Wii U News: Asda No Longer Selling Console, What Does it Mean for Nintendo Fans?

In what some may consider a surprise announcement, Asda supermarkets, part of the Wal-Mart family of stores, has announced that the Wii U will no longer be sold in any of its 555 outlets across that country. The console has faced price cuts both in the U.K. and elsewhere, but there was no indication that the console would be cut completely from a retail chain. CVG is reporting that the retailer will continue to offer the Wii U through its online store, and will stock Wii U games if they feel as though the games can sell as well as other popular titles:

"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...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,"

It sounds as though Asda is holding out hope that certain Wii U games will continue to sell well, and perhaps the retail chain will again put the Wii U back on their shelves if the console begins to thrive once certain games such as The Wonderful 101 and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze are released and the upcoming Super Smash Bros, Legend of Zelda, and Mario titles get more details. Nintendo has released a statement about the news to CVG as well:

"Nintendo UK does not comment on specific business practices with individual retailers. However, as we have seen with Nintendo 3DS, software sells hardware, and with titles such as Wonderful 101, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World already announced for this year as well as the recently released Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U having reached number 2 and number 6 in this week's chart respectively, we are looking forward to the year ahead on Wii U."

The Wii U's troubled sales history is well documented, and while there is certainly reason to be pessimistic about the console, especially in light of the upcoming launches of next-gen consoles, removing the Wii U entirely from a retail chain is a knee-jerk reaction. While sales may not be going well now, there are several big name titles on the way, and those figure to boost the console's profile for the second half of 2013 and rejuvenate Nintendo's console.