At least, if you want to buy a new one. It indeed looks like the WiiU is done with retail sales. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of one since before Christmas, and upon checking the day job, the console is sure enough in a discontinued status for sales. It’s only a matter of time before Nintendo cuts online services for the console, and mothballs the online shop, much like the virtual console and Wiiware shops on the original Wii are.
Read my previous article on this subject here!
I still find it interesting that Nintendo took this route, but like I said before, it makes sense not to compete against yourself. It sucks though that the WiiU never really got any cheaper in the long term (certainly not near the $99 price point the GameCube and Wii got at the end of their lives) to where it could become an affordable “new” console to those who may want to get one in the long run.
This may mean the console will keep its value in the secondhand market, which is good for those who love it, but not good for those who want one. I already feel the WiiU might become a system I just never wind up owning, since as time passes units in use will suffer more and more wear and tear, and eventually the batteries in the gamepad and the like will fail. Sure they can be replaced, but it’s one of those things that’s annoying to eventually have to have be done.
Consider the used market in the long term, though – sure, in a few years there will be more consoles on the market, as kids grow out of it and parents, doing what they usually do, trade them off, but let’s be real: children don’t take care of things, especially not game controllers, and the WiiU gamepad is rather fragile, by comparison to other game controllers. The odds of finding used ones in 2-5 years that are in okay shape is very unlikely.
I guess if you want a WiiU, keep hunting around: maybe a store will have one, and you can still get one new. Maybe not. Maybe snag a used one that looks to be in good shape from a reputable game store, but do it soon, before all the near-broken units start flooding stores. You know the kind I’m talking about.
Good Job WiiU. You were a good console, give or take. It isn’t your fault Nintendo marketed you so poorly.