2011 hasn't been kind to the Wii. After several years of strong releases including games such as Donkey Kong Country Returns, Metroid: Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Super Mario Galaxy, the Wii has hit a wall. It's a wall of rare releases and hardly any attention.
This lack of games has caused a notable dip in Nintendo's earnings. According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, the low number of new content in 2011 is a result of attention being put mainly on the Wii U, reports VideoGamer.
"Strong momentum is very important for game platform business and a strong software line-up to vitalize a platform is necessary to maintain this momentum," explained Iwata. "In the first half of this year, however, we could not make the continuing sales of the first-party software released last year as we had planned, nor in the course of preparation for the next platform could we release new key titles for the existing platform in a timely fashion due to completion delays until the latter half of this year."
According to Iwata, focus on the 3DS will continue starting in November, with the launch of Super Mario 3D Land. The Nintendo boss mentioned that games for the handheld would be "continually released," and he stated that he hoped this would boost sales for the company and the system.
Nintendo's got a lot of ground to cover. After a lackluster 2011, the company looks to finish the year in strong fashion. With the recently released Kirby's Return to Dream Land and upcoming titles like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7, it's obvious that the Big N has some big-name titles ready for this holiday season. Still, I think it's a total shame that Nintendo couldn't put more attention on the Wii by releasing a steady stream of content throughout the year.
