Reasons why the Wii U failed

[Alolan_Apples]

As it's the last day before the Nintendo Switch comes out here, I would like to discuss the flaws of the latest console - the Wii U. Although Nintendo had worse before, the Wii U was the poorest performing main console of Nintendo's. After four years since its launch, it was discontinued, as the system is beginning to die.

Nintendo has always impressed us with their games and systems. Even the GameCube (which was their worst selling console as of 2012) had its moments. But for the Wii U, it did very poorly. Some facts to point out:

• The Dreamcast was on the market for 865 days before Sega bowed out of the console market, with 9.13 million units sold. At just the same amount of time, the Wii U sold even less.
• The Wii U was on the market for four years and two months before being discontinued. The Wii nearly made it up to seven years before being completely discontinued in Japan.
• The Vita, Sony's worst selling platform, outsold the Wii U, and is still on the market.

Additionally, during most of the time I was off this site, I went to the Wii U board. A lot the people who post there are pessimistic trolls. At first, I was thinking these people are way too pessimistic. But now, I have to agree with them. The Wii U not only did poorly for hardware, but also for software. It had a few titles that were worth playing, but overall, it was Nintendo's worst main console and a good example of how bad the gaming industry has gotten these days.

Here are my reasons why I think the Wii U failed:

• The name - I'm only going to state the non-offensive way of saying why the name isn't good. The NES was called "Family Computer" in Japan, which is a pretty cool name. But it was shortened to "Famicom". Here, it is the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. The SNES didn't really improve the name as much, but added the word "super" in front of the "Nintendo Entertainment System" and "Famicom" names. The title matches the description. The Nintendo 64 got its name because it was a 64-bit console as the GameCube got its name because of it's cubed shape. The Wii is rather a weird name, but at least it had interesting gimmicks. The U part in Wii U didn't hint that it was an improvement. As the Wii had a weird name, the Wii U was even weirder to describe a console that didn't match the description.
• The Wii U did not improve much from the Wii - going back into Nintendo's history, it started with the NES. It was like going to an arcade, but it was at home. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Donkey Kong started with the NES. The SNES was quite an improvement, as it added more buttons to the face, shoulder buttons, and larger games. It was also when F-Zero, Kirby, Donkey Kong Country, Star Fox, and Mario Kart premiered, as well as the introduction to one of the most popular Mario characters - Yoshi. The N64, huge improvement. That was when we started seeing 3D graphics, 3D gameplay, 4-player games, new buttons on the controllers, and new genres of games. Mario Kart may have started on the SNES, but Smash, Mario Sports, Paper Mario, and Mario Party started on the N64. This was not just the first system to see Mario and Zelda in 3D, but also Pokemon in 3D. Yes, N64 was the first home console with a Pokemon game. The GameCube was the first Nintendo system to have internal memory. It was also where cross controller (handheld to console) began, as well as wireless controllers. New IPs included Animal Crossing (worldwide release), Fire Emblem (worldwide release), and Pikmin. The Wii was a huge jump from the GameCube as it had online services (such as virtual console, online store, Netflix etc.), motion controls, and a home menu. The Wii U did not introduce much. Splatoon was its only new IP, the gamepad concept was too similar to the DS and 3DS (but on TV), and it felt more like a Wii plus rather than a huge transformation like the N64 was to the SNES, the GameCube was to the N64, and the Switch was to the Wii U. A lack of improvement is a big deal to Nintendo since they are famous for innovation.
• Hardware - somehow, the hardware was a huge liability for the Wii U. There's no point of playing the Wii U without the gamepad, and the gamepad cannot be played separately from the Wii U. Even Nintendo admitted the gamepad disrupts the gameplay. The battery life for the gamepad is low, you can only play if the gamepad is charged and if the Wii U is plugged in, and it could not turn on separately. You can play handhelds even when there's a power outage. You can play consoles without worrying about battery life. The Wii U is in the zone of doom, which is why the gamepad kinda killed it. Also, Nintendo is notorious for being a generation behind on the other consoles. Its hardware is under-powered, it has a lack of online services compared to Sony and Microsoft, and stores less internal memory than its competitors.
• Third party - this has been Nintendo's biggest problem since the days of the N64. The fact they kept the N64 cartridge-based was why third parties turned away back then. Then the GameCube preferred smaller discs. What did the Wii U do that turned down third-party support? The gamepad. Therefore, it lacked third party games. Even the third party games that were made available on the Wii U were not as enjoyable on the U like it was on the other systems due to under-powered hardware.
• Exclusives - another major reason why I think the Wii U failed was because of how bad their exclusives were. NSMB U was rather a lackluster launch title compared to SM64, Luigi's Mansion, and Twilight Princess. By that time, people were already tired of NSMB. Super Mario 3D World was a step back from Super Mario Galaxy, which was a step back from Super Mario Sunshine. It was too easy, too linear, and contains an archaic mechanic. Mario Kart 8 was one of the better games of the system, but some WTF moments (such as the lack of battle stages and the coin power-up) were present in the game. It was also criticized for its roster. Mario Party 10 was too much of an amiibo cash grab as it did not fit the vein of Mario Party 1 to 8. Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash was Mario Sports at its worst, Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival was too much like Mario Party 10, Star Fox Zero had forced motion controls (which was bad for the game), and Super Mario Maker had strict level deletion policies. Worse yet, they didn't have a new Zelda game until late, no main Animal Crossing game, no Metroid game, and no Kirby game. I can't explain what DK Tropical Freeze, Smash Bros U, Splatoon, Pokken Tournament, or Paper Mario Color Splash did wrong since I haven't gathered enough information about them, but this sums up Nintendo's failure on the Wii U. Nintendo's franchises on the Wii U was to Nintendo as the post Disney-renaissance WDAS films were to Disney (aka shameful attempts done by a company known for good works).

