Citation
Wii
TL;DR
GameCube: 22M units in crowded hardcore market
Comprehensive history of Nintendo's strategic pivots: from power-focused GameCube (22M units) to accessibility-focused Wii (101M), failed hybrid Wii U (13M), and successful portable-console hybrid Switch (150M+). Documents Satoru Iwata's reading of environmental signals - detecting that competing with Sony and Microsoft on processing power was a losing strategy.
The Wii U failure is as instructive as the Wii success: plasticity has costs. Trying to express two phenotypes simultaneously (casual and hardcore) resulted in confused positioning. The Switch succeeded by detecting a new environmental opportunity (mobile gaming precision gap) and expressing a focused phenotype.
Key Findings from contributors (2025)
- GameCube: 22M units in crowded hardcore market
- Wii: 101M units by targeting non-gamers with motion control
- Wii U: 13M units attempting both casual and hardcore simultaneously
- Switch: 150M+ by detecting mobile/console hybrid opportunity