Not so long ago Nintendo Japan issued a statement to confirm that it was planning to bring Wii production to a close; this very much followed the manufacturing policy that had been taken with the GameCube to Wii transition. As we argued, however, Nintendo may be missing an opportunity by dropping the hugely successful system so soon.
An updated notice on the Wii product page now states that manufacturing has ended, suggesting that once existing stock is sold that could be the end of the system. That said, Nintendo of Europe reacted to the previous update by stating that it had no specific announcements of its own to make at that time; the widely-held assumption is that when the Kyoto headquarters made that move the effect would be worldwide — at the time of writing Nintendo of Europe's statement to us is unchanged from its previous update.
The Wii has sold over 100 million units and delivered a memorable library of games. If this is indeed the end, then the little system that dared to provide motion-based standard-definition gaming — in a perceived age of HD and FPS dominance — deserves warm praise.
[source computerandvideogames.com]
Comments 51
Hopefully this will get rid of a lot of confusion due to the Wii not even being on shelves anymore.
I don't believe people were still buying it... That thang hasn't had any games for about 5 years
@MadAussieBloke
Totally, it feels like the Wii hasn't aged nearly as well as other consoles. Mine is only used for Gamecube games now. Simply because my Gamecube is hooked up to another tv.
Now NA and UK need to do the same thing
@ajcismo ha ha, you could say mine was just a Megadrive with a wireless controller
@X-Factor No need for that, it's only Nintendo Japan that decides the worldwide production of their consoles. Because it's an heaquarter, Microsoft decides everything in Redmond and Sony in Yoshida's mind.
This is the right move for Nintendo. Backward compatibility with Gamecube is no longer an important factor for sales, and Wii U can handle all Wii games equally well to original hardware (I think, I've never tested this thoroughly as I still have my Wii hooked up). Removing Wii from the market will strenghten the new system's position and eliminate confusion.
That said, Wii is the console that de facto pulled me into console gaming, and as such will be always fondly remembered. And I still have a few titles that I want to play on the system, so it's certainly not retiring from duty any time soon.
@MadAussieBloke / "I don't believe people were still buying it... That thang hasn't had any games for about 5 years "
Not true. Wii had new games released until 2013. — http://www.nintendo.com/games/releasecalendar
"perceived age of HD [...] dominance"?!
When the Wii launched (or xbox 360 or PS3) HD was not domimant at all...
Is this confirmed to be effective to all markets, or just Japan? Wii is manufactured in China, they can still conceivably produce PAL and NTSC models. They probably have plenty stockpiled to sell this Christmas and beyond.
End of an era, indeed, I feel Wii could still linger for a year more or so.
What`s strange is Im still buying Wii games... Purchased Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn a few months back and it`s one of the best games ever.
They can still sell Wii games seeing how they're perfectly playable on Wii U, but removing the hardware from the market should be helpful for its successor to gain some ground.
@Enthronics The most recent new game that I've seen released on the Wii is Angry Birds in August
@Muzikant Disney Infinity also got a Wii version in August. And it's the best-selling of the whole bunch so far, I believe. Do the math: Disney+ toy figurines x 100 million Wii consoles = success.
The Wii is pretty much the reason I got back into gaming, so it will always have a place in my heart. Xenoblade, Brawl, Skyward Sword and Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 were absolute masterpieces!
There's still Wii games set for release all the way up until November 29th in North America and Europe, it's all shovelware and Just Dance though.
I disagree. This won't stop brand confusion, because the confusion wasn't people going in to buy a Wii U and accidentally buying a Wii. The confusion was they heard Wii U, thought it was an add on for the Wii they're not using and lost interest. And those that wanted a Wii aren't going to happily pay over twice the price to get a Wii U instead. Nintendo don't need to make any games for it or spend anything to market it. Just let it keep making money til sales dry up. PS2 sold 50 million units after the PS3 launched. That's a lot of money.
I have a Wii, and I bought it last year in August in Walmart when I saw it bundled with mario wii. I wasn't planning on buying it, but the mario game brought nostalgia. 80% of my games right now are all the virtual console mario games that Nintendo has to offer. As far as Wii U goes, I am still holding off buying one until either they launch a bundle like they got in Europe that includes Mario and Luigi U, or sometimes next year. One criteria - dropping the price $50 was met, now to save even more money, all I need is a Mario title bundled with it. Mario Kart 8 will do, but mario U and Luigi U seem like a better deal. Those 2 games total about $80, and once I get the Wii U, I'm planning to buy them anyways.
When I buy a Wii U, I am planning to buy Mario U, Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, and all of the mario virtual console (so I can play them off-tv on the gamepad only), and then some other titles. Im just loving how the Wii U looks with HD.
I think it will help with brand confusion, but they need to do a better job of explaining the backwards compatibility and the off-TV play.
With the Wii out of the way, the focus can at least shift over to the Wii U.
I am one happy customer. Not only do I own a respectable Wii game collection, it still also lets me get my Game Cube fix from time to time. Factoring the homebrew side of things, it's also a very capable retro gaming console and region free system (which is great because I own some Japanese Wii and Game Cube titles). The Revolution was indeed delivered, non gamers became gamers, the waggle was copied by both Sony and Microsoft, my JRPG love got rekindled... Not bad for a box that could only output to 480p, eh?
Are they still making the mini Wii?
Seems like an odd move. Doesn't the Wii still outsell the Wii U in Japan? Why would they discontinue a more successful product? Are they hoping that people will shrug, say "aw shucks," and just buy a Wii U instead? Besides, they're going to have to keep manufacturing Wii peripherals anyway.
@Peach64 "PS2 sold 50 million units after the PS3 launched. That's a lot of money."
