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Nintendo to End Wii U Production This Year, Report Says

Game over, apparently.

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Japanese newspaper Nikkei is reporting today that Nintendo will cease production of the Wii U by the end of 2016, presumably switching to manufacturing for the mysterious NX system. Nikkei, which has accurately reported news about Nintendo's unannounced plans before, says Nintendo is ending production on Wii U hardware so soon due to the console's slow sales, which are not expected to improve.

The report, translated by GameSpot and DualShockers, does not contain any details on when the NX will launch or when Nintendo plans to stop selling Wii U hardware to consumers.

No Caption Provided

A newly substantiated rumor suggests the NX--believed to be a console/mobile hybrid that uses "industry-leading" tech--will launch later this year. It has also been reported that the new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U may also be released for the NX, possibly as a launch title.

We have reached out to Nintendo in an attempt to get more details and will update this post with anything we hear back.

It's no secret that the Wii U has come up short. The system, which went on sale in November 2012, has sold 12.6 million units around the world as of December 31. This compares to more than 101 million units sold for the Wii. The Wii, of course, was a massive, global hit, and matching that success was always going to be a challenge for the Wii U.

Comparing the Wii U against its current competitors, things don't look great, either. Despite launching a full year earlier, the Wii U has been dramatically outsold by the PlayStation 4, which has moved nearly 36 million units by Sony's latest count. Microsoft does not share Xbox One sales numbers, but the console is rumored to have sold more than 18 million units.

Officially, Nintendo has said it will talk about the NX--and presumably reveal its actual name--later this year. One possible venue for the announcement would be E3 2016 in June, though Nintendo has yet to announce its plans for the show.

Back in October 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo had started to send out software development kits to some developers, seemingly signalling the company was preparing for launch.

As always, we'll report back with more information on Nintendo's NX as it becomes available.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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XenomorphAlien

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Honestly I think the reason the Wii U sold bad was because it had "Wii" in the name. So many people were disappointed with that thing that they probably thought the Wii U would be another disappointment too. Shame. Wii U has some really good exclusives.

Now if only they'd give us Super Mario Galaxy 3...

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dcoutten

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@xenomorphalien: That and the price. Why are they still $250? xboxs right now are $300.

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XenomorphAlien

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@dcoutten: Nintendo is pretty stingy with prices. Hell, I think Gamestop still sells Mario Kart 8 at $60.

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Daveof89

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@xenomorphalien: I totally agree. A lot of people just didn't understand the console because it's name was so close to its predecessor. Had they called it something else, I guarantee they would have sold more.

I mean, come on, some of the games are fantastic! Super smash, mario 3d world, splatoon, wonderful 101, these exclusives are amazing.

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korean411

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Edited By korean411

@Daveof89: also the other reason Nintendo really didn't sell well is because of the lack of games . Other than the big time exclusive games there weren't many games to Wiiu brought out. If they had a good third party support then I believe they were had a better time selling the game. Also most likely the hardware issue which is why a lot of companies didn't support the Wiiu.

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Jinzo_111887

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@korean411: Funny enought, the PS3 was supposed to be a pain in the rear to work with, but companies still made games for it.

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korean411

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Edited By korean411

@Jinzo_111887: well I do agree with that but that is more because of the Blu Ray which was fairly new at the time. In Nintendo case it was more the tablet controller and the old tech they were using.

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XenomorphAlien

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@Daveof89: Exactly.

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Richardthe3rd

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As much of a fan as I am of Nintendo, let's face it; they really missed the mark when it came to marketing this console.

Console sales are already collapsing across the board, but this particular console incited no urgency to upgrade, and even confused buyers about whether it was the same console they already had.

A poor mistake that they paid for, which is too bad because I love my WiiU. It has a great library of games and I've spent a good amount of time with it. It'll be in my living room for years to come.

I think the NX will be backwards compatible just like the WiiU was, so it will keep it's library relevant. We'll see what Nintendo comes up with; I'm hoping for the best.

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XenomorphAlien

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Who else agrees the Wii U was better than the Wii?

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jtthegame316

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@xenomorphalien correction though the wii u is better than the wii neither system has been wiped from exsistance:

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Thanatos2k

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@xenomorphalien: Barely. But it also has the tablet controller, which is Nintendo's Kinect.

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XenomorphAlien

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@Thanatos2k: Not really, Gamepad actually has a lot of uses than the Kinect.

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Thanatos2k

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@xenomorphalien: Paperweight, for example. Doorstop. Fly swatter.

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XenomorphAlien

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@Thanatos2k: Don't be that guy.

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@xenomorphalien: Then don't lie to us. The gamepad is the primary reason why the Wii U is a failure. People do not want it. It does NOT have a lot of uses. It held the system back.

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KotomineKirei

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@Thanatos2k:

The primary reasons seemed to be the lack of power compared to the other two consoles (and a lack of popular multi-platform games as a result) and a lack of great exclusives.

People wanted new Metroid and Legend of Zelda games on the system (not Metroid Prime: Federation Force or Hyrule Warriors), and they wanted a system that could run popular games.

The reason that the 3DS managed to stay afloat despite its weak hardware is that Pokemon, Monster Hunter and several other games that are popular with those who mostly play on portable systems were on the system.

The Wii U GamePad probably did not have too much of an effect on the poor sales of the Wii U (not any more than the PS Move or Kinect anyway) since the Wii U Pro Controller was there as an alternative.

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Thanatos2k

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@KotomineKirei: The reason the 3DS managed to stay afloat is because of THIRD PARTY SUPPORT.

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KotomineKirei

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@Thanatos2k:

"The reason the 3DS managed to stay afloat is because of THIRD PARTY SUPPORT."

The PS Vita had plenty of third party support, yet it sank faster than a brick.

