Nintendo fully expected to sell over 100 million Wii U units

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has revealed that the developer had very high expectations for Wii U sales after the success of the original Wii console, so much so that the company had projected to shift 100 million units.

However, as you might be aware, things haven't quite went to plan…

During a recent shareholders meeting, Kimishima talked projections, the reasons for their scale and even touched on his contributions in marketing the console.

"In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide," he said. "The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit."

When – as a matter of fact – just six months after the Wii U had made its worldwide launch, Nintendo had only managed to offload 500,000 of their – then – flagship console.

"I was responsible for selling the Wii U, and I knew what was good about it, so I talked with those in charge of sales about the importance of conveying the attractiveness of Wii U to consumers," Kimishima explained.

"I am guessing that some of this communication may have come across in a negative tone."

Many gamers have been quick to criticize Nintendo for their focus on innovation, or in some cases advocate a 'gimmicky style' of gaming in its new consoles, which might well have backfired.

Judging by Kimishima's comments, one can only assume that the president tried to put the emphasis on the Wii U's new features, but as we've seen with sales figures in recent times, things just never worked towards fulfilling their ambitious projections.

[Nintendo]