Nintendo denies Nikkei report, claims Wii U hardware production will continue

By Danny Cowan Published March 24, 2016

marios age revealed by shigeru miyamoto mario 3 1200x0 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nintendo has denied reports from earlier this week indicating that it would end Wii U production in order to focus on its next home console, reaffirming its support for the platform’s dedicated player base.

“This isn’t an announcement from our company,” a Nintendo spokesperson stated in response to recent claims (translation via Kotaku). “From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production [of the Wii U] is scheduled to continue.”

Recommended Videos

Speculation flared this week when Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported that Nintendo would cease production of its current-generation console by the end of 2016. The outlet additionally reported that Nintendo had already halted production of several Wii U accessories ahead of a broader sunsetting process for the console.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Nintendo has waged an uphill battle in its attempts at replicating the success of its previous-generation Wii console. To date, the company has sold 12.6 million Wii U consoles since the platform’s launch in 2012. The original Wii, in comparison, has sold 101 million units worldwide as of 2015.

Among other issues, the Wii U failed to earn the trust of third-party publishers throughout its troubled lifespan. Publisher Ubisoft scaled back its initially enthusiastic support for the console following disappointing sales results for its launch title ZombiU. Afterward, the formerly Wii U-exclusive Rayman Legends was hastily reworked into a multiplatform title in order to quell further losses.

Publishers Warner Bros and Electronic Arts also pulled much of their planned support for Nintendo’s console after a disappointing launch. Despite a lack of third-party support, Nintendo itself continues to release new Wii U games on a regular basis, including standouts like Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, and the upcoming Star Fox Zero.

Nikkei’s report from this week suggested that Nintendo may end Wii U support in order to promote its code-named “Nintendo NX” console, which has yet to be officially unveiled. Nintendo is likely to reveal its first details regarding the NX console at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

Super Mario 3D World made it to Switch, but other Wii U games are still stranded

Wii U Composite

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury comes to Nintendo Switch this weekend giving the console another excellent first-party game. It’s the latest in a line of Wii U titles to receive a Switch port in the past few years, salvaging the best of the ill-fated two-screen system’s surprisingly strong library.

Even with games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Pikmin 3 making the jump to Switch, there’s a handful of strong Wii U games that haven’t -- and probably never will. That’s creating a generational dead zone that may leave games that dared to take advantage of the console’s bold concept forever trapped on the Wii U.

Gaming

Nintendo Switch sales surpass 50 million, nearly quadrupling those of the Wii U

Two people playing Nintendo switch

Nintendo Switch My Way - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Despite being nearly three years old, the Nintendo Switch continues its dominance in the video game realm. During its latest financial report, Nintendo revealed it has sold more than 50 million consoles, putting it ahead of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and almost quadrupling the lifetime sales of the Wii U.

Gaming

Neverwinter Nights just received a new update, 23 years after its original release

A screenshot from Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition.

The 2002 RPG Neverwinter Nights is a masterclass in game design. Now 23 years old, the community behind Neverwinter Nights has kept the game alive and active all this time — and it has been given a new, unofficial update "by unpaid software engineers from the NWN community." This patch includes several quality-of-life improvements, graphical fixes, and performance boosts to keep the game running smoothly on modern hardware. For reference, roughly a year after Neverwinter Nights, BioWare released the cult-classic Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare was at the height of its prowess with regard to storytelling and gameplay.

Despite the game's age, it still has a long-standing community of fans and creators that give Neverwinter Nights nearly unlimited replayability. In addition to The Wailing Death campaign that comes with the original release of the game, Neverwinter Nights also has two other campaigns: Horde of the Underdark and Shadows of the Undrentide. If none of those tickle your fancy, then the fan-made campaigns might be the place to look. Think about it like a homebrew DnD campaign, except that it's all programmed for you to play through at your leisure. There are dozens of fan-made campaigns to choose from, many of which are on-par with original Wizards of the Coast content in terms of quality.