Yes, exactly. If Nintendo is hoping to push people into buying a Wii U, it's not going to work, and all they're doing is cutting off potentially years of sales. I don't expect the PS3 to cease production until at least 2016 or so, because Sony knows better.
@CaviarMeths Nope, Wii sales in Japan are often below one thousand units per week.The only thing it outsells these days is the Xbox 360.
So it makes sense to discontinue it for the Japanese market, but not for the rest of the world.
Also, I'm not so sure of those PS2 numbers Peach64 mentioned. PS2 was already near 120 million when PS3 came, it sold about 30 millions after it's successor launch, if I'm not mistaken. But I'm kind of lazy to got check the actual numbers, so take that with a pinch of salt. Plus that's beside the point, Wii is no PS2, it doesn't really have the legs to sell another 30 million, let's be honest. It's more like the original Playstation sales-wise. If they keep manufacturing Wii for western markets, it could sell more 5 to 10 millions at best.
I wonder whatever happened to a statement Nintendo made not a very long time ago about using the Wii's twilight years as a motion to officially expand into developing markets with the Wii as a "budget home console" after it has served its prime in the bigger video gaming markets. I really hope they didn't just rule against that due to the rise of mobile gaming and stuff.
Long live the Wii. Such a great library of games if you can dig through all the garbage shovelware.
@Samurai_Goroh and only if they can really reduce the manufacturing costs would it even be profitable.
Also, who knows how much stock they still have?
The only reason to make Wiis now would be to sell in China.
I wonder what the last few obscurerare Wii games that get released will be. My collection of 170 plus is growing strong....
@Muzikant Didn't Just Dance 2014 get a Wii version, too?
hell yeah!!!
@thesilverbrick yep. i some an aRTICLE SOMEWHERE IN nintendolife that the wii version is coming out tomorrow
NES was supported until well into the SNES lifespan. Same with PS2/3 coexisting. What gives? That said, Wii-U is the future and Nintendo needs to advertise ASAP!
I'm not going to miss the Wii. Even though it had lots of amazing games that other systems couldn't give, it will still cause confusion with the Wii U. Plus, the Wii was a shovelware paradise.
The little system that could. It may not have been technically perfect, but at least the Wi was finally something different. I think it's safe to say this system brought a breath of fresh air to a stagnating pasttime. Stagnating as in becoming less and less interesting and more niche, not necessarily a crashing industry.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months and years with the Wii U, but I highly doubt it will even come close to having the same impact that the Wii did.
Godspeed, Wii.
I really do think this console would kick so much butt if they made a bundle with Galaxy or SS for developing countries to get them into video games (Also it might be good in a place like brazil, where the PS4 costs 1850 US Dollars )
Time to move the old system over into the retro section of the site. Pretty impressive run, now let the Wii U rise....
I need to fix mine so it cant read disc again before it becomes hard to
RIP still have my original and I still play it daily. I also have a Wii U.
this is sad even if necessary. Only the original NES rivals the Wii to me. The Wii Renewed my interest in gaming after a long break. Now I'm giving my whole collection to my nephew this christmas so he can start with that one (at 5yo). I'm only concerned that the shop will go down (has it already?). There are so many good download games and VC games, it'd be a shame to loose access to them all, anyone know if it's down or going down?
Rest now sweet prince, it was an honor to raise Wii remotes with you over the years.
Rest in peace.
really this is the end of the gamecube era, since wii games can still be played...
although for those who didnt have a chance to try 8 player console bomberman blast on wiiware (4 gamecube controllers plus 4 wiimotes at the same time), I pity you
Rest in pieces
@Kifa 2011-2013 Wii's only support Wii titles. Gamecube compatibility has been gone longer.
@Ren The store is the only thing not down yet.
Considering they've stopped production of the system, it's just a matter of time. Gotta snag that are rare in the real world before it's too late.
@ngamer155 Yeah. The confusion they caused with "let's make a system that looks and sounds like our last one which we sold to people who don't know about the video game industry" is likely a big part of why there are now about 10 games for the Wii U that I'd want, and upon checking, about 50 for the PS3 (which I don't have.
Guess what I'm saving up for first?
Maybe there would be greater reason Earthbound, Super Luigi U, and a few other first party titles and indie stuff if they'd made this move sooner.
A large portion of the target audience of the Wii (which is... everyone) doesn't really understand what gaming system is, what it does, and that iterations happen and don't work together. There are people who buy Blu Ray discs and try to play them in their DVD player, and don't understand why it won't work, even when you tell them.
If there was just no more Wii (other than a slight overlap, in store/warehouse stock should cover that. DS Lite production stopped around the intro of the 3DS, but they had enough to sell for over a year iirc) and now there's a Wii U on the shelf instead, I think that could have worked. "Why is it so much more expensive now?" "Oh, that's the new version. It's improved, and comes with a controller that has a screen in it." "oh, I see."
As opposed to "Why is this one so much more expensive?" "It has better graphics and has this cotnroller with a screen in it" "oh. Will those graphics work on my TV? Where can I buy the controller seperately?"
Basically, I gave up on convincing my Mom to upgrade. if TVii had worked properly, there'dve been a chance, but... that's another story.
No, not the GameCube backwards compatible Wii (since Japan never got the other two models). I love those, why not end the Canadian Wii Mini or European Wii Family Edition first?
@BanjoThreeie Why is it that each time I write something anywhere on the Internet, somebody comes up and explains some commonly known fact to me? I knew that already, and that does not change what I said about it being not important anymore. :]
One of the best Nintendo systems I had the pleasure to play.
You can get them dirt cheap used now anyway.
Sad to see it go, anyhow.
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