Wii U Hardware Sales Dip Below Xbox One in Japan as Nintendo Switch Looms

Switch era is here.

I'm pretty sure the Switch will outsell lifetime XBox One sales in Japan very very quickly.

It'll be ok WiiU, your suffering will be over in 2 days.

You know things are bad when Xbox over takes you in Japan. RIP WiiU my friend. You truly was under appreciated

It's not so much that the Wii U dipped, but the Xbox One surged for some reason. Wii U sales are still terrible but not Xbox One bad (it typically sells less than 100 a week)

Bye Wii U! We had some good times... Well, a few anyway...

It's a sad day.

"And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that
And may I say - not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes, it was my way"

Thank you for the memories. It was a tumultuous and often fraught relationship but I appreciated you even if the wider gaming public didn't.

The end is nigh? Seems like the ends been here for quite some time for the Wii U.

Can anyone catch the PlayStation 4

Not only is Wii U selling less than the barely noticeable in Japan X1, but it's also under the PS3, which is 10 years old now in Japan, and people said PS3 would fail b/c it launched at $500/$600. I wonder how many units Wii U will still be selling every week in Japan 6 years from now since Switch isn't backwards compatible?

PS3 Japan launch. Maybe we'll see some vids like this over the weekend?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEfamAuJR_8

Hardly a surprise. Who wants a wii u now when switch is about to launch

Thanks for all the Metroids, Wii U.

I feel really bad for any unaware person who buys a Wii U and doesn't know about the Switch, lol.

I'm interested to see how many people will buy Breath of the Wild on the Wii U compared to the Switch. I'll be picking up the Wii U version as I plan on getting a Switch around Christmas time.

There'll be a little boost next week when people buy it for Zelda....

@UK-Nintendo
Yep vita and 3ds.. Both have sold more than ps4 in Japan so far,lifetime sales

What caused the surge in xbone sales?

£90 on trade in at CEX

I imagine Breath of the Wild sales on Switch will be limited by how many consoles Nintendo can ship. Probably looking at a million at most for Japan, maybe even 750k.

@KirbyTheVampire If you're able to buy a Wii U without seeing anything about the Switch, there's nothing to feel sorry about haha.

Expect the Nintendo Switch to sell between 300,000 and 350,000 at launch in Japan, much like the 3DS, Vita, Wii U, and PS4.

Expect Zelda to sell at least 200,000 copies on Switch and 50,000 copies on Wii U at launch. I'd also expect 1-2 Switch to sell around 100,000 copies at launch.

Not that surprising in my opinion.

@Nintendoforlife Yeah that's true, lol.

@NintySnesMan Sony is the future

I find it interesting that the Vita comfortably outsold the PS4 Pro.

My best memories on wii u was Devils Third multiplayer

I do hope Zelda sells well on WiiU and not all users abandoned are lil gamepadded buddy. WIIUFOREVER!

@UK-Nintendo No.

Well........next week should see some interesting returns. Feels like Switch is a made for Japan console in some ways but it will probably take a Pokémon to truly push sales into the holy crap range.

Still, launches rack up a fair amount of sales and any waning sales momentum can be boosted by a great E3. I cant wait to see what the next 3 months look like

@UK-Nintendo
Yeah your probably right,no doubt ps4 will go on to sell 100+ million.. They dominated with psx and ps2,the ps3 was no slouch either and psp sold loads

A moment of silent to my dear Wii U.

I am in 2 minds as to buy another Wii u before they're all gone. They could actually be worth a fortune in the future. Big investment though.

I actually thought there might be a spike in Wii u sales with the release of BOTW

@Mart1ndo I doubt it. You can still pick up a n64 or GameCube/Wii for a price of a quality meal

I absolutely had a lot of fun playing on my Wii U. My most played game is easily Splatoon, although I also got a ton of enjoyment out of Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, the Mario platforming games, and it brought along one of the best games of all time: Yoshi's Woolly World. (Warning: opinion might be slightly biased.)

I'll still probably play my Wii U here and there, if only for Smash Bros and Splatoon, until the new/improved versions of those games are out on Switch at least, but when I get my Switch, I'll mainly focus on playing that for a while at least. Still, even though the Wii U was a commercial failure, it was nowhere close to being a failure for me personally. I had a whoooooooooole lot of fun with it, and I do not regret purchasing it for even a slight bit. Worth every penny. Hats off to you, Wii U!

