Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In today's article, editor Dom explores the very opening 12 months of Nintendo Switch and its predecessor, Wii U. We all know Switch's success story, but why did Wii U start off so well and disappear into the background?
You could be mistaken for thinking we don’t like Wii U here at Nintendo Life. Whenever its mentioned it’s usually as part of a story showing how well its successor, Nintendo Switch, is performing. Words such as ‘botched’ and ‘failure’ usually aren’t far behind, either. It seems like there’s a lot of love for Switch and not much for its predecessor.
Fact is, I (and many of the other staff on the team) love Wii U, regardless of its faults. Its GamePad evolved 3DS’ dual-screen setup beyond the remit of a less powerful handheld and gave us a truly unique second screen experience. It brought The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3 and Super Mario 3D World to life, and supported features, in ways no other console could even dream of. It even managed to bring a new dimension to the likes of Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 and more. Even the Batman: Arkham ports benefited in one form or another by having Wii U’s functionality on hand.
Without it, there wouldn’t be a Nintendo Switch. Wii U was the stop gap that had to exist between the motion control innovation (and mainstream uber-success) of Wii and the semi-rebirth that is Switch. So no I (and we) don’t hate Wii U, we’re simply transparent enough to admit Nintendo produced a console that failed to live up to its potential.
So, with its successor now approaching the end of its first year, it seemed high time to look back on Wii U’s own initial 12 months to see whether the console that eventually faded away ever truly burned bright. We all know it had a handful of killer games to its name as the years wore in - in fact, its first-party titles and exclusives were pretty stellar, all told - but did it stumble out of the gate or hit the ground running?
In reality, Wii U didn’t start out as a disaster for Nintendo, but it did have its fair share of problems that held it back. It entered the market relatively strong when it launched in November 2012. Wii U even sold out its entire stock in the United States by Christmas 2012 - that’s a whole 400,000 units - but this was mainly down to the fact that stock wasn't as high as it should have been, and that Nintendo had only started manufacturing units in the summer of that year. These shortages drove demand up, leading to countless models being sold on eBay and other bidding sites for extortionate prices.
When Nintendo Switch launched, Nintendo was already inundated with pre-orders so Nintendo was already more prepared with hardware, but it too began to sell out. So why did Wii U start to get such bad press when Switch came up smelling of roses? News of a sizeable firmware update for new adopters didn't help (one that could ‘brick’ your console if interrupted), issues with Wi-Fi and HDMI connections and general issues setting up an internet connection mixed with cutthroat eBay prices curdled to create a bad vibe in the mainstream press.
The streamlined UI and online connectivity that came with Nintendo Switch made investing in a brand new platform a far more attractive, and a stream of glowing reviews across the gaming, tech and mainstream press only made consumers - myself included - want a Switch for themselves even more. Mere months into its life cycle and Switch was consistently selling out, but by this point Wii U was no longer enjoying the same problem/benefit. Wii U's launch wasn't a bad one - it sold 890,000 in the first six weeks in the US and 636,000 in its first month in Japan. These aren't bad figures, but they're not great either.
It just shows you how a positive reaction and a greater sense of goodwill has helped Nintendo avoid too much backlash regarding the sorry state the eShop has been in since launch and the sheer lack of a proper online infrastructure. Nintendo Switch Online will launch almost 18 months after the arrival of the console itself, yet somehow the hardware has managed to dodge most of the flack for this. The buildup for either console was also vastly different. That goodwill afforded to Switch owes some of its presence to the strength and savvy of Switch's advertising, but there was barely any marketing for Wii U in 2012.
Then there’s the issue of games. Wii U may have had a core selection of great games by the time it was discontinued, but that wasn’t the case between 2012 and 2013. Wii U launched without a proper killer app. Yes, it had New Super Mario Bros U, but was anyone falling over themselves to own a copy? Does anyone even remember Nintendo Land? Pikmin 3 was the closest offering Wii U had to such a big release, but it’s always felt like a niche title that’s nearly impossible to market.
Switch launched with The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, offering the very definition of a killer, system-shifting app. And yeah, I know it came out on Wii U, but it didn’t matter because everyone’s eyes were on Switch as the hot new thing and Wii U’s install base was so small the Wii U version was more of a courtesy than anything else. Switch had a pretty weak launch lineup outside of BOTW, and still it managed to sell 2.74 million consoles worldwide in March alone.
The more you look at Wii U’s own first 12 months, the more you start to realise how much Nintendo learned from the Wii U era. Much like Sony’s overhauled approach to the design, launch and support of PlayStation 4 compared to the issues that dogged PlayStation 3, Nintendo did what Nintendo does best with Switch. It took all the things Wii U did right, avoided most of the things Wii U did wrong and gave it the support that old console simply didn’t have enough of.
By around the 10-11 month mark in its first year, Wii U had sold approximately 3.91 million units. In less than nine months, Nintendo Switch had hit 10 million. It's hard to argue with figures like this, but that doesn't mean Wii U was a failure by its own making. Timing was also key to both Wii U's downfall and Switch's success. Wii U launched a mere year before the arrival of PS4 and Xbox One, so no one was talking about a soon-to-be underpowered console. Switch arrived less than three and a half years into a console generation where consumers like myself were desperate for something new and fresh. Switch filled that role - and still does - to a tee.
So we as enter Switch’s second year, let’s hope Nintendo’s new hardware fares far better than its predecessor did. Bar a handful of great games, Wii U slipped further and further into obscurity as all eyes turned to PS4 and Xbox One. With the next generation of consoles still a few years away at least, Switch has plenty of time to maintain its upward trajectory. Here’s to Nintendo Switch Year Two…
So that's Dom's take on Wii U and Nintendo Switch, but what do you think? Did Nintendo make a fair few mistakes with Wii U? Was it ahead of its time, or just the victim of bad timing? Let us know in the usual way below...
Comments 135
I think the games were the biggest issue. We went for months without a new, quality retail release that first year or two. There were some awesome games on Wii-U by the end but, man, there were some horrendous game droughts.
Maybe once they move most all of their focus to Switch, Nintendo will really be able to churn out a lot of nice games on a steady rate. Not having to worry about having to support the 3DS as much. They missed out by not having Ultra Sun and Moon release on both 3DS and Switch. They also need to find a way to help/encourage some localization of some nice games we are missing in the West like Dragon Quest Heroes, Dragon Quest X, Monster Hunter XX...
I can only hope that the Switch gets more creative and fun Nintendo games like last year. This is seriously becoming one of my favorite Nintendo consoles next to the Wii and SNES
Wii U was pretty much DOA, and I was one of many people here who couldn't admit that. On the other hand, Switch seemed poised to do well before launch. For one, people didn't seem to like the Wii U hardware, contrary to the Switch. So much so, I would read that people said it had good games but was a bad system. That is a ridiculous statment, but I read it in more than one place. In fact, that pretty much sums up the gaming community at large's thoughts on the Wii U.
Switch is nothing like that, and that's one of many reasons why it has done better than Wii U ever will. Add the fact that Switch will also get the games that Nintendo handhelds normally get, and the other perceived problem with the Wii U (games) is likely not going to be a long term problem for Switch. Both devices share similarities, but from form factor to marketing, Switch has the clear edge.
The only thing that Nintendo correct is the Marketing. If Nintendo market the wii u same as the Wii and Switch the Wii U will sell like the switch. Wii U had a lot of 3rd party games but most of them are indies. Same as the switch. Right now the switch is suffering lack of AAA games. Switch have way to many ports that many us gamers already play. The Wii U did not fail.
