What are the chances of seeing a Wii U redesign?

Remember that new Gamepad that was leaked? Yeah. What are the chances of it being real? What are the chances of a Wii U slim coming soon?

I think it's a good idea. New colors, new bundles, more memory, lots of things could happen with a Wii U slim....The question is, will Nintendo actually do something like this? I kinda doubt it, but this pic makes me think otherwise. (Unless this picture was confirmed to be fake..)

I'd say its slim to nil. Nintendo has been ramping up production again and its affecting their bottom line for the fiscal year. If there was a time that it would have happened, it would have been now. I think the only thing that could be redesigned that would lower cost would be the gamepad. There were features that could have been taken out like the NFC and shrinking the screen. Since this hasn't happened, I doubt that any major redesign will happen this year. I'm banking on it happening towards 2017 if at all. It might be like the GCN and outside of a couple things taken away (component cable slot) there will be no changes.

not for quite some time.

most of the time a redesign is introduced to bring down the cost of production. on the PS3 slim for example it wasnt just a style thing. they moved to a more advanced CPU manufacturing process which led to cooler chips. this meant the cooling could be done for less money and a smaller console could be made...saving money in the process. they could also save money on the motherboard (the original PS3 motherboard was very complicated). as the console was lighter it also reduced transportation costs per unit.

the wiiu is already pretty small and light and it doesnt generate anywhere near enough heat to warrant moving to a new production process on the processor. the wiiu motherboard is also relatively simple so there isnt much money to be saved there. it would be very easy for them to add a 64GB or 128GB memory module to the current model.

on the gamepad front there also isnt a whole lot to be saved without sacreficing quality. they could get cheaper screens (perhaps smaller to to make a smaller gamepad) but outside of that there isnt much room to make savings. removing NFC would be a non runner as nintendo are pushing amiibo.

This.

i hope not....its not going to sell...unless they pull a wii mini and remove some features and sell it for 150$ or something this christmas.

but i wouldnt do it.... id just ride this out with great games.

I would have said absolutely no way, but then I remembered the Wii Mini exists. So who knows. I think it's fine the way it is. If they want to introduce a model that houses a lot more memory, then that would be nice.

More likely near the end of the Wii U's lifespan.

Yeah. I can't argue with that. lol. 2017 or bust.

Though I still can't understand why they haven't come out with new console colors for Wii U. They do it for 3DS all the time.

I think it has to do with what Nintendo did with the old 8GB models. They recalled all of those models from stores and redid them with black cases and the improved flash memory. That probably would have been the right time to do different colors, but they were already eating losses with recalling the 8GB models that it didn't cross their mind. Plus they would have had to do different color gamepads as well. I think it would have been too costly.

Unless it is more cost-friendly for Nintendo AND consumers, a redesigned Wii U would serve little to no purpose. I doubt many retailers are going to want to have to deal with a "new" Wii U SKU either, giving that the current console isn't selling well, even with its biggest brands already on the market. All of the things being spoken about (new colors, bundles, more memory, etc.) work much better when a system already has some sort of momentum, and the Wii U doesn't have the kind of momentum necessary to make all of these moves worthwhile or very relevant.

It's probably price-drops from here on, and Nintendo really hasn't been too aggressive in that regard...

I could see the game pad being slimmed down, made flatter, but then it would be too think to hold comfortably.

At some point, almost definitely. Nintendo love their redesigning. Probably not for another 2 years or something though.

I remember that. I guess in the end, it comes down to price. If it costs too much, they aren't gonna do it, which is a shame because a limited edition Bayonetta blue would of flew off the shelves.

One can dream though, can't they?

None. They didn't do die shrinks on the Wii until 2011 when they took out gamecube compatibility I believe. And seeing how it took them that long for a console that sold so well for just a die shrink, how can you expect them to do a redesign for something that hasn't even hit 10 million yet? The Wii U is small and cool enough (heat) already.

They just need to focus on Wii U's games and to make sure the next console has intelligently designed hardware.

It might actually cost Nintendo more to change the fabrication process because of how few Wii U's they're selling. That might be one reason why the gamecube never had a die shrink, and that sold much better than the Wii U will.

Nintendo has to find a way to manufacture the Wii U gamepad for cheaper than they currently do. When the Wii U launched in November 18th 2012. The gamepad cost $172.00 for a replacement gamepad. Currently the price is around $150.00.

