On Jan. 29, Nintendo held an investor meeting showing how the Wii U, the sequel to the Wii, stacked up to previous consoles and current generation consoles such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But according to the sales of the Wii U in comparison to other consoles, Nintendo’s new console might be destined for doom.
Every six years or so, Nintendo releases a new console featuring new hardware specs and new games. The Nintendo Wii came out in 2006, and the Wii U came out in late 2012 with revamped hardware and better specs, including the Wii U Gamepad, exclusively for the Wii U. Unfortunately, Wii U sales looked pretty dismal, with seemingly no hope for Nintendo’s year and a half old console. So, what can Nintendo do? Is all lost for this video game titan?
Well, no, actually. Let’s get one thing out of the way. For any of those still confused, the Wii U is not the Wii; it’s the next edition in the line of Nintendo consoles. The gamepad, a controller similar to a tablet, can only be used with the Wii U. Many are confused and believe the Wii U gamepad is like the Wii Fit Board, an accessory for exercise-related games.
The Wii U has a primary problem — its sales figures. An additional factor to the Nintendo problem is lack of advertising. Without any proper advertising, consumers are left in the dark about what makes the Wii U different from the Wii. All this confusion between the two consoles is what contributes to lack of sales.
A lot of people have said that it is time for Nintendo to drop the Wii U and start on a new console. In fact, there have been rumors floating around the inter-webs speculating a new Nintendo console called Nintendo Fusion.
This console would be different in that it would be the best console available right now in terms of specs and hardware. However, those rumors seem to be just that: rumors. As a Wii U owner, I think the idea of Nintendo giving up on their Wii U is a ridiculous idea.
Now, the video game giant could release a new console, and that would definitely fix the lack of specs on the Wii U, however that’s just not how Nintendo rolls. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said in the investor meeting that his “conviction and passion has not been shaken,” even after the bleak sales of the Wii U. They have good reason for that, though.
Nintendo likes to stockpile as much money as they can after the release of a successful console or game. They have been doing that for years and years. Their predicted sales for the Wii U may have dropped from 9 million to 2.8 million, but Nintendo has never been better moneywise. They have approximately $4.4 billion saved up, more than enough to survive at least a couple of unsuccessful years. Now would be the time for them to take some of that stockpiled money and invest it in advertising the Wii U. Nintendo has shown off some remarkable advertising skills in the past such as their weekly issue of Nintendo Power and their movie that came out in the late 80s called, “The Wizard,” and showing off that prowess now would undoubtedly increase Wii U sales as some of the confusion concerning the console would clear up.
The next problem Nintendo has to work on is games. In the year and a half since the Wii U was released, Nintendo has released some games for the Wii U such as remakes for a Legend of Zelda, Pikmin 3, and several third party software, but none thus far can justify having a Wii U over other consoles. Most games so far have purely been ports to the Wii U of third-party games and remakes. There have been a few games exclusive to the Wii U, but none have been as groundbreaking as say, Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii known for its ingenious use of gravity platforming and beautiful visuals. As long as Nintendo begins releasing more must-own first-party games that people really want to play and will give them a reason to own the Wii U, such as the upcoming Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros, Wii U sales are sure to go up.
Nintendo’s state may seem bleak now, but Nintendo is still on its feet and far from falling behind as a remnant of the past. Increasing advertising and adding new software titles will lead Nintendo out of the doghouse. The giant will bounce right back and return to be the leading software developer that we all know and love.
