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Gaming Thursday, January 17th 2013 at 7:15 pm

Nintendo Continues to Disappoint Wii U Owners With Major Title Delays

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Regardless of sales, Nintendo’s latest console entry, the Wii U, has been met mostly with a tepid reception from the gaming community and hasn’t gotten much market traction since last year. With a library of titles ranging from the mundane to recycled material seen months ago on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Nintendo didn’t exactly make as much of a presence as they needed this past holiday season. The company’s PR may dwindle further going into 2013 since it’s been announced to the chagrin of all that highly anticipated titles such as Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario would experience delays, though it was promised they’d hit shelves no later than this spring. While it’s common for one game to be held back until a later date, so many at one time is just an egregious bungle.

In addition to the two previously mentioned titles, The Wonderful 101 and Wii Fit U have also had their confirmed release dates swapped for a more cryptic “first half of the year,” which at this point can mean pretty much anything, so interpret it any way you wish. Originally, Nintendo was aiming to see these titles hit store shelves before March 31st, but, here in the middle of January, this prospect looks less and less likely as the days go on.

Compared to how things were handled previously with the Wii, Nintendo has made major breakthroughs by knocking down their own wall and garnering third party support for the Wii U. Still, the development that goes into designing games utilizing the console’s unique control scheme is a source of reluctance for most developers, opting to instead focus on projects for Nintendo’s more conventional competition. As such, their drive for innovation has left holes between the launch dates of first party titles, which are made even more serious when delays are involved.

(via Geek.com, image via Pop Culture Geek)

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  • Anonymous

    I will never understand why this site has such an anti-Nintendo spin to their stories. Nintendo might delay games and make mistakes, but they’re still here. It’s kind of sad, I love this blog for everything else.

  • Anonymous

    Seriously! I am glad some one else notices.

  • s_suiker

    it’s a good thing they don’t rush the development. this means better quality games.

  • Anonymous

    Agreed. This site is ridiculous.

  • http://geekosystem.com/ Glen Tickle

    I didn’t write this piece, and I can’t speak for Steven, but having written other stories on Geekosystem covering Nintendo, I assure you I am in no way anti-Nintendo. I love Nintendo. The only system I have is a Wii, and I think it’s tremendous. I grew up with the NES, and have devoted too much of my life to playing Dr. Mario.

    That’s why it’s all the more disappointing that the moves they’ve been making lately don’t seem like the right ones. I was pumped for the Wii U initially, but as more and more details came out I got less and less excited, and after having the chance to play it here in the office I decided not to buy one.

    Being critical of something doesn’t mean you’re against it. I still love Nintendo, but personally, I’d just like to see them do better.

  • Anonymous

    It is just the “hip” thing to do, hating on Nintendo.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1713628666 Jase Hopkin

    What would you like to see them do differently?

  • Anonymous

    The console is 3 MONTHS OLD !!!!

  • Anonymous

    Glen: I hear you say that you are not Anti-Nintendo, and that Is fine. But if you look at the language Steven used it was overwhelmingly negative.

    He starts by suggesting we ignore the standard empirical indicator which is positive but instead judge the Wii U by the subjective measure of “Reception in the fan community.”

    Then goes to say that “Nintendo didn’t exactly make as much of a presence as they needed this past holiday season.”

    Based on what exactly, your opinion? Or the Sales numbers which you hand waved away at the start, which say they are doing great. The grumblings of people on the internet? (Not a good indicator)

    Here is my problem, the story here is that Games were delayed, so why throw in all irrelevant opinion fluff that adds nothing but makes readers feel you are biased.

  • http://geekosystem.com/ Glen Tickle

    Like I said, I’m not speaking for Steven. I just know that in the past I’ve personally written several pieces on Geekosystem that were critical of Nintendo and was making that the point that the site is not unilaterally biased against them.

    My posts were about the lead up to the Wii U release, my disappointment personally with it as a system when I got to play it, and how I think releasing a Wii Mini without Internet features was a misstep. There might have been others I’m forgetting, but those are the three I remember writing.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe the article was ‘negative’ because the NEWS was NEGATIVE?????

    Sales plunging off a cliff (20K in Japan last week), games being pushed back, pervasive public disinterest, third party developers putting their WII U projects on ‘hold’ … it’s not a matter of being pro or anti Nintendo, it’s a matter of being pro-reality. The OBJECTIVE REALITY is the Wii U is in very deep trouble.

    Anyone that thinks the Wii U’s prospects are going to improve against the Xbox 720, PS4, Ouya and Steam Box when it’s sales are already this disastrous with NO NEXT GEN COMPETITION is smoking crack.

    It’s not ‘anti-Nintendo’ to say this, it’s rational SANITY based reasoning.

    Sheesh.

  • Mark

    It isn’t hating on Nintendo to point out that they are stumbling financially. Do you really think it’s Nintendo’s big plan to NOT sell a bunch of systems and make money on them?