Topic: What if the Wii U never had it's first spring drought?

I've been thinking, the Wii U's sales never really hit rock bottom until several months after launch with no names. So that makes me wonder, if say Pikmin 3 managed to launch in early spring 2013, where would the Wii U be today?

Would sales have fallen as far as they did? Would Rayman Legends have been delayed? Would third parties have completely abandoned the system? What do you think?

I feel like the Wii U would have sold at least 15 million units by now if it had gotten a big game in it's first spring. With no games in that period, the Wii U really lost any launch momentum it had, and that really caused a lot of problems.

It would have been a success. But of course, it wouldn't have outsold the PS4 and Xbox one.

@NightmareEater: I only somewhat agree. It's hard to say how it would've done against the PS4 and X One in that circumstance. Given Nintendo didn't have the resources prepared to support early development for the system (and in fact made it clear that the Wii U was going to be relying on 3rd party support for most of the first year), that drought would've been filled with on-the-nose 3rd party support. It wouldn't have lost 3rd parties by the time Smash came out, as they'd have seen relative success during Nintendo's drought periods, and the whole system would likely look a lot better for it. Mind you, certain games (GTA, KH3, MGS5) would still skip the system due to specs, but that wouldn't necessarily put the Wii U under PS4 and XO in sales. Though not necessarily above, either. The overall effect would be very difficult to judge.

I think Nintendo brings it on themselves, they aim to release too many games in Sep-Dec for the holiday season with a big game in May rather than constant stream. With them finding trouble with HD game making causing delays it's only made things worse.

I mentioned something similar in the comments the other day but I put it more down to Rayman Legends,it's delay and announcement it was going multiplatform caused a lot of negativity around the Wii U and it's never really recovered from it.Even with that it still sold best on Wii U but if it had been released on time it would have likely done much better,maybe enough to convince other 3rd parties it might be worth taking a chance on Wii U.But yeah you're right,if it wasn't for that Spring drought and lull in sales then Rayman wouldn't have been cancelled in the first place.I'm not sure Pikmin 3 releasing on time could have prevented it though,it would have helped but not by much.If MK8 had been released during that window though then I think things would have turned out differently.By the time MK8 was released it was too late to turn things around.If Splatoon had been a launch title then I think Wii U would have turned out to be a fairly successful console for Nintendo but alas,it wasn't to be.

Poor Wii U,it never stood a chance.

Pikmin 3 earlier? Probably wouldn't have made much of an impact. If they had something big like Mario, Zelda, Smash or Kart on day 1? Yeah, probably. Or if Nintendo Land had caught on to the same degree that Wii Sports did. Or if consumers in general were not sitting around waiting for something that was a significant upgrade from the 360.

Due to its specs and the fact that the gamepad doesn't bring a whole lot to the table, it certainly would've had more momentum than it does now, but it would likely still pale in comparison to the success PS4 has had and Xbone would've played the catch up game without much fear of being left behind much like it's doing now. PS4 is as successful as it is because they strove to have better ports and partnered with very popular games whilst supporting niche titles. Nothing revolutionary about it, but for most console gamers, PS4 is the place to be.

The way I see it, the people owning a Wii U that early are the most hardcore fans. These are the people most likely to buy into niche franchises like Pikmin. From there the hype would spread. Think Infamous: Second Son. It was never Sony's biggest franchise, but it was enough to get people excited.

It would have helped some- I also think they should have launched with New Super Mario Bros. 3d World, or at least had it out by June. Then have MK8 and DKTF out by Dec. I had thought about getting one in March, but had backed off just b/c there weren't that many games- but just on impulse bought it b/c I wanted the gamepad so bad.

It definitely would've helped. It could've sold better, and wouldn't be abandoned by third parties. Though whether or not it would've sold as well as the Xbone or the PS4 is highly debatable.

If the Wii U never had droughts, meaning the developers didn't have an issues and games were never delayed. We would probably already have Zelda or it would at least be coming really soon. Star Fox probably would have been out already. More games for the system, which could have been good for the system.

I don't think it would have fixed the 3rd party situation (as them not making games contributes to the drought...imagine what sony and ms would look like if the 3rd parties took a few months off....) but it would have bumped sales a bit I think. Might would have put it above MS since the Ps4 seems to be the box of choice right now.

Nintendo would have ruled the world

it would have been...

Yea, it definitely would have boded MUCH better for the system's health. I don't know if Pikmin 3 would have been enough, though, but certainly if something like Mario Kart or even 3D World would have been ready for that first Spring, we might have had an entirely different situation on our hands.

@TromboneGamer: Oh, give me a break with that. PS4 isn't winning because it has better ports or better specs or better anything. It's winning because they played it safe in an otherwise very dangerous generations for consoles. They let Microsoft try to make steps forward and followed up with "Yeah! Haha! That's stupid! Why would you think that was a good idea?" Meanwhile working to remove the very thing Microsoft just announced before anyone catches them. Sony's winning because of good PR and great advertising. Their system isn't any better in the long run, and heck, it's the most expensive one, at this point. It's winning with hype. Not games.

@UGXwolf: Yeah of course there's hype and you're right they were spot on with their PR and advertising, but that doesn't make my points any less valid.

It wouldn't have fixed it, but it may have gotten it closer to N64 or Wii levels. Right now Wii U is like a dirty word to 3rd Parties.

It would have sold better. Maybe around Gamecube or Nintendo 64 levels overall.