advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Would you buy a discounted Wii U?

So you’ve seen a certain games console on sale for what seems like a bargain price in CNA or ToysRUs and you’re tempted to splash out on deal that looks too good to be true? Can’t say I blame you, but my advice would be to steer clear if you can. While the Wii U is undeniably a lovely little console and R999 is a stupidly good price for it, retailers aren’t doing these massive discounts because they want to do you a favour.

They’re getting out of the Wii U business and selling off stock as cheaply as they can afford to. You should follow their lead.

We’ve spoken to a few people in the business now, and all are agreed. Wii U sales have been more than disappointing, they’ve been a disaster. Fewer than 2 000 consoles are in circulation on South African shores and it’s just not viable to stock games in multiple retail outlets for such a small customer base. With all eyes on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – both considerably more powerful than the Wii U is and able to go feature for feature against it plus some – there’s not a lot of optimism left that sales of Nintendo’s flagship can recover.

The worst news is that we’re hearing distributors say that they can no longer afford to bring Wii U games in to the country, since selling a few dozen games can’t cover the shipping costs for a batch. That makes me worry that your bargain-priced console is going to be left with nothing to play once current stocks of big titles runs out. Even if they change their minds, EA has already admitted a loss of faith in the console, and other publishers are likely to follow.

In other words, if you’re a console collector and the kind of gamer that likes to own one of everything, go ahead and avail yourself of a Wii U next time one of these firesales starts burning (and there will be more). It’s a funky little machine that’s enjoyable company to be around. However, if you’re after a console that you plan to keep playing with for the next couple of years and don’t want to rely on digital downloads for your entertainment – sadly you’re probably better off saving that thousand rand to put towards the competition.

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement