Nintendo to stop Wii U production at the end of 2016 - report

A report out of Japan states production on Wii U consoles will cease at the end of 2016.

According to Nikkei via God is a Geek, Nintendo has already stopped production on select Wii U accessories. What remains in stock at its shipping facilities and at retail stores once sold will not be restocked.

As with Wii, there will still be stock available for Wii U running up to the release of its Nintendo NX system, so it may be quite a while before a new one is hard to come by.

The report suggests a 2016 release window for the portable version of Nintendo NX, which has been previously reported, with a home console version set to release during 2017.

It's long been rumored the next hardware offering from the company is a console-portable hybrid and many analysts expect the portable component of Nintendo NX to be released as early as July 2016.

Various reports on the console have surfaced since Nintendo announced in March 2015 it was working on new hardware. Possible patents for the console and plenty of rumors have made the rounds ever since.

It's also rumored the long-awaited  The Legend of Zelda Wii U would be out this holiday 2016 for NX and would either launch day and date with the Wii U version or after the NX holiday launch window.

Nintendo is expected to reveal its NX console during E3 2016 in June, and should more information become available on the Wii U production report, we'll update this post.

Thanks, Johnny.