With the tiny install base that the Wii U has worldwide? LOL, fat chance.
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ASDA no longer stocking/selling the Wii U in stores, won't restock this year
- Thread starter Nibel
- Start date
With the tiny install base that the Wii U has worldwide? LOL, fat chance.
Aquamarine
Member
With 3.06 million consoles shipped, Nintendo managed to ship 2.01 million units of New Super Mario Bros. U worldwide in the 2012 holiday season.
I'm going to assume that's the maximum console-to-software sell-in ratio. If so, at the moment it is theoretically impossible for 3D World and DK:TF to outpace the The Last of Us in the 2013 holiday season UNLESS they were linearly accompanied by a dramatic upswing in Wii U console shipments.
It all depends on how heavily retailers want to feature the latest titles / how much investment they are willing to put into the "Wii U relaunch" when there are two brand-new consoles that are taking center stage.
ProfessorMoran
Member
It doesn't even have a capacitive touchscreen for fuck's sake, it's exactly current tech they're putting in there.
IdreamofHIME
Member
It was somone's idea to to keep the Wii on shelves 18months too long, with very little in way of a library just to squeeze the very last sales they could from it before launching a next gen console that looked weak less than 6months after launch.
WiiU should have been on shelves early 2011, not Xmas 2012.
Iwata's the man at the top, he's the one who should bite the bullet for the horrible strategy of both consoles.
First: They are still selling it. Second: Ever went into an Asda? The majority of them doesnt even have some shelf for videogames. And the shelf is in general shrinking.
I am Michael Bolton
Banned
It's a huge retailer that will no longer stock the Wii U. No matter which way you slice it, it's bad news.
ProfessorMoran
Member
What type of console tech would Nintendo be putting in a console in 2011 if in 2012 they launched a console that was hardly an upgrade from current gen?
Aquamarine
Member
The Wii was essentially abandoned Holiday 2011 after Skyward Sword was released. It was a real shame that Nintendo improperly timed the development and launch of Wii U. The common train of thought was IF Nintendo could make the Wii U successful / grow profits despite the setback, all would be forgiven.
So, the corporate strategy I'm referring to is aimed at profitability and console momentum for the upcoming fiscal year.
We're talking about two fiscal periods here: FY 2013 (April 2012 - March 2013) and FY 2014 (April 2013 - March 2014).
FY 2013 was the launch period, so dramatic hardware / software drops post-launch were forgivable (but very, very worrying).
In response to investor concerns, Iwata announced his corporate strategy for FY 2014 which was intrinsically back-loaded, beginning August with back-to-back 1st-party releases.
We are just about to enter this period.
MY point is that Iwata's strategy is incomplete. We can only theorize Iwata's potential success / failure based off of historical precedent. Thus, I said it was "premature" to pin failure on Iwata just yet. Based on precedent / intuition, he may be heavily oriented for failure. But from an investor's standpoint, Holiday 2013 (and to a lesser extent, Spring 2014) will be the deciding factor.
You are slicing your previous statement
. But of course, its bad news that Asda is no longer stocking the Wii U consoles in stores. Of course. Just lets be honest here, Asda is not really invested into videogames. Its a subpoint for them. Regardless, its still bad.It'll be suicide if they do that. ASDA will refuse to carry anymore of Nintendo's stuff, & other retailers might follow suit if Nintendo does the same thing to everyone else.
They're already struggling as it is with the Wii U; they can't afford to struggle even more so now.
xValentine
Member
lol, come on now.
Air Zombie Meat
Member
I don't think asda is that big a deal but it is significant and a direct result of poor sales. This news is just a sign of worse things to come.
razoftblend
Member
According to people who live there, they don't stock the 3DS either, and that's a seller over there. Some of them haven't even stocked the Wii U at all or its games. Sales might be an issue, but I don't think it's the main reason for this decision.
Asda is a bigger deal than people give credit for because they've been selling the Wii U for less than RRP since March with little-to-zero effect on sales.
In March they cut £50 off the price and they slashed another £50 off the price in May.
They've become the benchmark for the impact that an official price drop would have and the signs are not good. Even at £149/£199 - a third off the original price - the Wii U will not sell.
That's massively significant for all retailers because they know that once Nintendo goes into price drop mode, not even a £100 saving will make much difference.
