Tesco overtook HMV to become the UKs 2nd biggest Entertainment Retailer in the highstreet recently. ASDA etc won't be far behind. With the state of UK high streets at the moment, not having your product stocked in Supermarkets is a big blow.

I tried to get Pikmin 3 from Sainsburys this weekend and they didn't have that, they just had a paltry 5 titles for Wii U on the shelf, so this is a worrying trend at the moment for Wii U.

I'm sure it'll start to pick up now some bigger games are coming out though.

Grocery giant Asda dropped Wii U from its shelves in order to support… 3DS.

The supermarket firm called MCV to say that, contrary to reports, it had never stocked Wii U in its 555 stores, and in fact the console was only available in around 100 outlets.

It also firmly denied that it was dropping 3DS, and has in fact increased its support for the handheld.

The company's games boss told us that Wii U will continue to play a part in its online offering, despite being currently unavailable. The machine is currently not available online because of a £100 price cut, which has caused the console to sell out online, he says.

It's still a blow to Wii U. But Asda has reiterated its support for Nintendo and hopes Wii U sales will improve, although has no plans to stock Wii U again this year.

3DS current online availability is also due to a recent price promotion, the supermarket claims.

Asda added that consumers can still order Wii U online and pick it up in store via the firm's Click and Collect service.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/asda-we-still-support-nintendo-despite-wii-u-drop/0119311

----------------------------------------------

So 3DS is still being supported.

Probably, but it's not 100% clear right now where it will go.  My point is that if you combine the title of the thread with what the OP decided to post, the situation seems much worse than it is.  There's more to the story, and Asda will still be selling Wii U games as you can see here:
Asda will stock [Wii U] games on a title by title merit basis as they come along through Asda Direct. We will continue to support Nintendo as a format holder partner.

wait... the X1 is leading in preorders in a grocery supermarket chain? You can pre order in a supermarket in the UK?

Yeah, our supermarkets actually represent quite a big chunk of entertainment sales now (Games/TV/Music/Books)

ASDA in particular actually have video game/DVD sections that are set out like a store within a store.

Supermarkets in the UK are more like what Wal-Marts are now in the US. It's not ununsual at all.

Well that's disappointing but the console just isn't selling enough. Hopefully Mario Kart will boost sales.

Problem is there is going to be even less available space next spring with Xbox One and PS4 out. 360 and PS3 shelf space won't be sacraficed if they're still selling well, it'll be the stuff that isn't.

such an awesome gif i had to share it :D

I doubt this is all ASDA stores. The reason being is that ASDA stores range from 25,000sqft (small) to 120,000sqft (large) Most US Big Box stores are, in contrast, are 175,000sqft to 200,000sqft.

Target offers the smallest big-box store, with Wal-Mart offering the largest big-box stores.

Unlike the US and Canada where a company like Wal-Mart typically finds it easy to expand, in the UK it is very difficult. I mean there's a Wal-Mart in Mexico built on Mayan ruins, and they attempted to build a store on a Civil War battlefield. For them, it's easy to build and if necessary expand.

In the UK, there rarely is the room and often when there is there is significant resistance to it. So, some ASDA's will likely lose merchandise if it doesn't sell significantly well. However, I doubt the larger stores will cease it.