Is the Wii U Game Onslaught Too Little, Too Late?

Benzinga: ''With every passing month, new reports suggest that Nintendo may be unable to recover from the lackluster Wii U sales figures.

To be fair, three million units is nothing to sneer at. Startups and smaller corporations would be overjoyed to sell three million units of anything in three months.

That said, Nintendo is not a new company -- it is a multi-billion-dollar empire responsible for creating some of the biggest names in gaming. Without Nintendo, Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros., Star Fox, Metroid, Animal Crossing, Wii Sports and numerous other franchises would not exist.

From the beginning of Nintendo's game development initiative in the 1980s, the company has steadily introduced at least one innovative franchise with each new system it releases. These games often came within the three-month "launch window" -- that is, the three-month period following a console's release.''

[PopRocks359]

Evidently it wasn't too late for the 3DS. Let's stop questioning this platform's future. After some time, some more games and even a price drop at some point (I'm thinking either holiday this year or early next year) then sales will pick up to a more standard number.

[BadboyCivic]

Seems everybody want this console dead?!?

[finalgetsuga]

honestly the console was born dead. Wii u isn't capable of keeping up with current gen consoles as it is. The graphics still are not even on par with ps3 or even 360, and still everyone. . mainly nes fan boys are still excited for the same games over and over again. i dont hate nintendo i used to love it but they need to take a break and come up with try to come up with a quality console

[Dylila]

what onslaught? where are the onslaught of games now? the biggest thing i see among a lot of wii u faithful rght now is them hoping for anouncements of games at e3. talking about a handful of games being made with no release dates given doesnt mean much especially when the console is lacking games at the moment with little on the horizon.

it seems like nintendo fanboys are content with announcements and dreams instead of actually playing new games. its a travesty that the mismanagement going on at nintendo would allow for the system to go barren for months without any new games.

[thezeldadoth]

@at badboycivic

no mainly just n4g. They want everything but TEH SONY dead actually. quite pathetic. doesn't matter how much you call them out on it though, they don't change. Even with the failing vita they claim the 3ds is the one dying. I'm excited for new wii u games, i know nintendo won't disappoint. also excited for steam box, 720, and ps4.

[SuperShyGuy]

@Dylila

Yeah totally convinced that you are Hatsune_Miku/Akuma now that same hypocritical stance

I can remember Vita fans drooling over CoD Vita and AssCreed Vita just from a title card on an E3 video

[kirbyu]

I don't

[dboyc310]

The 3ds is a handheld so Nintendo always rules in that area. When it comes to consoles it's a lot different. Their first party titles should move consoles when more info comes out but if you look at past Gens it shows how it didn't make much of an impact when compared to the competition. The wii catapulted to success because of the casual market and Nintendo doesn't have that demographic no more since they moved to ios/android platforms. Nintendo is back to the n64/gamecube days.

[thezeldadoth]

funny how i still had a lot of fun with my wii. you guys spend so much time arguing about sales numbers and uber graphics that you forget to just play games, which is why you're here in the first place right?

I got to enjoy both uncharted AND zelda, smash bros, xenoblade, etc... weird right?

disagree all you want, i expect it no less from what pretty much amounts to religious fanaticism

[dboyc310]

@thezeldadoth

Forget to play games? Never dude. This past few months have been nuts. Still investing myself in ni no kuni, destroyed dmc last month and this past week I bought the sly game and once I'm done with that I'm off to dead space 3. Then for upcoming games I have GOW:A, BioShock and the last of us on my to do list as well. I don't see the point of your comment?

[DaPrintz]

Absolutely. There were a handful of Wii games you might have missed if you didn't own the system. That doesn't compare to the staggering amount of games you would miss if you had only a Wii and now WiiU. IF the next offerings from Sony/MS come in with a price point of $400, there is no choice for Nintendo but to drop the price of the WiiU drastically. We're talking low end 360 price. Otherwise I can see PS3 and 360 destroying the WiiU even after PS4/720 release.

[Realplaya]

How many console generations did nintendo lose?

[ozzywazzy]

"Evidently it wasn't too late for the 3DS."

I don't know if your purposely leaving out the fact that the only thing that saved the 3DS was a pretty massive price drop or your just truly ignorant. The 3DS has 0 correlation with the Wii U until it gets a massive price drop of its own. Let's stop using ignorance as a defensive mechanism from now on.

[PopRocks359]

In your ignorance you also forgot the two Mario games that released in that same time frame which both sold over a million copies within the end of the year.

So the next time you accuse me of being ignorant, do yourself a favor, stop being a troll and proofread your crap-tastic comment.

[WiiUsauce]

yeah, I'm sick of these retarded "articles."

