Nintendo’s 10 Biggest Failures EVER
6. Marketing The Wii U
The Wii sold over a hundred million units, making it the most successful Nintendo console ever. As a result, the successor for the Wii was hyped beyond measure.
But when the Wii U was unveiled, many people were left confused. Because the trailer marketed the Wii U so vaguely, consumers didn’t know if it was a different version of the Wii, a new console, an add-on, or a new controller. (I was one of those people.)
To give you an idea on how badly the Wii U sold, let's look at its replacement. By the end of 2019, the Switch sold over 52 million. Nintendo only sold 13.56 million Wii Us in its five-year life cycle. The Switch sold more units in ten months than the Wii U did in its entirety.
Mario Kart 8 was the most successful game on the Wii U, selling eight million units. The Switch version of the game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, sold over double that in 18 months.
The fact that the Switch allowed Nintendo to recover in terms of sales and reputation is incredible. Nevertheless, the Wii U will go down as the worst-selling mainstream Nintendo console in history.