Wii U games and third party providers
Written by Staff Reports | | news@toledofreepress.comLaunching in November 2012, the release of the system had almost no Nintendo first party support to speak of besides New Super Mario Bros. U and the bundled Nintendoland. First party titles, including Pikmin 3 and Wii U Fit, were supposed to release only months after launch, but have been delayed until at least this summer. As with the launch with the 3DS, Nintendo expected third-party publishers to do the heavy lifting of supporting the console, and once again they have not cooperated. The most telling summary of this dreadful start has to do with the once Wii U exclusive, Rayman Legends.
Rayman Legends was first scheduled for launch then delays forced the title to move to February. Nintendo’s Wii U has disappointed in sales since its debut and has sold millions less then projected. Video game publishing giant Ubisoft took notice of this and has decided to not only make Rayman Legands available on PS3 and Xbox 360, but also to delay the finished Wii U version till Fall 2013 to coincide with the release of the other versions., which is a significant blow to Nintendo as the outlook of Wii U game titles dims.
Third-party support has been a major issue for Nintendo dating back to the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo Wii was an enormous success for Nintendo but still had very weak support from other publishers. Nintendo has already reduced their overall sales projections from 5.5 million to four million for Wii Us sold through March 2013 as potential fall releases of the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox console loom.
The saying has always been that you buy a Nintendo console for Nintendo games. This will not change for the Wii U. I do not regret buying the system on launch day because as a gaming enthusiast, system launches is something I rarely miss. The average customer though should wait for the price of the Wii U Deluxe to drop at least $50 and wait a year once there is a shelf full of Nintendo first-party games we all love. Nintendo will have to double down on releasing games and acquiring exclusives, something they have struggled in the past.
“Wii U has disappointed in sales”
I keep hearing the media say this over and over again, but its absurd. The original Wii sold 3.5 million in its first 2 months, and the Wii U sold 3 million.
If 3 million consoles sold in 2 months is disapointing, what did we call the PS3 selling almost 920,000 systems in its first 2 months? or the Xbox 360 that sold even less than that.
The original Wii was a freak of nature, and I don’t think any console system will reach those type of sales numbers.
The Wii U will be fine, as titles come out over the next 6 months the system will start selling better, but I wouldn’t expect a price cut until Sony or Microsoft release their console.
This comment was posted on February 11th, 2013 at 2:36 pmAgreed.. The consoles Sales aren’t bad.. Maybe the issue is the rehash of games already released on other systems and no “must have “. Third party titles… I purchased the deluxe set and have purchased four titles now plus some digital titles… Still waiting for something new that shows what the wii u can do and not more games that were already on other systems. Maybe when new ones are released simultaneously for the three systems people will choose the wii u version over the other consoles.. I for one will..
This comment was posted on February 11th, 2013 at 10:13 pmCorey, the Wii launched with severe supply constraints and sold 3.5 million, it might have done 3-4x that amount if stock was available. The Wii U was easily available a week after its launch and still underperformed Nintendo’s own sales expectations for it.
Unfortunately many third party developers are focusing their attention to new technology (PS4/next Xbox) as is the case with even EA stating that Tiger Woods 2014 won’t be available on the Wii U.
As I stated in the article, Nintendo needs to drop the price to gain traction and start having a continual 1st part support. I think the Wii U will end up like the Gamecube or Dreamcast, dead last in sales for the generation but still have great exclusives, and as a gamer that is what’s most important.
This comment was posted on February 12th, 2013 at 12:24 amEA is full of crap. They talk about WIIU not being next gen, yet other games and devz say different. Ps4 isnt too much more powerful and EA needs sony now more than ever, after Nintendo told them to piss off with their origin crap. Its obvious EA is just underhanded and butthurt, trying to badmouth Nintendo, as we can all see WIIU handles ports even better than the originals in most cases. The framerate fiasco was a crock of doodoo, as we can clearly see WIIU rocked better graphics. Now WATCHDOGS n UBISOFT are proving this point again! WIIU is very powerful, slightly less than ps4, and will do amazing games that will make fanboys jealous… n thats exactly what the hate is all about! Nintendo rules, the end. Screw the overhyped bankrupting sony n MS COPYCATS! Screw overhyped 3rd parties, n long live real games regardless of 1st or 3rd party, Nintendo does what the others wish they could.
This comment was posted on March 12th, 2013 at 1:48 pm