There’s a world of speculation that, with Nintendo busy developing its next generation console (which may or may not be a hybrid system), that it’s dropping the Wii U like the hot potato it is, and may even shift focus away from the successful 3DS.
That won’t be happening. Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that the company will still support its current machines, and wants those who’ve picked up the Wii U to feel like they’ve made a worthwhile purchase.
“The NX is new hardware, and will start from zero,” Iwata said during a recent investor briefing, reported by Twitter user Nstyles and translated by Cheesemeister.
“However, the 3DS and Wii U have install bases. Immediately cutting off software for previous hardware upon the release of a new machine is inefficient,” Iwata said.
“We are prioritizing satisfying customers who purchased the Wii U,” Iwata added – which should come as a relief to Wii U owners saddened by the relative lack of new games bound for the platform, especially after Nintendo’s lacklustre E3 showing.
The Wii U’s sales issues, like those of the Gamecube really are really quite sad, as both systems are home to some of Nintendo’s best games; Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World and New Super Mario Bros U are shining examples of great iterations in Nintendo’s library of franchises, which may be part of the problem.
The only new IP that’s really made any sort of impact is the excellent Splatoon. Maybe a little more focus on that sort of thing earlier on, and more people would own Wii U’s.
Nintendo’s next console is shrouded in mystery, as they’re afraid people might steal their ideas – which suggests that the NX won’t go the route of the PlayStations or Xboxes of the world by stuffing moar power in to a set top box, lending credence to the swirling prognostication that it’ll be a hybrid console.
Last Updated: June 29, 2015
Xcalibersa
June 29, 2015 at 10:38
Sure…. just like how the wii was still supported after?
Hammersteyn
June 29, 2015 at 10:45
Fortunately Nintendo isn’t run by @johnambitious:disqus
TiMsTeR1033
June 29, 2015 at 10:50
otherwise we might have some issues.
MichaelNLong
June 29, 2015 at 10:51
Your first choice lazygamer Find Here
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TiMsTeR1033
June 29, 2015 at 10:53
Do yourself a favour and find a knife and then glue it to the middle of the chair and see if you can jump off a table and land in your chair seated perfectly, if you do you WIN!!! yay!
kuuu(UMAR)rrrr
June 29, 2015 at 10:51
Snoop Iwata!
HvR
June 29, 2015 at 11:02
One good Wii U game every 2 years. Do no think people will notice if Nintendo stop supporting the Wii U
Kaihaku
June 29, 2015 at 15:20
There’s no need to exaggerate. It’s one good game every six months but with half of them being platformers (most of them sidescrolling at that) and the other half being one of the only solid games of their genre on the system (can we have more than one high quality racing, fighting, adventure, etc).
oVg "I hate Portals" - Geralt
June 29, 2015 at 11:23
Even tho I am a disgruntled gamecube owner, at least the Wii was able to play all gamecube games with the gamecube controller.
kitschybc
June 29, 2015 at 20:24
Called it. Zelda WiiU is going to be put off again so they can release an NX version alongside the new console, just like they did with TP.
This is why I stand by my decision not to get a WiiU until Zelda U is more than just an empty promise and a tentative year date.
And yeah I would certainly hope they’d still be releasing games for the handheld console since I’m assuming NX is a home console? It worries me that that was even brought up, since I get way more use out of the handhelds these days than the consoles.
Luke
July 14, 2015 at 14:54
Thanks for the article. Just want to inform all folks who live outside US that Nintendo Wii is a great media Player. If you want to access Netflix and other streaming stations on your Nintendo Wii you can use UnoTelly as I do to get around the geo block.