Goodbye Iwata, you won't be missed.

I think it's fair to say that Mr. Iwata will be stepping down as President and CEO of Nintendo.

The November sales of 220k in the US is pathetic for a console that has only been out for a year. Not even the highly rated Mario 3D World could save it. Wii U is toast and so is Iwata's future at Nintendo.

Does seem quite bad, be nice if Nintendo does something at least a little drastic to change things. Even the Gamecube sold well during the holidays.

They should have made generic military shooters.

This may seem a bit too simple but if they drop the price to $250 including a game they will sell great.

I think they are just really out of touch. Nintendo won't change/improve until Iwata steps down. Iwata's thinking is way too traditional.

they need to reduce the price of the vc eshop prehistoric games.

they need to release the gamecube library for 10-15$ each

they need to damn remove the region lock from their consoles

finally stop delaying games and release em, having a single damn game for christmas is not good enough. also they are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow when releasing virtual console games, they have been teasing us all year for super mario brothers 3 and still they have not released it, they are going to release it in Christmas. they made us wait for a prehistoric old game that will be over priced all year long. they should stop being greedy.

Damn, I thought they finally canned his worthless ass! Nintendo is in desperate need of leadership that are actual gamers instead of corporate tools that have no clue how to relate to gamers.

Actually his thinking is far from traditional. If his thinking was traditional the Wii U would be on par spec wise with the other machines. It would have more violent 3rd party games. The online would be much "improved" and cost $50-$60 a year. Iwata has a very different way of thinking and that is part of the reason why Nintendo has gone the route they have. Trust me he isn't the only one in Nintendo that has been pushing for lower cost, lower spec machines aimed at the non gamer. Because 3 consoles all going after the same target audience would be a disaster. That's one of the reasons we lost Sega.

The Wii U would have sold way better if it was a console more like the XB1/PS4 because it had a year head start. All they needed was to get third party on board and have Mario Kart/Mario 3D World ready at launch.

The main reason the Dreamcast failed was because it had to rely mostly on Sega titles. Dreamcast had weak third party support. Also, not having a DVD player hurt as well.

Time for an ambassador program. :P

@emgesp:

I really don't understand how people like me could get it so right, and CEOs of large companies can get it so wrong.

The Wii was the "tickle me Elmo" of the electronics world - that's why it sold so well. I would guestimate that 70%+ of Wii owners were not traditional gamers - they bought a Wii because it was the hip thing to do. That's why it sold so many units while being both drastically underpowered and not having most of the top multiplats.

Now that the craze is over, Nintendo honestly thought lightning would strike twice. Unbelievable. If they had released a Wii U that could run BF4 like the XB1 or PS4, that console would be a hit.

He's had a good run if he does leave. Average lifespan of a CEO is not that long.

I thought the 220K was how many Super Mario 3D World sold? I thought the Wii U sold like 167K in the U.S. Maybe I'm mistaken.

It is around 220K Wii U units sold in the month of Novemeber in the US.

SM3DW sold 215K,

Agreed, sure another price drop with boost some sales, but not to a degree that will save the console from its untimely death.

Ask yourself this - who do you think can do a better job?

I don't think Iwata will step down.

Well, that 220K is surely better than what Pachter came out with.

LOL, sure its better, but 220K in November is still pathetic. This will give you a better idea of how bad those numbers are for the Wii U.

245K (Dreamcast, November 1999)

192K (Dreamcast, November 2000)

259K (Dreamcast, November 2001)

424K (GameCube, November 2002)

751K (GameCube, November 2003)

350K (GameCube, November 2004)

272K (GameCube, November 2005)

You do realize that Iwata is the one who made the Wii successful? before that, the Gamecube and 64 weren't hot sellers either... Besides this, the 2014 Wii U games will give it a pulse. Not saying it will overtake the ps4, but it will be better than people are thinking now.

That's what people said about TW101, Zelda HD and Super Mario 3D World, but alas the Wii U still sold like crap in November.

A new first person Metroid game would do them wonders by providing a core Nintendo franchise while appealing to the current crop of FPS gamers. Not having one as a launch title shot them in the foot as much as not having a decently powerful console for the second time around.

Then don't expect any great Nintendo home consoles anytime soon if Iwata stays.

The saving grace of Nintendo will always be in theirsolid franchises.... With proper leadership and maybe a sslightly different take on business practices (sell at a loss for once, behind a more powerful console, make nice with ALL third party devs) Nintendo can be the defacto game platform again... The problem is, it doesn't feel like they realize that. At least not now.

You'd be surprised at how little Metroid games sell. Which is a shame, because I love the franchise to death.

EDIT: Actually, now that I look it up, it doesn't seem as bad as I remember.

