Wii U’s reveal began with bold assertions that the console had seen Nintendo regain more wholesome support from third-party publishers. A year down the line, and looking ahead at the current release schedule reveals that it has already begun to fizzle out.
Nintendo once again point towards increased Wii U sales being the solution, Satoru Iwata discussing their responsibility to drive the installed base to make the platform become more viable to invest resources in. A situation that they have largely achieved with 3DS, and that they will now look to do with Wii U.
“As for Wii U, opinions significantly differ among third-party publishers,” Iwata began in his discussion.
“Software publishers that develop content that has great affinity with audiences that Nintendo has historically been strong with, namely children and families, are still very active supporters of Wii U, and their enthusiasm for Wii U can also been seen from the fact that they have even reached out to us to help people upgrade from Wii to Wii U.
“On the other hand, software publishers are not necessarily keen on making games in genres that have weaker affinity with audiences that Nintendo has not been as strong with, where making a huge investment does not guarantee a sufficient return.
“With regard to Wii U, we first need to create a strong foundation in areas Nintendo excels at and achieve a sufficient sales volume. If we manage to do so, those publishers in the overseas markets who are currently not interested in Wii U will be attracted to the Wii U platform, as they were to Nintendo 3DS. This is going to be our approach in the near future.”
Iwata discusses how Nintendo will regain Wii U third-party support