[3-4-5]

Don't you know ? Everybody on the internet is a prediction wizard and is right ALL THE TIME. It's so cool.

anyways...people just need to relax

[parkerpeters]

Nintendo will live. Even if the Wii U turns out to be a turd, Nintendo always pulls through. I'm no fan boy, but it is clear as day that nothing will ever TRULY stop Nintendo. They may just have to sit this one out worst case.

"Nintendo is doomed" seems an oxymoron to me.

[baldulf]

Portable market woul save them, like it did on the N64 and Gamecube years.

I think Nintendo should keep doing only portable hardware and go third party for the consoles.

[Army_of_Darkness]

@parker
" I'm no fan boy, but it is clear as day that nothing will ever TRULY stop Nintendo."

I don't know.... The gamecube and N64 were pretty damn close;-)

[WilliamH]

Get off it's back, the poor console has only been out a few months. Nintendo does it's own thing, it always has. The Wii U is a great console with great potential. They created the video game industry and they will be the last ones standing if it ever goes tits up

[WiiUsauce]

I agree with Zidane.

[WilliamH]

Zidane, he be bitchin'

[StrongMan]

The American media and fans don't want to see a Japanese company succeed. They treated Sony and the PS3 the same way. They want to see an Xbox console on top but that will never happen so they right nothing but doom and gloom articles for Nintendo and Sony when Nintendo and Sony are the only ones who win console generations. Microsoft never won a console generation and never will.

[gatormatt80]

You're absolutely right dude. The Americans are conspiring against the Japanese. I mean we (Americans) had nothing to do with helping make the PS1 and PS2 the best selling home consoles of all time.

Its okay to have a favorite console, I know I do. But damn dude take your blinders off. That's not a good look bro, I promise.

[deno]

Never to late for big N. Wait until all the first party games come out. Plus sega and platinum games are working hard on good Wii U games. I think I'll be picking up the Wii U zombie u bundle.

[sway_z]

Onslaught?

..hardly that, but this system needs to survive.

It's less about Nintendo, more so about the Games Industry as a whole.

[sarshelyam]

I'll be honest. After wrapping up Scribblenauts in two days, I haven't had much reason to turn it back on. My kids (6 & 3 years of age), have barely played it...and they were the intended audience.

It's still way too soon for these gloom & doom articles, and there are definitely games I'm looking forward to. Our next will be LEGO City Undercover, but after that, I'm not sure we have much to look forward to until Fall. It's a big gap, so I can see the concern some people might have.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

like the 3DS once the games start moving so will wiiUs.

[pedroyamato]

SURE! cause ninty is not going to release anymore game for it.

They are right now in Kyoto:
HAHAHA, we have Mario franchise, Zelda, Pikmin, Star Fox, Metroid, Super Smash Bros, Kirby, F-zero, Donkey Kong, Earthbound, Harvest Moon, Fire Emblem, and more 100 IP but you are not going to release ANY! Cause we want wii u to fail and we lose our jobs!! SUPER COOL!!

Ridiculous.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Just like the PS3 was dead within the 1st year, and the 3DS was a major flop...

Some people need to be smacked upside the head, so they can think properly and realize that you can't judge a whole console's life on the first 5-12 months. Just doesn't work like that.

[tweet75]

no wii u has only been out for 3 months and the only ones who cared were early adapters . once the great first party games come along things will turn around

[Gamer-Z]

I don't know what Nintendo was thinking releasing a console that can barely keep up with current gen systems let alone next gen.

[Realplaya]

Of all the comments you made the most rediculous one.

[wiiulee]

lol go stand in a corner silly kids...wiiu has been out only a couple months so of course the games and sal

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

Even though the Wii U is the most hated console sells will pick up all the Wii U need is better games

[stragomccloud]

I'm getting really sick of these. Can we please move on?
If people don't like the Wii U, can they just stop complaining about it and play some games on their preferred system?

Seriously, why are people wasting time writing this kind of garbage when they can be playing Halo/Gears online on xbox or Ni no Kuni on PS3. Come on people, those are some good games. Time spent here writing doom articles is better spent enjoying the hobby you proclaim to love.

I swear, it seems like "gamers" these days prefer to hate on other companies more than they like to play so games.

Go play some games!!! Every system has amazing ones. If you don't like one's for whatever deep seeded emotional issues you have that's fine. But for goodness sake people, play some games!

By the way... random aside. I'm finally getting a Vita tomorrow. Besides Gravity Rush and Persona 4, any recommendations?

[urwifeminder]

I will get one eventually to go with my pc and next xbox,guildwars 2 has me by the balls atm and with arma 3 coming consoles wont get a look in for a while.But i have not had a nintendo console since the 64 so it will be nice to have a hd wii u.