The Wii U went down to become one of the worst selling consoles in Nintendo’s history. What went wrong?
The Wii U has become Nintendo’s worst selling console. The device was complicated and clunky, combined with a poor games line-up, the Wii U was destined to fail. Executives at Nintendo framed the failed console as a learning experience, but the faults made were evident.
During the 2011 E3, Nintendo unveiled the Wii U, with a release set for 2012. The successor to the Wii would rock a 6.2 inch tablet controller with embedded motion sensors. No pricing was announced for the gaming console, but with Nintendo touting superior specs, The Guardian anticipated the device to be priced around the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. While at surface level the specs seemed impressive, as time progressed, the limited technical performance would serve as the downfall for the Wii U.
Cautious optimism for Wii U
Before the Wii U hit the shelves, there was cautious optimism among developers and publishers. In September 2012, The Guardian spoke with the Creative Director at Firebrand Games, Peter Shea, about the upcoming Nintendo console. Firebrand Games was best known for its Need for Speed and Trackmania ports, and having Wii U games in the pipeline. Shea noted that the technologies used by Nintendo could provide for interesting and unique gaming experiences. Adding that the press was primarily focussed on the specs, rather the unique approach Nintendo took in designing its console.
Shea explained that it was still too early to tell as to how far developers could push the hardware to create great games, noting that no groundbreaking games are to be expected during the first year of the release. However, Shea remained optimistic that great games were to be expected as time progressed. As graphical differences among rivaling consoles would be on par, gameplay would be the defining factor. Nonetheless, uncertainty remained about how other developers would play into the new console.
Developers will try to experiment with the tablet serving as a viewport, gyroscopes and accelerometers. The cameras could add an additional layer of interactivity. Firebrand didn’t necessarily lean into these features Shea noted. The developer was very interested in the controller, which could unlock new pathways for local multiplayer or asynchronous tactical play. Adding that games that can tap into these technologies in novel ways, have the best way to engage players, delivering experiences not present on other consoles.
Challenges still loomed on the horizon, Shea commented. Nintendo would’ve had to properly convey that the Wii U was not a mere Wii with enhanced hardware and graphics. If the toy maker would lean into better hardware, it would alienate the target audience that made the Wii such a success, the casual gamer. Nintendo has to find the right message to keep this audience on board to drive growth. Replicating the success of the Wii might just be impossible.
A disappointing launch
The release of the Wii U didn’t go without its hick-ups. The console sold in the United States, but stock shortages left fans disgruntled. These problems were compounded by users having to install a major firmware update during the first boot, with download files an upward of 5GB. If users decide to shut off their consoles before the process is complete, the console would brick. Furthermore, consumers who bought the entry level 8GB version, would lose a sizable chunk of storage due to the update alone.
Sales figures were equally disappointing, Kristan Reed noted for Pocket Gamer in December 2012. US sales only totaled 400,000 by the end of November of the same year, with UK sales lingering around 40,000 Wii U’s sold. These numbers are but a fraction of the Wii, which managed to ship 105,000 units in the UK and 476,000 in the US six years prior. The lackluster pick-up revealed an uphill battle for Nintendo. On top of the poor reception, the launch games didn’t fare much better, failing to reach a top ten position.
Reed also referred back to the massive system-update new owners would have to download. A system-update necessary to play online, a department where Nintendo had a lot of catching up to do, especially in relation to Sony’s PlayStation Network and Xbox’s Live network, which was the benchmark at the time. Not all hope was lost however, Reed commented, as the console was enjoying positive world-of-mouth momentum, with creative games such as NintendoLand and Zombi U showcasing how the hardware could be used to its full potential.
The Wii U controller, which is odd at first, offered some unique experiences for gamers.The core issue however, Reed pointed out, wasn’t the large system update nor the clunky tablet controller, it was the hefty price point that kept potential buyers at bay. The Wii was priced below $250, meanwhile the Wii U, with the top range model, was an upward of $400. A hefty increase for those who were looking for a casual gaming experience. Factor in the additional accessories required, and the price starts to balloon very quickly.
Nintendo’s digital storefront also didn’t offer a competitive alternative to the jam-packed PlayStation Store offered by Sony. Nintendo had a limited offering, with games not suitable for impulse purchase. A strategy Sony had mastered, offering cheap, fun to play games and full priced Triple A titles. Nintendo meanwhile had yet to understand how consumers wanted to discover new games.
In April 2013, Nintendo missed its revenue forecast by 50 percent due to poor Wii U and 3DS sales. The Wii U only sold 390,000 units in the first quarter of 2013, clocking at 3.45 million units sold since its launch, way below the anticipated 4 million. Along with hardware sales, 13.43 million games were sold, with Nintendo Land and Super Mario Bros accounting for almost 3 million copies sold. Having a low volume platform can be detrimental for publisher support, as a small target audience makes for a poor business case.
