Wii U European release reportedly pushed back to December

Manufacturing issues delay console release

Chris KempAugust 11, 2012

CVG reports that sources close to Nintendo say that the Wii U will not be able to meet its November launch window in Europe, but fall back to early December instead.

This is mostly due to the difficulties in manufacturing the Wii U Gamepad, a complex controller with a lot of components, including a 6.2 inch touchscreen display, a front-facing camera, motion-sensing and Near field communication technologies, its own power supply – and it’s going to be wireless.

Nintendo is working hard to stay on target for their US release however, wanting to capitalise on the Thanksgiving holiday.

Another source told CVG back in July that a European release looked like it may slide all the way back to 2013, but Nintendo has since confirmed that they will be releasing their console this year.

The various manufacturing problems plaguing the Wii U are said to be the reason Nintendo have yet to announce a firm launch date for the Wii U – they’re just not sure when they’ll be able to deliver the console.

Lead games analyst for IHS Screen Digest, Piers-Harding Rolls, has said he believes Nintendo could hit 4 million Wii U sales by March 2013, but that it depends largely on “launch price and timing”.

“The big question is the extent of cannibalisation of Wii sales by the Wii U,” he added.

“In general, my outlook is that Wii U console sales will not replicate the success of the Wii. Aside from more intense competition from various other connected devices, the Wii U second-screen dynamic is a more complex consumer proposition compared to the Wii and is much harder to market.”