9 Reasons Why The Nintendo Wii U Was A Commercial Flop
5. Badly-Timed Release
If Nintendo should have learned one lesson from Sega’s fall from hardware grace with the Dreamcast, it’s that between generations isn’t the best time to release a console.
The similarities between the Wii U and the house of hedgehog’s final games machine are difficult to ignore. Both platforms boasted inventive hardware and some quality software, yet bo-ombed commercially.
The Dreamcast entered the playing field at a time when the industry was in transition. With the N64 and PlayStation running on fumes, the Sega system looked like an almighty tech titan by comparison.
This superiority, however, turned out to be short-lived as the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox’s more powerful on-paper credentials turned out to be enough to slam the brakes on Sonic and co’s hardware ambitions and condemn a console that didn’t deserve to flop to the proverbial scrapheap.
The Wii U has suffered a similar fate due to Nintendo’s decision to launch the machine in the void between PlayStations, and it’s a misstep the firm looks destined to repeat with the NX, although rumours suggest the mystery next-gen console may cater for a different audience entirely.