The Nintendo Wii U is an eighth generation video game console designed and marketed by
Nintendo Co. Ltd released in
November in North America, and PAL regions, and released in December in Japan. The console was made to be a successor to popular Nintendo
Wii which had sold 101 million units, however thanks to poor marketing, a confusing name which lead consumers to believe it was a new controller for the
Wii, and poor third party support the Wii U was left in the dust by Sony's PS4, and even Microsofts poorly marketed Xbox one. By the end of its lifespan the Wii U had only sold 13 million units globally, and was considered a commercial
flop by
Nintendo. Former President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime stated that despite its poor sales the Wii U would be remembered fondly by fans like the similarly poor performing Nintendo Gamecube, and he considered it a necessary step for the success of Nintendo's next major console, the Nintendo Switch.