News
Nintendo to End Production of Current Wii U Sets in Japan Soon
posted on by Egan Loo
Since Wednesday, Nintendo updated the Japanese web page on its Wii U game console lineup to report that production is ending soon on both currently available console sets. The listings for both the Wii U Splatoon Set and the Wii U Premium Set state that they are "slated to end production soon (in Japan)." Nintendo does not list new sets to replace these current sets.
Nintendo's English website does not list an end to production on the console sets available in North America.
The Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported in March that Nintendo would cease production of the Wii U this year. Nintendo responded later that month that it planned to continue production on the Wii U in the current fiscal year or later. The current fiscal year in Japan is between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
Nintendo launched the Wii U system in 2012 and has since reported weak sales for the Wii U compared to its predecessors. As of September, the Wii U had sold 13.36 million units worldwide, compared to the Wii's 101.63 million units worldwide. The Wii had surpassed 70 million units by its fourth year.
Nintendo revealed more details on its next generation platform, codenamed "NX" and now known as the Nintendo Switch, last month. Company president Tatsumi Kimishima said that the hybrid home/handheld system will not be the successor for Nintendo's existing game hardware. Nintendo did confirm that the Switch will not be compatible with Wii U game discs or Nintendo 3DS cards, but did not comment on the possibility of the Switch running purchased downloads of Wii U or Nintendo 3DS software.
Nintendo plans to reveal more information on the Switch before its launch next March.
[Via Games Talk, Gematsu]
