Reggie: Switch Was a 'Make or Break Product' After Failure of Wii U - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 February 2021 / 1,755 Views
The former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime on the New York Gaming Awards Twitch stream (and transcribed by NintendoLife) admitted the Nintendo Switch "was a make or break" for Nintendo as the hybrid console followed the failure of the Wii U.
The Nintendo Wii U launched in November 2012 and only managed to sell 13.56 million units lifetime. The Switch has been a huge success for Nintendo with sales of over 77 million units.
"You know, Nintendo has done so many innovations in the space... I think what Nintendo did with the Switch, after the poor performance of Wii U, I think to me and what I was part of, that's my lasting memory," said Fils-Aime.
"People forget, when the Wii U launched, the performance over that life cycle was so poor, I mean it was the worst-selling platform, I think maybe Virtual Boy was a little bit worse, but Wii U underperformed pretty radically in the marketplace.
"And when your only business is video games that next had to be successful and the Switch continues to be a dynamic platform - selling exceptionally well. And the ability for the company to come up with the concept, to bring it to life, to bring it to the marketplace, to have not only great first-party content but great third party and independent developer content - that is going to be something I will always be proud of.
"Along with so many of the other things I was part of, but the Switch really was a make or break product for the company and luckily it was a hit."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
Was it? Even during the Wii U / 3DS lifecycle Nintendo managed to stay profitable. Nintendo knows how to run a smart and profitable business even when the sales are low.
Yah, I don't think the WiiU was as profitable as the Wii. But I believe it was good. Honestly I really like the console. My little one is still playing with it today and he loves to be able to pick up the controller and play wherever he wants :)
Of course the Wii U wasn't as profitable as the Wii, thats a given. However, overall Nintendo did lose money during the Wii U gen despite the 3DS's success, but Nintendo was able to have several fiscal years of profit during the Wii U gen and while they did end up losing more money, it was far from even putting a dent to Nintendo's cash reserves. Nintendo wasn't in danger like some make it out to be, they were probably one of the least vulnerable major companies in the world. They were far from in danger.
Nintendo was unfocused and a bit arrogant after success of wii, wii u was the result, wii u wasn't even released in certain countries, region locking didn't help, first party games not discounted until very end when sales reached less than 5000 per week worldwide during 2016, very draconian style of management, but they redeemed themselves with switch and rescinded their draconian style practices
Essay Pro