• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NWR: Wii U's Compared to GameCube, Wii (Spoiler: It's ugly)

UPDATE:

Those Gamecube numbers are incorrect. Nintendo's own financial statements list it as having shipped 9.55 million units through March 2003. What is it with people these days publishing articles based on factually incorrect information?

So NWR appears to have been mistaken in the amount of GCN units sold at this point. But even still, the comparison is still not favorable at all for Wii U, selling just over half at best of the GameCube at the same point in its life

ORIGINAL POST:

Let’s have some more fun with numbers. Let’s go back to comparable moments for each of Nintendo’s recent systems. Here are the sales from the Wii U, Wii, and GameCube from their second March on the market:

Wii U (March 2014) - 70,000
Wii (March 2008) - 721,000
GameCube (March 2003) - 165,000
Taking it a step further, here’s where each of those three systems were at sales-wise overall at those same points:

Wii U - Between 5 and 6 million units worldwide as of March 2014
Wii - About 25 million units worldwide as of March 2008
GameCube - About 14.5 million units worldwide as of March 2003

I love my Wii U, I really do. But this is depressing. The GameCube--Nintendo's worst performing console by a big margin, had sold twice what the Wii U has in the same time frame.

More comparisons at the link: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/37210/comparing-wii-us-sales-to-gamecube-wii

Edit: Title should read "Wii U Sales Compared to GameCube, Wii (Spoiler: It's ugly)" If a passing mod wouldn't mind fixing it up
 

Eusis

Member
I'm really curious to see how the numbers pan out for the other two systems once they're the same age. They definitely are selling better now at least, but this disparity is just mind blowing. Has Nintendo seriously misstepped THAT badly, is it reflective of the current state of the industry/economy, or a mix of both?

Well, I guess what helped before was that their systems were also usually the cheapest option at least, and while that technically still holds relative to PS4/XB1 it's not like the $100 GC or even when it was $200 against the $300 PS2 and Xbox.
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
Aqua, Is the 14.5 million number correct for the GC? Iirc, the GC was at 3.x million in the US, and like 2m in Japan at around this point in the Wii U's life (according to months). Did the rest of the world (EU & Australia) nearly sell 8m GameCubes?
 

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
[HP];109135953 said:
I for one am enjoying the WiiU a hell of a lot more than Wii or the Gamecube combined.

I wouldn't say any more imo but certainly not any less, Smash and Kart will always get me buying their consoles.
 

Ein Bear

Member
I really do find it crazy just how badly the Wii U is doing. For all the system's faults, and all of Nintendo's numerous mistakes, it still just blows my mind that the follow-up to the Wii isn't even selling half of what the Gamecube did.
 
Aqua, Is the 14.5 million number correct for the GC? Iirc, the GC was at 3.x million in the US, and like 2m in Japan at around this point in the Wii U's life (according to months). Did the rest of the world (EU & Australia) nearly sell 8m GameCubes?

This would be get to get confirmation on, because those numbers do seem a little front-loaded, considering that's the majority of GCN's sold.
 

epmode

Member
[HP];109135953 said:
I for one am enjoying the WiiU a hell of a lot more than Wii or the Gamecube combined.

Speaking as someone that owns all three consoles, you're out of your mind.
 

Vinc

Member
It may not have a ton of games, but I pretty much 100%ed every first party Nintendo game I bought on the console so far, which is a testament to the quality of the games on it. 3D World and Tropical Freeze alone are more than worth the price of the console, it's a shame so many people will miss out on these games. They're just magical.
 
Drop the price Nintendo. I refuse to pay the current msrp for the hardware. 200 is good enough for me by around the time smash releases.
 

Hatchtag

Banned
It's quite amazing how important marketing really is.

Its not just marketting. You've got a required tablet that does nothing new adding to the cost, and a lack of games. Not only are there significantly less games, but they also seem to be much, much less creative.
 

