Last week, in Japan, the Wii U sold approximately 22,200 units, compared to the previous week in which it sold 13,950 units, resulting in a sales increase of 169%. Many have attributed this jump in sales to the release of Pikmin 3, which sold over 100,000 copies in just the first two days. Sure, some of those Pikmin 3 customers already had a Wii U, but not all of them. It will be interesting to see how North American and European sales compare when Pikmin 3 is released here and there.
Something I have been saying for a while, and was mirrored in a comment on one of yesterday’s posts, is that the Hardware (Although cool and innovative) does not necessarily sell the units. Great games, mixed with a reasonable price, sell units. The console’s power is meaningless if there are not great games to take advantage of the power. This is the perfect example of that. Now that we are approaching the projected release dates of the Xbox One and the PS4, Nintendo is starting to roll out the heavy hitters. Already, after one of the releases in one country, we are seeing a huge increase in sales for the console. Imagine what will happen when the other heavy hitters are released. Some analysts have said that this fall will determine the fate of the Wii U, I remember something similar being said about the 3DS, but I think the Wii U has nothing to worry about at this time. Give it a full year after the launch of the other next gen consoles, compare the sales, and then see who the winner is.
The problem is that these games should have been there from Day 1. Or at least planned out over the first few months. This whole year they had to themselves to get a head start on the competitors has been wasted.
Now having said that, it hasn't been entirely wasted, Miiverse has had a good shakedown and most if not all bugs are gone. The VC is up and running but severely lacking any real killer apps besides Earthbound, but its there. And the eShop has a small but very very good library of games. So anyone jumping into Wii U will have a lot to do and play over the next few months. I just can't help but feel there would be a lot more Wii U sales if Pikmin and 3D World and DKCTF were all released earlier. Of course if that had happened, we might not have seen such a huge bump in 3DS sales and games, of which I am truly thankful for. I love my 3DS. I play it every single day. Every day. I hope Nintendo can find their way soon for the Wii U because just as I had the feeling that the 3DS was at the start full of unrealised potential, I see that in the Wii U as well.
That GIF, I love it. XD
I buy Nintendo consoles because I like to play Nintendo games. It's as simple as that. I love my WiiU and my 3DS, but those systems have spent a great deal of time sitting around doing nothing. My 3DS is with me everyday because of Animal Crossing. My WiiU has been getting some action because I decided to replay Skyward Sword because nothing else was interesting to me. I bought Earthbound and have been enjoying it and look forward to many future releases on the WiiU, but it really is about the games. Nintendo has to keep them coming. You have a huge library of amazing games that you can re-release. Do it. They are why we love you.
Nickpicking a little: I think some of your numbers are wrong because that's not a 169% increase
Frstone, good catch, that 13000 number should be 8251! I posted the difference in sales instead of the previous actual. I will fix it as soon as I get to a pc.
I don't doubt that Nintendo will turn around the Wii U Sales, Nintendo's IPs are huge, and they always deliver Software of a High Quality, but the lack of Third Party Support still concerns me, and the relative Power of the Wii U. I know Power does not equal Great Games, my Wii Library is a lot bigger than my PS3 Library, in fact I think I have more Wii U Games than PS3 Games. Nintendo has also, I feel been without full Third-Party Support since the N64, and have driven sales through their own IPs (and a Couple of Rare's!).
But I do worry about the Console's overall Success if it is without Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden or other 3rd Party IPs, where the cheap price of the Wii meant that people would buy a Wii solely for Mario Kart or Wii Fit, I think the Wii U will have a Tougher job convincing people to part with $250 for Mario Kart 8.
On one Hand I don't think Nintendo did enough at the Start of the Wii U's Life Cycle, but at the same time if they'd tried too Much there's every chance the System would have more Glitches, and they'd be chasing their own Tales. I guess the Problem is we know Slow and Steady Wins the Day, but at the same time we just wish they'd Hurry Up about it!
John Turner, Call of Duty Ghosts has been confirmed to come to the Wii U, alongside five other Activision titles:
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Skylanders Swap Force
Angry Birds Trilogy
Angry Birds Star Wars
SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge
Wipeout Create & Crash
And yet the PS3 still sold 3X more consoles last week….