I can confirm the 3DS thing as utter bullshit. All three of my local Asda superstores stock 3DS consoles and games.
Miles Quaritch
Member
According to who? Asda stock the 3DS. Hell, their 3DS selection is pretty big in my experience.
They always have the latest releases along with the top ten best selling games on the platform and various other titles. The Vita is something that they don't seem to carry beyond a couple of shelves in the PS3 section.
Air Zombie Meat
Member
Thanks for the info Burai, didn't know that. That is worrying. Makes the wii u's future seem a lot bleaker.
Yep the asdas around me have a decent sized videogame section as well, as you say they dropped the wii u to mega bomba prices and it didnt seem to do anything. £149.99 brand new next gen nintendo console just didnt do anything its a bad sign that even if widespread price drops happen its not going to help it, they need a fuckton of games and very very fast. Im fearing lower than cube levels in the uk.
xValentine
Member
How far long is that "near future"?
1-2 years? Then yes, people will easily migrate to Next Gen because Sony and Microsoft will do everything they can to make that happen.
High price point? the WiiU is just $50 cheaper than the PS4 and thats 10 times more powerful and much better third party support than the WiiU can ever dream of.
They won't notice the difference in cross-gen games this early that's for sure.
Most of them probably won't, but we're talking about 140million 360/PS3 owners here. Once their favorite franchises are not being released on the 360/PS3, they will surely move on to next gen. Not the WiiU, but to XBONE/PS4.
Most likely they can't as they easily ignored the WiiU but I don't blame them because nothing on the WiiU screams next-gen tbh.
I think this is going to be Nintendo's biggest problem. How will they convince retailers to keep the worst selling console on the shelves when the PS4 and Xbone are launched? Retailers need to make space for these two newcomers. The logical thing to do is to get rid of the two worst selling items in their stores: the Vita and the Wii U - or at least minimize their retail presence.
Miles Quaritch
Member
Minimizing their presence from what it is now would basically mean removing them from shelves. Both have a very small presence in most retailers.
The website is out of stock so people earlier in the thread took that to mean that Asda don't sell the 3DS either.
The Vita might be okay for a bit if Sony incorporate remote play into the in-store advertising for PS4.
For all the will in the world Remote Play isn't going to save the Vita.
I'm not sure which ASDAs you've been visiting, every single one I've been in have a videogame section, some take up the length of an entire aisle too.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
ASDA still mix DS games and 3DS games, and very rarely have games available on launch day. I'm not saying the Wii U isn't in trouble, but we shouldn't use ASDA as a barometer of that.
My local ASDA has a videogame/electronics section the size of my local Tesco Metro.
Dion Blaster
Member
I think it's a given that they will outsell it long term, because they are evergreen titles releasing early in the console's life cycle, whilr Last of Us is on a console in its last year. This year though DKC probably won't outsell it.
All the gamepad suggestions dont really make sense, especially since once Nintendo commits to a main control method for their games, they arent going to just drop it/brush it aside.
Devs just need to either think of good core ideas for the pad, or nice side benefits. Nothing just for the sake of doing something with the pad, much like how they finally realized with the DS touch screen and wiimote controls (for the most part).
Devs just need to either think of good core ideas for the pad, or nice side benefits. Nothing just for the sake of doing something with the pad, much like how they finally realized with the DS touch screen and wiimote controls (for the most part).
metalslimer
Member
And neither will 3d world unless it has one of the greatest attach ratios we've ever seen. The Wiiu hasn't even sold what last of us shipped yet
I think we only have to wait until tomorrow to be honest to pin that failure. Thats when we should see the first of several downwards revisioning of the Wii U forecast in the Q1 results. I think Iwata will probably prioritise the 100B yen operating profit forecast above all else rather than pull out all the stops to salvage the Wii U.
It seems the easier short term route but more dicey long term. Bit of a pyrrhic victory.
SneakyStephan
Banned
Are they going to buy all the wii u's themselves?
The picture clearly says save the wii U.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Tesco and Sainsbury's are next. It's almost a certainty. Nintendo asked retailers to keep the faith until Pikmin 3 which Nintendo said would increase hardware sales to reasonable levels. It didn't the hardware bump was minimal and retailers don't want to waste precious shelf space in non-food sections and warehouse space with big boxes when PS4 and Xbone are going to need that space in November.
