Índice
Puedo entender que quieran darle un toque de atención por la situación actual de Wii U. También puedo entender que quieran quitarse del medio DS y Wii. ¿Pero 3DS? ¿Estamos locos?Retail giant Asda is no longer stocking Wii U consoles across its 555 retail outlets, dealing a new blow to Nintendo's bid to reverse the console's fortunes.
The grocer, Britain's second-largest, has suspended stock on all Wii U games, consoles and accessories across its stores, though eight products (all released during the Wii U's November 2012 launch) remain available on the Asda Direct website.
CVG understands that the company did not stock Nintendo's latest release, Pikmin 3, a widely acclaimed title which entered at number two on the UK all formats charts.
The Minworth Asda in Birmingham, which is the retail chain's largest UK outlet, told CVG it has no Pikmin 3 games or Wii U systems in stock. The customer services team was unable to find any consoles online.
An Asda representative has confirmed the move in a statement sent to CVG:
"Asda continues to offer customers a selection of Wii U games and accessories through Asda Direct, but these ranges are currently not on offer in Asda shops."
The retailer is not stocking 3DS systems online either - despite the handheld outselling the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the UK and across the US, while 3DS software sales are outperforming the competition too.
Asda is still selling PS3, Xbox 360, and Vita, as well as several hundred games for those platforms. It is also taking pre-orders for Xbox One and PS4.
Nintendo has issued a stament to CVG, which reads:
"Nintendo UK does not comment on specific business practices with individual retailers. However, as we have seen with Nintendo 3DS, software sells hardware, and with titles such as Wonderful 101, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World already announced for this year as well as the recently released Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U having reached number 2 and number 6 in this week's chart respectively, we are looking forward to the year ahead on Wii U."
It is unclear whether Asda will restock the system or its games in the future.
Accepting blame
The suspension of Wii U stock comes after the Walmart-owned company slashed the Wii U basic console price down from £250 to £200, and then from £200 to £150.
Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata has said he accepts the blame for the Wii U's sales figures, which stood at about 3.45 million by April. Pikmin 3 sales in Japan are thought to have given the system new momentum in the region.
"Because we're always trying to be unique, it takes some energies on our side to [make] people understand the real attractions about whatever we are doing," Iwata said in June.
"We have been unsuccessful in coming up with one single software with which people can understand, 'OK, this is really different," he continued.
Third party publishers have expressed a cautious approach to Nintendo's new system.
Though Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said he was "disappointed" by the Wii U's performance at launch, the publisher has committed to delivering six new Wii U games, including Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Ubisoft, meanwhile, has said that although its Wii U launch game ZombieU was "unprofitable", the publisher remains supportive of the system.
EA recently revealed it has no games in development for Wii U. Though it says it will restart development on Wii U games when it becomes a viable platform.
In May, CVG revealed that Nintendo is to begin a Wii U resurgence campaign towards the end of the year, spearheaded by a new 3D Mario game.
That title was later revealed at E3 as Super Mario 3D Land.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/421340/asda-suspends-wii-u-stock/
Al ritmo que van, Nintendo montará sus propias tiendas a lo Apple. Al tiempo.
