Sales of Nintendo's Wii U console have been slower than expected following the holiday shopping season according to GameStop president Tony Bartel. The executive noted, however, that Nintendo is planning to launch some of their biggest IP over the next few months which he expects will increase gamer interest.
Forbes recently sat down with Bartel to pick his mind with regards to the Wii U and other next generation consoles on the horizon. He told the publication that Nintendo will need some great first-party titles to compete with Microsoft and Sony this holiday season. Furthermore, Bartel believes Nintendo should do more to make consumers aware of the new features available on the Wii U.
With regards to Microsoft's and Sony's new consoles specifically, Bartel believes the impact they have on the gaming industry will be huge. He thinks that consumers are ready for innovation and as such, the new consoles should reenergize the entire industry.
What's more, video gaming as an industry is much more mainstream now than it was when the last console race started which means there are more consumer dollars for companies to go after. Like it or not, gaming (like virtually everything else tech related) is becoming more social so continuing to build on that will be key for next generation systems, he said.
After seeing what exclusive titles like Halo were able to do for Microsoft, Bartel said he is excited to see what Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony bring to the table.