Asda suspends Wii U stock

Retail outlet no longer selling new Wii U systems or games, including Pikmin 3.

[MariaHelFutura]

That's not good. Especially, since new console are on the way. Not to mention for how closely it's priced to the PS4, considering how much better it is than the Wii U.

[_QQ_]

100$ is close? so the 400$ of the PS4 vs 500$ of the Xboxone won't make a difference either then.

[MariaHelFutura]

They should both be cheaper than the PS4, if you want get real about things.

[GribbleGrunger]

A lot of people are disagreeing with lopez_josue, but in the context of his reply to MariaHelFutura, he does have a point. The logic is faultless and cannot be disagreed with.

[Dunban67]

The price difference is $50 $349 for Wii U and $399 for PS4-

[MariaHelFutura]

@GribbleGrunger

So let me get this straight the Wii U ($299-$349) which is a bit better than the PS3 ($199), but significantly weaker to the PS4 ($399). While the Xbox One ($499) is weaker than the PS4 ($399). And you think it's the same thing or situation at all?

PS3/360 vs Wii U Specs
http://www.theverge.com/pro...
http://www.wiiuonly.com/201...

PS4 vs Wii U Specs
http://coiledrose.wordpress...

PS4 vs Xbox One Specs
http://www.ubergizmo.com/20...
http://i.imgur.com/RbWsWvU....
http://www.gamespot.com/for...

PS4 vs Xbox One vs Wii U Specs
http://i.imgur.com/Z4CvNT1....

[Donnieboi]

Isn't the Wii U discontinuing one of it's models? Isn't the 32gb going to be the main model? If that is true, then yeah, it makes the Wii U only $50 less than ps4. That's why i'm still waiting for a price drop. Because 32gb isn't gonna cut it, so if I get a Wii U, i'll have to spend even more on an extra harddrive. And there's no way i'm getting it at the expense of getting a ps4 (Which I already pre-ordered. And My credit card is hurting right about now). Wii U better have a deal for black friday or something (with a free game, to justify the tiny harddrive).

[buddymagoo]

Asda here in the UK is Walmart. Walmart is its parent company.

[Etseix]

i don't know why Maria gets that negatives, the man is right o_O
on topic-
well that's a hit for nintendo, not like it will affect them that much, but, some other retailers may follow this example, and if they do, well, then things may get pretty nasty , Nintendo should hurry up and release many good stuff for the Wii U D:

[_QQ_]

Pardon my Ignorance, i didn't know that Asda was the equivalent to walmart in GB,Although it is a hit for Nintendo,my point still remains relevant.

@Maria, Why don't you just purchase a high end PC if you care about specs so much? The gamepad is what makes the WiiU different, i guess free online does too now, IF you want offscreen play and the ability to play online like WiiU on your PS4, you pretty much end up paying 250$ for a vita and 5 or 6 years of PS Plus. add that to your numbers.

[LOL_WUT]

Well it was bound to happen the Wii U just isn't selling time to give it that price drop. ;)

[indysurfn]

@GribbleGrunger the Logic is not good or faultless, there is a MAJOR fault. The wii-u is cheaper by $100 while being less powerful. THe PS4 is cheaper than the xbox one by $100 WHILE BEING MORE instead of being LESS POWERFULL.

In other words:
The quality in the equation is switched. The one that is less powerful between the PS4 and Xboxone is more expensive.

[PSVita]

It's a $50 difference and ps4 has blu-ray and 500GB HDD, that alone says enough.

[kupomogli]

The $100 difference between the Wii U and Xbox One are completely different.

The Xbox One, despite being weaker than the PS4 is a true next gen console. It will still be able to push out titles that are almost as good looking as the PS4.

The Wii U on the other hand is a PS360 in a Nintendo shell. It's a last gen console.

So basically. It goes like this. Wii U for $300. Spend $100 more get a next gen console. PS4 for $400. Spend $100 more get a weaker current gen console.

[nick309]

Wii u is a console for exclusive games, again irrelevant showing specs.

[andrewer]

Exactly. That's the reason $349 is worth it. Nintendo gamers don't buy Nintendo consoles for graphics or whatever, but to play the games they love.

[SilentNegotiator]

It's "for exclusives" because Nintendo's support for third parties is horrible and it has gotten to the point that no one EXPECTS Nintendo home consoles to get third party games.

Nintendo doesn't want to sell Gamecube numbers (no corporation does), but if all they can offer is occasional typical Nintendo IPs and an even less frequent Bayonetta, on a $300/$350 system that doesn't appeal to the same people that the Wii did, that's what they're going to get.

Lots of PS3/360 devs/pubs have been complaining about their power restrictions since 2010, at least. Wii U might be a little more powerful, but it's still already behind what those devs/pubs want at this point. That is part of the reason why Nintendo's latest console has poor developer support, and THAT is why specs are absolutely important.

[yabhero]

True specs are largely unimportant at this point. However as a Nintendo fan I don't think it's allow to make excuses for Nintendo. It's kind of ridiculous that if I want to play Smash, Zelda, Mario but also Destiny and the Division I have to pay $349 and 399 or 499.
SilentNegotiator said if pretty well. I'm a gamer first before allegiance to one console (although Nintendo did raise me). So I find it annoyign that I'm going to have to buy a WiiU for the games I love but that Nintendo won't get their act together with third parties...

[zekk]

the system really doesn't have much for games.....though I am excited for pikmin I don't think that one game is enough to consider buying a wiiu till they get some more games out....hopefully next year it'll have more of a presence than kelllam.

[Ingram]

there's a bunch of 15 people or so automatically disagreeing with you in every opinion you emit.

they are probably the same people stating b.hurt nonsense like "we gotta ban MHF in order to have a civil conversation", "those links offend my religion", "down with the witch" etc etc.

[Dunban67]

I simply stated that the price difference between the Wii U and PS4 is $50 (which is a fact)- how can there be 4 "disagrees"?

The Basic model is barely stocked and sells a miniscule % compared to the Deluxe- so using the basic as a price comp is not intellectually honest)

[BenRage3]

Don't be dense. The price difference goes way beyond $50 if you want to play online, and I think most people want that option. How long do you plan on owning a PS4? IF you buy it at launch I am guess 5-7 years. $50 dollars a year and you are paying an extra $250-350. If you do not want to play online then yes the PS4 will have more 3rd party games and a small price difference along with your better graphics. The problem still is exclusives though. You want Zelda, Mario, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, and XenoBlade Chronicles you buy Nintendo.

[iamnsuperman]

Very odd. It isn't like Asda said "we are not stocking it because it doesn't sell well" but it does beg the question why isn't it being supported by them. Maybe Asda just doesn't sell enough to see it as viable (would be a big blow to Nintendo) but they haven't said that which is just making this even more confusing. They don't even sell 3DS's (which I thought they did. Just check they don't)

[DoctorJones]

I don't think I've ever seen any Wii U games being sold in Asda.

[FriedGoat]

Don't get me wrong, I love the VITA, but the WiiU must be doing pretty bad in ASDA as the vita never got canned from the shelves.

[devwan]

Asda have been slashing money off the Wii U all year and there were only going to be two reasons for this - they either knew about forthcoming price cuts (that many were hoping for) and wanted to beat others to the punch, or they were dumping their stock.

They said it was to promote sales back in March and possibly also May, but the last one a few weeks ago now seems to have been about getting rid of what they had on their hands and not the start of the much cheaper Wii U people have been hoping for, as they only currently have 8 Wii U items on offer online and as the article says - no consoles. TBH, who goes to ASDA to buy a console? If anything it'd just be an impulse buy of a game occasionally when buying groceries.

[mii-gamer]

not even stocking 3ds? must be a dispute between nintendo and the retailer

[trafalger]

nintendo is probably upset asda slashed prices of the wii u.

nintendo needs a wake up call. how they run there business isnt working. at least when it comes to consoles. the wii sparked interest with motion controls and nintendo is unlikely to repeat that success with any new gameplay features with the wii u or future consoles.

[andrewer]

unlikely to repeat that success? I will have to disagree as they are pretty unpredictable, and good at what they do - games. Nobody expected a tablet as a gamepad, and nobody have a single idea of what Nintendo is going to do in the next generations. As for the Wii U gamepad, that is just awesome, it feels so good, dunno why people keep saying Wii U is shit or something.

[Firan]

Why would Nintendo be upset about that? Once Nintendo ship their consoles to a retailer, they belong to the retailer. It's up to the retailer to decide what price they sell it for consumers.

[trafalger]

"Why would Nintendo be upset about that?"

because it could lower the perspective value of the wii u. thats just a guess.

"unlikely to repeat that success? I will have to disagree as they are pretty unpredictable, and good at what they do - games."

of course but the problem is twofold. one is they cant compete on a technical level with its competitors and secondly they cannot gain traction with third party support which has been a problem for them that lasts decades. nintendos way of thinking of how to run a business is no longer working, at least when it comes to game consoles. even the success of the wii was glamorized. what was the attach rate of software? how often did wii users use it compared to other game consoles?

nintendo will always have a fanbase no matter what they do, its trying to attract customers from its competitors that has been the problem and i dont see that changing. not unless there is a monumental shift in the people that run the company.

[jcnba28]

Nintendo wouldn't care if ASDA slashed the price of Wii U or not because Nintendo doesn't lose any money, it's ASDA that loses money.