Yawnier

Banned
Drop the price Nintendo. I refuse to pay the current msrp for the hardware. 200 is good enough for me by around the time smash releases.

I wonder if they'll drop the price permanently again this fall. I'm not getting my hopes up though.

I waited until the GC was $99 to get it, I'll probably do a similar thing here too.
 

Tobor

Member
Whoa, Gamecube sold less than 10 million units between 2003 and its discontinuation? Damn.

Which ironically is much better then the Wii U will do. I'd be shocked if they sell more than 3 or 4 million more units before it's discontinued.
 

Cassius

Member
They won't do what's necessary to get more consoles in the hands of people.

Slash the price and cut out that stupid fucking tablet.

takingcrazypills.gif
 
Kinda deceptive GC was a really front loaded console with Smash near launch etc

I think Wii U sales will shoot up a lot with Kart and Smash plus if they play their cards right the wii u is very salvagable
 

thefit

Member
Because they can't put out another one in such a short timeframe and they don't want to let down their fanbase/current install base.

Uh why should they hold back from moving on for a fanbase that isn't significant enough to keep the console afloat. Its time to let go.
 
You can add this to the OP if you like. Here is a more nuanced comparison between Nintendo systems (all NPD data):

Launch Period:

Virtual Boy (August 1995 - December 1995)
0.15 million

Nintendo 64 (September 1996 - December 1996)
1.97 million

GameCube (November 2001 - December 2001)
1.24 million

Wii (November 2006 - December 2006)
1.08 million (MASSIVE shortages)

Wii U (November 2012 - December 2012)
0.88 million


2nd Year on the Market:

Virtual Boy (January 1996 - December 1996)
0.05 million (it sold much more in 1997)

Nintendo 64 (January 1997 - December 1997)
4.49 million

GameCube (January 2002 - December 2002)
2.26 million

Wii (January 2007 - December 2007)
6.29 million

Wii U (January 2013 - December 2013)
1.21 million


3rd Year on the Market (1st three months)

Nintendo 64 (January 1998 - March 1998)
0.53 million

GameCube (January 2003 - March 2003)
0.41 million

Wii (January 2008 - March 2008)
1.43 million

Wii U (January 2014 - March 2014)
0.20 million


Enjoy.
 
Yeah, it certainly has that aura of being dead. I've lost my excitement for it and mostly just game on my PC, though I did have some friends over for SM3DWorld last weekend which was a blast. I guess it'll just be my local multiplayer gaming box.
 

YuShtink

Member
I read a stat yesterday that kind of put it all into perspective for me. The Wii U has only sold HALF the units the Dreamcast sold in the same amount of time before it was canned. I mean, YIKES.
 

rjc571

Banned
Those Gamecube numbers are incorrect. Nintendo's own financial statements list it as having shipped 9.55 million units through March 2003. What is it with people these days publishing articles based on factually incorrect information?
 

Jamix012

Member
Which ironically is much better then the Wii U will do. I'd be shocked if they sell more than 3 or 4 million more units before it's discontinued.

Ok while the Wii U is flopping pretty horrendously, this is pretty nuts. It'll get to 12 million comfortably unless it's replaced in 2015. Smash and Mario Kart will carry it to that pitiful number, but i'm fairly confident it'll at least get there.
 
I wonder if they'll drop the price permanently again this fall. I'm not getting my hopes up though.

I waited until the GC was $99 to get it, I'll probably do a similar thing here too.

They'll drop the price next spring if Smash fails to move the units they want it to, that's my bet.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Took them less than a year to drop the virtual boy. Surprised they are sticking this through.

WiiU isn't comparable to the Virtual Boy at all. They had the N64 coming and the SNES was still alive. The Wii is dead and Nintendo doesn't have a system coming out in the near-term. Unless they intend to bow out of the market, they have to have something out there.

If you want to consider the VB more of a portable, there is still the fact the Gameboy never had a meaningful competitor and was still doing okay during those years. Another incomparable situation.
 
Top Bottom