Based on Nintendo’s latest profit report you would think the company is doomed. This despite that they continue to make money and turned a bigger profit than last year. The big issue is the Wii U, the less than year old system that just isn’t selling.
The Wii U continues to have a lack of descent games and an image problem. There are still people out there that doesn’t even know what the system is. For a system that is supposed to be next generation it’s graphics seem to be any more more impressive that the XBox 360’s or Playstation 3’s.
The Wii U was outsold by the six year old Wii this last quarter.
Regardless of the Wii U’s future, it’s not the worse Nintendo has done.
Virtual Boy
This is the only console failure Nintendo has ever had. If you consider it a console. It’s kind of portable, but since you have to look into goggles the entire time.
The system featured glasses free 3D, something that might have been impressive for 1996, if it didn’t feature poor red & black graphics that made you nauseous. The system actually warned you to stop playing every so often so your brain wouldn’t explode.
Want to know how big of a disaster Virtual Boy was? Only about a dozen games ever came out for it and one of them was Waterworld!
Wii Vitality Sensor
The Wii Vitality sensor was announced it 2009 out of nowhere by Nintendo. The controller attachment that would take your pulse didn’t have any examples of how, or why, it would be used.
The attachment became a joke, as years passed Nintendo would not mention it and would only say it was still in development when asked about it.
Finally in 2013 they finally announced it had been cancelled.
64DD
The Nintendo 64 is considered a failure to some. Because it’s games came on carts instead of CDs they were more expensive and not as long. But Nintendo made on a profit on it, while Sony lost money on the Playstation, so in business sense it was a success. In fact Nintendo has never lost money on a system, which would make the Wii U a first if it does not turn around.
Nintendo had an answer for the lack of CD drive on the system by introducing this add on. The device also added internet compatibly. The add on had a bunch of games announced for it but most of them never came into fruition.
If you’ve never heard of the 64DD it’s probably because you’re not Japanese. The system was never released anywhere else.
3DS (First Year)
The 3DS was heralded by critics as pretty good system when it came out. But many consumers thought it was just a DS with a 3D gimmick. The system released with an expensive $250 price tag and a lack of good games. The system sold poorly.
Just months in Nintendo drastically cut the price by $70. Then good games starting coming out like Mario Kart, Mario 3D Land, Fire Emblem. Now it’s considered a great success and the maion reason why Nintendo showed a profit this year.
This shows that there is still plenty of hope for the WiiU, if they can turn it around in time. Nintendo’s big problems may be the upcoming new systems from Sony and Microsoft. How will it all play out? We’ll just wait and see.
