The company believes Nintendo is trying to attract too many people at once

Oct 3, 2012 21:31 GMT  ·  By

Nintendo is getting ready to debut its long-awaited Wii U home console this November and Sony’s UK Managing Director, Fergal Gara, has admitted that it’s hard to predict just how the new device will compare to the PlayStation 3.

Sony’s just released a redesigned PlayStation 3, in the form of the Super Slim model, all over the world and it’s pretty obvious that the company is trying to steal some of the thunder away from Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U.

In terms of success predictions, however, Sony’s Fergal Gara is unsure, as Nintendo is targeting a wide demographic of gamers, as opposed to the strictly casual focus of the regular Wii.

"I don't think it'll be the same market," he told CVG about the Wii U’s target. "I think it's going to be interesting to see what market will pick it up. I have no doubt that people will be interested in the Wii U at launch. What the medium-term looks like, I don't think we know enough about what consumers will think.”

Gara points out the wide array of games that will appear for the Wii U, from classic Nintendo franchises to third-party series like Call of Duty.

"If you look at the spread of the software, I think it gives a very broad message, from Nintendo's own products to core current-gen games. But will Call of Duty fans want to play Call of Duty on the Wii U? I've no idea. It feels like a stretch from the market they've been in. So clearly Nintendo is going for a broad proposition."

In the end, Gara believes that gamers will decide whether or not the Wii U is worth their money this November, when the console goes on sale.

"I've yet to meet someone who has picked out the killer experience,” he said about the lack of a must-have game. “But it's the market that will decide so we'll watch it with interest. Even we find it hard to judge the potential of the Wii U. Clearly people like getting their hands on it, but I just don't have much info on how many people want to buy it in the medium-term."

The Nintendo Wii U is out this November and, at least judging by pre-order figures, it’s looking pretty good.