Nintendo Insists That Wii U Production Will Continue Beyond This Week

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Crazy news

Didn't the original report make mention of 'Japanese manufacturing', which doesn't make sense given the Wii U is manufactured in China?

Anyway, I hope production continues as I really need to buy myself a spare Wii U given they will probably be quite expensive on the second hand market years down the line, and my Gamepad will probably not last forever!

Why bother producing a system that is soon to be replaced, doesn't sell well (and likely already have loads already sitting in warehouses) and aside Zelda which you may as well get on the Switch, has nothing in the pipeline??

They must feel confident that they will be able to sell the stock they already have, and then some. Good for them! I hope they can.

It could be that they're simply pausing production while they focus on the Switch launch, and will be resuming afterwards... or it could just be the current model of the Wii U that is ceasing production, with a new model on the way, but not yet announced... there's really not enough information to know what exactly is going on, as everything so far has been based mostly on speculation.

@Damo ah ok, didn't realise that. I presumed the whole thing was manufactured China. I guess the Wii U wouldn't be much use without the chips though!

Wii U x Switch compatibility CONFIRMED!

I want to think that people will realize how nice it is to have a awesome library of games, 300+ in mine, a easy to use tablet with Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, internet etc all on your tv, even a tv remote built in. Our Wii U is on more then our tv is. The PS4 is used for that occasional AAA game. But every from 34-4year old, go back to playing Nintendo. Thankfully I still have my own n3ds. And I'm worried I will need more then 1 switch console... why does everyone not have a Wii U is what I always ask?

Wii U needs a price cut before sleep in eternity.

Waste of materials.

Wii U production will continue unchanged as they probably haven't made any since August. Either that, or he meant Wii U production will Continue unchanged until Friday. Nintendo has such a long history of saying goes something and then doing the opposite I don't think anyone can take what they say at face value, there are always caveats.

If you go to Nintendo own holiday gift buying page you have to look very hard to even find Wii U. It isn't in the hardware photo and barely even registers on the hardware page. So whether they continue to make them or not they are pretending they don't exist. And all the holiday toy hooks I've received, Target, Toys R Us, K-mart, hardly show Wii U either. Nintendo just doesn't care, they want it swept under the rug and forgotten. They want everyone to buy a 2DS and NES Mini thus holiday, that's it.

http://happyholidays.nintendo.com/categories/game-systems/

And most importantly, don't forget Nintendo forecast only 800,000 Wii U sales, and they just reported 520,000 already without revising the 800,000 number, so don't expect them making any effort to sell more, no marketing get or price cut, or they would easily sell more than that as Zelda is still coming to Wii U. Supposedly.

@GravyThief

I need to replace mine, my gamepad and charger are starting to show their use.
Stripped wires from playing whilst charging, the silicon case on my gamepad has saved it I don't know how many times.
My Wii U has been hammered from all the game time I've spent on it!
Plus, a CIB Wii U will be worth heaps once people realise how good the console really was.

If a price cut ever happens I will snag one purely as a back-up in case mine gives up its ghost. It may have had a small library compared to other consoles but plenty of quality I want to conserve.

I still feel like the Wii U is the console that never truly reached it's potential. It is a shame that it never saw a price cut to give it a chance at a second life.

I knew it.

People lie on the internet?

Why?

So next week is the last week of Wii U production then?

I get it Nintendo, the Wii U it's a sadly misunderstood great piece of overpriced electronics with a lot of good games on it, but on that day of March when the Switch is finally going to be on the shelves, having also 3 (somewhere still 5) models of the 3DS and the Wii U there is going to hurt sales and confuse people picking up Breath of The Wild. It's over, just let it go already.

Probably they don't want to confirm the final death of the Wii U, but most likely its production will end soon. It doesn't make sense to have both Wii U and Switch in production.
I'd better snag some replacement chargers for my Wii U, though - the wires are starting to show.

