It appears the Wii U price drop had a positive affect on the console’s sales but not enough to really make a difference. Nintendo says the struggling console sold 300,000 units in the last quarter which is an almost 50% rise from the previous quarter sales of 160,000.
Nintendo dropped the price of the Wii U to $299.99 and focused on only selling the deluxe model and it is still not the push the console needed. Total Wii U sales sit at just under 4 million consoles and is going to need a miracle to reach the 9 million Nintendo forecasted to sell before the end of the year.
Super Mario 3D World is the only big release of the holiday season after Donkey Kong was delayed into 2014. Mario Kart 8 will not release until April 2014 and Smash Bros. won’t see shelves until holiday next year. With horrible sales there is no use in hoping for third party support especially with next-gen consoles a few weeks away.
Nintendo is offering different bundles to push sales including one with Skylanders: Swap Force and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
This hurts as a lifelong Nintendo fan. I have yet to buy a Wii U because I still see no value in paying $300 for it. I have bought every Nintendo console but won’t think of getting one until it hits $199 which is what I was hoping would happen with the price cut a few months ago. I felt Nintendo needed to do like they did with the 3DS and just cut it way down to get sales moving. Alas, it did not happen and the Wii U looks like a defunct console as it heads to its first birthday.
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