Nintendo News: Gaming Giant Actually Thought Wii U Would Sell 100 Million Units [VIDEO]
In the current gaming generation, there is no doubt that the Wii U has been a relative flop so far. Selling an estimated 12.8 million units while in the market for four years, Nintendo's current generation console stands far behind its rivals, the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
As it turns out, however, Nintendo had far different expectations for the Wii U. After its previous console, the innovative Wii, Nintendo had apparently speculated that the Wii U would be just as popular.
In a recent shareholder meeting, Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima described how Nintendo's top brass thought the Wii U would sell just as many consoles as its predecessor, which sold a staggering 101 million units during its production run.
"In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide. The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system, and that this would be no easy task," he said.
One of the most prominent reasons behind the Wii U's failure is the fact that it simply is grossly underpowered compared to its rivals. Apart from this, the console's controller, which is basically a tablet with dedicated buttons, proved unwieldy and inefficient. Indeed, the Wii U's tablet controller only lasted a few hours of use, rendering ineffective.
Nintendo is set to unveil its next-generation console, the enigmatic NX, early next year. Though the specifics of the NX remain a mystery until this day, it is highly speculated that Nintendo would be attempting to pull off something unique with its upcoming gaming machine once more. Recent rumors point to the NX utilizing cartridges once more, while other speculations allege that the new machine would have some form of VR support.
