One year ago today, Nov 12, 2012, the Wii U launched in America. One year later and it’s been called everything from a total failure to the most successful console launch in history. Several of us bots were early adopters, purchasing right at launch. We’ve been there from the get-go, with Day One first impressions from Sithbot, a 90 Days In retrospective where several of us expressed buyers’ remorse to complete satisfaction, and continuing coverage since then.
A year later, a price drop, and now going up against the real next gen consoles of the XBox One and PS4, it’s time to figure out where the embattled console stands. Several of us have had major opinion changes, from an early skeptic to born again Nintendo evangelist, from an early booster to selling the console to buy a PS4.
And so we once again assemble our robot roundtable to talk about whether the Wii U is fit or fail.
CitizenBot
I was majorly disappointed by Wii U for most of the first year I had it. I’m still mad that TVii doesn’t live up to the hype (and it looks like Sony and Microsoft will do it much, much better on their consoles).
But finally getting some of these first party titles makes it worth it. Super Mario 3D Land is, in my opinion, the must-have game of the holidays.
I don’t see anything else launching with XBO or PS4 that make me salivate that much.
And I was also won over by the most unlikely of games: Windwaker HD and Super Luigi U. I wasn’t a huge fan of Windwaker when I played it on the GameCube. I thought it was uninspired and the cartoonish graphics didn’t conform to what I wanted in a Zelda game. I was much happier with Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword for their more adult take on the franchise.
But somehow in HD with these brilliant colors, the beauty and style of the animation won me over. The use of the touchscreen gamepad as both the item management screen and the map helped a ton, as did Wii U exclusive additions like getting the swift sail and the tingle bottles, integrating the Miiverse concept with in game content.
And Super Luigi U? I thought Super Mario U was a fine game, but a little uninspired. It felt like neither the Mario game we needed nor the one we wanted. Compared to Mario 3D Land and Mario and Luigi Dream Team for the 3DS, it was just kind of meh. But somehow, making the levels short challenges and being able to use Luigi’s different jumping and playstyle made this fun. And really the first successful Nintendo foray into DLC content for first-party games.
And maybe I’m agreeing with the people who want to rip on the Wii U, but if you have kids in the house, it is an absolute must have. Skylanders Swap Force? Disney Infinity? And as I mentioned before in my house, the Just Dance games– The versions on Wii U are superior for a couple of the add-ins that they bring to having the touch screen. The touch screen interface for the Toy Box in Disney Infinity alone have made me happy to own a Wii U. Does that make it a kiddie console for non serious gamers? Maybe. But it makes me a happy Wii U owner and a happy parent.
Swank-mo-tron:
I still love my WiiU and use it constantly. I am unable to understand the sort of person who isn’t digging it. For me, it’s functioned exactly as I was told it would and it’s performed those functions admirably.
I absolutely adore the games I’ve been playing on it. In fact, after a year, I’m still exploring parts of Nintendoland. The viewscreen is a boon for many games and while I’d like to see more games utilize it better, I can be patient.
There are little things it does that seem tailor-made for me, though. Did you know that if you’re watching a movie on Amazon Prime the Wii U control pad screen will give you a read out of whichever actors are on screen and show you their IMDb profiles? It’s incredible.
It’s served as a platform for film viewing via Netflix and Amazon, it’s provided countless hours of fun, and it hasn’t faltered once.
Between Skylanders and Disney Infinity, it’s going to provide an even longer life of entertainment for me. And did I mention Punch Out? That’s all you need to say.
It has the NES version of Punch-out available and that’s really all you need in a console. Will the PS4 have it? Will the X-Box One have it? No? Then I’ll be keeping my Wii U for a long time, thank you, very much.
Triscut of Doom: Rich Porter
Lets do this quick and Dirty.
I believe the only way to get original gameplay and something new is to own a really badass PC, a 3DS, and a Wii U. The Wii U launch was meh and in the months to follow it got better, just like its little brother, the 3DS.