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Thanatos2k

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@KotomineKirei: "The PS Vita had plenty of third party support"

Er....weak library is one of the big reasons the Vita failed to catch on.

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KotomineKirei

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@Thanatos2k:

I know, but the point is that the 3DS did not say afloat because of third party support, it stayed afloat because of good first and third party support.

The many mediocre games that were released on the PS Vita (and eventually were ported to PS4/PC) were not good enough to help with sales.

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Jinzo_111887

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Edited By Jinzo_111887

@Thanatos2k: Clearly you didn't have arguments over who plays what on one TV with a brother/sister when you were a kid. I used to have some arguments with my brother as a kid because we only had one TV, but we wanted to play games on two different consoles at the same time.

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@Jinzo_111887: I'm not a kid anymore. I have my own TV. I have several of my own TVs. TVs are extremely cheap now. Families can have many.

Nintendo gambled on a console "for the family" and it turns out it wasn't what the public wanted.

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Jinzo_111887

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@Thanatos2k: And you don't have kids of your own or plans to have any? As for families having many TVs, yes, but if your kids share a room, odds are they'd probably only have one in that room.

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Thanatos2k

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@Jinzo_111887: Why would your kids share a room? I had my own TV since I was like 8.

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Tiwill44

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@xenomorphalien: Me, easily. The Wii was so bad that I eventually had to get myself a PS3 slim. No regrets.

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pelvist

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Not surprising, give it 6 month to a year and XBOX One could be next.

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deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@pelvist: 20 ish million consoles in 2 years and still selling. I highly doubt it. The Wii U has sold a lot less than that with a year extra on the market.

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onehitta323

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@graffitiheart: more like 12 million. Microsoft doesn't release sales numbers because of embarrassment

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Avatar image for deactivated-5afeea4d8be41
deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@onehitta323: It's sold around 20 million, stop trolling.

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onehitta323

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@graffitiheart: do you work at microsoft?? You have no clue how many consoles they sold because they're scared to release that info. Don't get offended xbot.

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deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@onehitta323: If I worked at Microsoft I wouldn't be commenting on gamespot I can assure you. "If Jorgensen's number is any guide, then 55 million, minus the PS4's 35.9 million claimed, leaves 19.1 million Xbox Ones sold since the console's November 2013 launch" from a number released by EA.

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onehitta323

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@graffitiheart: wrong. A lot of articles even state that Microsoft didn't release any sales numbers. They're to embarrassed. I don't blame them.

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deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@onehitta323: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/29/10868370/microsoft-xbox-one-sales-19-million-ea

Really queen?

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onehitta323

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@graffitiheart: really? Wheres your reading comprehension? Did you even read my comment or the article you posted? You just confirmed exactly what I've been saying. Even in the article it states that they didn't get the sales numbers from Microsoft and EA is just estimating and pretty much guessing. Also it states that Microsoft doesn't release any numbers because of the big gap in sales between the ps4 and Xbox one. They're embarrassed like I said.

Reading comprehension buddy.

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Avatar image for deactivated-5afeea4d8be41
deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@onehitta323: Hmmm EA executive says there are around 55 million next gen consoles in the wild, I think his estimate is going to be better than yours.

It's certainly over 12 million seeing as it was at 10 million just before Christmas 2014, it's had YOY increases in sales every month since the first major price drop.

And considering this was an estimate just after this Christmas it's likely higher than the 18-19 million predicted then. Getting trounced by Playstation doesn't make the console a failure.

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Savior4Life

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@graffitiheart: Xbox has made some pretty decent moves in 2015. Hope they keep it up.

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pelvist

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@graffitiheart: How many of those 20 million have been sold back to retailers? Do you have those figures too?

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Jinzo_111887

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@pelvist: I think the same could be asked about Playstation 4.

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deactivated-5afeea4d8be41

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@pelvist: God knows! That still doesn't make a difference to the sales anyway, once someone buys one Microsoft has the money.

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XenomorphAlien

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Edited By XenomorphAlien

@pelvist: Except its still getting games and selling faster than the 360 at this point in the cycle.

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pelvist

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@xenomorphalien: LOL.

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XenomorphAlien

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@pelvist: I know, your comment was funny.

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pelvist

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@xenomorphalien: It was indeed.

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Tiwill44

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Edited By Tiwill44

To those saying it had like 2 games, here's a list I made: http://i.imgur.com/Y4G2w3a.png

Also yes I'm serious about Pokken. It's the most well-designed fighting game I've ever played, and I've suffered through a lot of fighting games.

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huehuebrbr

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@Tiwill44: Good list, i have almost all games on it

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BonzaiBillie_99

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This makes me want to play my Wii U

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BonzaiBillie_99

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@bonzaibillie_99: It truly was an abismal console. However, there are a handful of games that are outstanding that you cant get anywhere else. Those being: Pikimin 3, Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Art Academy Sketchpad (which is surprisingly the best use of the gamepad and best visual art toolkit on the market), and Wonderful 101.

SSB was terrible imo. Especially with the additional DLC characters it has felt less and less like a Smash Bros game and more like a generic fighting game with the abundance of "human characters" and too many 3rd party characters. My 2 cents :)

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gamebuyer22

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Edited By gamebuyer22

If true id assume this means in Japan first most likely. I have around 8 games for Wii U, but i have not bought the overpriced, outdated, horribly thought out console yet. No one is buying the POS console, yet they still wont drop it to $200 or less.

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demon-returns

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@gamebuyer22: haha I'm kinda like you. Got the games I want for it at cheap price and then will buy the console whenever it reaches the price I want it to

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deactivated-5ae060efb3bf6

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Yank it like your starting a lawn mower.

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Celsius765

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I'll believe it when it's announced

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