With the release of Nintendo’s financial information this morning, we’ve seen about what we expected before the reveal. We’ve known the Nintendo 3DS is performing well, while the Wii U is struggling. If anything, the release of financial information has served to cement the picture we already knew. Despite this, good news has come today. The announcement of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire has many Nintendo fans excited.
Aside from releasing the financial details for just this quarter, Nintendo also released a handy infographic that shows just how well both it’s handheld and console iterations have done over the years. The first comparison is that between the Wii and Wii U and the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. Obviously the Wii U is no where near close to the success of the Wii, but given that the Wii was released to near perfect storm conditions in terms of market and technology, it would be hard to replicate that level of success today.
While that image alone makes it seem pretty dire, looking back at the success of previous Nintendo consoles paints a different picture. The GameCube only had a life cycle of five years and sold relatively few consoles. It is considered one of Nintendo’s worst performing products in terms of sales, yet it managed to produce several titles that many consider to be the pinnacle of gaming for its console generation. The Wii U appears as though it could be doing the same.
So where will the Wii U end up within three years, since that’s the life cycle of the Wii U? Well, without sales information after the release of Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros., we can’t really predict anything right now. Still, having a quick look over the sales numbers for all of Nintendo’s consoles and handhelds in history is an interesting look at the company as a whole.