If all you played was Zelda Wind Waker HD, New Super Mario Wii U, and Pikmin 3, you had a good year. If you happened to play the Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate game that lots of people forgot about, and play those other three games, you had a GREAT year. If you got to take advantage of the amazing 99 cent Virtual Console launch, play MH3U, AND play Zelda WW HD, and New Mario Wii U, and Pikmin 3, you got to experience all the game you will ever need in the first year of a system.
IF YOU DIDN’T, WTF are you waiting for?
BTW lets talk next year when the PS4 and XBONE don’t have that kind of lineup over 12 months (or I’m playing them on my pc, thus saving myself the cost of a system, because they get released on PC anyway) and see how you feel about YEAR 2 of the Wii U.
Oh and BTW again, I went balls deep into Pokemon Rumble U as well (all figures collected) and that was great too.
Im out (I’m going to go finish Wind Waker now).
~~~~Triscut of Doom
Shaz-Bot
I’m really torn about the WiiU’s first year. On the one hand, I’ve had a mostly positive experience. Wind Waker, the Wonderful 101 and New Super Luigi U are amazing, and with Nintendo coins along with digital deluxe promotion (still available on systems bought today) I’ve enjoyed reliving many games of my youth for free with the young ones in my family.
On the other hand, the continued lack of 3rd party support is appalling. I don’t understand it! the WiiU is a fine system, but companies don’t want to release games for it citing small install base. This is true, but a big part of that small install base is the lack of 3rd party support. Luckily, I bought my WiiU for Nintendo games, you know, experiences I can’t get on any other platform.
The future is bright. Super Mario 3D world is already being heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, Smash Brothers is promising to be awesome (Huzzah for Mega Man!), and the WiiU is finally getting those casual experiences that made the original Wii such a hit. The new Wii Fit U is great, offering a trial with a free upgrade to the full game if you buy the new peripheral. Next week, we’re getting our first taste of Wii Sports in HD! I say the new Xbox and PlayStation are going to be powerhouses, sure.
When it comes to pure, unadulterated fun though, it’s WiiU all the way. And isn’t that what games are supposed to be about?
That being said, I really wish the Hulu app actually worked.
Sith-Bot:
I was incredibly excited for the Wii U and picked one up at launch day. It was a blast! I loved NintendoLand, played the hell out of Super Mario U and Scribblenauts, and spent way more time than was healthy on the Rayman demo (I could speed run that thing like a mo fo!). But then a month or two later, I ran into a wall — there were no games coming out for it. I took it in stride at first and picked up some Wii games that I missed out on, and while I had fun with those, it was incredibly annoying that I had this shiny new gaming system that I was doing nothing more on than playing games that were years old. Good games, but old ones nonetheless.
After awhile, I lost interest in those and my Wii U just sat there collecting dust (literally, there was like a half inch on it last I checked). Finally fed up, I sold it to a friend at a considerable loss and put the money into my PS4 fund.
Sure there are finally some games worth playing, but it was a simple matter of too little too late, and there wasn’t much that Nintendo could do at that point to reignite my interest in the machine. If anything, I was pissed that I allowed myself to be duped into dropping that much cash on something that wasn’t even close to the experience I was hoping for. Nintendo could have made this one of the best systems out there, but their utter lack of quality first party titles and the shortsightedness in trying to release the first ‘next gen’ console when it barely keeps up with the Xbox 360 or PS3 is appalling.
They tried to repeat what they had with the Wii but failed to keep in mind that technology had passed them by years ago, and instead of innovating, they rushed out a half baked design that deserves to fail. Please learn from my mistake and stay as far away from the Wii U as possible.
Miss Mecha Zero
(Miss Mecha Zero’s opinions are her own, and do not reflect the opinions of her employer.)
Once a competitive leader in the long-dead bit wars, I think the Wii U is about to put Nintendo in the back seat, and they may have chased after the wrong innovation at the wrong time. I’m admittedly pretty critical of their decision to pursue an immersive screen on a large controller and continued support of motion controls (instead of leaping forward to more seamless integration like the Oculus Rift wants to create), but Nintendo has spoken with confidence about their current console.