Well, their timing was definitely bad considering people were waiting for the real next gen to come. But I think the more games that keep coming, the more people will see the value proposition. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash are big titles, and if they squeeze in a Zelda Wii U announcement at E3, I think they'll be ok.

Watch, they'll fire him and get some modern suit and tie that'll force them to go mobile like capcom and square.

Then everyone will start clamoring for Iwata to come back

@emgesp: why should he be fired? yes the wiiu sales are sh%t but he has had immense success with wii, ds and 3ds. 1 bad product and u want him out? wtf

Metroid Prime - 2.82 Million

Metroid Prime 2 - 1.33 Million

Metroid Prime 3 - 1.76 Million

Metroid: Other M - 1.24 Million

Not bad at all considering that were release initially on single platforms (not considering MP Trilogy). Since 2007 when MP3 came out, FPSs have only become more popular and a well thought out multiplayer component could make Metroid a valuable online game, which Nintendo is lacking so badly.

Gamecube had Mario Kart, 2 Zelda games, Smash Bros, 2 Metroid games, yet those games weren't enough to save the Gamecube.

Yeah it was Trilogy that made the terrible sales figures pop into my head, but that's understandable considering it was a limited run.

Please don't give those thoughts.

Hey, wait a minute. Now that you mention it? Aren't Square Enix considered sell outs for going mobile, and yet somehow it's a good idea for Nintendo to do it?

To quote Todd in the Shadows regarding Tonight (I'm loving/f***ing you): God, this world...

Where in the hell did you get those Other M numbers? Last I checked, that game sold FAR below that.

@nintendoboy16:

I used VGChartz. I wouldn't be surprised if there are wrong numbers, and some of the numbers I bet are actually higher considering VGChartz lacks plenty of data on other games.

Sales data isn't always accurate, but the Metroid series is a decently popular non-kiddie Nintendo franchise that was a technical showcase for the GC and Wii platforms. May be just the thing the Wii U needs to garner in older gamers.

Maybe. What's so puzzling is that they don't have to revolutionize anything to make a great Nintendo console. Just look at what's already been done and improve it, that's what The company is doing wrong - doing something for the sake of something new. That and falling behind the rest of the industry in hardware and online connectivity, and not caring about the rest of the industry in general. If I could look at what needs to be done, I think he can too.

Then again, the whole problem is that he's so inward looking, so maybe he does have to go if he can't change that.

But if he's going to go, I also don't think anyone who's at the top of Nintendo like he is can do much better.

He should've been gone 6+ months ago and he isn't

DANGIT TC!!! I thought he was actually leaving the company. You got me excited for nothing. Nintendo needs someone with competence to "Directree" run the company.

Didn't Mario Kart Wii sell like 8 million copies?

Wikipedia says 34 million (yes I know it was also bundled)

What does the Wii have to do with the Gamecube/Wii U? Nobody is arguing that the Wii was a success. The original Wii was going to succeed even if Mario Kart Wii was never released.

I want Nintendo to succeed, but I really have a hard time sympathizing when they repeat the same mistakes time and time again. Their issue with the 3DS launch was its lack of a strong game lineup, which was the exact problem Wii U had. Its ports and a lazily made Mario game weren't enough to make it stand out, and for that reason, Wii U kind of had it coming. (Then again, Xbox One and PS4 didn't exactly have sterling lineups, and few complain about those two.)

and here I thought there was an article about Iwata being removed from his position.

What did Gamecube mean for your argument? That was two generations ago. There are plenty of kids who still own a Wii and cherish the games that they played. You think they're suddenly going to have amnesia when it comes to these titles?

They should have made ANYTHING that wasn't another rehash of their old stable of 8 bit games.

TW101 is a niche game. So obviously it won;t help the WiiU.Zelda HD is a remake of a game people already played and Super Mario 3D world got destroyed by the xbox one launch and the other nintendo games that released that day for the 3DS.Super Mario3D World's LTD may increase by a lot in December.

Ummmm, casuals abandoned the Wii. The only people that bought the Wii U so far are hardcore Nintendo fans. Gamecube was selling better than the Wii U and was still considered a failure.

Nothing and I repeat nothing will save the Wii U. Shows over, better luck next time Nintendo.

Maybe Nintendo should actually advertise the Wii U. They have the best games at the lowest price, and I almost never see anything. Their ad for Super Mario 3D World is awful. Why not just show the trailer that is on Youtube? Even bad commercials are better than no commercials, though. I see Sony's shitty live action commercial 3 or 4 times per day.

But this was supposed to be the year of Luigi.

i think they should have....and release games from ips not named mario or zelda....and crack the whip on the developers to release games more often

it needed games and lots of them like the gameboy