The Wii U was a casualty of the promise of the PS4 and XB1’s next generation gaming, with all it’s 60fps 1080p hopes that didn’t really turn up. And all the games that were going to be so much better which turned out to be the same old games (either sequel or remakes), but now with more micro transactions.
The Switch doesn’t have those problems because it has been released mid cycle with a genuinely unique newselling point coupled with Nintendo’s great games. It promises a change from the stuff that the HD twins have been hawking for a little too long.
It could be argued that they learned from the Gamecube with the success of the Wii. They must have forgotten all that they learned when they launched the Wii U which makes articles like this pointless.
Where are the Switch games for this year?
@rdrunner1178 "there were some horrendous game droughts." The Wii U never had game droughts. The wii u have 800 games. A system have 800 games is not a drought. The wii u have a lot if indie games like Freedom planet, Runbow, Don't Starve, Knytt Underground, Year Walk, Thomas Was Alone, Nova-111, Super Meat Boy, Elliot Quest, The Swapper, Axiom Verge, Jotun, Terraria and many more. The Wii U have a lack of AAA games. Even the switch right now have a lot indies and no 3rd party AAA games.
I didn't have much time to play games at the time, so I wasn't really bothered by the droughts. There are so many great Wii U games, but I suppose they did a lot of things wrong, especially when it comes to marketing. It started out really cool, with the Non-specific action figure and all that, but after that the commercials were really lame.
How I would have loved to play Breath of the Wild with the gamepad!
@Chandlero Besides Indies and Wii U ports nothing new games lol
The real challenge starts now. Sony and Microsoft probably will launch a new console next year or in 2020 and games are going to get more demanding. The Switch was barely capable of running Doom (and they had to cut a lot of corners to make it). I fear it turns into another Wii: great first party games, barebone/lacking ports and shovelware.
@therealgamer 800 games in 5 years is not much. The Switch has half of that and it barely has a year in the market.
@therealgamer Don’t get me wrong, I love indie games but I don’t think that was the take away about the drought statement. Most people pick up gaming consoles for the console exclusives or ability to play top of the line third party titles, not 2D indie games that can run on nearly any PC. Yes, there “technically” wasn’t ever a drought. But the number of important system releases the console needed to promote itself were far spread out.
@therealgamer
AAA 3rd party games are NOT on Oxygen to breathe.
We still can play other games regardless of their class.
AAA or NOT, Who the heck cares ??
The big difference between the two is that the Switch is fully portable, while the Wii U was not. You add in the joycons that make it playable with friends everywhere and it’s clear the Switch is the final intended product the Wii U never got to be.
It’s as if the Wii U was one giant beta. I still own my Wii U and intended on keeping it, but as time goes by it’s glaring flaws become more and more obvious. The Switch has truly left it in the dust.
My Wii U Game Pad sits right next to the switch on my shelf. It was the first home of Mario Kart 8, a dream of a karting game.
Although, I’m quite unhappy that New Super Mario Bros, or simply Super Mario Bros., isn’t on Switch yet. Don’t forget how much NSMBU+Luigi sold on Wii U!
@Devlind Yes it is. 800 games in 5 years very impressive. Most of them are crap but Wii U manage get some AAA games like Lego star wars 7, Guitar heroes, Lego dimensions, Call of duty black ops 2 and Ghost, Shante and etc. Also want to play this game vita 1513 and most of them are indies. Vita have more games than the PS4, Xbox one and 3ds
@wiggleronacid "Don’t get me wrong, I love indie games but I don’t think that was the take away about the drought statement. Most people pick up gaming consoles for the console exclusives or ability to play top of the line third party titles, not 2D indie games that can run on nearly any PC."
Okay than the switch have droughts also. We in March and there is no new games came out right now on the switch. The Switch have no top of line 3rd party games. Right now Xbox one and Ps4 playing AAA games.
Switch is the console wii u should have been. Simple. It owes as much to its failure as a system as it does to what wii u did. Dropping the wii u branding was crucial as was severing the invisible tether that was Wii Us game pad to its hardware.
If Nintendo could have erased 2012-2017 I’m sure they would have done. Fair play - they’ve done it right and done it well
@therealgamer the idea that the Wii U failed because lack of marketing is ridiculous. When I see people say if Nintendo spend more on Wii U marketing it would have been a success makes me mention two products:
MS Surface RT. Microsoft threw a ton of money at this tablet. Failed miserably.
Blackberry Z10. RIM spent a fortune marketing this product and again failed miserably.
Please stop the theory of spending money on marketing = success.
If people don't want a product it doesn't matter how much you market it. Facts are that the Wii U gamepad was like a Fisher price toy. The public decided very early that they had no interest in the Wii U.
Nothing Nintendo could have done would have saved it.
The world wasn't ready for Wii U. Had all it's games not jumped to Switch it would be as fondly remembered as the GameCube.
@therealgamer 800 in 5 years are 160 a year, 13 games each month. Compared to the Switch, the Switch received 33 games each month. I'm not saying the catalog is bad, I love a lot of Wii U games, but it is not impressive.
@therealgamer
Gosh....
You keep pesting for AAA 3rd party games ONLY !
Is that the ONLY games you worship as your Gods ??
Stop thinking AAA are Something MUST & HAVE to play.
They are NOT even your Gods to be worshipped about.
Even some of Non AAA games are Really Fun to play, Even better than AAA 3rd party games.
The Wii U was a commercial failure; but the Wii U did not fail gamers with its innovations and small but excellent library. I thought the Wii U would forever hold a special place on my shelf for that reason, but "definitive" editions of its games on the Switch are eroding that thought.
Game quantity was definitely the biggest issue for Wii U with lots of game droughts throughout its lifespan. I had a lot of fun overall though with Nintendo finally entering the DLC era in 2014 helping a lot with that.
Switch has had some smaller scale game droughts the most notable of which ended a few weeks ago with Bayonetta 1+2 but thanks to lots of DLC, free updates and some 200+ hour games (ending 2017 with Xenoblade 2 was a fantastic idea) those droughts have been a lot more tolerable.
@Devlind Quality over Quantity. "the Switch received 33 games each month" Yep mostly shovelwares like
Beach Buggy Racing
Semispheres
Neurovoider
Pan-Pan
and etc
@Grumblevolcano Bayonetta 1+2 is not a switch game. The game is also on the wii u. So yes the Switch currently have droughts
For me the Wii U is the worst home console from Nintendo ever.
There was so much going against it but I'm so happy Nintendo have nailed the Switch. I love it!
I wouldn't say Nintendo has learned. The Switch had only two AAA games in its first year. Where are the games?
@therealgamer er how does that stop bayonetta being a switch game?
@therealgamer And Wii U received its fair share of shovelware too. I mean, there's a game called angry bunnies and it's an Angry Birds clone. When people say it had droughts they mean the system didn't received new big games in months. It doesn't matter if it received 800 games if they are released when nobody cares about the system anymore (and having the PS4 and XBOne released a year after didn't help either). Not even Mario Kart saved it like it did with the GBA and 3DS.
@therealgamer Bayonetta didn't sell a lot back in the Wii U era. the Switch already surpassed the install base of the Wii U, so there's a lot of people that would consider this a new game. Heck, I'm playing Skyrim for the first time on my Switch. Even if it's years old, it is a new game for me.
@Anti-Matter Hey, calm down. It all comes down to a matter of preference.
