{"id":61521,"date":"2014-01-21T02:41:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=61521"},"modified":"2014-01-21T02:42:07","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:42:07","slug":"what-is-nintendo-playing-at","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/61521-what-is-nintendo-playing-at","title":{"rendered":"What is Nintendo playing at?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you missed the news, Nintendo recently announced that they have cut their Wii U sales forecast<\/a> from 9 million to 2.8 million by the end of their financial year (March 2014).<\/p>\n

Nintendo has also cut their net profit forecast from 55 billion Yen to 25 billion Yen.<\/p>\n

The Wii U is an amazing device. I have owned mine since August when I was lucky enough to grab one when they went on sale for R999 at Toys-R-Us.<\/p>\n

It has never let me down in terms of quality titles and a experience that I have yet to have from my PS4.<\/p>\n

So why is Nintendo finding it so hard to sell this console? Let’s take a look at factors affecting this:<\/p>\n

Lack of titles<\/h3>\n

The Wii U lacks third party support. Other than Ubisoft and a handful of indie developers, Nintendo has found it difficult to get games developed for their console.<\/p>\n

The console shines with its AAA first party titles, but if you own a Wii U you should expect a new title only every 1-2 months, due to its lack of support.<\/p>\n

Nintendo has a huge lineup for 2014, with Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, and a new Zelda scheduled for reveal at E3.<\/p>\n

Price<\/h3>\n

Before the launch of the next gen PS4 and Xbox One, the Wii U was the most expensive console on the market.<\/p>\n

It now retails for $299, $100 less than a PS4. Game pricing matches that of other platforms.<\/p>\n

\"Nintendo<\/a>

Nintendo Wii U<\/p><\/div>\n

Sales<\/h3>\n

The Wii U has been on the market for 14 months. In that time it has sold a mere 4.3 million units. This low install base means its not a particularly attractive console for developers.<\/p>\n

Timing<\/h3>\n

The Wii U launched in November 2012, a year before the PS4 and Xbox One rollout. 2012 and 2013 were both big years for Nintendo’s competitors in terms of titles and sales.<\/p>\n

The Verdict<\/h3>\n

A combination of these factors has led Nintendo to its dire predicament. Why buy a Wii U if you can add $100 and get a PS4? Sony’s console has a long lifespan ahead, while the Wii U was looking long in the tooth when it launched.<\/p>\n

Every reason Nintendo has given gamers to buy a Wii U has been followed up by more reasons not to. I really hope Nintendo has a great plan for the Wii U; I love it and really hope it succeeds.<\/p>\n

Yes, I only get a game every two months, and it stays switched off for weeks on end, but it does have the special quality that makes it a Nintendo console – it’s a kind of magic that makes you feel that your purchase was the best thing you ever did, but at the same time you will really hope for a new game announcement every time there is a Nintendo Direct broadcast.<\/p>\n

Do you own a Wii U and feel the same, or regret buying one? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

More gaming news<\/h3>\n

SA competitive Dota 2 growing fast<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tomb Raider finally cracks a profit<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nintendo forecasts big loss, Wii U doomed?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA game dev stats \u2013 local industry gaining strength<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should Wii U owners be concerned by Nintendo’s lacklustre console sales?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":61522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_enabled":true,"_sma_x_custom_text":"","_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[21,73,1399],"class_list":["post-61521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-headline","tag-nintendo","tag-wii-u"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61523,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61521\/revisions\/61523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}