Starting on March 3rd, the company is betting its future on the Switch. We're going to continue to support that." Nevertheless, Nintendo's focus is pretty clear. "The ongoing activity from an online standpoint on Kart and Splatoon is significant. "Sunsetting is quite some time in the future," he said. Other online services will also continue, including server support for multiplayer titles such as Super Smash Bros. Fils-Aime told Polygon that Nintendo will continue to sell existing games both at retail and on the eShop.
The Wii U isn't being killed off entirely, however. Nintendo needed more of them, however, and has acknowledged the problem in interviews. The titles that did ship were mostly stellar - Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon and Mario Kart 8, to name but a few. With the Wii U, that number was clearly too low. The system, like all Nintendo hardware, will thrive or die based on the number of top quality games the company was able to ship. While the company has some third-party support, it's likely to be weaker than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The message is simple: Nintendo needs all of its teams developing for the Switch. The 3DS, for comparison, still has a handful of games coming out in 2017, including Pikminand Fire Emblem Echoes.
"We really are at the end of life for Wii U." While understandable, some may be surprised at how quickly Nintendo is ceasing software development. "From a first-party standpoint, there's no new development coming after the launch of Breath of the Wild," he said. Speaking with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be the last internally developed game for the system.
Sign up for the new Axios Gaming newsletter here.The Wii U has had a difficult life cycle, and Nintendo is ready to leave it behind. What's next: With the list of potential Wii U ports running low, Nintendo will bring a modified version of the Wii's "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" to Switch in July. U Deluxe” (yes, these are real game titles) has sold 10.4 million, more than the lifetime sales for the two Wii U games it combinesīetween the lines: Nintendo is proving there's a second chance when a game is basically new to most people.
Why it matters: With the Switch, Nintendo is putting on a clinic about how to turn prior failure into fortune as it repurposes games from the disastrous Wii U and tries selling them again on its newer hit device. Nintendo's worst-selling home console, the Wii U, continues to be the source for some of its biggest hits on the record-setting Nintendo Switch.