Personally I love the wii u still have it set up and regularly use it I think a lot of people were confused I’ve had so many colleagues at work ask me can I not just buy the controller as tho it was some kind of add on for the original wii. Had Nintendo given it a different name then I believe things may have been different
@kobashi100 Cause its on the wii u
@JamesR Nintendo neither. They could have done a lot more for it. It could have been the definitive Nintendo experience since it could run games from the NES to the Wii and even NDS and GBA games, but they gave up on the moment the things didn't went well.
@Gs69 Nintendo GamePad, or NGP for short.
They are so useful for inventory and level creation that it's a shame touch screens can't be standard on controllers (cough cough like analogue triggers Nintendo cough cough)
@Devlind "Bayonetta didn't sell a lot back in the Wii U era. " The game sell over one million copies.
"And Wii U received its fair share of shovelware too." Every consoles have there shovelware. PS4 have plenty of shovelware games like life of the black tiger. But the wii u have plenty of good indies. Wait I thought Indies count for the switch but why not on the wii u?
"When people say it had droughts they mean the system didn't received new big games in months. " Okay but what is the last time Switch have a big game and Wii U ports don't count?. Switch have two big game last year it was doom and Skyrim from AAA devs. Switch have many indie games. PS4 and Xbox one right now having AAA games like Monster hunter world and Dragonball fighterz. Even Wii U final years have plenty of AAA games like Paper Mario: Color Splash, Star Fox Zero, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Lego Marvel's Avengers,
@Anti-Matter clearly a lot of people care. The paltry number of Wii u consoles sold worldwide are the evidence of that
@gortsi this is gonna be gold...
@therealgamer yeah but I really don't understand how because it's also on Wii U it cannot be counted as switch game.
Sorry but that's ridiculous.
@Mr_Pepperami
I think that's differ between me and other gamers, especially Adult Male gamers who Only care AAA3rd parties.
I'm Hybrid of Male & Female gamer.
My Boyish side are RPG, Action, Strategy games.
But my Girlie side are Simulation, Girlie games, Cute games, Dancing games.
I don't hesitate to play 100% Pure Girlie games (Style Savvy, Cooking Mama, any Girlie games that marketed toward Girl audiences) that adult male gamers never like at all.
I play any games regardless AAA or not, because for me AAA or Not are not important thing. I just only need games that Matched with my interest, not judged by AAA label.
@Anti-Matter that’s not my point. I had a Wii u. My point is that the mass market the people who bring console sales numbers into 40-50 million plus sales aren’t looking for indie games. A lot of them are looking for big releases. I don’t care for the Star Wars battlefront etc of this world either but for a console to be a mass success you need a steady stream of these types of big releases.
@Mr_Pepperami Thank you. I don't care about COD, Star Wars, EA,Activison and etc but Casuals do. You need big AAA games to make the system sell million of units. Indies don't sell consoles. No one is going to buy a switch for Owlboy or Fe. Yes Owlboy is amzing game but you need more AAA games like madden, NBA 2k, Fifa, COD and etc
@therealgamer And that's about 7% of the install base. Not too great IMO.
The indies count, but as I said, they jumped in way too late. Nintendo pushed indies since no AAA developers wanted to make games for the system, and lets be honest here, not a lot of people buy a system for the indies.
Those games were released strategically on the Switch to not let any gaps between months like they did with the Wii U. Sure they are mostly ports, but I remind you that a lot of people skipped the Wii U entirely. As a customer, if I wasn't able to play a game and they release it for the system I have, I would be happy (e.g. I want Metal Gear Collection for the PS4 and I'm not getting a PS3 just for that).
Besides that, you need to see it as Nintendo does. Developing HD games requires time and money. Porting those games gives them enough time and money to develop new games without the pressure of releasing them earlier like they did with the Wii U. If they don't, we could see more droughts like the ones that killed the Wii U.
@therealgamer literally couldn’t agree with you more
Wii u is one of my best consoles. I love the games. After buying the switch I kind of regret that I sold some of my Wii u games
Greatest first year of a Nintendo console ever. Dreamcast was great to me, nearly drowned in quality games so its a shame it crashed and burned everywhere but US.
I was very unhappy with my Xbox One. Only games I played on there were Dragon Age Inquisition and Fallout 4. Rare Replay and Master Chief collection were nice, but I could've played those on my 360 or 64. I figured I'd just about given up on modern gaming.
The NES classic got me fired up for Nintendo as did all the promotional stuff for Switch. I had a Wii U, but it was a glorified Zelda HD and Mario VC player.
The Switch floored me with great games like Breath of the Wild, Shovel Knight Treasure Trove, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Odyssey, Enter the Gungeon, Bayonetta 1+2 and a trove of Neo Geo titles. I look forward to Kirby, DKC Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors and the Mega Man sets as well as the next direct/E3 hopeful for a Nintendo future.
Wiiu was a good console with many great flaw:
Soo many said that " wiiu has not enough power too..." but wii, ds and switch demonstrate that low spec console can sell a lot and have great games.
I've got a lot of fun with wiiu and the countless hours offline multiplayer of mario kart and smash bross (playing it with six friend toghether was awsome); zelda, xenoblade, bayonetta and all those great indie and vc.
With all the fun time passed with it, even if it is an economical failure and has a lot of flaws, how can i say that it is not a great console?
#RememberNintendoLand
...or at least Luigi's Ghost Mansion, the best game in Nintendo Land, and still a favorite to play with friends for me.
I love and miss you, Wii U!
@therealgamer Yes, every system has droughts. But the extent the Wii U had it compared to other systems was the takeaway. The Switch, aside from indies, was essentially a Zelda machine for the first (nearly) 2 months. But after that, a relatively important first-party title came to the system each month. Yeah, some of them are Wii U ports, but the same could be said about the Wii U during it's first year. Most third party titles were PS3 and 360 ports, and Wind Waker was a remake of a GameCube game. I don't hate the Wii U, in fact I love mine, but I'd be lying if I said I always had something to play on it.
The Switch's start of 2018 isn't incredible as we're getting plenty of ports, but at least it shows third-parties are flocking away from the system. Plus, the Nintendo has a solid amount of Switch exclusives locked up for this year. Kirby, Mario Tennis, Yoshi, Project Octopath, and Fire Emblem are nothing to scuff at. Plus I'm sure Nintendo has a couple more titles to announce for summer and fall. And all of this coming just after last year's impressive lineup.
It's fine if you're not interested in all of the games being put out. I'm not either. But you can't ignore the Switch's diverse library and steady release of titles that's still going through today.
@therealgamer Last gen ports prevent game droughts, that's a fact among all modern consoles. Without them, the early lifespans of PS4 and XB1 would've been 1 giant game drought.
I keep looking back on my Wii-U and thinking, "Where are these features on Switch?" Snappy browser, streaming support, better touchscreen layout, folders, better layout for the eshop, virtual console, Wii emulation, Miiverse...
Wii-U had a lot going for it that would have found a happy home on the Switch. I like my Switch a lot, but they kind of threw the baby out with the bath water a bit.
I've had far more hardware issues with my Switch than my Wii U ever gave me.
I had a cracked casing.
I had non responsive Joy cons.
I had an SD card reader that didn't read any cards at all so I couldn't save any of my data to an SD card.
I've had to send in my Switch twice to Nintendo.
They had my brand new Switch for a total of 2 months while they tried repairing it and failing.
In the end they replaced my Switch after they stuffed me around for nearly the first year of my consoles life.
What did they offer me as compensation?
Nothing.
