Nintendo officially halts Wii production

Nintendo Japan has announced that it has ceased production of its fifth home console. In it's last official sales total it was confirmed that 100.04 million Wii units had been sold worldwide, the company's best selling home console. A message on the Nintendo Japan website reads: "manufacturing has ended."

The Wii's sales figures are bettered only by the Game Boy and the DS.

It's an incredible figure by any standards, but especially given that most of those sales came within the first few years of the console's lifespan. It took Xbox 360 far longer to reach similar sales.

Wii was criticised by many for leaning too far toward 'casual' game experiences which didn't appeal to core audiences. Undoubtedly it was this appeal that made it so successful. It's worth remembering though that the console was also home to Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, MadWorld, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Monster Hunter Tri, as well as a host of other first party favourites.

The focus now for Nintendo is to turn around the fortunes of Wii U, which, despite a year's head start on PS4 and Xbox One, has failed to find much of an audience. With important first party games incoming, we should get an idea this holiday season of what the beleaguered platform's future may hold.

Thanks, CVG.