Nintendo Wii U production may end by March 2018, says Kimishima

Nintendo may end production for the Wii U by March 2018, says Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima. The news comes on the heels of Nintendo's next-generation NX announcement, as well as the company's financial estimates. Nintendo anticipates its operating profits will rise over the coming year, increasing 36.9-percent by March 2017, banking on both a new console and smartphone games to help with the financial push.

We still don't know much about Nintendo's planned upcoming console, codenamed NX, though rumors about it (and a handful of fake pictures) have surfaced over past months. Nintendo announced today that it will release the NX across the globe in March 2017 — no other official details, including a formal name, were given.

The launch of a new console will spell the end of the Nintendo Wii U — something that has largely flatlined over its relatively short life, and that will be even less desirable once a new option is available. It isn't exactly clear how long Nintendo plans to keep producing the Wii U — we've heard word that it could end as early as this year — but company President Kimishima gave a very rough time frame today.

Kimishima said that Nintendo might cease production of the Wii U by March 2018, giving it one year of life after the launch of NX. It's certainly not a resolute statement, though, and so it shouldn't be taken too concretely. Before the new console arrives, Nintendo plans to launch four mobile games — ones that are actual proper games, not social disappointments like Miitomo. Two of those four games are set to arrive by this upcoming autumn.

SOURCE: Reuters