Iwata wants to re-establish Wii U first-party strength before targeting third-parties again

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stressed that before the company can re-establish third-party support on Wii U, it needs to put the console back into a strong position with first-party support.

Speaking with IGN, Iwata said, "What we need to do is regain the momentum of the Wii U in the marketplace and establish successful examples of third-party Wii U software.

"Our focus is, first of all, to regain the momentum of the Wii U towards the end of this year, and then we’ll try to establish successful third-party Wii U software titles. I believe in the importance of third-party support for Nintendo platforms. I’m very willing to change the current situation."

Iwata recently stated that Nintendo is solely to blame for poor Wii U sales, following a statement from Ubisoft that said it would not offer Nintendo any new exclusives until it sees the company selling more Wii U consoles.

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime added that third-party publishers are starting to recognise the quality of Nintendo's recent software slate, and suggests that shift in the balance between publishers is starting to build. "I’ve had conversations with a number of the publishers. As they see what we’re doing and the commitment we have with Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda.

"As we have behind-the-scenes conversations about what’s further in development and what’s coming down, the decisions around the next lineup of development and where they’re going to put their development dollars are starting to shift."

What do you think of Nintendo's line-up moving forward? Is it an improvement? Can third-party publishers be lured back to Wii U? Let us know below.