Topic: Do think there is something behind the recent lack of pro controllers for the Wii U

So about two / three weeks ago, on a lazy weekend, during my errand run I decided to pick up a new pro controller (sounds a bit lame but my current model is white and my Wii U is black, so I'm specifically looking for the black variant)...........I ended up hitting up two Gamestop's on the way too and back, and neither had any pro controllers in stock (just the mediocre third party variants). I did a quick search latter on in the week, and only two Gamestops in a two and a half hour radius (Virginia) had pro controllers in stock, and they had a low amount of stock at that. Bit odd.

During a recent search online, I noticed that quite a few other people have posted in blogs and forums about the lack of pro controllers starting in late July and to the present, at multiple retailers...........Amazon.com also has almost zero stock as well (literally two? left, unless you order it from 88 store and not directly from Amazon)........

Gets me thinking though, with Hyrule Warriors coming in September, and Bayonetta 2 in October,.........and considering they are both pro controller centric titles (maybe the most so out of any Nintendo published title since the launch of the Wii U).................what's up with the lack of stock?

Do you think Nintendo is phasing out the pro controller for some odd reason? Maybe they will replace it with either the new Gamecube model or a new variant of the pro controller (considering the original has some faults despite being a very cool, comfortable controller, such as a lack of a headphone jack, and the biggest downcheck, the lack of analog triggers).

Still, Nintendo just made an update a couple of weeks back to update the Wii U's OS so you can navigate the eShop via the pro controller, hmmm...........?? Mystery, questions??

Same problem in the UK; prices have rocketed due to low stock. Either there's a new variant on the horizon (headphone jack, please!) or it's just one of those things Nintendo does. ...Roll with it?

I'm picking up a cheapo one from Hong Kong, £13.98. The Amazon reviews are mostly positive and I'm not paying over £35 for a new controller.

Yeah, I hear you, it's 75 dollars!!! right now on Amazon if you ship from there own stock, that's crazy, you could almost buy a Ouya for that...

Oh that's weird. As far as I know the stock in The Netherlands is the same as always, maybe a bit lower due to sales but nothing massive.

There's plenty of Pro Controllers available near where I live, so I'm not sure.

Near you (MD), and same deal with the black version. It is hit or miss. Some times can't find one within 50 miles, other times they are there. At the same time there were none at Best Buy or Gamestop, I went to a local Target and there were 3 in stock, went to a local Walmart and 2 in stock. They don't stay in stock long. It is my wife's an my favorite controller. She has some tendon problems in one arm, so for example, playing Super Mario Bros Wii U, if you use a Wii controller there are a few things where you have to shake or move the controller, where that action is just mapped to a button on the Pro Wii U controller. Not to mention the battery life. 1st thing we do is turn off the gamepad screen for any game where we can skip it, and go right for the pro controllers.

Why sell something that the majority of Wii U users won't buy anyway?

Damn right, now they just need to make every first party game pro controller compatable, it's really a great piece of kit (besides the lack of analog triggers and head phone jack)

I just assume it's Reggie being Reggie again. That guy can't seem to keep anything in stock. Mario Kart 8 bundles have been sold out since mid-June.

Reggie can only do what Nintendo of Japan lets him do. It's not necessarily his fault.

Howard Lincoln seemed to be a lot more in touch, pro-active than Reggie,

I seriously regret not buying another when they were £22 on Amazon.

White are plentiful in my area. Haven't seen a black one on shelves in over a year.

EDIT: I should add that it's very likely the retailers themselves slacking their re-stock orders.

Yup, it's possible that since Wii U's aren't really flying off the shelves, they see no need to keep fully stocked pro controllers. But I like the idea of an enhanced version coming in the future. It can't be that Nintendo is phasing it out completely since they seem to keep including it as an option for their recent games, which I love.

Nintendo online store in the UK has them, though at £39.99 I find them less appealing than a Mario Remote for the same price.

Getting rare around here, too (None at GameStop in a 100 mile radius for instance, just one of each color at my local Wal-Mart that both looked to be returns that were crudely taped shut, etc.). Thanks to this thread though, I picked one up. Been intending to for a long time, but didn't expect them to start to disappear.

I wonder if Nintendo is preparing a new version? Not sure what all they could do to it unless they wanted to really go all the way and make it be a Classic Controller substitute for Wii mode. But something is obviously going on since it's not going out of stock at many places like GameStop just because they all decided simultaneously to stop stocking a major accessory for a current console.

My Gamestop only had one, but not surprised, i live in nowheres land MD

Weird. We still have lots of them here in Canada. I would be surprised and delighted if they release a improved version with analog triggers.

I live in Canada and I see them all the time in stores. I got mine back in the spring at Walmart, and they usually have plenty of both colour. My local EB Games might only have one of each colour in stock at a time.

A lot of online stores don't have them in stock though. I've noticed that.

They are at a ton of stores here in my state. The Best Buy near me doesn't have them, according to the website, but 3 others do, and almost all the GameStops have them. The Best Buy near me always has returned ones for whatever reason, though, so it's possible they have a retaped one on the shelves. Walmart always has them, too.