Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Nintendo Ends Wii Production With 100 Million Consoles Sold Worldwide
It's the end of an era. Nintendo has ceased production of the Wii according to the product page. Next to the images of the console the word 生産終了 (discontinued) appears.
The console was launched on November 19, 2006 in the United States, and demand was extremely high during the first year. This was compounded by short supply. As of July 2013, Nintendo had shipped over 100 million Wii units.
Update: Nintendo has confirmed that this only impacts Japan. The Wii will be sold in North America and other territories at least through the holidays.
Our Take
For better or worse, the Wii introduced motion controls to living-room gaming. While many decried the waggle-based gameplay mechanics that the Wii remote led to, there are developers that adeptly implemented the unique control scheme.
Titles like Trauma Team and Boom Blox smartly made use of the Wii remote, and Nintendo's own Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and Legend of Zelda titles were quite enjoyable with the default control scheme. Nintendo found purchase with non-traditional consumers, proving out the company's goal to welcome new audiences.
Unfortunately, the company has yet to repeat that success with the Wii U. The messaging has been confusing, and the families that purchase the Wii as their first console are either unaware of the Wii U or simply haven't been convinced of the need for an upgrade.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
