Nintendo Hacks $50 From Wii U Price Amidst Poor Sales, As PS4 and Xbox One Launches Loom Large
We really wanted to love the Wii U. Everyone did, really. The original Wii was a huge product, and in a lot of ways, it shaped the future of the home console. Both Sony and Microsoft followed the motion gaming trail with Move and Kinect, but the original Wii Remote was what pioneered that. The Wii U, sadly, missed the mark in a lot of ways. It felt half-baked, the graphics weren't a tremendous improvement, and developers are even disowning it as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 loom large.
Sales on the Wii U have been far below Nintendo's own expectations, and now that its primary rivals have new home consoles only months away, Nintendo is being forced to cut the price of the Wii U just a year after it was launched. If you'll recall, the original Wii was still sold out a year after launch. It's pretty wild to think how far Nintendo has fallen in that regard.
Starting on 9/21, the Deluxe 32GB Wii U bundle will drop from $349 to $299. Oddly, the stock 8GB system will remain $299, but it's likely that Nintendo will phase that SKU out entirely; we mentioned in our review that it felt silly to opt for the 8GB unit, given that you'd definitely end up needing the extra space if you were even a light-duty gamer.
In the grand scheme of things, hopefully this will help Nintendo move units, which will lead to more software sales, which will lead to enhanced interest from developers. The market's too important to lose a mainstay like Nintendo, so we sure hope it somehow fends off the naysayers in the months ahead.
Sales on the Wii U have been far below Nintendo's own expectations, and now that its primary rivals have new home consoles only months away, Nintendo is being forced to cut the price of the Wii U just a year after it was launched. If you'll recall, the original Wii was still sold out a year after launch. It's pretty wild to think how far Nintendo has fallen in that regard.
Starting on 9/21, the Deluxe 32GB Wii U bundle will drop from $349 to $299. Oddly, the stock 8GB system will remain $299, but it's likely that Nintendo will phase that SKU out entirely; we mentioned in our review that it felt silly to opt for the 8GB unit, given that you'd definitely end up needing the extra space if you were even a light-duty gamer.
In the grand scheme of things, hopefully this will help Nintendo move units, which will lead to more software sales, which will lead to enhanced interest from developers. The market's too important to lose a mainstay like Nintendo, so we sure hope it somehow fends off the naysayers in the months ahead.
