If you’ve been thinking of buying a Wii U, now could be a good time to do it

We’ve known for a while that Nintendo was planning to end production of the Wii U, but now it’s been confirmed that production has officially finished in Japan.

The news was announced on the Nintendo Japan website where it’s stated that though production has ended, this is only domestic production in Japan. 

Considering the launch of the Nintendo Switch is now just over a month away, it makes sense that we’re seeing the beginning of the end for Wii U production. Though arguably the consoles end began long before this.

The death knell

It’s not been confirmed yet when production will cease in markets outside of Japan, but it’s probably safe to assume that it’s on the horizon. 

That means that if you have been considering picking up a Wii U console, whether you’re a collector interested in posterity or you’re just curious about what you’ve missed, now could be the ideal time to do so. You never know when it’ll suddenly become a collector's console that hard to get a hold of. 

At the moment retailers (including Nintendo itself) are offering good deals on the consoles, no doubt in order to clear their stock in anticipation of the Switch. Not only that, there are plenty of stellar games to pick up and enjoy, some of them with significant discounts. 

Emma Boyle

Emma Boyle is TechRadar’s ex-Gaming Editor, and is now a content developer and freelance journalist. She has written for magazines and websites including T3, Stuff and The Independent. Emma currently works as a Content Developer in Edinburgh.