Told me it was bad luck.
Look, I'm happy most of you have had a smooth year with your new console but I have certainly not.
And I am a huge Nintendo collector.
Sorry.
Was.
Switch has become my least liked console ever.
Lets be honest here.
Switch has no major AAA big publisher support, yet.
Doom is great but isn't exactly new.
So too LA Noire, Skyrim etc ( I own all those).
These are older games ported to Switch to please starving gamers.
Most of the indie titles have appeared elsewhere well before Switch released.
New games that are exclusive to Switch are Rabbids, Odyssey, FE Warriors, Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade2.
Nearly everything else was on Wii U.
I'm sure I've missed a lot of games people love but for me, Switch is underwhelming.
Just my opinion.
@WiltonRoots they should rename this series "troll magnet" instead of soap box. Appalling English, tired ad nauseam repeated arguments (the Switch has no triple A gamez wah wah), lies (consoles without AAA games don't sell millions), etc etc. I think comment sections like these lower my IQ quite significantly, and with such heavy snow I can't even go out to drink to forget everything I've just read. And to think that some of the usual suspects haven't even shown yet...
It's pretty obvious that Nintendo learned from their mistakes with the Wii U. They had so poorly marketed the Wii U to the point where many thought it was an add-on to the Wii and not it's own console.
Compare that to the marketing of the Switch which has been excellent at communicating what the Switch is. The moment I saw the reveal trailer, I had a feeling Nintendo learned from their past mistakes and it would be more successful than it's predecessor.
@gortsi We need to scrap the bingo and introduce a drinking game, using the bingo cards, although with every Soap Box we'd probably end up blacking out and suffering with alcohol poisoning. Heaven help us if they do a Star Fox Zero / Federation Force retrospective.
@WiltonRoots I think we need to organize that game during this year's E3 where I'm guessing about half on Nintendo's presentation will be on new software for Labo. I'm particularly into craft beer so I'll go with that, think about your beverage of choice
@therealgamer
"If Nintendo market the wii u same as the Wii and Switch the Wii U will sell like the switch"
No it wouldn't.
"The Wii U did not fail."
Yes it did.
"Bayonetta 1+2 is not a switch game. The game is also on the wii U"
It's still a Switch game.
"Switch have two big game last year it was doom and Skyrim from AAA devs"
They're also on other formats so they're not Switch games. Also "Lego star wars 7, Guitar heroes, Lego dimensions, Call of duty black ops 2 and Ghost, Shante" aren't Wii U games because they're on other systems. Your logic.
"But the wii u have plenty of good indies"
So does Switch
"Even Wii U final years have plenty of AAA games like Paper Mario: Color Splash, Star Fox Zero, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Lego Marvel's Avengers,"
The first two are awful, the next three are on other systems so don't count. Also, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Xenoblade 2, Mario V Rabbids and even Snipperclips are way better than Colour Splash or that atrocious Starfox game.
"You need big AAA games to make the system sell million of units."
No you don't. Look at 3DS.
Please post more, you're hilarious.
"Soapbox: Nintendo Switch Learned A Lot From Wii U’s Struggles During Its Own First Year"
Thank goodness. They remembered how to create a good Console, supply it with games, give it a decent name and market it. The Wii U is hands down their worst home System. Switch rights nearly every wrong of its predecessor.
@electrolite77 " The Wii U is hands down their worst home System."
Two words: Virtual Boy
@gortsi If you have certain users who's content you don't like, why not block them? I myself tend to just ignore reading posts from people who annoy me.
@Anti-Matter one thing that holds true in life anywhere you go is that perception=reality to most people. To your average gamer when a console does not have a lot of AAA releases the perception is that it has nothing to play.
I honestly don’t play the most popular AAA games most of the time, I don’t play COD, Battlefield, Madden, FIFA, or a lot of the games like them, but the reality is these games sell a ton each year so the perception is that if a console does not have these titles it must no be worth their time.
So yes, AAA games are the oxygen of a system wether we like it or not, I personally would be fine without most of them but I have been gaming since the 80s so I have more diverse gaming habits. To a lot of more casual gamers indie games are crap and not worth their time and anything that does not have HD graphics is graphically inferior and not worth their time.
You will find that the self proclaimed “Hard Core” gamers that only play AAA games are actually your true casual gamers.
I enjoyed the hell out of my Wii U and didn’t often lack for much to play but I can see the faults with the 3rd party support as well. I also am not only a Nintendo gamer so I always have plenty to play regardless.
I don’t know why Wii U failed as a device? Other then bad advertising. Then poor sales meant no support for games. I have over 300 hundred games for my Wii U(Wii, eshop), an 1 tb hdd, it’s on daily for gaming, YouTube, internet. Daily. By everyone in the household. The only thing it can’t do is play dvds. I love my switch, it’s going to be the best gaming console I have ever had, and we have 3 of those too. But still, our Wii U is on my then our actual tv is.
Well they didn't wait 4 years to release Zelda for a start. That aside it was horrible timing for the Wii U, why on Earth did they think it would work bringing out a console that ran games worse than the 5 year old competition is beyond me. Especially as most of the Nintendo fan base had ditched the Wii long before the end and the competition had some super charged hardware coming over the horizon. It was just the wrong console at the wrong time and with no big games at launch.
Switch is like of breath of fresh air by comparison and it's timing is perfect to reinvigorate those tired out by this generation's evolution to service based games. The difficulty for Nintendo is maintaining that after all of the big hitters have already bolted. Will they have enough big titles to fill the gap until another Mario or Zelda appears or even Metroid? Or will big 3rd parties help take up some of the slack? In many ways this year is almost more important than last year if it really is going to maintain those sales
@tobibra we've had this discussion with @ThanosReXXX before. I'm not one to ignore opposing viewpoints (which I use here as a synonym to content, as I have no issues with content), but at the same time it's not my job to remove trolls or trollish posts from the site, especially when it's been going on for years. But as we've theorized, their reactions causes others to comment which brings more clicks. We all know what all websites are after, so here we are.
No mention of the names?
I rediscovered my love of Nintendo games at the tail end of the GameCube era. Because of that I bought a Wii day one and loved it. When the WiiU came out I knew I would buy one, but waited for a must have game (mostly a new Zelda, Metroid, or major 3D Mario title) or a good price drop so I could play games like Pikmin 3 while I waited. Neither of those things ever really happened, so I just kept waiting until Switch. I hope we will get more of the WiiU games I missed out on, especially Pikmin and Wind Waker HD. I refuse to play Twilight Princess without motion controls, so I can do without that one.
For our family Nintendo Land covered a multitude of Wii U sins. We just played it for a bit this last week. The asynchronous gameplay thing is often a real joy, but used so infrequently in other games (and not used to great effect in many other Wii U games either)
@gortsi a crate of Punk IPA might be needed for E3...
What about the fact that the Wii U had like 17, 18 third party games on launch day? Some of which were great upgrades (Batman, Ninja Gaiden 3) and others were new games (CoD Black Ops 2, Darksiders 2).
The problem with some of these were the price. Why would I pay $60 for Mass Effect 3 when I could get the whole trilogy for the same price? I think this is a huge problem Nintendo faced and still faces now. Not only that, the developers themselves seemed to sabotage their support this way. Oh, our game didn't sell well on the new system so we shouldn't support it anymore. Maybe if the price difference wasn't double or more sales would have improved on the new system. I'm looking at you Deus Ex.
I just don't want the "New Nintendo System So Let's Gouge The Price" excuse to ruin sales and chances for more games to get ported.
