Nintendo, Video Game Console | featured news

After only selling 3.06 million units of the Wii U console through December 2012, Nintendo is cutting its sales projections for FY 2013 by 17 percent.

Nintendo’s Wii U sold more than 460,000 units in December — enough to outpace the sales of its predecessor but not enough to take the top spot in video-game console sales. The Wii U figures, released by Nintendo on Thursday night, are from the NPD Group’s December report on the video-game industry as a whole.

One reason some people waited in long lines to be the first to get the new Nintendo Wii U console has nothing to do with the games. With Wii U devices all but guaranteed to be sold out at retailers around the world this Christmas, some buyers immediately put their new consoles on Ebay. Wii Us are already selling for over $500 on the site. There were well over 2,500 consoles listed on the world’s largest auction site just hours after it went on sale on November 18 at the Nintendo World store in New York City and around the globe.

Nintendo's Wii U hits stores this weekend, testing the videogame giant's strategy of pushing pricey hardware in a videogame market increasingly geared toward mobile gadgets.

The Wii U’s main selling point is a new touch-screen controller that is a cross between the iPad Mini and a traditional video game controller.

Nintendo announced Monday that it is dropping the price of its Wii console to $130 in the United States as it prepares to sell the next-generation Wii U in a little over a month.

Few people saw the Wii coming. In the weeks before Nintendo’s video game console hit stores on November 19 2006, critics called it underpowered, gimmicky, and a potential flop. But six years later the family-friendly, motion-sensitive Wii is the undisputed leader of its console generation, with nearly 100 million units sold worldwide –about thirty million more than either of its competitors, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Nintendo's upcoming Wii U gaming console will start at $300 and go on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 18, in time for the holidays, the company said Thursday. A "deluxe" version will sell for $350. It will be black instead of white and include extra features such as more memory, a charging stand and the game "Nintendo Land."

For Apple and Zynga, this E3 was a magical event. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all retreated within the crumbling walls of aging franchises and spin-off sequels. Under attack from mobile and social games, the Big Three console vendors are stumbling through the year 2012. Nintendo had a notably disappointing Wii U showcase and Sony’s Vita lacks the powerful slate of new titles it needs. We may be drifting towards a scenario where Nintendo shrinks to a rump company focusing only on portable gaming – and knocks out Sony’s PS Vita in the process.

Nintendo has sold 4.5 million 3DS units, its latest hand-held device, in the U.S., setting what the company said was potential momentum for its next big product, the Wii U console.