Wii U has record breaking sales for January

[Kelthaz]

The Wii U sold 55k units in the United States in January

Yup, it's the worst recorded monthly sales in the US for a living console since 2005. Even the Gamecube never sold this low until it was discontinued. In fact, if you compare third month sales for other systems, the Wii U was below even the Dreamcast and Playstation Vita.

These numbers aren't just poor. They're fucking terrible. Nintendo seems to have completely lost the casual market that they built up with the Wii and all they have left now are their core Nintendo fans. But then again Nintendo did save the 3DS, so who knows what will happen. Come on $199 Deluxe Model!

 

[Jax]

Nintendo seems to have completely lost the casual market

The thing about the casual market is they are exactly that casual. They aren't going to keep buying new hardware + Wii U is driven more towards the hardcore market IMO, which Nintendo loss with the Wii. Personally I have played the Wii U and I liked it but the price is too high for something I know is going to be way behind Sony and Microsoft 12 months from now + GAMES, Where are the games that aren't Zelda or Mario (I like some Mario but hate Zelda).

 

[bigdaddy]

Yeah the casual gamer is still fine with their Wii, and don't understand what a Wii U is.

Hell it's been out for months and I still don't get the point of the system. Also casual gamers don't want two different models. Nintendo needs to have one model, make it $299 and have a game with it. Why would I spend $350 to play a Mario game that looks like the last New Super Mario Bros.? They should have waited a year and get some games going.

And if you haven't seen the leaked PS4 controller, Nintendo still have a chance!

 

[eastman23]

And yet... their overall numbers for the 3 months since launch are in line with the Xbox 360 and PS3 at launch in the United States. See the second graph here.

It's all about the games. There is a serious lack of quality games for the Wii U at the moment and Nintendo knows it (and not helped by Ubisoft's knife to the back last week ). But they can't just conjure up a quality game in a month. Yes, they should have had the line up in place before the console launched, but they were constrained by the holiday period on one side and upcoming competitor consoles on the other side.

The 3DS went through the same thing. It came out, the price was a bit high, very little in the way of good games. Nintendo dropped the price, good games started coming out, sales take off.

Plus, you know, the economy still kinda sucks. I'm sure that has a bit of an effect.

Hell it's been out for months and I still don't get the point of the system.

Pfft. The 360 and PS3 have been out for years and I don't get the point of those systems! Its a console, what's not to get?

 

[bigdaddy]

The point of the lame ass tablet.

PS3 was for Bluray.
Xbox 360 was for shooting people online.
Wii was for the wand.

But what's the tablet for?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I like the Gamepad. It allows game play on the pad while the TV is on, like a handheld but with full console games, the interface for using Netflix and LoveFilm are better than either of the other consoles. It's also good having the onscreen keyboard for things like browsing and searching and things like that. And also the asymmetric gaming is pretty cool.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The point of the lame ass tablet.

PS3 was for Bluray.
Xbox 360 was for shooting people online.
Wii was for the wand.

But what's the tablet for?

It's for all sorts of things. You know, because it's a touch-sensitive screen. NintendoLand alone uses it several different ways. You can also play games entirely from the gamepad, which allows someone else to use the TV while you play.

 

[Kelthaz]

Plus, you know, the economy still kinda sucks. I'm sure that has a bit of an effect.

The Xbox 360 sold 280,000 this past month. That's a seven year old console outselling a brand new console by 5-1. The economy has nothing to do with it. People simply do not want a Wii U.

I like the Gamepad. It allows game play on the pad while the TV is on, like a handheld but with full console games, the interface for using Netflix and LoveFilm are better than either of the other consoles.

I like the Gamepad too. It's a neat idea that could result in some good experiences if done properly (apparently Nintendo Land is pretty awesome), but no more Zombi U crap where you get attacked while looking at your inventory please.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I still haven't really heard about any great games for it, save for maybe Zombie U and the new Super Mario game. There's no real killer app for it, from what I see. And that's part of the struggle. I'm thinking the tablet has added an extra challenge in development, making it much harder to develop games for it, and then you have fewer developers making games for it.

 

[eastman23]

Plus, you know, the economy still kinda sucks. I'm sure that has a bit of an effect.

The Xbox 360 sold 280,000 this past month. That's a seven year old console outselling a brand new console by 5-1. The economy has nothing to do with it. People simply do not want a Wii U.

Which is why the largest factor is, as I said above, the lack of games at the moment.

 

[CaptainMurdock]

The Wii U is a joke right now. Nintendo should have waited until it had good eye catching launch titles to put the thing on the market. I play nintendo games for there mainstream games. Mario, Zelda, Metroid. I don't care about there gimmick games. Also there recent "New Super Mario Bros" titles have been cookie cutter. Lacking new innovation to make them great. Nintendo, sadly is getting lazy.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I've enjoyed New Super Mario Bros. 2 and U, nothing groundbreaking but wonderful, fun games.

I think a big problem for the Wii U is the price, both of the system and the games.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's kind of a two-fold problem. With the console being expensive, there aren't as many people buying it, and less games attracting people to it, therefore less of a reason to develop for it. Part of the issue is the marketing behind the Wii U, which has never really been clear about what it actually is. People don't know if it's an add-on to the Wii or a new console.