Wii 2 not coming until Nintendo sells 15 million more US Wiis
Today, Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, was quizzed by Kotaku about the Wii’s successor, to which he said that we shouldn’t expect one in 2011, not even by Christmas. Everything else aside, this makes sense because Nintendo is already launching a new hardware platform next year in the form of the Nintendo 3DS, and a second Nintendo system for consumers to choose from during the holidays is bound to negatively affect the sales of both.
The Wii still has plenty of life left in it, according to Nintendo.
Reggie’s official explanation’s a little different, though – I’m gonna guess it’s because he wants to keep the hype about the Wii 2 as low as possible until they’re finally ready to show it. He says,
As we sit here today we’re saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we’ve reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation.
According to him, the Wii’s US sales currently stand at 30 million. The Wii’s making a lot of noise this year with hardcore hit after epic hardcore hit, and the trend’s continuing until The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and possibly even beyond. Whether this is the twilight phase of the Wii’s lifespan or simply a particularly awesome part of its life, Nintendo is bound to move lots of units, even if the impending release of the 3DS overshadows it a bit.
Even if Nintendo focuses on the 3DS during 2011, I still think it may still be possible that we’ll at least get a teaser of the Wii’s successor at E3. Nintendo has previously followed a pattern of using their handheld as a testing ground for the best ideas to integrate into a new console, so they’ll probably want to give the 3DS and its long list of awe-inspiring features at least a year or so on the market to learn what works and what doesn’t, and use their conclusions to design the finer points of the Wii 2.
Source: Wii 2 Is Not A Must For 2011
We can deliver all the latest Wii U news straight to your inbox every morning. Want in?
If he’d have said 40 million, then I would’ve been excited. 40 million is nothing considering the huge plethora of releases coming up. But 45 million…. if it’s sold 30 million already… it needs a lot more…. but Skyward Sword, Donkey Kong, and GoldenEye should increase sales a bit. Nostalgia always moves people.
The number struck me as a little high, too; the Wii has sold 66% of the amount they want it to over the past 4 years, and that includes the epic shortage they had for two of them.
The onslaught of hardcore games you mentioned seems to me like it caters to Nintendo fans who already jumped on the system; on the other hand, these same fans are the ones most likely to buy a second or even third Wii in the form of the black and red ones.
I don’t know; maybe Nintendo just wants to up their ego by creaming Microsoft and Sony with a non-HD console. 😛
We all know Nintendo is sitting there, like little school girls when they see their console outselling bigger machines. (that’s not an insult to Nintendo). I mean seriously, who wouldn’t be and I bet once the DS officially dethrones PS2 Nintendo will have a huge announcement about it in E3 or any major game show, and show off the fact that it took Sony ~10 years and Nintendo achieved it in ~6 years.
they hit 30 million some months ago, i think reggies being a bit conservative with numbers there 2006 goal was 35 million by end 2012 they have beaten that goal by over a year so they have done amazingly well….DS hit U.K march 2005 and wii december 2006 so its over 18 months gap if its march 2011 for uk/euro 3DS release and wii hits 40 million in usa with in a year (easy) i expect wii succesor by end 2012 at the latest same time frame as DS/Wii
Hm, you could think of it that way. I guess this site might be quite inactive until late into 2011, then; personally, I’m hoping they’ll hit that goal earlier than the end of 2012, but think about this: one of the main reasons the Wii is starting to slow down is because almost everyone who could possibly want one already does. The third set of 15 million sales won’t be as easy as the first two.
I don’t think that’s a big problem. And maybe, Nintendo Might even have four consoles at the same time, because why drop the Wii support when a lot of people wont be so happy when Nintendo does drop that uspport. and then if someone, not tech saffy wanted a new game and wanted to play the game, on the Wii, while the Wii 2 is released they might get really upset if it’s not the game for the system they have.
I can feel that the Wii, might be Nintendo’s home console, of the GameBoy. long lifespan and long support.
Four consoles at the same time? That sounds like a little much even for Nintendo to handle. I’m guessing you mean DS, 3DS, Wii, and Wii 2? O.O
Your point makes perfect sense, though – the Wii has opened up and is built on the casual market, one that simply doesn’t understand the reason to buy a new, superior console. But the hardcore base is an important one, too, and they need the occasional technical advancements to stay happy.
What I think Nintendo may ultimately do to solve the problem is create Wii games that run in “enhanced” mode on the Wii 2; they’d run in HD and possibly have extra features and whatnot when played on that. And they could still try to sell the new system to stubborn owners of the old one if the game encouraged them to buy the new system when it was being played on an old one. Say…on the “press start” screen, it would say, “Play this game in full HD on a Wii 2!” Things like that. I think that’s the way to go.
What happens if wii sales plumet and no one buys another one does that mean then we won’t ever see the wii 2
Actually, I have a feeling Reggie was only saying this as a publicity stunt. 15 million more units is an awful lot, especially for a system as well-established as the Wii.
I think he was only trying to deter attention from the Wii 2 so the Wii could have a good end-of-life run, and so they can “surprise” us with the successor once it’s ready.