Wii U a Prime Example of 'Too Little, Too Late'.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, the Wii U has proven to be their worst console release ever.

Sorry Mario, not even you can save the Wii U.

This isn't to say that the Wii U doesn't have quality game titles. In fact, the Wii U sports some of the finest first party software around. Games like Splatoon, Super Mario Maker and Mario Kart 8 offer phenomenal experiences, something that Nintendo really shines at. The sad reality is that the greatest software in the world can't save a game system that most consumers don't want to purchase. This has been the biggest hurdle for the Wii U -- the average gamer simply hasn't been interested. Whether the limited game library or confusing name is to blame, who knows. More than likely, there's multiple factors that hurt the system. Numbers don't lie, though. The Wii U is living on borrowed time.

Nintendo recently released financial numbers for the sales period between April and December of 2015. In that time span, 3.6 million Wii U systems were sold worldwide. This was actually a bit of good news for the Wii U; the surge in sales was much needed. The holiday season was a positive one for the Wii U, which saw a price drop at most national retailers. Yet, this burst comes too little, too late. Barely three years into the lifespan of the Wii U, Nintendo is already prepping their next console, currently code named the NX. We can expect to see more information about the NX throughout 2016. Many game industry insiders suspect that the NX system will actually begin production later in the year, possibly for a late 2016 or early 2017 release. Historically, Nintendo consoles have been given at least a five year lifespan before moving on to the next batch of hardware... but the Wii U may be a special case. The argument could be made that the Wii U has become a lame duck, considering the limited number of future game releases. With the next console lurking around the corner, the incentive to generate new software for the Wii U has become less and less realistic. More so, consumers have increasingly fewer reasons to purchase the Wii U with the death of the system looming on the horizon.

Here are the worldwide sales totals for all of Nintendo's home consoles, ranked by total volume.

1. Wii - 101.63 Million
2. Nintendo (NES) - 61.91 Million
3. Super Nintendo (SNES) - 49.10 Million
4. Nintendo 64 - 32.93 Million
5. GameCube - 21.74 Million
6. Wii U - 12.6 Million

At this point, I would suggest that the best alternative Nintendo has with the Wii U is to drop the price and push their remaining stock out to consumers -- even if they have to do so at a loss. They'd assuredly recoup their investment on software sales and regain some much needed capital. And hey... if Nintendo does decide to sell the Wii U at a discount, it would be a great opportunity to pick the system up for cheap! There are some phenomenal games on the system that everyone can enjoy.

What To Do With The Wii U.

By any decent measure, the Nintendo Wii U console has not been a success. As of this writing, the Wii U has moved 9.5 million units since being released in November of 2012. It holds the title of being Nintendo's slowest-selling console ever -- even worse than the now praised Gamecube. In the Wii U's short, less than three-year lifespan, it has failed to generate any major buzz with gamers outside of a few franchise titles -- Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. to be specific. There's Star Fox Zero on the horizon, along with the highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda... but the next adventure in Hyrule is a year away and may not even be a Wii U exclusive. Rumor has it that The Legend of Zelda will be released around the same time or after the next Nintendo console, tentatively called the 'NX' -- it may see a dual release, just as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess did for both the Wii and the Gamecube.

In short, the Wii U is about to reach the end of its short life.

Dedicated third party game support has long since abandoned the Wii U. Publishing giants like Electronic Arts, Bethesda Software and Ubisoft ceased software support in 2013. As the release schedule for new Wii U games has dwindled to a trickle, many Nintendo fans are questioning where the company is headed. Some suggest that Nintendo should become a software-only publisher and exit the console arena. Sega went this route in 2001 when they put their last console, the Dreamcast, to rest. Let me be clear -- I do NOT want this to happen.

The Nintendo NX console, or whatever it may actually be called upon release, is already in active development and will probably be available at retail in 2016. Word has it that third party publishers are much more positive about the upcoming console and what it has to offer. Many fans, myself included, are hoping that the NX will finally put Nintendo in the same league as the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation -- more powerful, nimble and with an increased focus on third party development.

So where does that leave the now wilting on the vine Wii U?

Honestly, the current Nintendo console is in quite the predicament. Most video game players are aware of Nintendo's upcoming NX console, leaving them little incentive to purchase the Wii U if they haven't already done so. I fall into this category. For some time, I've been on the fence about purchasing the Wii U. There are some great games available for the system, but they are so few in number. Of those games, they're nearly all in-house Nintendo legacy franchise titles -- the only exception being the awesome LEGO series of licensed games published by Traveller's Tales. The biggest roadblock in my eyes is the price of the console. The Wii U typically costs in excess of $300 in the United States. For a console that's obviously nearing the end of its retail life, that's just too high. Consider the Sony Playstation 2, which cut its price to just $199 many months before the release of the Playstation 3.

The Sony Playstation 3 - nine years old and eight times more successful than the Nintendo Wii U.

Ironically, I've considered purchasing a Playstation 3 instead of the Wii U. The PS3 is cheaper, has a larger game library and is still receiving software support from publishers a whopping nine years after its initial release. That's shocking! At 77 million units sold, the PS3 is a certified success.

In my opinion, the only way Nintendo can save any face with the Wii U is to drastically lower the price and flood as many units as possible into the market. They need to move a high volume and extinguish their lingering Wii U console supply. Obviously, they won't make any money on the Wii U by doing so, but they'll reap the rewards on the back-end when new Wii U owners purchase Nintendo-published software titles. A fire sale is the only way Nintendo can recoup some of its losses on the Wii U. They need to put the Wii U to rest and double-down on the upcoming NX.

Otherwise, Nintendo may just go the Sega route.

We've Run Out Of LEGO Video Games!

Thanks to some excellent teamwork from Crystal, we were able to finish our latest video game adventure today on the Nintendo Wii -- LEGO Lord of the Rings. It took us a few years to get around to finishing it, but we finally did. Overall, I believe it was a solid game. The quests and puzzles weren't overly complicated. Graphics wise, it looked as good as you can get on the now aged Wii console. The music was fantastic (especially once you unlock the 8-Bit Music Red Brick), as was the voice acting. Much of the dialogue was pulled straight from the movies, but some of it was newly recorded by the original actors explicitly for the game. The challenge was just right -- nothing too hard or too easy. My worst complaint about the game has to be the camera. In many instances, the camera angles were absolutely nuts. You'd have to take blind jumps facing towards yourself, not knowing where you would land. Other times, you'd be required to attempt leaps around corners without knowing what was on the other side to catch you. It was annoying at times, but overall it didn't bring the quality of the game down too much.

Now that LEGO Lord of the Rings for the Wii has been completed, Crystal and I have run out of games to play together for the system. Here's a list of the LEGO games we've 100% finished together:

• LEGO Batman
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• LEGO Indiana Jones
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean

Overall, I'd say our favorite LEGO game was Batman. Our least favorite has to be LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. It was not designed very well and definitely not fun to play. In fact, it was so bad that Crystal told me to finish it by myself. I did, but just so I could say that I completed it. Otherwise, I would not recommend it to anyone.

The Caped Crusader chases down Clayface in LEGO Batman.

There are some great new LEGO games out now, as well as coming up for release. Unfortunately, none of them are available for the Wii. Publishers have stopped releasing games for the system, which I can understand. It may be time for us to obtain a WiiU system. Then we could play together:

• LEGO Marvel Superheroes
• LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
• LEGO Jurassic World
• The LEGO Movie

It's hard to find co-op games for Crystal and I to play together, but the LEGO games fit the bill. I think I'll have to start hunting for a gently used WiiU console.

The LEGO Video Game Series.

When it comes to video games, there's one particular series that I really get a kick out of.

No, not some silly war game. I'm talking about LEGO!

Princess Leia and Chewbacca in LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Way back when I first purchased a Nintendo Wii, Crystal and I wanted to find a game that we could play together. Obviously, we didn't want a shooting game where the point was to slaughter each other in a death-match. Instead, we wanted a challenge that was cooperative and made us think. Thereby, we started with the original LEGO Batman game. Boy, was it a real treat. We 100% completed it and moved on to our next LEGO game, which was LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. It was amazing and we sniffed out each and every secret within the game. Come to think of it, there's not a LEGO game that we haven't 100% completed. After that, we finished LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. LEGO Batman II was our follow-up and that was highly in-depth. The last LEGO game we finished was LEGO Star Wars III, which left us wanting more. LEGO Lord of the Rings is the current title that we have, but our schedules as of late have prevented us from playing it as much as we wish we could.

Unfortunately, we can't play any of the newer LEGO series games because none are being published for the Wii anymore. As a console, the Nintendo Wii is dead. I would love to be able to play the LEGO Batman III, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, The LEGO Movie and LEGO Jurassic World games. But... that would mean I'd have to purchase a newer console.

Yep... I'd definitely play as Doctor Octopus in LEGO Marvel.

Blah... more money on a video game system when the one I have functions perfectly well. If I could put my hands on a used Nintendo WiiU unit for a decent price, I would. I just can't force myself to drop $300 dollars on a system that's performed terribly. Needless to say, I'm certainly not spending upwards of $400 on a video game console like the Playstation 4 or XBox One -- that's just ridiculous. Alas, no more LEGO games I guess. It's quite disappointing. If ever there were a series of video games that inspired creativity, puzzle-solving capability and ingenuity, the LEGO series is it!