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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - If Software sells Hardware why Wii U flopped

 

What's the truth

Software sells Hardware 17 54.84%
 
Hardware sells Software 2 6.45%
 
Software sells Software 3 9.68%
 
Hardware sells Hardware (???) 2 6.45%
 
Amazon sells Hardware 5 16.13%
 
Gamestop sells Software 2 6.45%
 
Total:31

Removed double post

Last edited by VAMatt - on 23 January 2021

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Removed triple post



ArtX said:

If the Wii U, from the beginning, were a hybrid it would probably sell good as Switch right now.

Maybe. Maybe not. With 2011-2012 technology though, I honestly think Wii U as a hybrid would have to be weaker than what we got. Probably only 1 GB RAM, similar CPU to what we got, and maybe a marginally better GPU than PS3 and 360.

Now I'm sure that still would've done better than Wii U. Especially if 3DS didn't exist in this alternate timeline and software was going on one platform. 

But I think Nintendo did wait until the right time to make a hybrid, more or less. The Switch launched as an very weak home console specs-wise, but the most powerful handheld leap ever.



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 151 million (was 73, then 96, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million)

PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima

Marketing is the most important part to sales. Doesnt matter how good or bad a product is, you can sell shit to people if you heavily market it.
WiiU was out marketed by two other brands at the same time which overrides the quality games it offered.

This add sums it all up.

Last edited by Azzanation - on 24 January 2021

VideoGameAccountant said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

I mean, Wii U games sells very well on Switch 

Why they bombed so hard on Wii U? Their reviews were good and the (few) people who played seems to not only give it good scores, but are buying them again on Switch 

Because the software wasn't very good. Yes, some Wii U games are doing very well, but all Nintendo games are selling well on the Switch. The only Wii U port that is selling as well as the other big sellers is Mario Kart 8 which was also the best selling game on the Wii U by a mile. The rest are all new titles (BoTW, Animal Crossing, Smash, Pokemon, Splatoon ect). 

Consider as well the games that came out early on. Nintendo Land was kind of lame only existed to show off the Gamepad. Game and Wario was whatever. Mario 3D Land was kind of just another 3D Mario game. The title that really pushed systems early on was New Super Mario Bros U, but it was too similar to the other 3 New Super Mario Bros. Not surprisingly, it's the next best selling Wii U port after Mario Kart 8.If you want a good example of the software being bad, look at Wonderful 101. Despite a big Kickstarter, the game has done poorly one PC, PS4 and Switch. This was one of the big titles for 2013, the Wii U's first full year on the market. So it wasn't that software doesn't push hardware. It's the the Wii U's software wasn't great. 

Agreed and the ecosystem with the tablet is bad. The arcade heritage easy to learn hard to master/local coop experience are on the opposite force in the Wiiu Era. Wiiu resembles more than N64 attempt to 3d and abandoned arcade roots.



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I think the why the reason why the Wii U flopped was the mixture of bad marketing and uninteresting hardware.

Plus even though the Wii U did have great software from Nintendo, it was also missing basically all the 3rd party support and the 3rd party games that did come to the Wii U were inferior to the other platforms so the Wii U suffered from the software side, unlike the Switch where its getting a ton of 3rd party support and 3rd party games been successful on it. While I don't believe 3rd Party games are a huge reason why the Switch is selling, it definitely gives a Switch an advantage over the Wii U when it comes to sales. So the "software sells hardware" is true in this case to a certain extent when it comes to the Switch and Wii U. However, it isn't the biggest reason why the Wii U flopped.
Also the Wii U didn't have a real Pokemon game or a real Animal Crossing which are juggernauts when it comes to sales.

Like alot of other people said in the thread, marketing was a big issue with the Wii U as many people still to this day do not know that the Wii U is an entirely new console rather than just a controller add-on. It's easy to see why most people were confused looking back, from the initial trailer Nintendo completely focused on advertising the controller and didn't even mention "new console" in their reveal. Also it didn't help that the actual design of the Wii U was very similiar to the Wii's design to the point where it looked like an OG Wii revision rather than a new console. Also the advertisements showed people using OG Wii remotes alongside the Wii U giving casuals the impression they were just playing on the Wii with a new tablet controller named the "Wii U". Most average consumers are stupid and lazy and usually won't go out of their way to find out what a Wii U is. I can't tell you how many times people confused my Wii U as being the Wii, many people still believing that Nintendo was still supporting the Wii. I think if it weren't for the atrocious name the Wii U could've sold a respectable 30-40 Million units, twice as much as what it did sell.

Also, the hardware was just uninteresting for people. Nintendo is already typically at a disadvantage when it comes to the home console side of software since they've refused to get good 3rd party support on their console, so what Nintendo depends on to sell their systems is to be as unique, different, and interesting compared to their competitors when it comes to hardware and software. However, the Wii U concept to people just wasn't interesting enough to people to be willing to spend 300$+. The Wii's motion controls were so amazing to people that 100M purchased one. And with the Switch the idea of being able to seamlessly Switch from console to handheld mode was interesting to people and it really was a major advantage the Switch had over its competitors. The Wii U's tablet controller just wasn't impressive, it was far from changing the game like the Wii or Switch did and the Gamepad offered didn't offer much of any meaningful advantage over its competitors.