Nintendo consists of smart businessmen. They know Wii U is a failure and a joke, but they have no choice but to continue throwing money and other resources into the hole, knowing that premature product abandonment is something that is long remembered and frowned upon in this industry.
This makes me think of Nintendo's other "failure and a joke" console---the Virtual Boy.
It's interesting how Nintendo was so eager to cancel the Virtual Boy...but how elusive they went about it. One day in early 1996 they just stopped shipping consoles and cancelled all game development. But, they never admitted it publicly.
At E3 1996 Nintendo said they would "continue to support" Virtual Boy, but only showed off two games that were cancelled quickly after E3 and never released.
"Nintendo continues to support its portable 3-D video game system, Virtual Boy, with two new second half software titles. Launching in August, Dragon Hopper is the latest 3-D action/adventure game. Also debuting in August, Bound High immerses players in multiple levels of challenging 3-D game play. In addition, Nintendo has announced new affordable price points for Virtual Boy with a manufacturer's suggested retail price for hardware at $99.95 and $29.95-$39.95 for software."
In Nintendo's 1996 Annual Report, they bragged about the SNES, Game Boy and N64, but they never even mentioned the Virtual Boy's cancellation. The only notification Nintendo ever gave in their annual report was the following:
"Sales of the Company's Virtual Boy system did not meet expectations."
That's all they ever said. It wasn't "We are going to discontinue Virtual Boy production." It was just "Sales didn't meet expectations," then a swift, silent cancellation.
It took fan letters to Nintendo to determine the official status of the system. Here's a response from Nintendo of America (mid 1996):
"Hello.
Thank you for your interest in the Virtual Boy system. As you've noticed, there aren't any new games being made for it. Let me take a brief moment to explain the status of this one-of-a-kind system.
Over the past few years, we have put a great deal of resources and investment into the success of the Virtual Boy. Due in part to the unpredictability and volatility of the video game industry, this system did not meet our sales expectations. We regretfully made the decision to cancel further development of Virtual Boy hardware and software and have decided to focus our development strength on our very successful premier product, the Nintendo 64.
We will continue to support the Virtual Boy in all facets of post-sale service, however. If you have any game play questions, need replacement parts or repair information, be assured that we will fully stand behind our product.
We are glad that you decided to play the world's only 3-D virtual immersion gaming system and we hope that you will continue to play and support Nintendo products in the future.
Although no new games are currently planned, please find below a list of the titles that have been released for the Virtual Boy:
Game Title Company Release Date
Galactic Pinball Nintendo August 1995
Golf Nintendo November 1995
Jack Bros. Atlus Software October 1995
Mario Clash Nintendo October 1995
Mario's Tennis Nintendo August 1995
Nester's Funky Bowling Nintendo February 1996
Panic Bomber Nintendo December 1995
Red Alarm Nintendo August 1995
Teleroboxer Nintendo August 1995
Tetris 3-D Nintendo March 1996
Vertical Force Nintendo December 1995
Virtual League Baseball Kemco September 1995
Wario Land Nintendo November 1995
Waterworld Ocean December 1995
Thanks again for your comments.
Nintendo of America Inc.
Robin Krouse"
I wonder if Nintendo has the balls to just abruptly, silently discontinue the Wii U like they did with the Virtual Boy so long ago. I guess circumstances might be different because of the ubiquitousness of the Internet and the exposure the console has already.
But if the console really is such a horrible failure that can't be recouped, I wonder if it could be a possibility. Gamers still purchased the Game Boy and Nintendo 64 despite getting burned with the Virtual Boy. It was just a blip on the radar.