WII U GAME SALES "FAR BEHIND LAUNCH LEVELS FOR GAMECUBE AND WII"

According to Cowen & Company analyst Dough Creutz, Wii U software sales are "struggling a bit" in the US.

After the NPD sales data for the US market was released in December, Cowen stated in a research note, "Software sales for the Wii U remained well behind launch levels for the original Wii and GameCube in December."

"Totals for the November-December period were -43% lower than software sales for the Wii and -50% lower than those for the GameCube."

North American Wii U sales during the first full moth did not match those set by the Wii in December 2006, despite the Wii U generating more revenue in the same time frame.

Taking the low software sales into account, it seems that the Wii U's higher sticker price ($300 for Basic/$350 for Premium, compared to the Wii's $250) is the main reason that the Wii U's launch revenue is exceeding that of the Wii.

In the UK, no exclusive Wii U game has made it into the top 40 all format chart for the past three weeks.