Nintendo Wii U to the Rescue? (MSFT, SNE, GME, BBY, AMZN, WMT, COST, TGT, GOOG, AAPL)

The challenge for Nintendo will be to make the Wii U as successful as its best-selling Wii unit, which sold more than 96 million units, easily beating competitors Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE). Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 68 million units while Sony’s PlayStation 3 sold 66 million units.

Many of the buyer of the original Wii were first timers, attracted by the device’s motion-sensitive feature. Will these buyers upgrade to a device that offers some nice new features but nothing to compare with the motion-sensors in the original Wii.

Retailers like GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) and Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) surely hope that customers will want to upgrade, but the competition from retail giants like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) could provide only a small boost for either GameStop or Best Buy.

Nintendo also faces new competition from Internet TV devices from the likes of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), both of which are developing TVs that will double as game platforms.

GameStop’s shares are up 1% at $22.29 in a 52-week range of $15.32 to $26.66.

Best Buy can’t catch a break. Shares are down 1.3% at $18.33 in a 52-week range of $16.25 to $28.53.

Paul Ausick