Publishers are skeptical
In July 2013, Peter Moore, who led EA Sports, said in an interview with Games Industry, that the company had no games in development for the Wii U game console. EA was present with four launch games, only to be disappointed by the poor reception. Moore pointed out that the lack of online engagement on the platform had been troubling, especially for EA whose games lean heavily into online interactions. Adding that the community is so small, it’s not worth keeping servers up and running.
Moore said that the Wii U felt like a box that was out of sync with the company’s future, with the Wii U feeling more like an offline device than a console that brings players together. Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo, tried to subdue some of the criticism, noting that the company was aware of the challenge ahead, pointing out the console needed a good software line-up to elevate the customer experience. However, Games Industry noted that for the coming holiday no games were planned.
Almost a year into its launch however, the odds seemed to turn against Nintendo. The company announced it would stop production of the Wii and that one of its most popular franchises, Donkey Kong, would be delayed to February 2014. Lifting it over the crucial holiday period. Sales for the Wii U meanwhile were already on the decline, despite Nintendo reducing the price of $299. Simultaneously sales for the Wii were slowing down, as the toy maker was phasing out its previous generation gaming console.
Steve Peterson for Games Industry noted that the Gamepad was inflating the price of the Wii U, which was a result of Nintendo’s push to get into the tablet hype. However, the tablet itself, Peterson observed, only supported a low-resolution screen, poor touch capability and cannot work independently from the main console, having to always be in near proximity. Sony and Microsoft meanwhile allow users to connect with their device from anywhere through their smartphone and tablets. This, in stark contrast, to the low-end Wii U Gamepad.
Hence Peterson proposed Nintendo should seek drastic measures to generate the necessary sales. One avenue the company could explore was removing the GamePad, which would drastically reduce the price, and turn a profit. Through software updates, Nintendo could enable support for smartphones and tablets, which are just as capable as controllers. The GamePad could be sold as an accessory for the Wii U.
This change however cannot be established without Nintendo having a stable and consistent line-up of games that draws players in. Games have been delayed and system sellers, for new and existing fans, had yet to be released. Peterson noted that this wasn’t the first time Nintendo had driven itself into a tight spot, referencing the GameCube which had a similar lackluster reception. The toy maker turned its fortunes around by releasing the Wii.
Developing for the Wii U
In January 2014, a third–party developer spoke to Eurogamer about his experiences creating games for the infamous Nintendo. He was one of the first who received details about the upcoming console, allowing him to work extensively on the new hardware, which resulted in the company releasing one of the better performing games. However, sales seemed to slump as the Wii U was unable to gain enough momentum with consumers.
The developer explained that games development follows a similar pattern. During the research phase hardware manufacturers draft the goals and component designs. These serve as guide rails for components manufacturers, who showcase the necessary parts and the costs involved. Once the specifications are decided, internal development kits are sent to engineers who can test the software on the hardware. After initial testing, the manufacturer presents the new hardware to the developer.
The first-party developers receive the privilege to assess the initial designs. This feedback can alter the hardware, although the adjustments will be limited, as the manufacturers will have to start gearing up production. During this stage, hardware manufacturers go to the larger third-party studios, such as Ubisoft, Take-Two and EA. The hardware manufacturer has to pitch the new device, convincing larger studios to start developing games. Major changes to the hardware are rare, but software changes can be made to satisfy large developers to get them onboard.
The run-up to the Wii U went in the same fashion as the Wii, the developer noted. NDAs were signed and a presentation about the upcoming hardware was given. The console would be the same size as the Wii, but with updated hardware and maintaining low noise levels during operations. The developer recalled saying that the console shouldn’t make too much noise so mums would allow the device in the living room. It was at this moment, the developer noted, alarm bells started to go off in his mind.
The exact reasoning as to why the console was set to fail was yet to be formulated, he commented, sitting through the presentation. The new controller was demonstrated, which looked slick and could unlock exciting new gaming opportunities. The glaring issues with the concept started to arise when the specifications were revealed. The tight packaging, which couldn’t exceed that of the Wii, wouldn’t allow for proper cooling and with Nintendo reluctant to change the lay-out, this would cause heat problems.
In order to off-set the heating issues, the CPU would run at a low clock speed. This meant the Wii U would vastly underperform compared to the Xbox 360, which had its own set of problems due its ambitious targets. However, Nintendo waved aside these obvious shortcomings, noting lower power consumption was one of the primary design goals, with other CPU stats compensating for the lower performance.
An underpowered machine
The low clocked CPU started to take a life of its own, with developers, while being impressed by the tablet controller, started to question the technical capabilities of the new device. Several years later, Nintendo would admit that its hardware wasn’t up to the standards customers were expecting. Development kits didn’t exist at the time, so developers were trying to emulate the performance on custom PCs with underclocked CPUs to see how their code would operate on the Wii U. Developers quickly learned that there would be little wiggle room to push games to the next level. Especially in light of the technical capability of the Playstation and Xbox 360.
