With the Holiday season about to crank into full gear, many technology and video game websites/publications have been gathering together their annual gift guides. Some of these guides either cater consumers to what products to buy and which ones to avoid completely. One tech publication in particular, CNET, has recently named their worst holiday tech gifts and unfortunately the Wii U was one of them. CNET states that for this holiday season there are two video game consoles that consumers will rush out to buy and the Wii U is certainly not up for discussion.
Alongside the Wii U, a DVD player and BlackBerry mobile device topped the publication’s Worst Holiday Tech Gifts. Ouch.
As for the Wii U being named as an avoidable tech gift for this holiday, several things to consider: At a discounted price, the Wii U appears more enticing that it was during it’s November 2012 launch at $300 and $350 for the available SKUs. Not only that, but more titles are continuing to be on the horizon with Wii Fit U and Super Mario 3D World launching in the next few weeks. For sure, the console has been struggling financially, yet Nintendo has been through similar pitfalls in terms of software drought and console word-of-mouth. Whatever the case, this holiday season is, in a sense, a make-or-break point for the Wii U. It doesn’t help as well with several outlets claiming that Nintendo should discontinue the Wii U as early as next year.
You can watch the CNET video here.
Despite the Wii U’s struggles to gain momentum since its launch, do you think CNET is correct or were they substantially shortsighted in their claims? Tell us in the comments below.
Mattiac
🙁 Let’s avoid CNET forever!
N8tiveT3ch
Let them talk it was purely stated to get clicks. I love my Wii U and am looking forward to future releases. I do agree with you on the holiday season. Numbers are going to talk going into next year whether they’re good or not.
MikeIsaPoet
Take it with a grain of salt; remember, two new consoles are coming out and both of them are far better advertised, and it’s well known that Sony and Microsoft will throw money at anything to get their name out. If Nintendo would do the same, it’d be up there as well.
Stuart
If Nintendo advertised more they’d just be further in the red. The numbers will talk and it won’t be good.
Diagoras87
I think it’s just one of those troll videos sites do when they’re desperate. Which isn’t to say the Wii U isn’t in trouble, just that it’s basically in a situation similar to the Gamecube.
Stuart
Nintendo is one of the best (if not the best) gaming software companies in existence. When they announce (or preferably the month before) that they’re discontinuing the Wii U and will focus on multi platform games, buy the hell out of their stock.
For Wii U owners, like me; don’t worry, we’ll be able to pick up every Wii U game for 5-10 bucks and Nintendo will give you an “ambassodor” credit for their PS4/XboxOne games.
There’s no need to defend the indefensible. No one is buying the Wii U. They bought the Wii (but few used it when compared to the PS3/360), but they’re not going to repeat the same mistake. The marketplace has responded with regards to Nintendo consoles, but people will still flock to Nintendo games.
Even will today’s incredibly complex software, Nintendo still releases games that are virtually bug free. You can’t say that for any other developer. I love the Battlefield franchise, but when they release a game it is literally unplayable because of bugs. People know when they purchase a Nintendo game, it will be as bug free and enjoyable as possible. and when a glitch is discovered, it will be acknowledged and corrected as soon as possible.
MikeIsaPoet
Lot of opinions dressed as facts there, Stuart.
Tanner
@Stuart
You’re right of course, because the 3ds was selling like crap and Nintendo decided to discontinue the “gimmick” system and put their games on smartphones.
Oh wait.
mcase
The Wii U may be struggling, but I think things may be turing around for it, finally. It was a smart move on Nintendo’s part to drop the price of the wii U to adn come out with more dundles. The ywill help spike sales fo the console. The wi U is not doomed. They just jave a slow start with it. You can’t tell me that PS4 will not be full of bugs adn be the end all be all console of all time and sell liek hotcakes this week. It will have a slow start as well. Has SOny ever showed a thing about the touch pad on the controller? What does it do? why is it there? what games support it? what uses does it have? It is just a touch pad like on the Vita and will never be used. The wii U has a acutal touch screen on the controller. It is an actual touch screen adn IS used for most games. The wii U gamepad is the winner in term s of innnovation. CNET is fuill of shit adn has o ideas what they are talking about.