Anyway to the topic at hand. Despite knowing full well the Wii U was on its way out, I still bought it and loved it. It gave me some great times, as for the titles it missed, none of them really interested me so I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. I didn't bother with any console 7th gen, enjoyed the Gamecube and came away from the N64 pretty disappointed.
It's still too early to gauge the Switch in my eyes but so far it's got out of the blocks pretty well and none of us know what's lined up in its future but I get a feeling they've got some big things lined up.
@gortsi As for already having had this discussion: it wasn't much of a discussion between you and me, since I totally agreed. I'll be damned if I bow for some grammar- or intelligence challenged idiot by using a feature that is the epitomy of defeatism.
I don't bow down to lesser beings, especially not to anonymous online keyboard warriors.
Glad to see that I'm once again not the only one annoyed by certain things, though. So, cheers. Let the drinking game begin. It's weekend, after all...
@WiltonRoots I am of the same mind where the Wii U is concerned. I finally bought a Wii U right after Christmas 2016, so royally late, but I still enjoyed it enormously, and still do. In fact, right now, I'm playing through Darksiders Warmastered Edition. Still a great game, and it looks great too.
I did also get an Xbox One S this year, mainly for the third party offerings and because I still had an active Xbox Live Gold subscription on my Xbox 360, and I'd already collected a truckload of free Xbox One games thru the Games with Gold initiative, so I didn't want to let that go to waste.
As for that E3 2018 drinking game that you and @gortsi mentioned: I think I'll save up for a straight up intravenous Bacardi & Coke drip feed when that day comes. Perhaps with a couple of shots of bitter and salty tears...
I think Wii U failed cause it had two problems
1) it wasn't innovative enough to cause a big mania (sorta like wii and switch)
2) it wasn't powerfull enough to cover up for its gimmicks , for example if it was as powerfull as lets say an xbox one , it would have been able to survive but its problem was that it had almost the same specs of 8 year old consoles with an ancient gpu (amd 2000E series)
@Agent721 Wii U was also a console version of the DS. I think that once the newness wears off the flaws of the Switch will be obvious too and I doubt it will take 5 years to see them. Having just bought a Switch myself I can say that the Wii U library is superior by a long shot. Between the Wii U virtual console, the Wii virtual console and the first party games I think people have been unfair to the Wii U.
Let's keep in mind that Breath of the Wild could have had second screen support if not for the Switch.
@Alikan "I had a Wii U, but it was a glorified Zelda HD and Mario VC player. The Switch floored me with great games like Breath of the Wild, Shovel Knight Treasure Trove, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Odyssey, Enter the Gungeon, Bayonetta 1+2 and a trove of Neo Geo titles. I look forward to Kirby, DKC Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors and the Mega Man sets as well as the next direct/E3 hopeful for a Nintendo future."
I think this guy sums up the whole WiiU/Switch debacle quite nicely. He had a WiiU and he didn't like it. He bought a Switch, and 80% of the games he's excited about are games that were also available on the console he didn't like in the first place.
This is literally a perfect example of "marketing".
Looking forward to the Switch U.
"Does anyone even remember Nintendo Land?"
ExCUUUUUSE me, but Nintendo Land is seriously the best party game ever made. Even for single player it's got tons of content. Anyone who hasn't played Nintendo Land is missing out on so many unique experiences--my friends and I will all play just a single one of its games for hours, because they're so simple yet balanced and zany.
Imagine the Nintendo Land tournaments that could have been. But it looked like another Wii Party spinoff, so people didn't give it a chance.
@WiltonRotts beer and games, I'll drink to that.
the wiiU had a lot of bad juju.
expensive controller for NO REASON and iirc didn't it only support one of those dumb things?
mid gen console rehash not even much (if ANY) more powerful than the ps3/360. i remember devs stating that the 3 gc duct taped to each other couldn't run as well as the 360's multicore setup.
terribad name. wiiU? is that just a wii accessory?
bad design. it looks like a fatter wii.
bad advertising.
honestly, the wiiU should've been about the same power envelope as the XB1 and left the gimmicks at home. instead N did what they always have done since the N64 debacle and tripped over their own left feet.
the switch rectifies most of these issues except for the power issue. looking at it in the reality though; it's a portable you can play on the tv. that's something folks have wanted since the PSP.
no devs aren't going to try to dumb down their cod100 or monster hunter niche games and really i don't know if N can EVER get back true 3rd party support. they've burned so many bridges that florida is underwater from the co2 emissions.
maybe killing the 3ds and keeping only the 'switch' line will work. no one but a few really think full games come portable so it could work well. i for one like having skyrim portable but it's so close but needs a better power underpinning to really shine.
my inner nes child hates to say it but i think N is coasting to 3rd party themselves. i almost wish they'd just team up with apple and make a controller and games for ios. sure those folks probably don't care to game monster hunter niche titles but the added power of apple's arm cpus with that size of a user base would definitely keep N rolling in cash from their mario/zelda/etc properties. AAA 3rd parties won't care and folks that want the next cod or madden will still gravitate to the twin systems or the pc. so really no loss for N imo.
@Crono1973 yeah and let's not forget that BOTW sales would have been nowhere near the current numbers if it was Wii U only.
I honestly can't believe some people are unhappy it was moved to switch.
@Dizzy_Boy Cheers!
@therealgamer i haven't wrote on these message boards in forever but felt compelled to add my 2 cents to your thoughts. the wii u was a commercial failure, there's no way around that. sales were poor but some of the first party games were amazing. marketing wasn't why the wii u failed, but it played a part. nobody knew what the wii u was, even gamer buddies of mine thought it was a tablet accessory to the Wii. mix that with no launch title killer app (nintendoland? please), outdated specs when a new gen of ps/xbox were dropping, HUGE droughts of meaningful games, etc etc. i love indies but wiiU didn't adopt them until after 3rd parties abandoned the wiiu, indies are also on almost all other platforms, & people don't buy consoles for indies. the Switch by contrast has been doing the opposite. Zelda: Botw was a launch game, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, even ports like MK8 are system sellers. plus switch is portable/looks like real hardware where as WiiU wasnt portable & looked like a cheap kids toy. i love wiiU don't get me wrong, same way i loved Gamecube to death, but both commercially were failures. doesn't mean we didn't enjoy their games or have fond memories of each. but WiiU was unequivocally a failure, and they've learned from WiiU's mistakes thankfully
@BetterThanVegas very good point. I bought every single retail third party released on the Wii U, from Funky Barn to the COD's and all the way down to Darksiders I. Some were good offerings, others not so much. I think the difference with the Switch is that up until now and except for FIFA's Journey mode all other third parties included previously released DLC, multiplayer when it exists, etc. I still remember how botched some third party offerings were on the Wii U, especially after the initial honeymoon.
You could pick so many factors as to why the Wii U failed and then you could talk at length about each of them. To single out just one would be unfair.
"Nintendo Switch Learned a Lot..."
Switch is sentient confirmed
@kobashi100 Well I am a consumer, I don't get any benefit from the sales numbers of a Zelda game. I would have seen the benefit of the second screen features though.
Where is the Anniversary Direct ?
@gortsi what's your go-to drink?
@Destron
Depend on the gamer.
Let's take example Xbox360.
For Most male gamer, Xbox360 was a great machine for them to play some AAA 3rd party games (fps games, adult games, sport games, etc).
But for me, i found Almost NOTHING from Xbox360.
