Nintendo believed Wii U sales would hit 100 million, says Kimishima

Addressing a question relating to current Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima's reported pre-launch scepticism of the Wii U, Kimishima himself revealed Nintendo initially hoped the console would hit 100 million in worldwide sales.

Nintendo's latest investor Q&Ahas shed some light on the console maker's early ambitions for the Wii U.

Global sales, however, currently total 12.6 million, a disappointing situation Kimishima puts down to early miscommunication.

"In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide," explained the Nintendo chief.

"The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system."

Expanding on Kimishima's comments, Super Mario creator Shigeru Miymoto suggested poor sales could also be the result of pricing issues, but defended the system's place in the console ecosystem.

"It is true that we are having a hard time with Wii U sales, due to its price and the added fact that tablets are distributed free of charge in the market.” added Miyamoto.

"I do think Wii U continues to be attractive as a media device that changes life in the living room."

Find out what else Nintendo had to say during the lengthy Q&A by checking out our comprehensive round-up.