mcase
Can the pS5 do off tv play in the controller? Hell no. Does Sony even have hafl the franchises Nintendo does? Hell no. The only reason xbox adn microsoft are even in the console space is due to Halo. With out Halo, they are nothing. Another major blow to PS4 is that it is not backwards compatible and will not play PS 3 gmaes on it. Do people know that when they pick up their PS4 this week? Has Sony even addressed that? History just seemed to be repeatig itself with PS4. Sure more features adn slightly better graphics for PS4, but that is it. I am not at all impressed with PS4. Nintendo will be fine. Nintendo has like 15 franchises to work with, I can only name maybe exclusive ones for Sony. ONce smash bros comes out along with mario kart, wiii U will be a must have system adn a powerhouse to reckon with. who knows what Nintendo has in store for next year. I can only imagine the awesomeness of 2014 for Nintendo and Wii U.
mcase
NINTENDO WII U IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE AND WII PLAY ALL OF YOUR WII GAMES, PEOPLE!!!!!
mcase
Not even xbox one is backwards compatible. That is a major major major things that is misssing in sony adn microsofts next gen machines tht will piss people off to no end.
mcase
Oh yeah, one final things I just remember to point out, so the PS$ has crosss platform play adn second screen on PS Vita , huh??!! Well, if you don’t even have a PS VITA you will need to shell out $400 for PS4 adn $200 for PSVITA to enjoy it. WHile Wii U comes with a gamepad adn includes off tv play , which is the equivalent to Sony’s cross play , but you won’t have to shell out more money to enjoy it. Just pay $300 for Wii U adn enjoy it for a much cheaper price. PS4 or Wii U second screen gameplay . Who coems out on top? WII U is th eclear winner.
Lou
@Mcase – your posts are nearly unreadable. Maybe slow down and type more carefully if you want to be heard.
@Stuart – for the most part I agree. Your mention of “bug free” though – that’s generally true and probably should be a selling point, but it isn’t. However, both Skyward Sword and Pokemon X/Y have had to issue patches. So when two of your biggest releases suffer from issues, it hurts that perception. So I’d still say it’s not a selling point.
And let’s not forget all the Wii U OS patches that have been issued. And while the 3DS upgrades have mostly been for new features, there have been bug fixes in there too.
And for anyone with the tired “but the 3DS turned around argument”, stop it. It didn’t take a year to turn around, and it didn’t have two major competitors. Hell, the Wii U still isn’t outselling the last generation from Sony and MS.
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BornFlunky
Considering Wii U sales are only going up, including in Japan by a large percentage (thanks to Wii Party U, of all things), anything is possible. One of those things that I think is likely is the Wii U getting a lot more exposure this holiday.
“they’d just be further in the red.” Further? Nintendo’s never had a red year since they entered the video game market. They’ve only had one red quarter, and it wasn’t even the last one. To top it off, they’re starting to advertise. Their commercials are showing up, and they just hired the firm that handled Sony’s PS3 digital and social marketing to head their own.
If anyone believes the Wii U will be discontinued and Nintendo will shift to multiplatform games, I don’t think they’re not looking at all the factors.
Gern
I have children who are 9 and 13 years of age, and if you are a parent who is buying a console for your kids for christmas, I agree with the Wii U being on CNET’s top 5 worst holiday gifts. It is good advice if you want to be a cool parent this year. I am around a lot of kids with all of their activities in school and church, and none of the kids are talking about the Wii U. I only hear about the Nintendo 3DS, PS4, and Xbone.
Let’s face it, the xbox one and PS4 are upon us. Nintendo has squandered their one year launch advantage of the Wii U. Then to top it off, the Wii U featured bundle this Xmas is the Zelda Link game which is a re-hash/re-make of a 10 year old game. However, Nintendo is doing fine with the 3DS and is still a cool gift.
Gordon
Some points:
Actually, the last two quarters were deep in the red.
http://allthingsd.com/20131030/nintendo-posts-operating-loss/
And last week, the Xbox 360 sold 2x more units than the Wii U. The PS3 sold 3x more units. Don’t be fooled by the percentage gains they’re claiming. When your sales are miniscule, any gain looks like a tremendous percentage increase.
As for the PS4 not selling like “hotcakes” this week, huh? Their preorders have been sold out for a month. People are going to be lined up at the stores at midnight and others are paying a $200 markup on eBay. They’ll sell more PS4s in the first week than the Wii U sold in a year. And, don’t forget, they are competing against the Xbox One. The Wii U (in theory) has had no competition for a year.
