Nintendo officially discontinues Wii U production

Looks like this holiday season will be the last time Nintendo will focus on production of their current generation console in the Wii U, as the Japanese video game publisher has officially announced that they are officially discontinuing it after disappointing sales during the console’s four-year tenure on the market.

With the news first appearing on Nintendo’s official Japanese website, Game Informer soon got an official press statement from Nintendo of America, confirming that the successor to the Wii and the first system in Nintendo’s library to incorporate HD Graphics support was going to stop production immediately.

In a statement made on November 10th, Nintendo sealed the fate of their 2012 system: “We can confirm as of today, all Wii U hardware that will be made available in North American market for this fiscal year has already been shipped to our retail partners. We encourage anyone who wants a Wii U to communicate with their preferred retail outlet to monitor availability.”

The Wii U—the first system in the eight-generation video game console market alongside Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One—was met with positive reception thanks to its Gamepad controller, HDMI support output, and high-speed downloads.

Unfortunately, public consumption and awareness did not take for this particular Nintendo system, and it just fell short of selling 14 million units worldwide. The lack of a strong launch title line-up also contributed to low sales, and with Nintendo readying the public for the launch of its newest handheld/ console hybrid system in the “Nintendo Switch,” it was finally time to say good by and bid adieu to the Wii U. — BM, GMA News