Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has once again denied ever speaking negatively about Wii U, after reports had once suggested he predicted that the console would fail.
Responsible for the sales base in the United States, Kimishima remarked that a sales representative had once even suggested that Nintendo could sell 100 million Wii U systems worldwide.
We now know that wouldn’t go on to happen, but the thought process was that it was easily attainable given the Wii’s success. But, Kimishima had shared concern that they would have to clearly explain why consumers should purchase Wii U for it to at least rise to such lofty goal.
“I would first like to clarify my purported comments on Wii U,” Kimishima began. “I do not wish to make excuses, but at the time of the Wii U launch, I was responsible for our sales base in the United States, and I never made any pessimistic comments.
“In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide. The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system, and that this would be no easy task.
“I was responsible for selling the Wii U, and I knew what was good about it, so I talked with those in charge of sales about the importance of conveying the attractiveness of Wii U to consumers. I am guessing that some of this communication may have come across in a negative tone.”
