The first fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2013 was not kind to the Wii U, which managed to sell just 160,000 units in the three month span ended June 30, 2013. Nintendo blamed the lack of first party titles released "this quarter to strongly drive the hardware sales."
Nintendo provided a breakdown of its figures as part of its financial results; 90,000 units were sold in Japan, 60,000 units in the Americas, and only 10,000 units in Europe and other territories. Lifetime sales of the Wii U worldwide now stand at 3.61 million units. Despite another disappointing quarter, Nintendo's sales forecast for the system remained unchanged; the company expects that it will sell nine million Wii U consoles in the year which ends March 31, 2014.
To do so, Nintendo assured: "For the Wii U system, we will attempt to concentrate on pro-actively releasing key first-party titles from the second half of this year through next year to regain momentum for the platform.
"Starting with Pikmin 3, which was released in Japan and Europe in July and will be released in the United States in August, we plan on releasing key titles such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Wii Party U, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, and Wii Fit U.
"Moreover, Nintendo strives to improve the sales by communicating the compelling nature of our hardware and software to as many people as possible through our new network service called Miiverse, which offers an environment where people can empathize with others and share their gaming experiences. We also strive to improve hardware profitability by reducing costs."
Is Nintendo's lineup of upcoming games enough to boost system sales or does the Wii U need a price cut?