There are other reasons, but this is my opinion. I'm not even gonna get started on the censorship part since that's a localization issue rather than Nintendo's problems. Sony and Microsoft does this too, I think.

While the Wii U was failing, the 3DS remained to be successful as it still did well. It's even ahead of the PS4 in sales. And hopefully, the Nintendo Switch doesn't make the same mistakes the Wii U did.

 

[Haskell]

The WiiU didn't fail. Just something better replaced it.

Good blog though!

 

[xSuperMario64x]

"Although Nintendo had worse before,"

Tysvm for acknowledging that the Wii U was certainly not Nintendo at its worst. It was a pretty good console-I have actually been playing Mario Kart 8 a lot recently-but it did have a lot of issues.

I praise this blog because you defended your position with little to no excess. Though, I will agree with Raskell in that the Wii U didn't necessarily "fail"; it had good sales and a lot of my friends who have one still like to play it, but its biggest issue was that its ideas were not formulated well enough. Nintendo almost seemed to kinda crap this system out. I bet even they're surprised by how well it sold.

The gamepad was it's biggest flaw. It was Nintendo's attempt at being innovative, as with the rest of their consoles. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, they didn't think it all the way through. They probably figured that if you put the name "Wii" on the system, it would be more appealing to consumers. Not only was the gamepad a big limitation for consumers and developers, but its concept was under-developed. I think the Wii U would have sold much better if it had a Switch-esque concept, like I thought it would when it was first released.

Nonetheless, I think games like SM3DW and Mario Kart 8 were pretty fun, but many of its other games were either too repetitive, like NSMBU, or too restricting, like SM Maker. The Wii U is a pretty good console, but most of the time I play it for 3-7 days, then leave it on my shelf for about 8 months to collect dust underneath my Gamecube, which I play WAY more often.

 

[Trundle]

Funny enough, GameCube had terrible sales but is regarded as the console with some of the best games in Nintendo's timeline. I am a bit biased. I think the Wii U was used as a stepping stone into the Nintendo Switch and it still holds value when it comes to Nintendo's overall market. It could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse.