Report: Nintendo to Stop Production of Wii U Consoles in 2016

Update: According to a statement provided to the Japanese site IT Media (and translated over on Kotaku and Business Insider), Nintendo is denying that Wii U production is in its last days. Stating that the report in the Nikkei "is not an announcement from the company," the statement goes on to say that Wii U production will continue. There is a bit of confusion with regards to how long production will continue for, though. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft translates the sentence in question as "From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production [of the Wii U] is scheduled to continue," but over on Business Insider the sentence refers to production continuing for the next "fiscal year and beyond." If it's the former, then the original Nikkei report could still be accurate, but if it's the latter then it comes further into question.

As rumors swirl about the NX, I suspect that we'll continue to hear reports about the Wii U's production slowly winding down.

Find the original story below.

A report from the Japanese financial newspaper The Nikkei revealed today that Nintendo will be halting production of the Wii U and some related accessories this year. The paper additionally states that Nintendo will reveal their new console (codenamed NX) sometime this year.

Before anyone jumps to speculate that this means for sure that the NX will be released this year, it's important to note that this could just be Nintendo needing to shift through its remaining Wii U inventory. The end of production doesn't mean that there aren't any Wii U units available from here on out, it means that Nintendo has enough consoles stored up to last between now and whenever they've decided to phase it out.

That said, I'd really love to see the NX launch this year, and more than that, I'm hoping that it has at least some degree of backwards compatibility with the Wii U. It's not where I do most of my gaming, but last year was fantastic for the console, with Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, and Xenoblade Chronicles X all showing the potential for the device. Once the NX launches, whatever it is, I'd really appreciate being able to return to those games (and a handful of others) without dragging my Wii U out of storage.

(Shout out to Jeff Grubb over at VentureBeat for bringing this to my attention!)

So should I buy a wii u now or wait?

Well, this is signaling the pivot from WiiU to NX (or whatever Nintendo ends up calling it).

The WiiU was a great console, albeit underutilized and miss-marketed. Let's hope the NX has backwards compatibility for WiiU games! I wouldn't mind getting the NX and playing some WiiU games.

Cutting losses in a Nintendo-like fashion.

It's a real bummer that the WiiU didn't catch on, because the highs were pretty high.

With the recent console news making me think ill be ditching my PS4/XBOX in favor of keeping my PC upgraded, I'm actually way more interested in what Nintendo does next than I have been in that company for a while, exciting times.

...so I need to buy one soon then.

I thought about having a funny faux-Mario quote here but everything I came up with was a vaguely offensive Italian stereotype.

Does Austin not know anything about Vinny or his impact on the site? Casual Italian racism is pretty on par for this site and we're all better for it.

I love my WiiU but it's such a bizarre system. I think the system could have done really well if they'd engineered it in such a way that you could enjoy DS titles on it along with Wii and WiiU titles. Felt like they could never quite commit to the form factor.

Definitely some great titles on it though.

Only current gen console I own is the WiiU, and I've rarely felt much of a need for the others excluding a game or two like Bloodbourne. (Some games where a console OR a new PC would be nice, but I don't count those where I can get on either console or a PC).

Bayo2 favorite game of 2 years ago, Xenoblade top ~2 games of last year... bah.

Boy, this is a real weird time to be in the market for a console. I was thinking of getting a PS4 for the odd exclusives I wouldn't want to play on my beefy gaming PC, but then all the talk about the PS4.5 started up. Then I played with the idea of getting a Wii U to play the exclusives I knew would never leave the console, but now it doesn't even look like the Wii U has any sort of a future.

What a weird time for the games industry.

I guess now is the time to consider buying up a few extra Wii U Pro Controllers as those might get scarce at some point in the near future, right?

Thanks for the shout out, Austin.

Super wait. I'd like to think the price should drop once the NX is announced, and if the NX does end up being backwards compatible, you might not even have to grab a Wii U in the first place.

@nightriff said:

wait until retailers slash the price to get rid of them.

This is really making me consider buying a Wii U. Mostly because I'm scared the Wii U's peculiar design and gamepad screen will make backwards compatibility and emulation a difficult task.

In my mind this means the nx will be backwards compatible. But hey exciting whatever happens!

This is good news to me.

Also, if the NX comes out this year it's pretty much a done deal that Zelda will be a launch game, right?

Not surprising news since the NX is coming out this holiday season but its good to see that all the ducks are lining up in a row. Let's all hope NX is not a dud like the WiiU was a flop.

Controversial statement: it may not have sold the best, but the Wii U has been the best console this generation. More titles are multi-platform than ever, and until Halo 5, I had no use at all for an Xbox One/PS4 - nearly everything on them is available on PC, which is always the superior version (save Arkham Knight). Everything else was on the Wii U, and I think the full line-up of games it has now has proven itself as a worthy purchase for anybody. In a world where the PS4/Xbox One is already under-powered, it always amazes me to hear people bash the Wii U for being weak when a majority of its library looks/runs better than most games on PS4/Xbox One. A strong art direction goes a long way, and the Wii U proved that; I only wonder how much more it would have sold if it had a better name than "Wii U"...

Not surprised to hear this. I only recently got a Wii U because there were finally plenty of games for me to check out - I didn't expect it to last much longer anyway.

Very excited (scared?) to see what NX is.

E3, and the rest of the year in general, is going to be nuts.

I'm super excited to see everything happen. New consoles, new versions of consoles, VR, games! It's exciting to me for the first time in a while.

As a consumer who did not jump into the WiiU, I see the NX being my opportunity to get down on games I wanted to... But the WiiU's game pad inherently works best with those games (Mario Maker ahem). Will these systems share peripherals at this point?

I just want to see the warehouse that's filled with unsold Wii Us.

I just got a PS4 and Wii U this Xmas and with this week's news.......yea....this weeks' been real great.

I am a bit shocked about how they are stopping production in terms of the lack of price drops they have had.

Do NOT buy a Wii U, to those asking.

At least wait and see first if the NX will have backward compatability for WiiU games. I think it would be crazy for them to not have it after such a short cycle for the Wii U.

Stopping production isn't good news at all. That means it's considered a dead platform. It sucks when it's so soon after a great game is released (SMM). I hope that game will come out on other platforms. At least on 3DS.

@hassun:With the way things are right now (low latency video steaming) I wouldn't rule out an emulator that uses a PC and a tablet.

I know the Wii U was never a big player or anything but between this and the upcoming console half steps from Sony and MS it seems like the games industry as we always knew it is sort of done. In the future, all video games will be launched from within League of Legends.

I would hope there is some backward compatibility with the NX. If it doesn't have a disc drive it would be cool to have all digital purchases carry over! Nintendo really pushed for digital purchases on the WiiU early on and I was curious why...

Still plan on getting one at some point if the price and time is right, or at least getting something that will play Wii U games if the NX is backwards compatible. Despite the complete lack of third party games, tablet nonsense, marketing failures, and consequent lack of sales, there's a fair amount of stuff on the Wii U that I'd love to go back and play.

Hell, the smart play for Nintendo could be to make the NX able to play Wii U games in some way and sell some sort of package offering where you could get a good deal on Mario Maker, Splatoon, Bayonetta, SM 3D World and the other amazing games that nobody played because they were on the Wii U. You've got a built in launch lineup of games people have talked up for years but most people haven't played.

Thanks for Bayonetta 2, Nintendo!

If you can, I'd say wait for the NX to release. There's almost always a price drop on the previous gen.

still love the console for the good stuff it had. Maybe if they didnt fumble on marketing it so much and had mario maker at or near launch things may have been different. Kinda sad it's being given up on like this in any case. Hell it seemed to be picking up speed for a little while.

Inb4 nintendo should go third party etc blah blah

Might just be misremembering an article on this from another outlet, but I thought the Nikkei article stated the NX was unlikely to launch this year?

It's unsurprising that you couldn't find a faux-Mario quote that wasn't a vaguely offensive Italian stereotype, in that Mario is, himself, a vaguely offensive Italian stereotype.

Not surprising news, either, but I'm still kind of bummed about the Wii U's failure to launch (so to speak).

And you know a new ninty console at this point doesnt seem so weird with word of new xbox and ps4 skus. Maybe it can be on parity or better hardware wise. But if it's also supposed to be a hybrid home/portable console i can't imagine how they'll keep costs under control.

"...and more than that, I'm hoping that it has at least some degree of backwards compatibility with the Wii U."

I highly doubt the next Nintendo thing (whatever that may be) will be backwards compatible. Despite the fact that it's severely underutilised, they'd have to find some way to incorporate a touch pad (especially if Mario Maker, something I'm sure they recognise as key, hopes to survive the jump), which I don't think they'll do, given the contention surrounding that controller.

I'm tempted to buy another Wii U just to keep in storage in case my GamePad dies.

@atomicpineapple: there probably will be a screen/gamepad like unit, especially if that one controller patent is anything to go by. Except it will be the portable part of the console, and you'll dock it (i assume) when playing at home.

E: again i have no clue how theyll keep this all under $400 especially with current/near current hardware. I concede i may be talking out of my ass and the whole portable/home hybrid theory isn't true.

E2: linkin park rulz

Still not planning on getting any of the current-gen consoles, but, man, just with their weird obscure talk about NX Nintendo sure has managed to pique my curiosity. At this point it may potentially be anywhere from something ground-breaking to a worse failure than Wii U.

Rest in pieces Wii U. It had some good games granted, just not enough.

I must say, the Wii U is actually my favorite current gen console. I've had hundreds of hours of fun on my Wii U with games like Splatoon, Smash 4, Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Mario Kart 8, etc.

Really hoping the NX is backwards compatible. There are four or so Wii U games I really want to play, and I don't want to have to buy a Wii U just for that.

you know, of the "current gen consoles" the wii-u was the only one I was ever actually interested in buying [I am a pc player]. I actually really did enjoy that console a lot, and given that the graphics of the other consoles were underwhelming [while still above the wii-u] I found this to be the most valuable console purchase for me even with the fewer games. That wii-u had some awesome games actually

I wonder how many Wii Us are in stock right now/how many are produced every month. Would be curious to actually know anything valuable about Nintendo production / Wii U sales.

I love Austin, but this mindset that many of the younger generation have, that even portraying a race or culture is offensive, is crazy to me! Mario has offended exactly NO ONE throughout history, not anyone sane at least or not just trying to seek attention. Put a Mario quote in your article Austin, don't live in fear.

Only just bought a Wii U in January but was able to get one in near mint condition with Super Mario Maker from eBay so even if they do introduce the NX this year, I'm not going to be too bummed out. SMM has easily paid for that console and I've easily lost over 100 hours at this point without really noticing.

It's Happening!

NX gonna give it to ya!

I'm happy with my Wii U but I'm more than ready to say goodbye to this weak system and see what the NX has to offer.

This seems to be lining up with the other rumor that the NX will be coming out this year. Even though it has only been 4 years which is a short Nintendo generation they've never had a console sell as bad since the Virtual Boy so unless they another bad financial year they'll release this year.