Happier times from the UK Wii U launch

We don't always have the opportunity to share happy news here on Nintendo Life, so let's just suck it up and say it — the PS4 and Xbox One have already surpassed the lifetime Wii U sales in the UK.

It was already reported last week that the Xbox One's launch weekend sales of 150,000 units had almost taken it past the Wii U's performance over a year, with an inevitability that it would overtake the Nintendo system in its first full week. That's happened, but MCV is also reporting that the record-breaking PS4 console launch in the UK has taken it beyond 250,000 sales in its first 48 hours, comfortably beating Microsoft's system and the Wii U. It seems that a combination of its lower price — in relation to the One — and significant marketing and buzz have given Sony's system a seriously impressive start.

As for the Wii U, it's been clear for a period of time — and often cited by Satoru Iwata in financial briefings — that the UK has been a particularly weak market, though the performance of the 3DS in the country has been a positive recognised by the Nintendo President in the most recent quarter. This is nevertheless a disappointing reflection of the reality of the system's poor sales over the past year, and will no doubt focus minds over the rest of 2013 and into 2014, when major releases such as Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. will be hugely important for the platform.

The year's release advantage is now well and truly gone in the UK, so the focus will have to shift to regaining some momentum. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[source mcvuk.com]