[mii-gamer]

clearly you have no understanding how business works

[CRAIG667]

Not good news.

[tigertron]

Not good news considering ASDA is Wallmart.

[Father__Merrin]

i can confirm asda do indeed sell 3ds, especilly in thier asda living stores

but ive never seen one wiiU product in there apart from wiiu headphones and new super mario u

[Masterman280]

Damn, is it really that bad?

[Animal Mutha 76]

That's a shame.

Asda in the UK is owned by WallMart just for info.

I had seen 2 stories before about Asda reducing the price of Wii U consoles. I can only assume that they are still not selling well enough to warrant shelf space. Games still online though by the looks of it.

I want to buy one just for my collection but want to wait until they are the cheapest possible. Asda was on my radar due to the price drops...

[indysurfn]

If they dropped the price to where they where losing money. And now they think Nintendo will turn around. Maybe they want to sell less at the lower price? Or maybe they are waiting for Nintendo to lower the price so they can get credits from the price difference. I'm not saying these two scenarios are the case, just options. Because they didn't just stop, instead they suspended selling.

[PrivateLeroy]

Oh shoot doe, nintendo caught the foot straight through the door

[Bennibop]

Not good, I have seen this happen in the past with the Dreamcast and look how that turned out (EA stopped support and Supermarkets etc not stocking it.) I think the writing maybe on the wall for WiiU

[LOL_WUT]

@Bennibop I think you're onto something ;)

[mmj]

If Wii U had a conventional controller by default I would be more likely to buy one, I like my games to be mentally stimulating I don't want to be faffing around with distractions/gimmicks like touchscreens and cameras.

[yugovega]

you do realise the gamepad is basically a conventional controller right? most of the gamepad features are optional on almost every game. it has all the buttons that a xb or ps controller has. people who have actually played a wiiu or own one can attest to this.

[Brasi1989]

Clearly you haven't played a WiiU.

[kingdip90]

I wonder if that means wal mart will follow suit in the us?

[iamnsuperman]

Possible but more than likely not. Asda maybe owned by Walmart but different regions sell different products differently. Like MCdonalds in India has a delivery service but that kind of service isn't needed in most western countries. The ASDA boss would make that decision and not the Walmart boss as the ASdA boss will know more about what is going on. Unless Nintendo physically bombed Walmart those kind of orders (to not stock a product) generally do not happen

[kingdip90]

If sales are low enough they may drop them, you barely see any pc games in walmart anymore... who knows?

[Hanso]

http:/ /i.minus.com/i0zThUb6h24Dc.gif

[andshesays]

i'm going to be honest.. thats FUNNY LOL

[MiasmaDodo]

this could get bad if the US version (Wal-Mart)
does the same.

say what you want about Wal-Marts business practices; they still make like $400 Billion a year.

[GameTechZero]

They are in no way as big as wallmart in the UK. They are big but to say this will harm Nintendo I am unsure. Their games section is very very small.

I would wait and see what happens. This could mean anything and nothing. They could be doing this to other hardware for all we know.

[GameTechZero]

I would just like to say this- ASDA is a low-mid quality food store and they are nothing in terms of games. Almost every ASDA has a TINY section for games like a metre or 2 wide with all platforms sharing the same space.

I bet they don’t even make up like 2% of the UK game sales. There is an ASDA/Wallmart crossover in Manchester and that does have a bigger game section but even that one is small.

Oh and the ASDA near me has NEVER stocked Wiiu goods so far , just Wii , DS , 3DS , PS3 , 360 and that’s it. :)

All in all, I don't believe this will affect Wiiu sales much at all in the UK and I bet you £100 they start selling them again around the time all the good games are coming out, just watch.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

Nintendo should have made a true next gen console. WiiU won't pass GameCube sales.

[chente0025]

dude what are you talking about? all wii u exclusives are corfirm to be running at 60fps 1080p while ps4/Xbox1 launch titles are all running at 30fps 720/1080p.with the wii u you can play games in so many different ways that is just ridiculous.you got the gamepad,the wiimote and the pro controller. from what i'm seeing wii u is probably the most next-gen out of the 3 new consoles! imo.

[LOL_WUT]

"from what i'm seeing wii u is probably the most next-gen out of the 3 new consoles!" Dude what? You have clearly lost it.

Also which exclusives are in 1080p? The only one I can think of is Rayman and that's not even an exclusive lol. And upscale is not the same as native 1080p so try again ;)

Edit: If you're making a list please include more than just 3 ;)

[HappyWithOneBubble]

The average gamer don't care about 60fps and 1080p and the WiiU sales so that. I do hope sales pick up after this year because if PS4 dominate like PS2 era then it's over. Plus WiiU lost lots of 3rd party support. Who want to wait for 1 exclusive Mario or Zelda game. Not me. Anyway just my opinion.

