Wii U 8GB Discontinued at GameStop?: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Wii U 8GB

Reports have now made the rounds surrounding video game retailer GameStop discontinuing the 8GB version of the Wii U. Here’s the five fast facts you need to know about this latest bit of bad Nintendo news.


1. All GameStop Stores Has to Return Any Remaining Wii U Basic Consoles

Wii U Gamestop

Kotaku reported a reliable source told them that GameStop will no longer be selling the 8GB Basic version of the Wii U. The following message was supposedly sent to GameStop locations around the nation:

Nintendo Wii U Basic Recall – Two Week Preparation On Tuesday, 6/18, all stories will need to return all new/unopened Wii U Basic (020359). .. Stores that have 10 or more in stock will receive shipping cartons from the [distribution center]. .. All other stores will need to save shipping cartons for this recall.

Nintendo issued this statement to IGN. They stated that this was true:

There is a current misperception about Wii U hardware. To clarify: Nintendo is working with its retail partners to simply rebalance the stock of the White 8GB and the Black 32GB Wii U models in the market. Consumers looking for either model will continue to find them available.


2. Target Sliced the Price in Half in May 2013

Wii U Discontinued

Back in May of this year, Target reportedly slashed the price of the Wii U 8GB from $299 to $239.99. This price cut is said to have come along due to the slow sales of the console at the time. CNET provided some details on this system price cut:

Target’s price may mark a new low for the basic edition of the Wii U. Most retailers charge the full $299.99. Amazon offers a small discount, selling it for $279. Target’s discount may be in order as sales of the Wii U have been lackluster.

However, if you try to find a Wii U 8GB on Target now, you probably won’t come across one. The online store for the retailer is offering the 32GB and a deluxe console package.


3. Other Retailers Have Kept The Starting Price of the Console

Wii U 8GB

Unlike Target, other electronic retailers (Wal-Mart, Best Buy etc.) are continuing to sell the Wii U 8GB at its original price of $299. One retailer (Amazon) has done things a little bit differently, as they’re offering the Wii U 8GB for $279.99.


4. The Wii U’s 2013 Performance Hasn’t Been Great

The Wii U system sales have been struggling for the beginning months of 2013. Gamasutra reported on the February sales of the system (which weren’t up to Nintendo’s lofty standards):

All eyes are on Nintendo’s Wii U, which saw an incredibly rough January that may have seen sales as low as 57,000. This month, the NPD Group says that sales on a weekly average increased around 40 percent, meaning that monthly sales for the console were in the neighborhood of 64,000. Its performance, when averaged out by week, is still significantly worse than any performance on record for either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.


5. Nintendo Blamed The Lack of Wii U Sales on the Lack of New Software

Nintendo released a statement regarding the lack of Wii U console sales back in May 2013:

For the “Wii U” system, launched in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, there were some delays in software development that resulted in intervals between new software title releases at the early stage of this year. Taking this into consideration, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, we plan to concentrate on proactively releasing key Nintendo titles from the second half of this year through next year in order to regain momentum for the platform.