So, probably a couple more months of hardware production, and then it will almost certainly be dropped like a brick. lol

Nintendo seems to continue production on consoles throughout their life span. They still make parts for the N64 (if you actually call or reach out to them) and when I called them a few months ago with a problem with my Gamecube, they still had parts to fix it. It's just not something that they continue to do continuously, but parts are always available...the consoles themselves, no, they end making the consoles, but you can still find some of them. I can see the Wii U being put slowly through production come January (as not many being made or available), BUT...if they stop the Wii U, then that means that they stop anything for Wii...Remotes, Nunchucks, Gamecube Classic Controllers and Balance Boards, and with the Wii still selling and the games still selling, I doubt they would do that. In other words, there's still a few more years that you'll be able to purchase from the Wii U E-shop (just like you can still purchase from WiiWare), but online functions will slowly come to an end. Eventually, just like PS3 and 360 will endure, if you don't have something downloaded onto your machine (but it's on your account), you won't be able to get to it...eventually that will end too, but I don't see that coming to an end until they release their next console after Switch, which is a ways to go. This is why I ended up purchasing a large HD for the PS3 and re-downloaded everything that I would want...before they are gone forever.

@Luna_110 I agree, but it will be small amounts of Wii U systems made through the production process, eventually, ending completly in March once the Switch is brought out. I wonder if they are still making Wii's and DS's.

@Darknyht That's the main reason why I think it may only be this model of Wii U that is ceasing production... they could be replacing it with a cheaper model in order to drop the price... similar to what they done with the Wii mini.

@hepgius Over here, you can't even find Wii U's on store shelves. In my area, the Toys R Us has not one Wii U game or system on the shelves...just Wii and 3DS...Target and Walmart are actually the same way too. You pop over to the nintendo section, and all you find is Wii, 3DS, some DS and Amiibo figures and E-Shop cards. Walmart put Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions in the spots where the Wii U's used to be and for some reason...the original Wii's are still there. It's a shame, but it also shows how much support the Wii U actually received. Honestly, and it's just in my head, I'm thinking that these stores are just making room for the Switch!!!!

@DragonEleven I don't even see them making a slimmer version of it. It's the tablet Pad itself that was the most money, and I don't get how they can make it smaller or more compact, unless they took out HD from it completely. I think nintendo is just turning away from it completely.

@JLPick
I'm pretty sure they aren't. I remeber reading here on Nintendo Life that the production for DS and Wii ended.

@DragonEleven I thought about this too...especially if they want to meet demands, preorders and still be able to fill store shelves.

@Luna_110 I hope not. I still see people purchasing Wii's, which I'd now like to know if it surpassed the PS2 for the most sales (I thought I read somewhere that the PS2 was the highest selling system of all time with the Wii behind it). Doesn't matter...I'll get Zelda on both and still enjoy the Wii U, but...just like when any company releases the next console, it will be put away, but only after the Switch has more games coming out. Took me a while to finally start fully enjoying the PS4...almost a year...when the games started to pour out for it. Also came with the Wii...after the games started to pour out!!!! People shouldn't get upset at production ending when or if it does...I have 2x sega genesis and NES', Super NES' and N64's just in case one breaks or stops working. If I see them cheaper later on, I'll pick one up just to keep put away in case. Eventually, the system will die, it just takes a while, but also depends on how much they're played and where they are stored. My Atari still works fully great and so does the others. My first Genesis is just now starting to act up.

I hope they do produce more because that might mean a price cut, which means I'll buy a spare!

We'll see.

@Damo Are they, though? I thought the Wii U's innards are manufactured at Foxconn. They are from Taiwan, and although they do have subsidiaries in quite a few different countries, Japan included, it's always China that is mentioned in relation to chip manufacturing (and employee abuse, but that's another topic entirely).

According to Wikipedia, Japan was a co-location with Sharp (now probably taken over by Foxconn entirely) that manufactures large TV screens:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn#Japan

Ok just a thought but if the gamepad is the most expensive part of the Wii U, who's to say that Nintendo might release a Wii U base unit that uses the Switch as the gamepad so that physical media can be used?