[chente0025]

@LOL_WUT of the top of my head i can name Mario kart,WW hd,new sonic,W101 and Bayonetta 2. all confirmed to be 60fps/1080p! and maybe "X"....now you tell me how many exclusives does ps4/Xbox1 have that are confirmed to be doing 60fps/1080p......that's ok,i'll wait! ;)

[chente0025]

I'm getting disagrees but none can answer my question? jajaja typical dumb fanboys always getting shutdown when they're presented with facts. lol

[chente0025]

@Sa925 you're lack of intelligence makes me laugh! No wonder you barely have any bubbles.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

Well, they continued their tradition of underpowered and weak system because people are still buying it.

They're the Toyota of console.

[chente0025]

@WackyVee how do you know it's not powerful?...are you a developer or a technical engineer? I got one word for you and all who say wii u is "weak"....EDRAMM! i'll give you an example since you mentioned a toyota.ok,let's say the ps4/Xbox1 are V8 Camaros and that wii u is a toyota corolla.obviously the V8 Camaro would smoke the Corolla BUT if we add to the Corolla engine a turbo system or nitrous it would go head to head with the Camaro no doubt.the turbo/nitrous system on the wii u is the EDRAMM that it has on each CPU and GPU! i'm not saying that it's more or as powerful as the ps4 but it's definitely got POWER under the hood.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

@chente0025
I should've mentioned that I meant they're the Toyota of console because they take their users for granted and evolve way slower than their competitors just because they can.

Your explanation adds to the argument, because they had the potential of great with what they're working for, but they settled with okay.

They decided to spend more money on that tablet controller gimmick, because the last gimmick worked awesome on the Wii even though the system wasn't HD, most third were shovelware, ...

[Dunban67]

It seems the issue is between Asda and Nintendo re the WiiU not selling- So Asda drops the price and takes a big loss and still does not move the stock very quick- they probably went to Nintendo and asked for a some protection against future losses - after all why would a retailer buy a product have to sell at a loss then turn around and buy more of the same product, carry it in inventory, take up shelf space etc. just to lose money again-

I would bet Nintendo decline to give them a hedge against future losses so they just terminated the restocking of Nintendo products until they feel it is a viable business decision to do otherwise-

I m sure Nintendo did not want to lose the outlet but if they hedged Nintendo stock for Asda then I am sure many other retailers taking loses on WiiU and related stock would ask for the same-

I imagine Asda is not the only retailer taking a loss on the Wii U and I m sure those retailers all have a time limit on how long they will wait- lets hope most of them wait till at least the end of 2013 and hope again the waiting pays off for them- I m afraid Nintendo has been too patient w the Wii U-

[kenshiro100]

That's not good.

[Campy da Camper]

I got a Wii u and I like it. Is it my main gaming platform? No. Great back up, though. Plus the gamepad is just like having a tablet. I never expected massive third party support. Give me the Nintendo 1st party and I am happy. Mario Kart looks fricking sweet.

[Flames76]

I said it from the start that people wouldnt fall for another gimmick from nintendo like they did for the Wii.I also said the Wii U would be gone by the end of 2014. The Wii U is garbage and the games dont look as good as they do on the Xbox 360 or PS3.You can only have so many mario games in the year.Nintendo needs to go the way of sega and be a software company.Let microsoft and sony do the console.Plus thats a win for the gaming market with only 2 consoles

[ziratul]

I agree with you. They can't sell a console by making dozens of mario games. Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, NSMBU, Mario land, Sonic Lost Worlds are games for young kids. They still don't have nothing like Killzone, Gears of War, Uncharted, Forza Motorsport NOTHING! KIDS don't have $$$ to buy Wii U and adults are buying PS4 and XBOX one (soon)

[andshesays]

WIIU = 349
PS4 = 399

but it depends really... I dont mind Nintendo games, but im not as faithful as the games seem to be repetitive for me its just my opinion I mean I played mario.. he never gets the princess... and the story is just boring now, Pikmin 3 is good though

Ps4... I will get one but not on launch day im going to wait for MGS5 to come out (and im hoping its not launch day so I can save money)

I would rather spend 399 and get something which I know is constantly being used, because if I get a PS4 its not just a games console its a Entertainment Centre, so my parents and bro and sis can use it too..

where as if I buy a wiiu they will just say its a waste of money...

[Drainage]

thats what happens when you destroy your rep going for the casual market. now the gamers found a new home (ps4) and the nintendo guys are with the 3DS for their nintendo fix.

[josephayal]

I think Nintendo is going bankrupt, I do hope that Nintendo purchases Atlus,capcom and namco bandai