There is nothing coming for the Wii U that will increase hardware sales until SM3DL comes out in December, which I'm sure they will get a bit of hardware and software stock in for, then dump it until MK8 if it doesn't increase the trend.
He's rowed back on that target so either they have got a plan to cut the price of the Wii U, or cost cutting is going so badly they will miss it with or without a price cut.
There is nothing coming for the Wii U that will increase hardware sales until SM3DL comes out in December, which I'm sure they will get a bit of hardware and software stock in for, then dump it until MK8 if it doesn't increase the trend.
He's rowed back on that target so either they have got a plan to cut the price of the Wii U, or cost cutting is going so badly they will miss it with or without a price cut.
And a regular joypad is like $10.
Miyamoto's interview here lets you make a pretty good guess at what the game pad is costing them.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
The final theory is not implausible. Nintendo don't do the same kind of volume as Samsung, Apple or even Sony in the mobile space. They probably would have had to sign deals at significantly higher prices than other players just to get access to the technology, given their low volume.
Duxxy3
Member
Brought this up months ago. Retailers have a finite amount of space to put all of these consoles.
The 360, PS3, PS4, XB1 will take up the majority of the space and sales. The 3DS sells well, but not well enough if the Wii U is forced with it, then it's not worth it.
The vita only gets dragged along because the PS3 and PS4 sell well enough to carry it.
The 360, PS3, PS4, XB1 will take up the majority of the space and sales. The 3DS sells well, but not well enough if the Wii U is forced with it, then it's not worth it.
The vita only gets dragged along because the PS3 and PS4 sell well enough to carry it.
michaelius
Banned
It wasn't supposed to be that low volume in planning stage. They projected 5 milions for first two quarters and then probably 10+ milions for next year.
Infinite_Daremo
Member
I dont think my local ASDA ever stocked it to begin with.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
Everyone, including myself, always dismissed anyone suggesting to kill the Wii U earily and move on to the next console, but I guess we forgot retailers might force nintendo's hand on that if it comes down to it.
It's minor enough that there's still a decent chance for salvation, but it's not too hard to imagine these retailers dropping one by one if Pikman 3 or 3D Mario isn't satisfactory, if PS4 and XBO takes over all the attention, and especially if a price drop, mario kart, and smash bros does nothing.
If we make it to Smash without a solid turnaround the system is probably done whether Nintendo wants it to be or not. Doesn't matter if they've left the Zelda bullet unused still.
Outside of the obvious price drop, I think the system's best chance is Mario 3D World. NIntendo Land was too hard to explain to gain enough traction, and show a Wii owner NSMBWU or Mario Kart 8 or Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze or Wii Fit U and they'll just ask why not just play the Wii versions of those games. Maybe they'd try them out as Wii games, but they wouldn't buy a system for it.
Mario 3D World however does have a chance to get those NSMBW lovers to take interest with it's good mix of familiarity and newness. I'd personally rather have Galaxy 3 or open world Mario, but I have to admit the linearity and simplicity probably does really increase appeal to the casuals.
And casuals are pretty much their only hope, They're going to have a hard time if they go down the hardcore path with a 399 PS4 to compete with, even after some good price drops.
It's minor enough that there's still a decent chance for salvation, but it's not too hard to imagine these retailers dropping one by one if Pikman 3 or 3D Mario isn't satisfactory, if PS4 and XBO takes over all the attention, and especially if a price drop, mario kart, and smash bros does nothing.
If we make it to Smash without a solid turnaround the system is probably done whether Nintendo wants it to be or not. Doesn't matter if they've left the Zelda bullet unused still.
Outside of the obvious price drop, I think the system's best chance is Mario 3D World. NIntendo Land was too hard to explain to gain enough traction, and show a Wii owner NSMBWU or Mario Kart 8 or Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze or Wii Fit U and they'll just ask why not just play the Wii versions of those games. Maybe they'd try them out as Wii games, but they wouldn't buy a system for it.
Mario 3D World however does have a chance to get those NSMBW lovers to take interest with it's good mix of familiarity and newness. I'd personally rather have Galaxy 3 or open world Mario, but I have to admit the linearity and simplicity probably does really increase appeal to the casuals.