@JLPick
Any another tips for maintaining my consoles and portables ? I always cover my Wii and Wii U + Wii U gamepad with a small towel to prevent of sun ray and dust. My 3DS XL placed inside my book shelf, placed on a dock from Wii U (So I can see my beautiful 3DS XL Front face everyday).

@lakona
Wait, sounds like interesting idea. Who knows ? Maybe better wait for 12 January 2017 for another Reveals from Nintendo about Switch.

@JLPick I never said the new version would be slimmer... only cheaper.
I doubt they'd change the design of the gamepad, but production costs would be lower now... as would production costs of the console itself, which they could likely bring down further with similar changes to what they did with the Wii mini (e.g. HDMI only, top-loading discs, smaller hard drive, no SD card slot, 2 USB sockets instead of 4, etc.).
They may even sell the gamepad separately and make it so that you can use a Switch instead.

@DragonEleven
Nice idea about "Wii U Mini" . But it will limited the Switch's gameplay range due to Wii U ability. And a new color for Wii U Mini would be great for a Farewell bundle.

"There is no change to our continuing [Wii U] production. Even though the Nintendo Switch is slated to go on sale, [Wii U] production is scheduled to continue."

Lol. Sooo, the end of the month then?? Like it even matters, they're going to pull the plug soon. Makes no difference if it's now or in a few weeks.

Wii-U production lines are still going strong!

Whenever they stop production, I still think that the Wii U has 2 more Christmas' officially on the market, where you can still purchase a brand new one either in a certain store or online (not including marketplace sellers), and I'm sure the Nintendo online shop will continue to sell them when no one else does. We obviously have this Christmas, and I think the remnants of all brand new stock will be sold by next Christmas. After that I think they will still be about for a while much like the Wii, but only in pre owned form or from an astronomical price from a scalper. With 13.36 million units sold as of the 30/9/16, can we bring that number up to 15 million units with 2 more Black Fridays and 2 more Christmas'

Till next week

@Damo Well, thanks for the link, but that just concerns semi-conductors, not the entire SoC or chipset. Foxconn is the only party listed as the main manufacturer for Wii U's hardware, along with Mitsumi, who takes care of the peripherals, such as controllers.

@FragRed: And it can only steal sales from The Switch, which I contend the Wii (and the Wii Mini) did for well into the Wii U's lifespan. Argh!

@Anti-Matter It should of had one ages ago, sadly I'm not sure Nintendo cares to give it an official price cut at this point, but we'll see, it would give a nice last hurrah before Christmas...

@bluedogrulez steal sales??? hardly, if someone is buying a Wii U this close to Switch or even after Switch its for one of 2 reasons,

1- they are a collector and know if they don't get it now they might have a hard time in the future,
2- Nintendo (miraculously) gave the system a much needed price drop and its people on a budget who always buy last gen consoles that are scooping it up.

Either way its not going to "steal" sales from the Switch, because eventually these people will also buy a Switch, just not at launch, but they were never going to do so in the first place.

@rjejr Prove it, Nintendo. Lower the price.

I feel bad that I love my Wii U and I even have a friend who really wants one and asked about it, but I just can't recommend it. If it had a value price, maybe.

@rjejr I think Nintendo wants to make sure the Switch comes in under or the same as the price of the current Wii U pricing. Maybe it is planning $250 for the Switch and having the Wii U at $250 at the same time... well, that's confusing. But having the Wii U at $150 and the Switch at $250... there's just no winning this.

Gotta ensure the supply continues to meet that demand! Simple economics, boys!

@WilliamCalley now this is funny

B-But Emily Rogers said this was confirmed....

I think they should put the price down to at least match the ps4

@aaronsullivan Nintendo just really doesn't want to sell it. I'll be surprised if there are any BF deals. That $249 Splat Smash bundle last BF seemed nice, if they would have just kept it they probably could have sold at least triple what they have since then, and then $199 this BF. But right now they are probably looking at every Wii U sale is a potential lost Switch sale. They already have to compete w/ PS4 and X1S, why compete w/ themselves? And why make more they aren't planning on selling. Zelda BotW will get a big marketing push on Switch some day - still doesn't have a date - so they don't need Wii U for that.

