Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese media house Nikkei had reported that Nintendo was going to stop the production for its last gen console Wii U to make way for its latest Nintendo NX console as the year 2016 comes to an end. But this rumour has been strongly denied by Japanese gaming company saying that this is not company announcement.
Nikkei had reported that Wii U production will cease before the year ends and had cited the lack of sales of the console to be one of the biggest reasons. Wii U first launched in 2012, a year before Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox One and lacked the might of the two consoles both in graphical quality and internet connectivity. Also, it noted that developing games for the Wii U was difficult for game studios due to the console’s particular nature. A 12 million of total Wii U’s have been sold in its lifetime, which is unsubstantial considered PS4 sole 36 million units in 3 years.
Nikkei is known for its almost correct predictions about the Nintendo but this one seems a little off target considering the Nintendo’s official statement. Nintendo in Japanese site IT Media said that it plans to continue sale of its tablet/console hybrid well into next year.
Nintendo has not always been behind with its console numbers considering its Wii sold over 100 million between 2006 and 2013 and even older consoles have had a good run at the market. The Wii U gamble was a bit ambitious and Nintendo on its part did all it could to attract both the players and the developers but nothing seem to work for the Japanese gaming company.
Nintendo’s recent entry into smartphone gaming has been received with overwhelming response at the Japanese market. The debut game Miitomo is ruling charts resulting in Nintendo’s share rise.