In a recent interview with GamesIndustry, Scott Moffitt of Nintendo of America has stated that the Wii U is on the verge of a turning point, thanks to a strong holiday season and the upcoming games shown during the E3 presentation. Moffitt also mentions the Amiibo initiative as a turning point for the Wii U, stating that strong content already available and coming in the future will turn gamers into Wii U owners.
We had the price cut in August [2011], and then we had Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D World, which really drove sales that first holiday, and on 3DS we haven’t looked back. So we’ve had momentum ever since that first holiday and we’ve got now 260 some games in the library and some of the best, most highest rated, most highest quality content we’ve ever had on that platform. Everything we launched seems to do above forecast and surprises us on the positive side.
As I look at what we have coming this holiday, now with Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, plus the innovation of Amiibo, I think we are right at that tipping point where we have a lot of great content that is about to be released for that platform that’s going to tempt gamers into buying the system. From the comments I’m reading online, and following gamers’ comments, I think there are a lot of people that are going to have a hard time resisting buying a Wii U once Smash Bros comes out. I think that’s going to be a major hardware driver for us. So that’s the narrative we hope that plays out and that I think we are starting to see play out.
Of course several of the titles that Nintendo showcased at E3 this year won’t be coming out until 2015, but those that will be available for this holiday season include Bayonetta 2 and Super Smash Bros., which are two of the most highly anticipated releases for the Wii U this year.
