Wii U has the backing of UK specialist retailers

Things keep getting worse for Nintendo's Wii U system. After posting dire financials for the last quarter, many UK supermarkets are going ahead with their plans to drop the console unless things turn around fast. However, specialist and online retailers have backed Nintendo to turn things around.

MCV spoke to numerous retailers in the UK to gauge their feelings on the Wii U. Asda and Morrisons have already stated that they will soon no longer be stocking the system or its games in store, though Asda will continue to sell them online.

Tesco will continue to stock Wii U systems, with the warning that it will only support it "to the levels that its market performance dictates." That could mean it gets a very low profile indeed. Only Sainsburys has unequivocally vowed to keep stocking the console.

Meanwhile GAME has thrown its lot in with Nintendo. Speaking with MCV, GAME CEO Martyn Gibbs said "We fully support all Nintendo products, including Wii U. We’ve just seen very strong release performances of Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U and Nintendo’s digital offering is also going from strength-to-strength.

"Nintendo has proven time and again that they are experts in the market. The incredible growth of the 3DS over recent years is testament to that and we are looking forward to their plans for developing Wii U over peak and through 2014."

Phil Browes of HMV said that the retailer hasn't finalised its Q4 plans yet, but that the Wii U is currently included in the range.

It's difficult to say how much of a difference this will make to the Wii U's fortunes. Both GAME and HMV have struggled of late, but Nintendo will still be glad of their support. They're hope now is that the holiday season, and the software support that comes with it, will be enough to see sales pick up and encourage consumers to pick an alternative to the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One.