Nobody can blame Nintendo for pursuing a spiritual successor to the Wii. It sold really well despite what many gamers perceived to be an overly casual library. To date, it has sold 100.30 million consoles worldwide and in 2007, its first face-off against Sony and Microsoft, it sold more units than XBOX 360 and PS3 combined that year. Though I wasn’t a huge fan when it first released, the library did get substantially better after the first year.
Fun Facts – here are the Software Tie Ratios (software purchased per console owned) for the last generation of consoles:
Wii – 6.07 LTD (life to date) and 3.0 at U.S. launch.
Xbox 360 – 7.5 LTD and 3.9 at U.S. launch
PS3 – 4.6 LTD and 1.5 at U.S. launch
At the end of the last generation I had purchased 15 Wii games that I had really enjoyed (a little more than double the average listed above, which is pretty good for someone that has criticized the Wii’s library in the past). This delayed release trend is what I’m currently hoping for after a year of owning my Wii U, but after seeing the current release schedule I’m not holding my breath.
So far, I’ve really enjoyed and invested substantial time in only three games on the Wii U. It should be noted that I have only purchased games on the Wii U that contained an experience I couldn’t get anywhere else (console/pc) – Pikmin 3, Monster Hunter Ultimate (despite playing the earlier Wii version), and New Super Mario Bros. U. Exclusive titles are a selling point for me, since I prefer to buy games on PC or Playstation 3 depending on the various permutations that will result from either version. If a console provides me with a unique or superior experience, I’ll buy a game on it, but I’m dying for Nintendo to entice me with more.
I would dive into a rant about how if the console developers aren’t careful, it will become more and more difficult for them to provide gamers with experiences they can’t just get on a PC (thereby removing the need for players to replace console after console every generation), but I’ll spare you that ninety page tirade and instead dive into what I think are the outstanding strengths and weaknesses of the Wii U against the upcoming PS4 and XBOX ONE.
Advantages: Nintendo and its associated publisher IPs still draw attention. Though their appearances sometimes seem a bit substanceless (Nintendoland’s Zelda bow game is just awful, I’m sorry), their characters and worlds can pack a pretty powerful punch if they’re put into proper application.
Looking forward, there are some titles that could bring promising sales to the Wii U, including Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, Mario Kart 8 (they always do well), and the untitled Legend of Zelda release. Unfortunately, this only represents 5 exclusive titles with some promise. Unless Nintendo starts building this list, they will suffer in a console market that’s wash with very few exclusive titles to sway players in any particular direction.
Weaknesses: Missed Opportunities – Arkham City: Armored Edition was a cool-as-hell idea with its movement of the Bat-computer to the touch screen controller that gave pretty seamless selection through the gadgets, objectives, gear, etc., but since it released so long after I had already full completed the game, I didn’t feel compelled to pick it up. Non-exclusive games like Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty and Mass Effect 3 to me just feel like all-around better experiences on the other consoles, and major developers EA and Ubisoft have both said that if the Wii U’s sales don’t improve, they won’t develop any titles for it.
Application and social support are weak: several bots above me have noted the presence of the standard video streaming programs, but there’s not a lot outside that and the Hulu app in particular performs terribly and crashes frequently (to be fair to Nintendo, this is likely due to Hulu’s developers and not because of the Wii U). The Mii universe continues to be uninspiring, and adding a friend is still reliant on the inconvenience of a bajillion key friend code.
This has been a difficult topic for me to write about since I have loved Nintendo’s IP and products since I was a child, and I think they’ve lost their way with the Wii U despite their charter for high quality products and reception of customer feedback. As theirMission and Philosophy statement reads
“At Nintendo we are proud to be working for the leading company in our industry. We are strongly committed to producing and marketing the best products and support services available. We believe it is essential not only to provide products of the highest quality, but to treat every customer with attention, consideration and respect. By listening closely to our customers, we constantly improve our products and services.”
