Nintendo shuts down production of Wii in Japan

The first nail in the coffin of the seventh generation of consoles has been hammered in. Nintendo has announced on its Japanese website that it is stopping production of the motion control-based console Wii, according to Kotaku. With this, the company hopes to double down on its efforts on the relatively-newer Wii U.

“Our new generation Wii U console is already on the market and allows users to play software originally designed for the Wii,” a Nintendo spokesman told AFP. “So this is part of the transition of our products to new models.”

RIP, Wii (2006-2013)

While the Wii isn’t being made anymore in Japan, other countries will still be able to get the console since Nintendo isn’t stopping production of the more affordable Wii mini. This is similar to what Sony did with the PlayStation 2, which saw the end of its life earlier this year.

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The Wii was originally released back in 2006—the same year as the PlayStation 3. Back then, it ended up being the most successful console of the trio, with a global sales figure of more than 100 million as of June. When compared to the 78 million estimated shipments for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, it isn’t hard to see.

The console is regarded as being largely responsible for the introduction of a much more casual demographic into gaming. This was owing to the console’s simple motion controls and the lack of a complicated 12-button controller. It also had quite a few casual games to further help bring the casual gamer demographic into the mainstream, such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit.