Xbox One May Have Sold Wii U Better Than Nintendo

Xbox One may have done more to sell Wii U than anything Nintendo has done.

The Xbox One reveal opened a lot of eyes and turned some heads. Unfortunately for Microsoft, some gamers are turning their attention to the Wii U after some details were released and questions were left unanswered.

As we know already, Nintendo has been struggling to sell Wii U, and even the promise of new games on the horizon didn’t seem to be enough to sway skeptics from ignoring their latest console. The Wii U seemed to be heading to an early grave.

However, when the Xbox One was revealed two days ago, some details were glossed over or downright shot down. Microsoft didn’t make it clear what their stance was with the “always online” aspect of their next generation console. First it was confirmed, then denied. Then it was confirmed again. Now Microsoft head Phil Harrison has confused us trying to explain how it doesn’t need to be online to do certain things. This is what he said to Wired:

“I don’t think that’s what was said. Let me try and clarify what is happening. So, there is a lot of anxiety about ‘what if my Internet connection goes down’ and you don’t have connectivity for a period of time. There are a host of features which will be usable without an Internet connection — watching movies, playing certain single player games… all of which will operate offline. We expect most of the more advanced experiences, like online multiplayer games, or games which have a lot of connected features… those games won’t operate if you don’t have an Internet connection. We designed the system to take advantage of a connection to the cloud, and all that that means. But no, it’s not required that you are connected all the time, every second of every day. There is some technology about how often, or how frequently the device has to ‘ping’, but that has not been… we have not talked publicly about that yet, but it will be very user-friendly.”

Thanks, Microsoft, you just cleared up absolutely nothing. Your ex-creative director Adam Orth seemed to be more direct and to the point on Twitter. We didn’t like his answers, but at least they were solid. Add to this the fact that Microsoft’s Don Mattrick told the Wall Street Journal, “If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards.”

That statement alone is enough to make long-time Xbox gamers start looking elsewhere.

After gamers across the county used Microsoft’s unclear revelations to collectively call their console “Xbone,” attention is now turning in two directions; PlayStation 4 and Wii U.

Wii U is actually starting to look pretty good after Microsoft unknowingly confirmed everyone’s fears with their confusing answers. We don’t want to wait until E3 2013 to get straight answers. On Nintendo’s Direct webcast, they announced some titles that have gamers rethinking their views on the Wii U. Mario, Zelda, Super Smash Bros., Batman: Arkham Origins and Mario Kart are luring the masses away from the Xbox One.

At least Nintendo is beginning to regenerate interest in the Wii U, even if Microsoft is doing most of the work for them.

Are you most looking forward to buying an Xbox One, Wii U, or PlayStation 4? Or are you planning to just stick with what you have?