Nintendo to End Wii U Production This Year. Possible Nintendo NX Announcement Soon?

Nintendo will stop producing its Wii U console this year. The news comes via The Nikkei and translated by Japanese game consultant Serkan Toto.

"The Nikkei just reports Nintendo will stop producing Wii U within 2016. It doesn't say they will necessarily start selling NX in 2016," Toto tweeted.

This was followed by a second tweet that said according to the Japanese daily "some Wii U accessories are already not being produced anymore. Nintendo plans to deplete inventory this year."

While the newspaper claims that Nintendo may not sell its next console, the Nintendo NX this year, the depletion of inventory indicates that the Wii U is most definitely on its way out. And it also points to the inevitable announcement regarding the NX sooner rather than later.

It should come as no surprise for many a gamer that Nintendo is looking to end the Wii U's lifecycle prematurely. Despite having a strong first-party line-up of games including Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon, and Xenoblade Chronicles X, it hasn't exactly set the charts on fire. More so considering how well its predecessor the Wii sold.  Even the Nintendo 3DS handheld console, despite facing massive competition from smartphones, has managed to hold its own.

Will the NX be the successor the Wii U wasn't? We're not entirely sure. Nintendo has been extremely quiet on what to expect, apparently courting the likes of EA whilst working on a console that just might be underpowered by the time it hits the market. How much third-party support it will have remains to be seen as well, what with some developers being extremely vocal about the Kyoto-based company's silence on its plans.