ASDA have decided to stop stocking Wii U consoles in its UK stores, of which there are over 500. This comes soon after them heavily cutting the price of the Wii U (to get rid of stock, perhaps?) and just days after Friday’s release of Pikmin 3, which has received a lot of praise and entered at number two in this week’s UK games charts.
Only eight products – presumably leftover stock – remain on the ASDA Direct website, with nothing to be found on store shelves. Speaking to CVG, an ASDA representative said:
Asda continues to offer customers a selection of Wii U games and accessories through Asda Direct, but these ranges are currently not on offer in Asda shops.
Oddly, the retailer doesn’t appear to be stocking 3DS systems on ASDA Direct, either, despite the console (and its games) proving very popular this year. It does, however, stock the PS3, Xbox 360 and Vita, with pre-orders open for PS4 and Xbox One.
Nintendo refused to comment on “specific business practises with individual retailers” but did say “software sells hardware”, pointing out the recently released Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U, as well as the upcoming Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World as reasons to look “forward to the year ahead on Wii U.”
Update:Â The retailer has issued a secondary statement to CVG, stating that “Asda will stock [Wii U] games on a title by title merit basis as they come along through Asda Direct. We will continue to support Nintendo as a format holder partner.”
So, it looks as if ASDA will be only stocking Wii U titles that they know will sell well. It looks a bit worrying for certain games, then.
Aran Suddi
I wonder if other retailers will follow suit if sales figures remain low for the console.
TSBonyman
I think it’s more a case of ASDA being a supermarket chain and not a dedicated game retailer, although sadly even the game retailers are probably going to shove the Wii U into some dark corner once the PS4 and Xbox 1 launch.
DividSmythe
I went into a local Asda today for a Wii U pro controller. Although they had the boxes Out for them they said they was out of stock. I’m not paying full price for a controller art the moment, I’ll wait.
Eldave0
If it helps I got mine from Argos. For whatever reason they are selling it a bit cheaper than other retailers. £29.99 instead of the £39.99 Tesco wanted and, brace yourself, the £59.99 GAME wanted!
cc_star
Not stocking 3DS is bizarre, must be the top selling device this year? Seems like it anyway.
No surprise not stocking Wii U in store if it’s not paying for it’s own shelf space. ASDA will know their own numbers and that sort of thing happens to products in supermarkets all the time, although I line of beans or a cooking sauce isn’t as high profile as a games console.
Come on Wii U, gaming as a whole needs you to be a success in the home as well as on handhelds.
Bilbo_bobbins
Very worrying for Nintendo to be honest, and those who own a Wii U.
Eldave0
Can see more of this sort of thing once the X1 and PS4 launch :(
The concept of actually having fun whilst gaming just doesn’t have wide-spread appeal these days it seems. Instead its all about virtual movies, K/D ratios and Social Media.
Sucks.
Eldave0
Lol, “virtual movies” doesn’t make much sense.
“Interactive Movies”? There we go.
hazelam
damn, i didn’t think things were that bad for the Wii-U.
i have to wonder why they’re not selling the 3DS either though.
i thought the 3DS was one of the best selling consoles.
i do plan to get a Wii-U one day, probably when Monolithsoft’s X comes out.
Starman
Asda and Tesco near me have recently reorganized the games sections and seem to be preparing space for ps4 & x1 already.
R1MJAW
My local Asda have never stocked either Wii U consoles or games and Tesco have a very limited stock (approx. 4 or 5 titles). I also noticed the other day that Asda had ‘Pre-order Xbox 1’ signs up near the 360 section but nothing about PS4 near the PS3/Vita section.
Adam Garrett
Not surprised by them not stocking Wii U at all and I don’t think it will be too long before other supermarkets follow suit.
bunimomike
Yep. The momentum is starting to appear and potentially grow. I’ll be interested to see if another retail chain follows suit, shortly.
OneShotWook
Asda are owned by wallmart,wonder what that means for the Us.
a inferior race
I’m curious as well to know if Wal-mart have had a falling out with Ninty