The Nintendo Wii U Is Officially Dead

All of us knew it was coming and now it’s official: Nintendo is discontinuing its under-performing Wii U video game console. The last-ever shipments are scheduled to hit stores in the coming weeks. For anyone who loved Ninty’s weird tablet-based games machine, today is a very sad day.

According to a report in Ars Technica, the last batch of Wii U will roll off the factory line later this week. This will allow Nintendo to redirect its focus on the upcoming Switch — an intriguing portable console with a docking station and modular controllers.

Around the time of the Switch announcement, Nintendo insisted it would still be supporting the Wii U. Almost nobody believed them, and it appears our skepticism was well placed. The only question that remains unanswered is whether Nintendo will continue to produce portable DS consoles — which are clearly in the same ballpark as the Switch.

While we’re sad to see the Wii U go, we can’t say we’re even slightly surprised: its sales were abysmal (especially compared to its predecessor, the hugely popular Wii), third-party support was poor and its roster of ‘must-have’ games were pitifully small.

Nevertheless, if you want to own a piece of Nintendo history (or just want to play Super Mario Galaxy), a price cut should be imminent. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it sell for $150 or less in the months ahead. Dead consoles still play games — and the Wii U has a handful of classics that are worth shelling out for.

[Via Ars Technica]


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