Much criticism has been heaped on Nintendo for the vastly underwhelming success of the Wii U. From blaming Nintendo’s marketing to admonishing the lack of exclusives, the Wii U has seemingly been doing everything wrong. And according to former Sony UK developer Kenny Linder [Bigbig Studios], it’s not the fault of the retail chains.
In response to a comment on NeoGAF about retail chains not doing anything to help the Wii U, Linder stated that, “I…I don’t know what to say about comments like this. They stocked it, they had adverts in there and adverts on their websites, Tesco even had a country-wide leaflet campaign showing the system off before Christmas. Game, HMV, Argos and Amazon and more all had pricing promotions.
“It’s not really their job to promote the console, it’s Nintendo who have failed to understand the demands of a western consumer and done an absolutely shit job of advertising it. Shops can’t sell something that nobody wants. Next you’ll be saying that if a band’s new album fails you have to blame iTunes and HMV.”
Linder also commented on the success of the Wii, calling it a 100 million unit fad which probably won’t be repeated any time soon. He states that price cuts can only go so far to help Nintendo. “Price cuts might help but anyone who thinks about it for a minute knows that the pricing isn’t the issue. Some examples (UK): Apple products sell well here, Xbox One is doing great, House prices and sales are up, New car sales are at a record high including companies like BMW and Audi (leased or otherwise).
“My point is people in the UK are happy to spend money – lots in some cases – and that perhaps cost is a factor as a Wii U would be a secondary console for many, but ultimately nobody is interested in a Nintendo home system. They just aren’t.
“Wii was a 100m fad which will probably never be repeated.”