PS4 15% off at Target this week w/ Cartwheel. That's $255 w/ Uncharted 4. Wii U can't compete w/ that. I'm still biding my PS4 time until BF for $249 since it's going under the tree since FFXV -which I pre-ordered back in January - got delayed until after Thanksgiving. I'm keeping my eye out for a good New 3DS XL BF deal. Not likely to bite, but I might.

If you haven't yet, even if you don't care about Animal Crossing go watch the Direct. It's something else.

They will not openly come out and say we are no longer making the console as this will effect what little sales they may get this coming holiday season, they will stick to their guns saying that they will continue to produce and support the system hoping some people will buy into that BS.

Coming out and confirming they are no longer producing the system is the same as saying the product is now discontinued and no longer for sale.

The fact that the WII U costs around the same if not a little more than a PS4 in the UK is just a joke...

It doesn't matter, Wii u stays dead.

"They will not openly come out and say we are no longer making the console as this will effect what little sales they may get this coming holiday season"

That's probably the case!

I would give the Wii U a half price sale for this festive holiday period.

@Anti-Matter Besides most of the second copies of systems I get, stay in the actual boxes until it comes time to take them out (yeah, I actually keep the original boxes of the systems I take out too), I end up packing up the consoles that don't with bubble wrap and a sturdy box. My only other option to tell you, would be to make sure that the vents on all of the systems are fully cleaned at least once a year...take a small vacuum and do this, not a shop vac...even doing so with the cartridge slot (a little harder and more careful to do). That's all that I can really tell you that I do, which I also do with DVD players, VCR's and cameras and other electronics...even televisions. That way, you get more usage and life out of everything instead of having to fork over more money for more expensive stuff.

I am considering picking up a second system for backup.

Whhhhhhhhy?

...of course they are still making them..
..it's probably the next "Just For You" discount
on My Nintendo...lol..

I know one thing, it'll be impossible to get a new Wii u this time next year.

@RoomB31: Your analysis misses a significant buying group: parents buying a "nintendo" for their young kids. They know "nintendo" but don't know Wii U or Switch; all they see is one bundle for $249 and another for $349. Guess which one they purchase. So yeah, it will undermine Switch sales to a degree, just as the Wii undermined Wii U sales.

@bluedogrulez eh, if these parents are buying Nintendo now, they will buy Nintendo later, so no I don't think my analysis misses that at all, as this also would just delay those sales for the Switch until a later date. We can't all own a Switch right out of the gate.

Yeah, I think they're playing the game of 'We're not shutting wiiu production down....until next week'

So can we go back to yesterday's article and point out that Emily Rogers or whatever is not so reliable after all? She's always cited as "pretty spot on" or something and many times it seems she's not actually . i still enjoy the articles, just seems curious.

I think it would be premature. After all the Switch might tank...

@JLPick

For your Genesis; get a Q-tip, top soaked with rubbing alcohol, then insert the alcohol tip into its cartridge port contacts and rub them vigorously. Do the same with all your Genesis software. Wait for about an hour, then test a game on it. I did that on my SNES a couple years ago and I've never had a problem since. The thing's from 1991. Flawless.

Never throw out a system that's out of production, regardless of its function. EVER. It's utter moronic stupidity. Always sell it or get it fixed instead.

@iGen Will Try that out, thanks for the tip...other than that, I never throw away the systems or the games, even if the games are ones that I don't play or like and never got rid of them before...eventually, they're all worth money later on...I still have my Atari games in the original boxes, and I always buy games (even if they are used) only with the original artwork and instruction books intact...that's the only way I'll get them. Thank you for the tip though! Will definitely try it this weekend!

@JLPick

You're very welcome, I'm happy to help!

Glad to make your life a little easier.