Nintendo's recent woes continue. The company already posted its first loss last year, and more recently has suffered slow sales of its Wii U console. And now here's one of its partners putting the boot in.
In an earnings call with investors, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick has said he's "somewhat disappointed with the launch of the Wii U." Not only that, his company is also facing "challenges from slower-than-expected adoption of the Wii U."
Just last month, Nintendo released figures that said the console had only sold 3 million units. Admittedly the original Wii's sales were about equal at the same time in its lifespan, but that was because Nintendo couldn't make them quick enough to satisfy demand. The Wii U has left potential customers confused and a little apathetic.
Nintendo isn't ready to give up though. It has a raft of classic titles waiting in the wings that should help it gain momentum. Legendary Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is convinced that once people get the console in their hands, they'll be sold.
Nintendo has also refused to drop the price, despite acknowledging the console is struggling. "With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," company president Satoru Iwata said in a statement.
Iwata admitted Nintendo hasn't "fully communicated the value of our product" but that it'll "try to do so before the lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U."
I don't want to sound harsh, but if people need help understanding the appeal of your product, you've done something wrong. We're in a post-iPad age here, where it should be self-evident what each gadget does. I think the Wii U's real problem is a lack of killer titles. Let's hope Nintendo can sort it out sharpish.
Do you agree with the head of Activison Blizzard? And will Xbox Smart Glass leave the Wii U dead in the water? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.
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anonymous 10 February, 2013 00:23
There's a difference between struggling and selling slightly below expectations, and in this case, Nintendo is doing the latter. The success of the Wii U is not a debatable question, as like all of Nintendo's recent video game consoles and handhelds, the Wii U will be a very successful platform.
The question is, when will the Wii U actually begin to truly show this success?
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 for the Wii U is doing fairly well, and averages at over 3,000 active and online players. However, compared to the other consoles, which have well over 500,000 players online at any given time, the Wii U may be seen as a 'failure' in Activision's eyes. I doubt they've truly put the age of the Wii U into much consideration here, and the fact that the other consoles have had the time to build a respectable playerbase seems to be have been completely overlooked by Activision's CEO.
Although this is a nicely written article, the journalistic integrity is questionable. It seems as though all of the advantages the Wii U provides has been replaced with stretched-out criticism which has no real impact or standing on the Wii U console. Such statements as 'Nintendo isn't ready to give up though' implies that Nintendo is having some form of mystical problems with the Wii U. Honestly, so what if the device hasn't sold 10 million units? It has only been on the market for three months, and has already outperformed the year-old Vita in total sales.
Nice read. Just wish people would stop bashing a company for their success.
Damien2701 10 February, 2013 08:51
The wii u will not succeed! It has hardware that is about 8 yr old. It comes with a giant weird tablet. It sucks. Once the ps4 and next xbox are out wii u is sunk.
anonymous 10 February, 2013 16:04
I don't know the inside but for sure the outside looks as if a 1990's Video Console.