Now that the holidays have come and gone, the inevitable analysis of spending over the holiday season is beginning to emerge, bit by bit. Naturally, the Wii U is taking the forefront of news talk on gaming, due to the timing of the system and its existence as a new platform in a highly competitive environment (and of course, because of the hype surrounding its release).
So the question is, did anyone buy it?
Some of the early releases are likely making Nintendo fans a bit uneasy. Though the Wii U had strong release weeks in the US, Japan, and the UK, the first week of sales isn’t an indicator of how a system will perform after that initial rush calms down. And it seems that at least one gaming store chain isn’t thrilled at how the system has been received by the public.
Writing in an investor note, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia emphasized the evidence we’ve been seeing every day in-stores—there are Wii U systems out there in GameStop stores, and they are “abundant”. The Deluxe model is apparently selling better due to its “better value” (ie. it includes Nintendo Land), but the software sales rate for GameStop has been low. It sounds harsh, but all things considered? It could be far worse:
“Our conclusion is that Nintendo Wii U launch has been slightly disappointing.”
And while we don’t’ have any firm numbers at the moment, this kind of report isn’t exactly something to make us all cheer. However, we do want to remind ourselves (and everyone else) that a report from one chain of stores doesn’t necessarily reflect overall sales across the board, as there are many retailers carrying the system and games at this time.