From Hundreds of Xbox360 games, Only :
1. Dance Dance Revolution Universe
2. Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
3. Dance Dance Revolution 3
4. The Sims 3 Pets
5. Dance Evolution (with Kinect)
Only 5 games that really really capturing my attention, and as you can see, they are NOT even AAA games or typical games that played by Western adult male gamers, but instead those games like that are typical Casual gamers.
So, when typical "Hardcore" gamers that don't buy machine with few of AAA 3rd party games, i did the Opposite, i DON'T buy machine with very Few games (Less than 12 games) that captivating me & the games i play mostly Non AAA 3rd parties, the Opposition of Hardcore male gamers.
@BetterThanVegas
Why would I pay $60 for Mass Effect 3 when I could get the whole trilogy for the same price? I think this is a huge problem Nintendo faced and still faces now
I disagree. I don't think it's a problem all because those games are selling extremely well. Which proves the price is simply not an issue. In fact, price was never the issue. The issue was value and incentive. You had no reason to buy again on Wii U because you weren't getting anything new that you didn't already have in another version. You had no reason to buy over other versions because it had no significant advantage over them.
Whereas with Switch, people will pay the price all day long because the value is there. The inventive is there. When you buy a Switch game you're getting 3 versions in 1. So cost per version is like $20 each. And no cloud save upload features needed. No multiple platforms needed either. And the incentive is there because 9 times out of 10 there has never been a portable version, and even when there has been, it was usually a 240p stripped down version.
People will pay full price all day long. They just have to have a good reason and Switch gives good reason in spades. If you doubt this, just take a look at third-party game sales, even games where the consensus is that it's overpriced. Or traditionally would have been considered overpriced. Because being overpriced is all relative to value. What normally would be overpriced for a straightlaced console version, often does not come across as overpriced when you are getting multiple versions in 1. Or at least not as much. It's not a yes/no thing. More of a sliding scale. And something that may have been 20% overpriced becomes 10% underpriced, or something 40% overpriced becomes 10% overpriced. The point is, more value is being added in the product therefore the ratio of price to product skews.
@Freek
These are older games ported to Switch to please starving gamers
I'm sorry but that's nonsense. LA Noire was ported to PS4 and Xbox One as well. Yet, the Switch version is to please "starving gamers" and the other versions weren't? No...
It was ported because people buy remastered games. On ANY console. Skyrim was ported to PS4 and Xbox One as well. Why? Because people love remasters. Has nothing to do with "starving gamers". It has everything to do with "gamers like playing great video games" and those are great, high-quality video games. Period. Simple as that.
Far more older games have been ported (and continue to be ported) to other consoles. Passing it off as some desperate act to satiate unsatisfied, starving Switch gamers while turning a blind eye to the fact the gamers across the board are buying these remasters on all consoles regardless of how many new games are releasing... doesn't line up with reality. Remastered games sell. For a multitude of reasons. And it has nothing to do with starving gamers. It has to do with a portion of the consumer base who has yet to play the game in question, it has to do with added value an incentive for people who played the game and loved it and want a version for their currently played platform of choice, or want a portable version, or a version with better graphics, etc. And people buy them regardless of how many other games are releasing.
@JaxonH think you are generally right about people being willing to pay more for the fact it’s a portable version but I do think it may have hampered Doom sales. I personally would love to get Doom on the switch but I just can’t justify paying 40 plus pounds on a game that I can pick up for under 10 on PS4. I’d def pay 20-25 or maybe a little bit more but not that large a difference
@Mr_Pepperami
Well, there's always going to be a sliding scale of people with a different price point they're willing to buy at. It's why games go on sale later in their life spans and sell more. And of course any game that has already been released on every other system is going to have a certain number of people who are willing to pay less than full price for a second copy even despite the additional value gained.
But it'll drop in price when sales slow down, and then people like you will likely pick it up. But it's been doing pretty well. Skyrim is still, this very day, in the top 100 of all video game products sold on Amazon US and DOOM is still around 150 (usually 75 for Skyrim and 150 for DOOM). The only games that typically continue to perform that well are first party titles and select evergreen releases like Rocket League. But eventually, sales will slow and all the people willing to pay half price will jump on it and then when it drops to 20 bucks all the people willing to pay that will jump on it, and I think it's going to have really long legs throughout the lifespan of the system. Million seller for sure. Which may not be that impressive compared to the sales on other platforms, but for being on a Nintendo platform that's a really nice change of pace for the type of game it is, especially being 3rd party multiplat.
Btw, DOOM on Switch post-patch with motion hybrid control scheme... muah! It's one of my favorite games on the system now. Whenever you do play it you're in for a real treat.
@IronMan28 beer, particularly IPA's, pale ales and stouts, but really any kind of beer. If you're asking for which specific ones, my favorites at the moment are Tasty Juice (an IPA from Lervig, a brewery in Norway) and Gamma Ray from Beavertown who are based in London.
@JaxonH I agree. Think when it drops in price a bit the sales will really pick up on it. I know quite a few switch owners who are waiting for that to drop. Seen that with FIFA18. That’s seen a good discount recently and the sales have really flown on it. I will def get doom. I’ve been stalking it for a while just haven’t pulled the trigger. Looks great
Last few months made me believe its still got a thing or two to learn yet.....
@NinChocolate The original Super Mario Bros. is on the Switch under the Arcade Archives series.
@iSmokeWii nobody knew what the wii u was, even gamer buddies of mine thought it was a tablet accessory to the Wii. Nobody knew what the Wii U was eh? I would say that the number of people who were confused about what it was are in the minority. Once you educated your 'gamer buddies' they also knew what the Wii U was.
mix that with no launch title killer app (nintendoland? please), outdated specs when a new gen of ps/xbox were dropping, HUGE droughts of meaningful games, etc etc.
The killer launch title on the Switch was a Wii U port. The Switch also has outdated specs. Just admit it, you like the Switch better but don't really know why. Maybe it was the hype.
plus switch is portable/looks like real hardware where as WiiU wasnt portable & looked like a cheap kids toy.
It is portable but it can be argued that the Switch with Neon (or any bright color) joycons looks like a kids toy. Me personally, I chose the Neon model as I don't feel the need to look 'mature' in front of others.
they've learned from WiiU's mistakes thankfully
If they have learned, they will forget it next gen. Ever notice how console manufacturers are at their best when they are down and they are at their worst when they are on top?
No, they didn't learn anything. Like the Wii and the NES Classic they got lucky here but they probably don't know why and can't replicate it.
@spizzamarozzi also, its now much easier to game at work, on the go, or away from the main TV. My wife normally throws fits if I play "boring" games for too long-aka: games need a story and preferably RPG elements for her to approve of me using the main TV. Marriage- a lifestyle choice that I made and despite all her sticking points, I love her.
Edit: another note: in 2013 I was paying off an expensive renovation, my wife's student loans, a car and a renewal of vows party. I was in severe debt until 2017 and the Switch was the way of enjoying my newly available money that wasn't going to debts every single month.
I think the timing and marketing was off for the Wii U. Had it launched earlier then it wouldn't have had the shadow of the PS4/ XBO hanging over it (although both were overhyped). Nintendo thought that they didn't need to market it as it would sell because of the 'Wii' brand, but that actually worked against it, as the casual Wii audience just thought it was another Wii (Or a Wii add-on) and the 'hardcore' crowd already had derision for the Wii brand. Nintendo should have realized that from the 3DS launch confusion but they didn't. By separating the Switch from the branding it was clear that it was a new system and helped it be a success despite it having poor features and a lack of compelling software.