Whatever ultimately caused Nintendo to go for the Wii U, they are faced with a somewhat awkward position as they try to remain a reasonable choice against the PS4 and the XBOX One. Will they survive?
Only time will tell, and I think we’ll see some interesting numbers during holiday sales this season. Worst-case scenario, I think Nintendo (much like former competitor and bit-wars survivor Sega) could still be a pretty successful publisher even if they stopped producing exclusive consoles. Imagine what the market would look like if you could get Mario and Zelda games on any system… or even, *shudder,* on the PC
What do you think – is the Wii U Nintendo’s Dreamcast?
CitizenBot
In terms of sales, yes. There’s no denying they’ve been lackluster, bordering on disastrous.
But the problem with the Dreamcast was it just didn’t do anything better or different. I think the Wii U does. There weren’t any Sonic or other Sega titles that made it “Must Buy.” I think several of these must-have titles will help, as will the announced Skylanders Swap Force bundle. I wonder how many parents will balk at buying their 10 year old a XBox One or PS4 and opt for the Wii U bundled with all the new Skylanders. Boom– Christmas shopping OVER!.
And with MarioKart 8 and Sm4shBros (as the kids are calling it) coming out, I hope the folks at Nintendo have found ways to integrate friends and Miiverse into the gameplay. Again, the Tingle Bottles in Windwaker HD bring an incredibly fun new layer to the game. I think exploring that while concentrating on what Nintendo has always been good at delivering (fun gameplay with extensive, party-based replay in mind) is going to help steady Wii U’s performance. Continued expansion of the Virtual Console means even more popularity from the 30+ crowd who now want to play Metroid (or Punch Out) with their kids.
Sega also didn’t have the popularity of the 3DS to fall back on. Gun to my head, I think the 3DS is the best system out there– mobile, non-mobile, whatever. And while I don’t think it’s smart business to rest on your laurels, Nintendo 2013 isn’t where Sega was in 1999 financially. And to be fair, it wasn’t really the Dreamcast that broke Sega, it was Dreamcast coming after the also lackluster Saturn. I remember a lot of the same kind of Wii U hate being spewed at the GameCube for not being as meaty as the XBox and PS2. Yeah, but I still wanted to play Mario Kart Double Dash and Smash Bros and there was only one place to do that.
Wrath.o.Tron
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that my story is a really common one. I was pretty excited about my WiiU when I got it. Played some fun party games (NintendoLand, some flavor of Wii Sports) with my family and friends for a couple weeks, played a bunch of Mario, then I didn’t touch the WiiU for a while. Like, several-months-a-while
Since I never owned an original Wii, I also went out and bought Zelda: Skyward Sword. I was really excited about that too, but even that I put it down after a few hours. That was at least two months ago.
I’ve had the thing set up and at the ready all this time. It’s right on the shelf under my well-used PS3 and 360, but it’s just… sitting there.
Unless you’ve got reliable couch-side co-op gaming partners or a group of friends to come over and make good use of the many fun, party-style games you can play (whether Wii- or WiiU-flavored), then the WiiU might not be a great investment for you.
Sith-Bot:
Nintendo has more than enough cash on hand to fulfill their needs and their handholds sell like crazy, which is where all of their profit is coming from. Sega needed a hit to stay in the gaming hardware business, and when the Dreamcast failed, it was what drove them to becoming a software only developer. So long as the 3DS, 2DS and whatever their successors are continue to sell well and make money, Nintendo won’t follow that route.
Could they eventually get out of console gaming? Possibly, but I don’t see that happening in this generation or the next. If Nintendo was smart, they’d already be drafting a new console system they could release on the market a year or two from now that would be an actual competitor to the PS4 and Xbox One.
While interest in those systems would still be strong then, the shiny/new feel will have worn off, and dropping a bomb like a new system in the middle of a dev cycle would shake up gamers and get the focus back on Nintendo.
Conclusion
So there you have it, faithful readers. What say you? Is the Wii U Fit or a Fail? Let us know in the comments below.