Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, believes the Wii U — despite the glitz and glamour of next-gen hardware — has a chance to compete with Xbox One and PS4 sales. Despite nearly a year head start, the Wii U has failed to catch on with consumers. Over in the UK, the PS4 has already surpassed the Wii U's lifetime sales in the market. Needless to say, many analysts have been quick to write off the Wii U, but Reggie has faith in his company's system.
"We rate our chances very good," Fils-Aime told Forbes when asked about the Wii U's chances to compete with the Xbox One and PS4 this holiday season.
"Software drives hardware in this business. We see it time and time again. We saw it with our Wii and DS businesses. We’re seeing it right now with Nintendo 3DS," he added. While the Wii U has been criticized for its lack of third-party titles, the system's lineup has since been bolstered by the release of quite a few stellar first-party titles including Super Mario 3D World. And looking ahead, we have the highly anticipated Super Smash Bros.
"It was probably a year ago, I was having similar meetings to these, when the challenge was, “Reggie, what are you doing with your handheld business? How are you gonna grow it?” Well, we bring our great franchises to bear, and watch what happens," Fils-Aime said. "Software drives hardware."
A"nd we’re having a stellar year. We believe the same will happen with our Wii U business, with these fantastic franchises that we’re bringing to bear this holiday," he added.
Responding to the notion that consumers might be "distracted by shiny new objects," Fils-Aime noted, "If you look at the last two hardware cycles, it was not the most powerful machine that won, not in the case of the PS2, not in the case of the Wii.
"So, in the end, it’s our responsibility to show consumers how much fun you can have, because in the end, this is an entertainment business, and we think we’ve got stellar entertainment to make the consumer smile," he said.
Do you plan on purchasing a Wii U this holiday season?