The Wii U was a fantastic system, one of the best ever made but Nintendo failed to get that across to people and failed to have it reach its full potential. It was a shame as in many ways it was far superior to the Switch and certainly better than the lackluster PS4/ XBO.
"Wii U was the stop gap that had to exist between the motion control innovation (and mainstream uber-success) of Wii and the semi-rebirth that is Switch."
Reading that phrase reminded me that Gearbox Software once said something similar about the Wii U during it's early days.
@gortsi for me, every beer is at least worth trying. However, I like a good IPA, gotta I've never seen the beers you're talking about since I'm American and drink local stuff. I'll have to track some of the beers you're suggesting.
I still play the Wii U more than the Switch due to Wii U having the VC games available on it.
@IceClimbers so was the Sega Dreamcast!
I love my Wii U, but it has had at least one problem. It has started to not recognize the games that I put in it.
It started with Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition. The game worked fine for a few months, but then it started crashing when I would get near some enemies. It eventually got to where it wouldn't even load the game. The disc didn't have any smudges or scratches on it. I also had Assassin's Creed III at around the same time and the same exact thing happened to it.
I thought the problem was behind me after I got rid of those games, but apparently it's started again, this time affecting Call of Duty: Ghost and - most frustratingly - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (the game that I bought my Wii U for).
Right now I more so prefer the Wii U (a great system that I got my hands on only 2 weeks before Christmas the year it launched) over it’s Successor. One reason is that the Wii U was life changing and has plenty of things that it’s Successor lacks, of which can made less not so happy about if it came to that system as well: A way to talk directly with friends, an easier way to add friends by simply typing in someone’s name and waiting for them to accept, a way to meet other gamers, a way to share our gaming experience, a way for Game Developers to know their Fanbase better and vice versa, a way to ask for help, Games update by themselves (better than they do on the 3DS which is done through eShop Purchases and takes up blocks to do so), stuff like that is among what I loved about the Wii U. Think of how Iwata’s Ghost would feel to his still living old fellow members about ditching that great stuff about the Wii U. Why hasn’t any Game Critic in the past year spoken to these Game Developers about features of the System still yet? I keep asking them in an email to do that, that’s their job to collect information about these games.
“Without it, there wouldn’t be a Nintendo Switch. Wii U was the stop gap that had to exist between the motion control innovation (and mainstream uber-success) of Wii and the semi-rebirth that is Switch.”
People like to say that as a defence for the Switch but there’s nothing really to back it up. Many of the issues resolved by the Switch were ones the public picked up day one, if not earlier. We didn’t need the Wii U to get to the Switch but no doubt the journey would have helped.
For example, everyone knew the Wii’s U controller being tied to a 4 or 5 meter range of the console was limiting. We all wanted to be able to take it anywhere. That wasn’t a vision that was hard to realise.
Likewise everyone could see that one Wii’s U Gamepad was a concession and would limit multiplayer potential. Here was this concept that sounded great for multiplayer but Nintendo then told us the console would only work with up to two if the game pass at one and there was no plans to ship them as an aftermarket accessory anyway. Likewise we all knew the resistive screen of the console was going to reduce its usability and that the resolution of it was crap.
From a marketing perspective it was clear the name was not a good choice for casual buyers. We could see the UI wasn’t great etc etc.
All things that were identifiable day one. To add to the issue so many were fundamental hardware issues that it was obvious these limitations were going to follow the console through its life.
So no, the Wii U didn’t have to be released and fail for the Switch to arrive. What really needed to happen was for mobile phones and tablets to drive advancements in silicon beyond the point that they were when the Wii’s U released so that the Nintendo could release the home console inside a portable body that the market had been asking for over the years. Other than the joycon being removable, the Switch is really the realisation of what people had been mocking up and asking for already. The Wii U fell short of those visions and we all knew it. Nintendo went in that direction before the technology was there to support the vision.
I think the Wii U has become my favorite console of all time (2nd ColecoVision, 3rd Dreamcast), and that's saying a lot because I remember when my Dad brought home one of the first pong clones. I now have more than 100 games for the system, the majority of them digital. This has left me with a huge backlog of games to play. And, I still have a couple of games I still want. Was hoping to be caught up enough to consider getting a Switch soon, but it might very well be another year for me. One key feature has been the gamepad, it has been handy to pick up and play while the family is watching a show, or keeps peace when my youngest teen is playing his XBOX.
@samuelvictor Totally agree with you. I waited a year on the Wii U, and got involved in Disney Infinity. Had a blast with all the other astounding games on the system.
I still laugh when I see people lament the unfulfilled potential of the Wii U.
It actually fulfilled its potential, it's just that it never had much.
@spizzamarozzi
It's literally a perfect example of why Switch has succeeded where Wii U failed and that goes way beyond mere marketing.
First, it has those games already or very soon, not dripfed over a few years with droughts in-between. Second, the Switch is far more practical, engaging, quick and fun to use. Those games are far more interesting as a result. I didn't really bother with DKC or Hyrule Warriors on Wii U but I'll give them another go on Switch as its a system I want to use.
Look at all the ravenous fanboys on here 😂😂😂. You guys are as bad as religious fundamentalists. Nintendo can do no wrong in your eyes and you dog anyone who forces you to use critical thinking. The Switch has sold well but stop pretending that's it's filled to the brim with quality games. Its "huge" library is half trash. We're also in march. Outside of overpriced WiiU ports (Bayonetta) what have they announced for the next couple of months in 2018? You've got Kirby star allies in March, DKCTF (,WIIu port) in May, Attack on Titan 2 also March, Dark souls remastered (A ps360 port 😂) in May and a few Indies. Yes yes PS4 and Xbox one are getting the dark souls remaster too but the gamers there are hardly excited over that. Game starved Nintendo fanboys though act as if it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.I love Indies don't get me wrong but steam has a better library of those. Let me guess wait till E3? Wait until half the year is over? LMAO 😂. That's the same pattern they had with the WiiU. You all forgot that?
If you’re a big AAA fan, then I’d suggest that Nintendo ain’t your console.
The second I saw an ad for the Switch, I wanted one - console quality games I can play on the go, with the Nintendo franchises I love. The indie games are just gravy.
I only ever saw one Wii U in someone’s house, and I couldn’t even be bothered asking for a go.
The Wii U was a confusingly conceived and terribly marketed piece of technology that simultaneously tried to move away from its predecessor via the Gamepad while trying to latch onto its predecessor's name and demographic. The Wii U's 1st party and 3rd party sales and support suffered because nobody cared about the console's concept, or people simply didn't know it existed at all.
As some perspective, Mario Odyssey sold more copies in 2 months than all 1st party Wii U games released in 2013 combined. In other words, one appealing game on appealing hardware > many less-appealing games on completely unappealing hardware.
The main reason is many fans boycotted the Wii and WU because of the stupid gimmicks like motion controls and the game pad. All that Nintendo needed to do was return to a conventional system, release a few killer titles, and it would be instant gold. That they went a step further and made it portable too, that only excited the market further. Since then it's been a stream of quality games, which has only maintained the buzz. I'll suspect they'll consolidate a bit this year, get the online shop going, and then unleash a killer title or two late in the year. Besides, their key series have all had recent updates, so there's not much they can release other than Metroid 4.
@electrolite77 I simply stated facts. The guy said that his WiiU was collecting dust. He now has a Switch and he's excited for exactly the same games he could have got on WiiU.
Games are interesting or not interesting regardless of the machine they run on. As a matter of fact, 4-5 years ago when most of these games were released, there wasn't a more practical, engaging, quick and fun way to play them.
I am not interested in which method of injecting games into your brain you find most enjoyable. What I'm arguing against is that the substance itself (the actual games) hasn't changed. So reading that people who couldn't be arsed before are now going bonkers for the same stuff makes me laugh, and makes me realise that the way things are marketed and the way the audience is spoonfed things is way more important than the actual thing itself.
I still love the dual-screen ability of the Wii U (and 3DS/DS). My single biggest gripe with the Switch is that this is gone again. With the Joy-con, to me, it's just a portable Wii, and doesn't excite me in the slightest, in the way the Wii U did at launch. The Wii U had much more potential for interesting game mechanics using the gamepad. The Switch is a much smaller step than the Wii U was, and is extremely uninteresting. Until it gets some more great exclusives, that won't change.
@IronMan28 oh yeah absolutely, from sours to barleywines and everything in between I try as many as I can. From American breweries my favourite would be Modern Times and Stone from California, hill farmstead, evil twin, and Reubens. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, thank God for untappd for letting me document what I've had
@spizzamarozzi
For the difference to be blithely dismissed as 'marketing' everything would have to be the same. Same game with same content at the same price, same hardware, same practicality/portability, same control method, same UI, everything, but it patently isn't the case. All of those things affect someone's interest in a game.
As convenient as it is to not be interested in factors that contradict the point you're making, even ones that directly affect the consumption of the 'substance' as you call it, even ones as stunningly obvious as portable Vs not portable, they're still very relevant factors.
I wouldn't say that Nintendo "learned" from the Wii U's failure, but rather that they are capitalizing on it with a better made product. If the Wii U was successful, I doubt Nintendo would be able to so easily sell ports of Wii U games, and if they hadn't stopped supporting the Wii U very early on, games like Odyssey and Breath of the Wild wouldn't have happened in the 1st year.
Nintendo put all their eggs in this basket by taking them out of the Wii U's. I guess their bet paid off, but as a Wii U owner it's tough to feel anything but shafted.
@OGGamer It's just evidence that hype is the main seller of consoles.
The Switch has a good concept. The Wii U Gamepad was a solution desperately looking for a problem.
"The Wii U only failed cuz not enuff marketings"
"The Switch is only selling well due to hype and nothing but da hype"
Man, if the dedicated video game hardware business was so easy, you'd think more companies would be in the business...
For me, i went to a store to look at the wii u . It look like a toy. Felt like a toy. So i gave it a miss.
Where as the the switch looks and feel like a console. A great portable console.
What killed the Wii U were lack of games and advertising. No one knew what Wii U was, and no one who did know, was impressed with the library of games. Everything else about the Wii U, from slow OS, clunky short range gamepad, to underpowered nature compared to PS4 and Xbone, would have been forgiven had the Wii U had a stellar software library and been marketed properly.
I recently watched the Wii U reveal on YouTube from E3 2011 (I think?). You could see how they didn't properly communicate from the get go that the system was an all new console. It really did come across like a controller for the existing Wii, the trailer showed only the gamepad and didn't really show the console itself as anything of importance, that was the first mistake they made IMO. I mean I knew there was a new console on the horizon and a lot of us hardcore Nintendo fans new better when they announced it. But, I could definitely see how the average consumer would think this was a simple upgraded controller for the Wii. The same thing happened with the 3DS at first.
2012... I did not and I still don't own a TV or even an HDMI monitor, so none of the consoles mattered to me either way. I'm a PC gamer first and foremost. Wii looked fun, but more of an oversized toy than a gaming console, and the competition rushing to include motion controls in their systems was amusing. What's more the Wii U having the same name as the predecessor did really sound like just a small upgrade to the existing console. If they named it Wii 2 maybe the perception would be different.
Now Switch offer the portable mode right out of the box, which is new and exciting. It appear to have everything Wii had and more (I know there's features missing, but that's an outsider view). And it started with a new Zelda. Other systems being in their mid-life is also a valid point.
Let's be clear, to people who aren't Nintendo fanboys "a new Zelda" is not a selling point. Even BotW wasn't to me; I bought my Switch used and Zelda cart was tossed in as a bonus. A hell of a bonus, but that was my view on it – I was more interested in indie games on the go and possible Advance Wars or FFTA successors. I was surprised by how much I liked it. But even now Mario games get a hard pass from me and my colleagues.
You know what actually gets some people in my circles interested in Switch? Bayonetta 2 and 3. The first one being on Steam means they got exposed to the series and want more. And they had no idea Bayo2 was on Wii U.
@spizzamarozzi I own a good gaming PC and nearly all of the indie games on the Switch are also available on Steam (sometimes they're cheaper there). PC gaming also has the advantage of Humble Bundles, IndieGalas, Steam and GoG sales etc. Yet I still want them all on my Switch, I even double dipped for some after getting the console despite upgrading my rig at the same time (literally got the Switch and PC hardware from the same guy on the same day).
Don't knock the portability aspect. Playing Shovel Knight while lying in bed and having the ability to take it with me when I'm visiting family is just that neat.
@Crono1973 nah man people really didn't know what the wiiU was, and i use my gamer buddies because they actually are invested in games, but i had family members, friends lookin to buy gifts for their kids, nobody knew exactly what the wiiu was. and if your argument is "once you educate them about it" well then nintendo already behind he 8 ball. if the company can't clearly describe what their new console is, me having to tell people isn't ideal. also what i meant by the wiiu tablet looked (i should have said felt) like a cheap kids toy wasn't about color. the gamepad is clunky, kinda lightweight and just looked childish in comparison to the sleek, somewhat more robust (weight/feel wise) Switch. and yes technically Zelda was a wiiu port, but let's be honest here, it sold substantially better on Switch, and almost nobody bought a wiiu to play it. so regardless of what console it was initially developed for, it was a launch game for Switch & a absolute system seller. wiiu didn't benefit at all from it, it was more of a favor to poor wiiu owners. all that being said i had a ton of fun with the wiiU. i borrowed my buddies for 5-6 months and got to play every great AAA nintendo game, including Zelda. but that was wiius biggest issue. at the very end of it's life cycle it only took my half a year to play everything it had to offer & then some. the Switch is everything the wiiu should have been.
As an exclusively PC gamer up until recently I knew of hardware wars between different manufacturers (XB vs PS or NVidia vs AMD/ATI), but I never realized there could be a console civil war!
People calling other people "fanboys" here for preferring Wii U to Switch or vice versa should look up the definition of the word "irony".
@SmaggTheSmug The problem is that many people want to poop on the Wii U now that the Switch is out and it forces other people into a defensive position. It's like Peter Molyneux pooping on his last game when the new one is coming soon.
@Crono1973 So what? How is this a problem?
People were harshly critical of the Wii U before Switch came out. It drove Nintendo way down. There's no need to defend a console you own anyway. All consoles are just expensive toys after all. Arguing about it, especially when both machines are by the same manufacturer... Well, it's just a very silly reason to get all worked up by.
Yes, I remember Nintendo Land.
@SmaggTheSmug
Lol people were critical of the Wii U when it was unveiled at E3 2011. That criticism was only amplified when the console actually released in 2012 and proceeded to set sales records...as the worst selling (non-Virtual Boy) console in Nintendo's history.
The Switch gets the fundamental things right that people actually care about when it comes to video games: appealing and unique hardware proposition + compelling software + solid marketing.
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