is crazy.

Remember 2009 when Wii crushed EVERYTHING on the market you would make such a prediction: I think that the Wii will be the first console to see a successor. Further more I predict that the Xbox 360 will outsell this successor 5:1 in the 3rd month. And the Xbox 360 will pass the Wii in North America (there was a 8 million gap for NA back then).

*Just to put this in perspective: When the PS3 launched, there was a 5 million gap to the Xbox 360 GLOBALLY! And Sony still has not closed that gap.*

My comment would have been marked as "trolling".

[profgerbik]

When are people just going to accept many kids don't care about gaming systems like they used to.

Perfect example my brother, I gave him my PS3, he played it for a while then I bought him a smart phone.. He hasn't touch the PS3 ever since, every time I see the kid hes on that damn smart phone playing some stupid little game.

About to take my PS3 back ungrateful kids, stupid on top of that all they do is follow each other. They all want the iPhone they all want to be seen with tablets and they all have to be in their smart phones every second of the day.

Thing is I am still somewhat a kid I guess, I am only 25 but good god I can't even relate to kids anymore. All about living the YOLO lifestyle, doing drugs, worrying about nothing other than sex and texting.. What a life.. and hey if you want to do all that fine by me but just don't be a complete loser about it.. Find something of a little more importance in life to do is all I am saying..

[LOL_WUT]

Cool story bro ;)

[jacksheen0000]

Nintendo is not going to dreamcast their way out of this one.