Wii U in 2014

It's now 2014 and the new generation of consoles have officially begun. The PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U are all on the market so 2014 should be interesting. However now that the initial console sale figures have been released can the Wii U survive? Let's take a look at the numbers.

The Wii U sold 3.91 million consoles world wide in its first eleven months. The PS4 sold over 4 million units in its first 6 weeks. The Xbox One sold over 3 million consoles in the same time spand. Obviously this looks bad for the Wii U. The PS4 has already sold more consoles than the Wii U, and it is brand new on the market.

Let's not forget that Nintendo has not released it's November and December sales numbers for 2013. So it is very possible that the Wii U sold very well in those two months(and if it did Nintendo needs to tell people). Let's also keep in mind that both the PS4 and Xbox One sales numbers are for launch and holiday sales, which are always good. Even still both of these sales numbers are extremely impressive.

I do believe that the sales will taper off now that the holidays are over. I doubt they will drop as low as the Wii U's were in 2013, but they should drop significantly. Even if both the PS4 and XBone have slow sales the Wii U must not slow down. It must keep selling at a high rate, or it wont last through 2015. The release schedule for Wii U games in 2014 is almost non existent. Yes it will have some heavy hitters like Donkey Kong and Mario Kart, but it needs more. Nintendo has promised that there will not be a game drought this coming year. However since Mario 3d World dropped in November 2013 nothing has been released(I know its only 2 months). I'm just concerned that Wii U owners will be game less again in 2014.

Donkey Kong does release in February so we will  wait and see what releases after that. Now is the time for it to sink or swim. With both the PS4 and XBone looking mighty impressive Wii U needs to shine now more than ever.

Is Wii U Next Gen?

I've heard this so many times since Wii U has launched. If you search Wii U on Google you will find this question being asked and discussed over and over again. This is such an easy question to answer.

Question: Is the Wii U next gen?
Answer: Yes!

Here's the thing the term "next generation" has nothing to do with a systems power. The word Generation refers to a time span, usually associated to people. Here's an example, My father is from a previous generation than me. Since he was born before me he's from a different generation.

Since the Wii came out in 2006 (around the time of 360 and ps3) and Wii U was released in 2012 (around same time as ps4 and xbone will release) they are obviously from different generations. The internal pieces and specs of the machine have nothing to do with a game systems generation!

Yes you can say that the Wii U has closer specs to the PS3 and 360(even though that's not entirely true).  You can not argue if Nintendo's Wii U is next generation.

Third Party Developers on Wii U

So today Ubisoft came out and said that ZombiU was unprofitable for them. Therefore no plans for a sequel. One of the reasons I bought my Wii U was to play this game...and I've still yet to beat it. It's not a bad game, just not a polished or overly fun game. It's actually one of the ugliest games on the Wii U. Metacritic has ZombiU rated at 77%.

Electronics Arts has said that their 4 games have sold poorly on Wii U as well. However every game EA brought to Wii U were ports of games that were already released on all other major consoles. Not good ports either, watered down ports. Fifa and Madden both were missing some features from the PS3 and 360. Mass Effect 3 Special Edition had all the additional content at that time. However it had some technical issues and no other DLC was released. On top of that EA released a collection that had all 3 Mass Effect games in 1 case slightly before this version released. Then they charged $60 for this version as well as the Complete Collection. Which made the Wii U version look like a bad deal (and it was). The only good EA game was Need For Speed Most Wanted U. This game also released months after the other console and pc versions. Also this game got no other DLC. However this game did look better and run smoother than the PS3 or 360 versions.

I could keep listing companies that just did quick ports when the Wii U was released. When you release a game after it's been out on other consoles and pc can you really expect it to sell well? Most people have multiple game systems and they don't want to wait months for a game. Or if you make a mediocre game do companies think that will sell well?

This is the problem the Wii U has with most 3rd party developers. They were to lazy to make new games so they just ported over old games. Or they just made a mediocre game and hoped it would sell. It's no wonder your damn games don't sell! Make better games! People need to tell these developers this. People will buy games if they are new and worth buying.

PS4 and next Xbox Struggles

Both the PS4 and the nw Xbox will be out by the years end. I believe that both of these new systems could suffer from "slow sales" just as the Wii U. Before the Wii U was launched everyone was very excited. Gamestop was saying that the Wii U had "huge interest" and pre orders were through the roof. Now that its been out 6 months it seems as if no one is in a hurry to buy one.

Most people that I talk to don't seem all that interested in buying a new console. The average gamer is perfectly happy with what they already own. Plus a lot of people have gone to PC gaming. Gaming on a PC is a better investment than buying a console. Let's not forget that IOS and Android phones and tablets are everywhere. Android gaming gaming is on the rise with both Ouya and the Gamestick releasing in the next 2 months.

When you consider all of this its no wonder that Wii U is struggling. So it's not  far fetched to think the PS4 and next Xbox will also struggle.

Where's Nintendo?

It's been about 2 months since PS4 was announced. Since that time we haven't heard a peep from Nintendo about the Wii U. I thought after the conference they would have a Nintendo Direct and show off what they've been working on. Or at the very least give consumers a solid release date on previously announced games.

Nintendo has had multiple 3DS Nintendo Directs. They announced some big games and even gave them firm release dates. However when it comes to the Wii U it's been complete silence. Sure we learned that Watch Dogs, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed 4, and Dues Ex were coming out on Wii U. We just didn't hear it from Nintendo.

What happened to all the 1st party games? Where is Pikmin 3? When will Bayonette 2 be released? Why is Nintendo remaking Wind Waker?  Not to mention that every magazine and website keep talking about how the Wii U is already dead.

I'm hoping that before E3 we will get some news on something...anything! I love my Wii U. I want to keep loving my Wii U. I'm not one of these people who complain about it having "No Games". Of course it doesn't have tons of games, it's only been out 6 months! However I would like to know that there are some games coming out soon. Nintendo needs to stop playing the silent game. This isn't the Gamecube days. Gamers expect to hear news and hear it often.