This is it. Soon
we'll get the full picture about the Nintendo Switch and in only two
months time we get to hold the new console in our hands. And with
this the time of the Wii-U comes to an end. Nintendos sixth Home
Console leaves a torn legacy behind. But I would be hesitant to call
it a complete failure. But I also don't want to paint the picture of
the console to rosy. The Wii-U failed in many regards, but not in
all. So today I'd like to take a look back at it's History, the good
and bad parts and where it succeeded.
A Brief look back:
The Wii-U was
announced at e3 2011 and garnered a lot of interest, but also
confusion. The presentation didn't make it evidently clear that this
was the successor to the Wii. Instead it seemed more like an
accessory. This problem would stick to the Wii-U for its entire life
cycle.
On stage many 3rd
Party developers promised to support the Wii-U with their games. A
promise which wasn't fulfilled as we know now.
The Wii-U finally
released on the 18th November in the US, on the 30th
November in Europe and lastly on the 8th December in
Japan.
The Problem Child:
Let us start with
a negative point first. The Name. There is just no way around it, but
the Naming of the Wii-U was a pretty huge fail and played a big part
in the problems the console had with the Casuals. The Idea behind it
was for it to be an extension of the Wii Brand. If the Wii was about
We, then the Wii-U should be all about you, the hardcore gamer. You
don't need to be an marketing expert to see that this is a dumb
concept. Or maybe you need to. Because marketing experts came up with
this.
To the surprise of
no one the naming fell short. Many people didn't realize that this
was a completely new home console. I worked at a store during that
time and I often got the question why you'd have to pay 300€ (or
even 350 for the premium version) for the Wii-U, when the Wii was
only costing 150€. Most casual customers didn't understand that it
was a new console.
Another problem
was the price. It became apparent pretty fast that the Wii-U won't be
getting a huge 3rd Party support. With that the mainstream
gamer was lost as a customer. Today you can't succeed if you don't
provide Fifa, Madden, Call of Duty and Co on your platform. Without
casuals and mainstream gamers only the Nintendo faithful remained.
But there was another chance for the Wii-U. The life as a secondary
console. Nintendo offers experiences you can hardly find on other
platforms. And many gamer still long for those experiences, but they
don't want deny themselves the 3rd Party games. But with a
lower price I'm sure many people had bought the Wii-U just to play
Mario Kart, Smash Bros. and Co.
Also Nintendo
completely misread the market. While the GamePad is a great idea, it
was not an intuitive smash hit like the Wii-Mote. Just because people
now use Tablets in their everyday life, they don't automatically get
the concept behind your system. This together with the lower power,
compared to it's competitors, was the final nail in the coffin of the
console.
The last problem
of the Wii-U, which was a result of the previous ones and bad sales,
where the software droughts. With absolutely zero third party support
for most of it's lifetime Nintendo alone couldn't provide a continues
stream of games. The Wii had a similar problem with most high profile
360 and PS 3 games not releasing for it, but the lower technical
threshold allowed small and medium sized projects to be realized for
the console. The HD graphics of the Wii-U made this impossible. Even
Nintendo themselves were surprised with the amount of work HD
development demanded. This only furthered the software problem.
The Wii-U had some
very glaring issues which kept it from succeeding, but it was not all
doom and gloom with the console. So just like the life cycle of the
console will end with High Point in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, let us
now look at the positives.
Redeeming
Qualities:
While the Wii-U
had many problems, some of them had also some positive effects. And
while I overall would have preferred a good 3rd Party
support for the console, the absence of Assassins Creed (after the
initial two years), Fifa and Co. also allowed the Indies to breath.
Because of this the Wii-U has a great selection of Indie games. The
games in general are a a high point of the console, and I'm sure that
in the future we'll look fondly back at the great classics the Wii-U
provided.
Another good
aspect about the software droughts was that it forced Nintendo to
step out of their comfort zone a little. Hyrule Warriors, Tokyo
Mirage Sessions#FE, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Splatoon... These
games would have been unthinkable on the Wii, but because they had to
provide the software for the U basically alone we got this unusual
concepts to enjoy. And with Splatoon it brought us the first big new
Nintendo IP in over 10 years and a smash hit.
Apart from the
software, which was sparse but excellent, we also got the only
console with free online, which is something that shouldn't be
underestimated.
And the last
positive thing about the Wii-U is something that isn't directly tied
to the console. But I think the lack of success coupled with the NFC
reader build into the Gamepad led to the creation of Amiibo. Nintendo
needed to think outside the box, because their console business
wasn't earning them profits. Because of that they needed other ways
of generating revenue. And Amiibo were the perfect solution for this.
Now the use of the
Figures in actual games is still kind of lackluster most of the time,
but even if you don't use them they're still very well made
collectables.
Sadly the good
didn't outweigh the bad and so overall the Wii-U has to be called a
failure, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the offering the console
provided me with.
What are your
thoughts on the Wii-U? Did you buy it? Or didn't it offer enough to
justify a purchase? Let me know in the comments.
And as always
thanks for reading
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