Is the Wii U Really Doing Bad? My Viewpoint

[DanneSandin]

RolStoppable said:

DanneSandin said:
Yes, Wii U is doing poorly - even compared with GC! And that's not good at all. With the success of the Wii I think it's quite fair to say that Nintendo should have gotten more fans than they had in the GC days, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

If you just consider Nintendo's first four consoles (so NES to GC), then it's clear that there was a decline up to the point that you could safely conclude that the market didn't want what Nintendo made (GC was $99 quickly and still didn't sell). Then came the Wii; while the hardcore threw a fit because it was so different from Nintendo's previous trajectory, the market embraced it. What was Nintendo's response? An evolution of the GC that goes by the name of the Wii U; while the hardcore were confused because of the name, the market saw right through it and stayed clear of it. There's simply no good reason for someone who disliked the GC and liked the Wii to buy a Wii U, because the latter embodies and emphasizes everything that was wrong with the GC.

I completely agree; I don't think there's a place for Nintendo in todays gaming industry - at least not a Nintendo home console. They need to find another market segment, like they did with the Wii. I'm not sure what this would be and I'm not sure the "casuals" are the answer either. The casuals have all but disappeared from console gaming and left for iOS/android, so I'm not sure those can be lured back again. Maybe with VR or something else along those lines.

Nintendo needs to evolve one way or another or become a 3rd party supporter, while still maintaining their handhelds for as long as those are profitable.