According to NPD January 2013, the Wii U has sold 55k in a five week month. This is below the Gamecube numbers. It’s very, very bad.
But you don’t hear the Game Industry rejoicing. Why? It is because they know it is more than just the Wii U. It is macro economic factors as well. Every American industry is stagnant or down except for Oil and Gas which is booming. It is highly probable that the Microsoft and Sony consoles will underperform to their 2005-2006 numbers.
For those inside the Game Industry reading this page, know that I did not buy a 3DS or a Wii U. I’m quite unhappy with the ‘experience’ Nintendo is offering lately. I’m different from those hardcore gamers yapping like little dogs on the message forum. I am the market.
The Wii U offers me nothing except for a 2d Mario game which I don’t even consider a 2d Mario game. Why? 2d Mario represents breaking technical boundaries and adding new chapters of content to the Mario universe. All Nintendo thinks they can do is ‘level designs’ but that shit won’t fly.
Nintendo Land has been a disaster. Wii Sports it is not.
However, the hardcore gamers seem to like the Wii U. The disaster in the Wii U sales I attribute entirely to Nintendo focusing on the hardcore and ‘remaking the Gamecube’ because the hardcore think the Gamecube was soooo cool.
What if Pikmin 3 sells LESS than Pikmin 1 and 2 did on the Gamecube? “Pikmin 3 will be the new killer app for Wii U!” Haha, you just keep on thinking that. If Pikmin 1 and 2 didn’t do anything, why would 3 do something? If 3d Mario and Aonuma Zelda didn’t sell the hardware, why would they push hardware now? If Smash Brothers Melee (the BEST Smash Brothers or so I hear) only resulted in Gamecube sales, why would another Smash Brothers do something different?
55k!
“We, the Third Parties of the Game Industry, shall WILL the PS4 and Xbox 3 to success!”
You guys still don’t get it. You don’t control the market. I do. Me and my readers. Or to be more precise, the millions we represent. Yes, there is a macro economic problem. Ask any major investor.
We don’t know what the Xbox 3 or PS4 will offer or how much they will cost. However, we do know about the status of the hardware pushing brands. Halo franchise is in decline with 4. The probability of Call of Duty selling the same numbers or more going forward is not good. Maybe there will be a smash game unleashed at E3. We will see.
I’m betting that Microsoft and Sony perform worse when they launch than in 2006.
Do not ask, “Where did all the Wii gamers go during the 8th Generation?” Ask only, “Where did all the PS2 gamers go during the 7th Generation?” Gaming has been in steady decline for while. Wii was Nintendo’s heroic effort to ‘expand the audience of gamers’ (remember that phrase?). The reasons for Wii’s success still eludes the Game Industry. The Game Industry still refuses to recognize the decline of gaming during the PS2 Era which is incredible. They think Wii was a lightning strike or genius marketing.
I’m not surprised by these numbers.