These concerns were voiced two years prior to the detailed story by the unnamed developer. Back in September 2012, Producer of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, Akihiro Suzuki, told Eurogamer that the Wii U’s CPU was a major bottleneck for the developer when compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360. In resource heavy games such as Dynasty Warriors, which render many objects, the underperforming CPU in the Wii U limits what can be delivered to the player. Suzuki noted that dealing with this limitation had been a challenge for the team.
As development kits were starting to reach developers, they quickly learned that the hardware was larger than the Wii U itself. As the honeymoon started to fade and studios were trying to run their code, they quickly learned that getting code to compile turned harder than initially anticipated. Visual Studio, one of the most popular development programs and delivered by Nintendo themselves, didn’t run nor close. A third-party had to come in and fix the issue.
The problems didn’t end there. While Visual Studio was running eventually, the compilation was slow, the developer who spoke with Eurogamer noted. Even when minor changes were made, the code compiler slowed down exponentially. This made debugging especially frustrating as many hours would fly by to solve them. Debugging was further discouraged as Nintendo used a debugger provided by Green Hills Software, which wasn’t widely used in the community.
This meant first a learning curve had to be overcome before developers could start debugging the already severely lagging software suite. This problem was amplified as Nintendo kept sending new development kits in different colors, with the developer being puzzled as to why new units were sent as there was no obvious difference to be found compared to the previous version.
The poor handling of development kits and the embedded software became emblematic for the entire experience that studios had to go through. From poor documentation to lacking customer support, every step of the way they were hindered, making developing games a chore. The underwhelming software performance could be witnessed in the shaky release schedule of crucial franchises necessary to boost sales in the years that followed.
Crucial games delayed
In March 2015, Nintendo announced that The Legend of Zelda was delayed beyond 2015 and would skip a demonstration at the upcoming E3. The producer said the developers had found new avenues to enrich the game. By June 2016, the game still hadn’t come out, with Zelda now seeing a next generation adaptation. Business Insider cited Nintenod who commented that the game experienced delay upon delay due to its complicated physics, which are said to be very complex.
Whatever the reasoning, Nintendo was struggling to get its major franchises off the ground. In September 2015, Star Fox Zero got delayed to at least the following year. In a Facebook update, referenced by Time Magazine, Game Designer at Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, said the team aimed for a 2015 release, however, it needed more time to deliver an unparalleled two screen experience for players. Star Fox Zero needed more time to polish level designs and improve cut scenes. The team now aimed to release the game in the first quarter of 2016. The delay of one of its most important franchises was yet another blow to its already crumbling release schedule.
Wii U sales flatline
In February 2017, the Wii U reached a lifetime sales figure of 13.5 million, clocking as Nintendo’s worst selling console to date, falling behind the GameCube, which managed to reach 21.74 million in sales. The sales numbers of the Wii U pale in comparison to the original DS, which has been a smash hit for the toy company, selling over 150 million units.
During the GeekWire Summit in October 2018, Reggie Fils-Aimé, President for Nintendo America, reflected on the lackluster performance of its Wii U game console. Fils-Aimé commented that the Wii U was launched after the unprecedented success of the Wii, which sold an upward of 100 million copies. The Wii U was unable to rival the success of the Wii. However, despite the disappointing results Fils-Aimé said the device gave valuable insights into customer preferences, which served as the blueprint for the Nintendo Switch.
While the Wii U wasn’t meant as a beta-test to test the appetite for a tablet power device, it revealed areas of improvement for the team at Nintendo to recapture their creativity and craft the Nintendo Switch. One of the valuable insights was the poor connectivity of the Wii U. Customers, Fils-Aimé, explained they liked the tablet, but couldn’t stray away from the main console too far, otherwise the device would disconnect. This resulted in improved connectivity for the Nintendo Switch.
Research analyst for Wedbush Securities, Michael Pachter, told GeekWire that Nintendo had launched the Wii U too late, with its design being too complicated and awkward. The Switch meanwhile was more reminiscent of the GameBoy, which lowered the barrier to entry for existing customers. The Switch also received far better first party support, coming with enough games to draw customers in.
Recovery through the Switch
A lot went wrong in the lead up to the disappointing release of the Wii U. Nintendo had put a lot of faith into the tablet powered console. The pressure was high to emulate the success of the Wii, but many knew that this was a near impossible task. Especially when considering the high price point of the Wii U, which alienated casual gamers and pushed regular gamers who were looking for the next generation gaming experience to Sony and Microsoft.
Nintendo also failed to capitalize on its most popular franchises, seeing delay upon delay. Furthermore, the company was unable to build a robust online experience, the staple feature during this console generation. Large publishers such as EA had little faith that Nintendo could turn the ship in the right direction. Luckily, just like with the GameCube, the toy maker had learned from its mistakes and released the Switch, which undid much of the damage done by the introduction of the Wii U.
