Rumors have been abound about the possible release of Nintendo NX this year, and all the little tidbits that surround it such as titles and even a controller. However, if there is one thing that can confirm the eventual release of the console is the death of its predecessor, and that's what is reportedly set to occur as reports now suggest that Nintendo will end production of the Wii U by the end of the year.
The report was published in Japanese newspaper Nikkei and later translated by gaming analyst Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games. To support this, the report goes on to allege that the Nintendo has already stopped making certain Wii U accessories. In a similar vein, the report says Nintendo will fully announce the NX this year.
1) The Nikkei just reports Nintendo will stop producing Wii U within 2016. It doesn't say they will necessarily start selling NX in 2016.
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) March 22, 2016
As Dr. Toto notes the move to kill off the Wii U makes sense across the board. First and foremost is sales. The Wii U has been a flop in almost every sense of the word. Whereas the Nintendo Wii sold more than 100 million units, the Wii U could barely muster more than a tenth of that, selling about 12.6 million units since it debuted in 2012.
These sales are particularly shocking due to the fact that the console came out before other current-gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, yet is losing to them both. Some argue that this is because the Wii U, just like all the Nintendo consoles before it, have been marketed towards families, but these sales have been paltry nonetheless.
Granted, the Wii U does have some strong titles under its belt. "Super Mario 3D World," "Super Mario Maker," "Splatoon," "Mario Kart 8," "Super Smash Brothers Wii U" and "Bayonetta 2" have done wonders for the console, but therein lies the Wii U's other problem: third-party support. All of these games are exclusive to Nintendo and while the console does have a few third-party games, none of them are necessarily worth writing home about.
Third-party developers like EA quickly sent back their Wii U development kits shortly after the console's release, which was quite unfortunate considering the potential the tablet controller had with certain games. Imagine being able to access your inventory and switch weapons on the fly in the middle of a firefight in "Destiny?" We can only dream.
If the Wii U truly dies out this year, it would join the likes of Microsoft's Xbox and Sega's Dreamcast as one of the shortest-lived major consoles in history.
So with Wii U potentially on the executioner's block, what do we have to look forward to this year? "Star Fox Zero" is coming on April 22, while "Paper Mario: Color Splash" is also coming out at some point this year. For those with niche interests, "Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE," will be making hitting the stage on June 24. The standout among these is the long-delayed "Legend of Zelda" which is slated to come out for the Wii U sometime this year as well, however with an expected NX release, it might not matter much.
Regardless of what happens with the Wii U, it will prove to be an experience Nintendo isn't likely to soon forget. The console was one of Nintendo's greatest failures, but it was also home to some of its greatest games.
