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Wii U sells less units but for more revenue

890,000 units sold after 41 days for $300 million

Words: on January 11, 2013
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The Wii U's sales may not have quite matched those of its predecessor, but it's winning in one significant area. Nintendo revealed today that the system has brought in $300 million in the U.S. with 890,000 units sold after 41 days on the market, whereas the original Wii had pulled down $270 million by this point in its lifespan.

"While the Wii launch established new benchmarks in the United States, Wii U has surpassed its predecessor in perhaps the most important category: revenue generation," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America executive VP of sales and marketing.

The comparison should come with some footnotes, however--Wii U is more expensive than Wii, with its Basic and Deluxe sets respectively costing $50 and $100 more than the Wii's $250 launch price, thus less consoles sell for more. Wii U is also sold at a loss for Nintendo, albeit a relatively slight one.

With that in mind, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata's recent pronouncement that Wii U sales are "not bad" makes it sound a bit more like the two gentlemen are describing the same console.

Related

Platforms:

Wii, Wii U

Topics:

Nintendo, Scott Moffitt

6 comments

  • Arobadope - January 11, 2013 4:39 p.m.

    I just hope game devs won't be forced, or try to force, any mechanics into the game they don't want like the Wii forced devs to do with motion controls. While I loved the Wii and think it ranks up there as an underrated console with some really good gems on it, I do hate the fact that many devs felt forced to put Motion Controls in their games. Ironic that Microsoft is halfway trying to do that with Kinect.

  • bamit11 - January 11, 2013 8:05 p.m.

    The thing that's nice about the Wii U is that all they really have to do to incorporate the pad is put the inventory or a map on the screen, not add a whole new control scheme that is unresponsive.

  • shawksta - January 12, 2013 4:36 p.m.

    Some didnt even need to but devs just didnt know what, i mean look at Brawl, it has all control schemes and uses exactly no motion and Tatsunoko vs Capcom didnt use it either. It depends on the devs willingness to use them efficently, games like No more heroes 2, the trauma Center games and other known 3rd parties did it right, but you cant blame them, Nintendo wasnt open enough with the Wii, thank god their not doing it on the Wii U and is being more open, especially since the Wii U IS more open

  • Redeater - January 11, 2013 3:09 p.m.

    The Wii U is going to be a success any way you cut it. They only need to sell one game per console in order to make a profit. Even if they aren't getting third party ports they are still going to have the full line up of Mario,Zelda, Metroid, Kirby and all the other big N exclusives. Plus, they have the ridiculous bank reserves from the original Wii and steady income from the 3DS. Nintendo is going to be fine.

  • Redeater - January 11, 2013 3:11 p.m.

    Also, I'm playing Anarchy Reigns right now. Good Christ I would kill for a HD remake of Madworld or even better....a Wii U gamepad enabled sequel!

  • shawksta - January 11, 2013 7:10 p.m.

    That still wont cut it either way, Nintendo needs to push, even from the money, their taking risks so they have backup. The Wii, despite the huge amount of sales, couldve been much more if it had the major 3rd Party support, otherwise its basically a PS2 without major 3rd Party save for the 3rd Party games that make a good reputation like Madword and No More heroes. So far, Nintendo is kicking it, we have 2 exclusives that are well known such as Lego City Underground and Bayonetta 2 (despite the backlash, Nintendo saved them, Sega recommended, end of story), Capcom said that they are excited for the Wii U games their gonna make and only want to move Forward (despite making another Port of Monster Hunter 3) and its known that they are keeping secrets till later. Its true Nintendo has Money, but on the good side, they arent playing safe and taking risks so they can use the money to heal the wound, otherwise their continuing forward. Also of note, their line up for this year is good, and the best part is that so far, there isnt a Mario game (Luigi is his own technically and your not saving Mario this time) which can really let Fire Emblem, Weegee, Pikmin 3 and Animal Crossing get the glorious spotlight till they eventual will reveal one.

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