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Update on how Wii U is doing in Europe/UK?
- Thread starter Bob White
- Start date
Always-honest
Banned
Yeah.. The real test will be MarioKart and E3. But even E3 is a completely unknown event for most people.
Only real significant reveals will reach mainstream news.
Only real significant reveals will reach mainstream news.
lol, I think that was the PS4 bundle.
But either way, I guess pretty bad, with UK being even more bad
Robin64
Member
My local Tesco is not small, by any means, and doesn't even have 3DS games now. Just PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Surrounding towns are all the same, too. I can't even think how far I'd have to go to find a supermarket with Nintendo games, now...
And that's crazy. Of course you won't see sales if you don't stock the thing. :|
Pretty sure 99% of Mario Kart 8 sales will be from online stores.
Interceptor
Banned
Still bad but Mario did indeed recover. Knack was ahead for a week or so but it was enough to build an urban legend.
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Fairly sure I'm the only Wii U owner in the South of England, the situation is fucking grim.
Once I get Kart 8 and Smash I'm done, a PS4 purchase is on the horizon (thanks student loan!)
Once I get Kart 8 and Smash I'm done, a PS4 purchase is on the horizon (thanks student loan!)
Succinct Verbosity
Member
It's dead in the UK and I doubt it's coming back. Nobody stocks Wii U games, and the ones that do certainly aren't pushing it.
My Tesco's is similar, but they do stock some DS and 3DS games.
That said, their selection is completely bizarre. They have never stocked Pokemon X/Y, Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, or the vast majority of games people care about not named Mario 3D Land.
What they do stock though, is Smurfs DS.
moltonasty
Member
Based on the information we have:
Europe: Really bad
UK: Beyond dead, my brotha
Europe: Really bad
UK: Beyond dead, my brotha
Visualante2
Member
They sold negative 20,000 units in Europe last Q2. They literally sold less than nothing.
theprodigy
Member
In the UK, it sure as hell didn't.
Not good at all
If I'm reading this right, 150K LTD is terrible for UK.
Not surprising when most supermarkets and some retailers ditched their support for wii u around summer last year. There were also plenty of significant price cuts by multiple retailers (who decide prices instead of ninty) all year round yet it failed to move stock.
UK:
Hardware units:
Wii U, 2012-2013 LTD - 150K units at the beginning of December
Xbox One, 2013 - 364K units
Spain (software units):
Wii U, 2012 - 52,000 units
Xbox One, 2013 - 60,000 units
France (hardware units):
Wii U, 2012 - 120K units
Xbox One, 2013 - 126K units
These are all data that run contradictory to the "Xbox One is doing worse off than Wii U" narrative.
If I'm reading this right, 150K LTD is terrible for UK.
Not surprising when most supermarkets and some retailers ditched their support for wii u around summer last year. There were also plenty of significant price cuts by multiple retailers (who decide prices instead of ninty) all year round yet it failed to move stock.
OriginalThinking
Member
It's depressing that the company who arguably still make the very best video games of any company have no foothold in the UK market.
Still, no one to blame but themselves.
My local Sainsbury's have a very limited selection. Usually 5 titles. I have seen 'em discount a few first party titles to £24.99 and some third party titles to £9.99 - £14.99, so I can't imagine they're shifting many units.
That is indeed arguable
They make great games, but I wouldn't say they're peerless or anything.
theprodigy
Member
That's a huge exaggeration, but yes the UK is Nintendo's worst major territory.
Not that Wii U is doing much better elsewhere
Tesco were the one Nintendo made a deal with as well, clearly that went well.
Yep. They removed their Nintendo bays (usually 2m per "Extra" store), introduced PS4/Bone and kept 360 and PS3 the same as it already was. As I said before, Nintendo were given until the end of the FY to turn things around with Tesco. That didn't happen.
Nintendo made a deal with them on promotion, but afaik that was dependent on sales. obviously those targets weren't met.
My local Tesco Extra has a bunch of dancing games for Wii and Wii U. Wind Waker for the Wii U along with the Rayman title which was released on it too. That is it.
Asda don't stock any thing for the console so everything for the Wii U i've just bought through Amazon. Smyths toyshop has carried every Wii U title to date, they ask top buck for them but at least do stock the games. I'm not sure how popular it is for someone to go Smyths to get video games.
Actually reading this thread alone, I'm most likely the only one who has found other places that stock Wii U titles at all.
Asda don't stock any thing for the console so everything for the Wii U i've just bought through Amazon. Smyths toyshop has carried every Wii U title to date, they ask top buck for them but at least do stock the games. I'm not sure how popular it is for someone to go Smyths to get video games.
Actually reading this thread alone, I'm most likely the only one who has found other places that stock Wii U titles at all.
Yup. I'm not sure how they can recover at this point.
If you're stuff isn't available in Tesco, then you're fucked in the UK.
Hasn't it really been like this for a while? I mean wasn't the UK a Sega stronghold first and then a Sony one. Nintendo never took it as serious?
Also how big is the UK market compared to other markets? Uk usually gets lumped into all if Europe, but I often wonder why folks make a big deal of stuff not doing well in the UK when it doesn't seem like that big if a market when not included in all of Europe.
It's actually irritating. I wanted to buy Yoshi's Island the other night (don't ask why), but the two Tesco stores I tried had no Nintendo at all.
sigh
No - Nintendo was fucking HUGE here during the Wii era. Like, insane. Back in my old store, Nintendo had near 60% of our floor space at one point. Sony and Microsoft did very well, but the Wii craze was pretty damn big here in the UK. Until it dropped off a cliff.
maquiladora
Member
It's now April 2014 and I still haven't seen a Wii U in the wild, or even heard of anyone I know being remotely interested in getting one. Such a huge difference compared to the Wii years here...
Portugeezer
Gold Member
Just dead in the UK.
If Mario Kart doesn't push systems this holiday (May is a bit awkward) then cancel the Wii U pls.
If Mario Kart doesn't push systems this holiday (May is a bit awkward) then cancel the Wii U pls.
Nintendo were dominant early last gen. GFK Chart Track have an archive on their site and if you go back to '07 / '08, you'll see Nintendo all over the charts. It wasn't unusual for them to hold half of the top 40 and 7-9 of the top ten titles.
Malcolm9
Member
My local GAME have a tiny shelf space for the Wii U, they also mix the Wii U games up with the Wii ones, which really doesn't help the average consumer know what it is.
If I was Nintendo I'd pay to get display units up in game stores to show people what it is, and that it isn't a Wii accessory.
If I was Nintendo I'd pay to get display units up in game stores to show people what it is, and that it isn't a Wii accessory.
Well, firstly it needs a complete re-brand and that name needs to go. The "Wii" brand is toxic here in the UK now - and it's all Nintendo's own doing.