And casuals are pretty much their only hope, They're going to have a hard time if they go down the hardcore path with a 399 PS4 to compete with, even after some good price drops.
If a system selling type of game comes out, there'll be less places to get the Wii U -- this is a significant factor since Asda is huge. The chain of slowly building up a significant playerbase (Wii U sales riding on the marketing from new game releases.) is that much harder now.
Maybe they'd get some more sales if they dropped the pad controller (For the price.), renamed it Wii 2, and sold it with a system seller like Zelda or an open world 3D Mario.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Therein lies their issue with cost cutting and accessing lower component prices. Most contracts include re-orders priced significantly lower than the initial order essentially to ensure customer loyalty, but for Nintendo I doubt they have even got through the initial supply contracts they signed this time last year. Given their shipment estimates I would make that a highly likely outcome.
maverick40
Junior Member
I love the way people are actually seeing this as no big deal. ASDA is one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK. This is a massive blow to the Wii u and another nail in its coffin for europe.
state_vector_collapse
Member
I reckon Sainsbury's will follow suit pretty quickly. My local store has a decent sized game section, and up until a couple of weeks back, they actually gave the WiiU the same shelf space as the 360 and PS3.
However, two weeks or so ago they drastically reduced the space for the WiiU. Of course it doesn't help that they still have it marked up at £299 for the premium. Which of course is the RRP of sorts though. And right next to it are the 360 and PS3 for over £100 less, and the games marked up at least a fiver cheaper and with a broader range.
However, two weeks or so ago they drastically reduced the space for the WiiU. Of course it doesn't help that they still have it marked up at £299 for the premium. Which of course is the RRP of sorts though. And right next to it are the 360 and PS3 for over £100 less, and the games marked up at least a fiver cheaper and with a broader range.
plank
Member
It was only stocked in 100 of the 555 stores.
coinoperatedboy
Banned
Can't say I'm surprised that a UK retailer drops it after a long drought.
It is ironic tho that it is dropped just before the games that people have been wanting start rolling out.
Nintendo must do the Nintendo thing and stick with it's guns and launch more marketing along the games it releases.
I love the console but many people just don't know about it.
It is ironic tho that it is dropped just before the games that people have been wanting start rolling out.
Nintendo must do the Nintendo thing and stick with it's guns and launch more marketing along the games it releases.
I love the console but many people just don't know about it.
I don't see it as a big deal now....as neither of my local Asda's have ever stocked it. Not even at launch. They had a 1 ft sign telling customers to buy it online and a couple of games.
In fact I've yet to see Wii U hardware in one of my local supermarkets from launch until now. I've never seen a dedicated Wii U section in one either..a couple of games mixed in with the Wii stuff and a pro controller at best.
It's no more awful now than it was at launch as far as I've seen.
Jezbollah
Member
It isnt ironic. It's been planned. Just like the big cost cutting for the console to get rid of it's last stock
There is only so many shelve units in these stores for games. Even with those big releases, the Wii U will not outsell the Xbone or PS4. It's these two consoles that will take up the shelve space. Asda, like Tescos etc strategise store space for it's most profitable items. Therefore, if your console doesnt sell, you spend that space on what does.
I just got back from doing some shopping. My local (and very big) Tesco have merged their Wii and Wii U displays together - and there are two rows of Wii U games, so they are still selling software - didnt see actual hardware but that could be that they may have a take-to-customer-services voucher thing to pick up the console.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Not implausible? Id say its pretty damn obvious. Everything about the gamepad screams cheap components sold above wholesale price to me.
The Nintendo faithful might not want to believe this but when i first held my gamepad, It reminded me of those cheap 1001 game in one consoles you can buy at markets which are essentially ROM dumps. The consoles itself isnt so bad but I would be shocked if someone had walked in and told me my Gamepad was a cheap chinese knockoff and not the real thing. If this is what is keepingbthe price of the console high, Nintendo is getting ripped off.
Giving it some thought though, Asda isnt the worst thing in the world for the WiiU. The day Argos drops it though? its done. For good.
coinoperatedboy
Banned
Not sure we share the same idea of what is ironic is.
A consol is struggling and one retailer keeps support just shy of the potential salvation of said console. That is irony for me.
If it was planned why the hell would they stock the wii u to begin with?