Lou
@Gern – good point, no kids are talking about the Wii U. It’s been out for a year and generated zero buzz.
@Gordon – don’t waste your breath. Fanboys don’t seem to understand financial statements, percentages, or what presale numbers indicate.
I say Iwata doesn’t last much longer, then we may see a turnaround.
BornFlunky
@Gordon
“Actually, the last two quarters were deep in the red.”
Actually, both quarters were a net income for Nintendo, and their stock just rose sharply in Japan. While the last quarter was an operating loss, their gross income for the half was a profit, not a loss: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2013/131030e.pdf
Considering the PlayStation division losses for Sony were upwards of five billion dollars, including with the PSP — 3.5 billion in their first two years with the PS3 — and Nintendo is nowhere near that, yes, I think they’re fine financially.
“And last week, the Xbox 360 sold 2x more units than the Wii U.”
Let me be clear: I know the Wii U sales aren’t nearly as good as the could/should be to be considered a total success, or whatever. That being said:
A cheaper console with an 8 year old library sold more. Shocker. Should we discuss the Wii U sales explosion in Japan, which bumped the Wii U up to the number 2 spot in hardware sales, trumped only by the 3DS LL last week?
“As for the PS4 not selling like “hotcakes” this week, huh? Their preorders have been sold out for a month.”
As I’ve, preorders are not indicative of sales. The PS3 and 360 had 5 million worldwide preorders between them. 3 months later, they were still breaking 4 million. We’ll know in three days, of course. The PS4 was marketed very well, and people have been giving Sony a lot of leeway.
@Lou: A small warning, I’m done with the sugar-coating, so I’m not responsible for potentially rustled jimmies.
Just for good measure, here’s that financial statement for you again: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2013/131030e.pdf
Call me a “fanboy” all you like, those are the numbers, which I understand perfectly. Can you say the same?
As for the “presale numbers,” read above.
But, hey, whatever. You’ve clearly got a personal grievance against me for… some reason? So, just keep up with the “GamePad is horrible, down with Iwata” chanting.
Stuart
@MikelsayPoet
Most facts get there start as an opinion.
Stuart
there = their
mcase
The points I was trying to make earoer ws that the Wii U is backwards compatible while the PS4 and Xbox One are not. Secondly, You don’t have to shell out $400 for PS4 and then an addition $200 for PS Vita to enjoy second screen gameing, or cross platform gaming on Wii U. The Wii U has that rightout of the box. Thirdly, Nintendo has the most franchises probbly in all of gaming to work with. When Smash bros and Mrio Kart 8 come out, the Wii U will be a force to reckon with. You can’t tell me the PS4 will be an instant firehouse this week and sell like hotcakes. It willhave a slow start as well. Sony will have problems with it.
mcase
Has sony even showed off the touchpad on the dualshock 4? Why is it there? what games support it? How is it used? It will be a pointless feature that Sony will never use.
mcase
The wii U gamepad winds the innovation war because it had an actual touch screen on the controller. CNET is full of shit and they have no idea what they are talking about.
Stuart
@Mcase
WTF? Didn’t you just write the same gibberish this morning?
True, the PS4 and The XboxOne are not backwards compatible. Why? Because if you have PS3 games or Xbox360 games, you have one of those systems and are able to play those games. The vast, vast majority of new console purchasers want new games as well. The original PS3 was backward compatible and few used the feature, so they dropped it from subsequent versions.
Second screen gaming? Really? I mean really? It’s the answer to the question no one asked.
Nintendo has multiple franchises. I’n my opinion they’re geared towards adolescents and child molesters, but they are very valuable (child molesters excluded). That’s a strong argument in favor of them focusing on software, not hardware.
Sony has demonstrated the touchpad. Frankly, I don’t know what they hell it does either. I think they slapped it on there to put the nail in the Wii U coffin.
My 4 year old Blackberry has a touchscreen that’s more responsive than the gamepad, so I don’t see any innovation wars (awards) in their future.
CNET is a respected source. I do not know their level of shit.
BornFlunky
Huh. Is comment moderation bugged again? My last seems to have not gone through.
Lou
Stuart 1 – Mcase 0
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