Soundwave on 27 November 2013
| OneTwoThree said: Well it was never going to sell much better on an install base that tiny. Pretty sure even Nintendo is not surprised. It will just have to keep selling. Their only chance for a significant Wii U improvement would have been Mario Kart 8. Bet they'd have loved to release it this holiday, but in the end it's wise to hold it back until spring. Otherwise Wii U would just die next year. Next year should be good, at least in terms of games... MK8, Smash, Donkey Kong, X, Yoshi's Yarn, Bayonetta 2 and a few unannounced ones. That's a lot of first party heavyweights in one year. Plus info on Zelda (and Metroid?). |
I think Nintendo was hoping the combo of NSMBU + Wii Party U hardware bundles + Wii Sports Club + Wii Fit U trial + Mario 3D World + Taiko Drum Master would cause a large boost and act as kind of a "relaunch" for the system in Japan. They were wrong.
Basically they were banking on the "Wii casual" + Mario fan audience carrying them this holiday. Casuals have betrayed them, I think that much is obvious. Only reason Wii Party U is putting up respectable numbers in Japan is because it comes bundled with the system whether you want it or not.
As a standalone release it's a bomb.
