It's likely that history won't look too kindly upon the Wii U, at least in terms of its sales performance. It's set to be Nintendo's worst-selling home console when all is said and done, a sad fate for the follow-up to the phenomenally successful Wii.

As of 30th June this year just 13.02 million Wii U systems had been sold, and Nintendo's most recent earnings release states that only 800,000 units are expected to be shipped this financial year. The GameCube closed on 21.74 million units.

It seems that the system may be going into its final chapter, with online retailer Gameseek reporting that Nintendo is taking 'final orders' on Wii U console units; apparently no more orders will be taken from retailers by the big N after 30th September. Quite whether that's the case globally is unclear, but it's the inevitable next step in the current home console being phased out. It's the natural process considering its poor sales - cease taking retail orders, wind down any remaining manufacturing orders, and allow current stock to be naturally sold off.

This certainly isn't surprising, especially with Nintendo planning to launch its NX platform in March 2017. Gameseek is trying to imply that this upcoming closure of Wii U retail orders could be the prelude to a surprise early NX release this Holiday season, but we think that's a stretch. We know better than to say anything is impossible, but it's unlikely - the phasing out of Wii U at this stage is not necessarily related to any changes in NX strategy.

Regardless of all that it seems the end is nigh for the Wii U. Whether Gameseek's report is applicable to all retailers around the globe or not, it's nevertheless an indication that the Wii U era is heading towards its end after just four years.

With thanks to SLIGEACH_EIRE for the heads up.

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