Nintendo is usually very quick to release sales information, particularly when its consoles are flying off the shelves at record rates, so the absence of any concrete information about Wii U sales is worrying. Regular Kotaku contributor Daniel ‘Vooks’ Vuckovic has done a stellar job of looking into the performance of the Wii U locally in Australia.
The situation is clear, Wii U sales will need to pick up speed if we’re going to get publishers to release their games locally or even for stores to want to import them. Currently, there doesn’t seem to be the demand for these titles. This mirrors what happened with the GameCube in Australia, if you wanted a game you had to pre-order it – we’ve seen this happen this week with Need for Speed Most Wanted U. Most stores only received one or two copies.
It’s an interesting situation. The Wii had absolutely incredible word of mouth, and was an intriguing concept aimed at precisely the same market. The Wii U? It’s just seems so jumbled: jumbled messaging, jumbled positioning, everything. Now we’re in the situation where retailers and publishers have very little confidence in the console. It’s starting to look very similar to the GameCube situation here in Australia., and that’s a shame.
Regardless. Great story, and well worth reading.
Feature: How’s the Wii U doing in Australia – are we at tipping point? [Vooks]
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