@UK-Nintendo Except the Wii U sold substantially worse than all of those. I was tempted to pick another up as well (Imagine when people's gamepad's start dying) but I have a feeling the Wii U will maintain it's current price, at worst, so I decided against it.

@UK-Nintendo
Yeah I know. Brand new they might be worth something. Believe it or not I own 4 brand new Wii's, a brand new sealed GameCube and only 2 weeks ago I bought a brand new 500gb ps3 sealed for 115euro. I had 6 brand new Wii's but I sold 2. On top of the 4 new Wii's I have 3 Wii's working in my house and that's on top of all my other consoles PS3, PS4, Xb1 and Wii u.

@Yosher Agreed. I'd say it even had the potential to be one of my favorite consoles (Certainly, it was my favorite of that generation) it was just a complete and total marketing trainwreck. Hope they don't make the same mistakes (doesn't seem like they are). Sadly, once Splatoon 2, MK8, and a new Smash Bros comes out, I don't think my Wii U will get too much play time. Still, it was a great console that I am sure I will revisit in the future.

Its really funny to see how many people selling their ps4 and ps3 on second hand sites to save up money for the Switch.

Well of course it is, who's buying a console that had official support end and is 2 days before its replacement lands (and already sold tons of preorders) which is better in every way AND is the successor to 2 consoles, one of which being the #1 (by far?)

Let's compare this week's Switch sales to last YEAR'S XBox One sales, shall we?

@rjejr I love that video...I love what a "massive fight" looks like in Tokyo. In NY they call that a party, right?

Also amazing that the dudebro consoles actually seem to draw a female demographic at that launch...you don't see that much here outside Nintendo consoles...

Of course PS3 sells well, it's a long ago discounted a budget console with a big library of Japan oriented popular games. WiiU is a full price console 2 days before its replacement in a time were all but the hardcore in Japan wouldn't touch a home console let alone an outgoing one that's being replaced by one that does everything that a Japanese gamer could want in a console

I think it's pretty funny how Xbox One (an ACTIVE platform) is just barely squeaking by Wii U (a console that's been dead for months) in terms of hardware sales in Japan.

It's understandable that the Wii U has dipped considerably, many people are accepting that the Wii U is now being replaced with Switch. Who would buy a Wii U now? It's sad because I love the console but it's time to say goodbye. The Switch will no doubt come on top come next week.

@Mart1ndo
4 Wiis?
For playing all Region each machines ?
Mine just only one, USA version. Right now my Wii is used for playing borh Wii and Gamecube.

I treasure my Wii U. It's a treasure that is filled with lots of fantastic games from the big N. It will be interesting to see if zelda botw can top Xenoblade X who I consider to be the best open game on all platformes...

@Ryu_Niiyama Looking at the numbers, I'd guess that a local supermarket decided to buy an XBox One as a bonus for their staff. That would account for the sales increase

Wii U is forgotten now...
...
...
...
OK, Enough the sorrow !
Let's Switch kick xbox1 and ps4 sales !

I bought my WiiU last year specifically for Zelda so my purchase will be justified very soon.

I'll buy a Switch when some games come out I can't buy on the WiiU.

@Mart1ndo yea sometimes it's cheaper buying the console again. I have 2 wiis but now 3 as I needed wiimotes and found a bundle on eBay for 20 pounds including 2 wiimotes. I have a 500gb PS3 with 20 games including 2 controllers and 2 ps move controllers and I see the prices are dirt cheap.
My original pal n64 died in 2005 so I bought a ntsc jap n64 just the console for 20 pounds and the now the import games are cheaper.
Thank eBay

@roadrunner343 if you do pick another. Try and buy the whole bundle rather than just the gamepad. You'll get more for your money

@Mart1ndo Your console collection sounds like my portable collection! 4 Sega Nomads, 3 Atari Lynx, 4 Game Gear, 3 Game Boy pocket, 4 Neo Geo Pockets, just to name a few that I have duplicates of... I have a serious problem with retro portables >_<

@Cosmic-K9 didn't the Xbox one come out just under a year after the Wii u. Hasn't the Xbox one sold over 10 million already. Is the Xbox still supported with games

Even though the Wii U was not a great success it's still very sad that X-Bones are selling better in Japan now.