The Wii U is currently $299.99 brand new for the 32GB model with 2 games. If Nintendo could redesign the Gamepad for lower cost. Thus bringing the Wii U to $179.99 brand new. Then I can see a redesign coming in the future. But Nintendo should just continue with the Wii U as best they can. Focus on the 7th Nintendo home console for release in 2017 or 2018.

Wii U is not going to sell over 20 million during it's 5 year lifespan. Over 2 years on the market Nintendo has managed only 9.2 Million. By this rate Nintendo will only be at 18.4 million consoles sold by the date Feb 6th 2017.

It is very unlikely a Wii U mini will arrive ever. Gamepad costs have driven Nintendo into the ground. They are already using cheap parts to make each Gamepad controller. Unless Nintendo drops the Gamepad from each new SKU. I cannot see Nintendo being able to lower the price on a new Wii U.

Nintendo is just stuck for this 8th generation of games. They just have to make the most of the Wii U and hopefully the 9th Generation console will be better.

The Wii U and Gamepad in their present design are sufficient to play a variety of fantastic, fun, HD games. I would rather see Nintendo focus their time and money on continuing to make great games than change the hardware. They could make a 2d or 3d platformer that requires use of the core Amiibos (Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach, Yoshi). If the game were 3d it could have a toybox mode where you could build a mansion for your character and maybe a farm, for example.

I think the consol is perfect as it is, the only problem is the memory. Outside of the Wii, they never redesign their home consol unlike Sony but they do redesign their handheld quite a lot

@Coco_pierrot:

Excluding the Wii U Nintendo has redesigned three out of their five home consoles. So they have more of a habit of it than you think.

I personally don't think they need a redesign. The system itself can't be improved on much other than extra memory in my opinion. Not having to design a new case and getting the hardware at cheaper rates would lead to a bigger price drop than if they did design a new shell.

While I mostly love the controller as is that's where I think they need to make the improvements. Would love to see a smaller, not drastically, screen with better PQ and also having it as an option. Include the standard controllers and have all games allow utilizing both and bring the price of the system down.

Don't have any real complaints about the system though. Haven't once regretting paying the entry price. Even bought it twice. Don't care if it doesn't have a 3rd party library. It has kept me much busier, and happier, than both my One and Ps4.

When I was a kid the NES and Nintendo was more a way of life than just video games. The Wiii U and Nintendos games still bring me hours of fun and that's all that matters.

I think the Wii U is small enough as it is. It's tiny compared to the PS4 and Xbox One. Like others have said I could only see them redesign the game pad but that's it.

@cheesie253:

I never saw a redesign the NES, SNES, N64 or the GC. Maybe they never came to where I live but still. Everytime I goto a retro gaming store the consols are just like I remember them.

@Coco_pierrot:

Not sure of where you are but in the US the NES was released in a top loading version, the SNES had a SNES mini version, 64 and Gamecube went unchanged and the Wii got the mini version as well. So in the US at least 3 of the 5 previous consoles got a redesign. It has more to do with overall sales I think.

If they know that the system is still going to sell a lot after the redesign they will go ahead and do one. The 64 and the Cube were not the best selling of their consoles and never saw a refresh.

@cheesie253:

I never saw a top loading NES, I didn't kown they did a SNES mini either. I live Qc Canada and all I see is the original NES shape or the original SNES. The Wii mini is still on shelve ( a red version with Mario Kart ).

I just did a quick search and the Top loading NES never came where I live and the SNES mini was release 2 years after the PSOne came out, no Wonder it didn't make it where I live.

@Coco_pierrot:

The top loading NES was such a fantastic and crappy system at the same time. It had little to no problems playing carts on the fist power on, which everyone who owns an NES knows was a pain to get going sometimes. The downfall was it only connected by RF so the PQ was not nearly as good as the original NES with the composites. It also had an odd scan line issue. Reliability was great though as my original system still works perfect and plays any game first try. The original NES systems I own have all had to be updated with a replacement pin set to get games to work reliably.

New console, most likely not. Nintendo hardly redesigns their home consoles drastically with the Wii mini being an exception. The gamepad however, I can see that getting a redesign to cut costs. The costs for that thing is holding Nintendo back.