Nintendo Waves Goodbye to the Wii

[Gigolo]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/nintendo-waves-goodbye-wii-011600812.html

LOS ANGELES — Japanese games manufacturer Nintendo is to cease production of its Wii console in Japan.

The lowbrow motion capture system sold over 100 million units since its introduction in 2006.

However, it has been superseded by the Wii U (pictured), which added a touch screen component and has been embraced by Japanese consumers.

Nintendo says it will continue to manufacture the classic Wii outside Japan for international markets, but it is not clear how long that will continue.

The Wii’s demise contrasts with the ambitious target recently set by Sony for PS4, the latest iteration of its PlayStation. Sony said that it aims to sell 5 million units between the PS4’s Nov. 15 launch and the end of its March 2014 fiscal year.

The PS4 will launch first in the U.S., at a price of $399, in a bid to get a one-week jump on Microsoft’s rival deck Xbox One. The PS4 will be released in Japan in February.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the long-time president of Nintendo who built the Kyoto-based company from a playing-card maker to a videogame giant, died last month at age 85.

[6Jones]

The Wii was a huge success but a huge disappointment. So many people bought it and only liked the games packaged with it and a few other titles like Wii Fit and Just dance.

Nintendo lost a huge portion of their core base and that's why the Wii U sales are so poor.

Nintendo is in a really awkward position. Many suggest they become solely a game production company. The problem with that is they'd have to produce 'modern games' which cost more to produce and which is a huge concern of Nintendo's and has been one of the causes for delays in Wii U software which is already a bit dated in software compared to what will be releasing on PS4 and XB1.

Others suggest Nintendo make a truly modern console. This is nearly impossible considering the huge losses the XB1 and PS4 are sold at. Nintendo doesn't have the safety net of a parent company like M$ and $ony. Also the last time they released a competitive console, the Gamecube, it sold poorly. The Gamecube had third party support, modern graphics, a popular controller and Nintendo's first party titles and it was a disappointment.

Nintendo has to expand their software production somehow. They have to buy studios, release slightly lower quality products (so they have a larger selection), and they have to combine their 3DS and Wii U business. The 3DS has a much different OS, it doesn't support Miiverse, you have to buy the same VC titles for Wii U and 3DS, you can't share the two.

All this seems so obvious but Nintendo maintains the status quo.