A moment of silence for the ultimate underdog…

...May our great prince rest in peace...

-DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY-

-48 HOURS REMAIN-

-

(….pretend I already posted dawn of the first day, shhhh….)

@UK-Nintendo Yes the Xbox One is still supported. My comment was in wonderment that the Xbox is selling ridiculously low. How a dead console (Wii U) is selling at the same level of a console that is active.

Good riddance I say, the Wii U was a failure of a console on multiple levels. I will not miss it and I am not sad to see it go. Let it be seen as a bad example of how to make consoles.

@DuckDodgers1989 Weekly. WiiU still outsold it fairly well, lifetime. Though as far as home consoles as of January, no home console did anything more than terrible in Japan this gen. PS4 at #1 with 3.8mil, WiiU at 3.2mil, XBox was at (gotta break out the fractions) 3/4mil.

XBox sales are still dismal and WiiU was still #2 in lifetime. But, really, the numbers for all 3 are so bad it's fairer to say "all 8th gen home consoles completely failed in Japan." Let's put it this way. Switch had (worldwide) has outsold PS4 (lifetime, Japan-only) back on January 13th

Of course worldwide numbers are different from single-country lifetime numbers, but the idea is, PS4 despite being #1 in Japan, did so bad that the announce day preorder total of Switch (worldwide) outsold the past 3 years of PS4 in Japan.

@iGen You know I've been planning that (notably cliche) joke for a week and forgot to do it on the First Day

@roadrunner343
I don't think I'll buy a second Wii u. I do it with the intention of making money in the future. There's no money in it.

@Cosmic-K9
Japan doesn't like Xbox. M$ can't crack Japan. Whether it's the games or that it's a non Japanese console, I don't know, but it's interesting.

@EngieBengie
WADH

@NEStalgia

Yeah, me too. Everybody's too lazy to do anything these days, you know?

But regardless, it's not a joke. It's a duty.

@NEStalgia "massive fight"

Yeah, that massive fight is rush hour on a good day, there's more crowding on the subways normally than that. I'm not looking for Switch fight videos, just want to see how many people stand in line and show enthusiasm.

Never played the Wii U, it looked completely like it wasn't for me, but I feel for those that got enjoyment out of it. I do expect the Switch to surpass these numbers. Weird that XB1 was able to surge like that in Japan.

I will enjoy my Switch immensely, but I will say PS4 is a wonderful gaming machine. It will be tough for any machine to catch in this gen.

@JamesR First week is more than enough

@LiberatedAnimal Assuming they made many copies of the Wii U version, as the GC version of Twilight Princess was a limited supply and still goes for £50+, but it does have the digital version if you REALLY want it on Wii U but nowhere has it......

I may get a touch luckier in the states. It could still be a limited run on WiiU but, Wal-Mart in my area still keeps a decently stocked U section. They still have all the Wii selects. At least 4 or 5 of them. I should be able to grab a copy Friday.

Jesus Christ. That's unbelievably bad. Wii U selling less than XBone in Japan, while it's still somewhat current? I didn't think it was possible... I knew it was bad, but not that bad!

@YellowFighter More like Wii U was dropped as a baby.

It's the start of a new Nintendo era, it's quite sad as there were people as excited for Wii-U as we are now for Switch, I wonder if Nintendo 'do' a mini version with the Wii-U like they did with the Wii. Wii-U has a good games library and some places must still have stockpiles of the select series. Some stores will cut price Wii-U prices. Goodbye Wii-U I will still play.......

@NEStalgia Yeah, 8th generation in general has been pretty bleh compared to... The past 5 generations, really. This is easily the worst one in recent memory. Here's to changing tides...

Is the Wii U even available for purchase or did Nintendo pull it like they did here in the States?

Japan has never been very keen on Microsoft.

I would laugh so much if every retailer sells off their Wii U stock and it becomes the most rare and sought after Nintendo console.

I would laugh because it'd be all the people who didn't give Wii U a chance having to pay more than double the original MSRP.

7 of the top 8 is Playstation. I know why, but its still sad to see.

Hope Nintendo has a big new release coming soon.

Wii U has such a great set of games. Total quality. Very sad to see Nintendo move on, although also excited for Friday!

My Wii U is going no where though, so many games still to play!

Nintendo buried Wii U too early. They did not even tried.