Do you think the hate for the Wii U is warranted?

[Lozjam]

It is weak and doesn't even play blu ray and DVD's. As a machine it is vastly inferior to the XO and PS4, not slightly better at all. I don't get why anyone would defend it as a good console. It isn't. Not for this gen. Had it released instead of the Wii it would have been a good console, but things didn't pan out like that. It released at the end of the PS3's life whilst being only slightly more powerful and lacking the appeal of being an all round multimedia player.

By this reasoning... Why are you even bothering yourself with PS4 and XBOne's? Why don't you just get yourself a PC and call it a day? XO and PS4 are vastly inferior to PC. With a right build, it can play games better, you can multitask, you can work on homework, you can browse ZD, you can watch movies, stream twitch, watch YouTube, watch TV. I mean, PC is vastly superior to PS4 and XBO by these standards you are setting.

Also, like it or not, the Wii was a good console. There is no arguing about that due to its inherent success. It may not be my favorite console in the world, however there is still no denying that it isn't a good Videogame console.

 

[DARK MASTER]

I'm not sure hate or love even matter, but Nintendo simply has to make a product consumers want. For the record though, despite its failures the Wii U had a lot of decent games.

 

[Ventus]

It is weak and doesn't even play blu ray and DVD's. As a machine it is vastly inferior to the XO and PS4, not slightly better at all. I don't get why anyone would defend it as a good console. It isn't. Not for this gen. Had it released instead of the Wii it would have been a good console, but things didn't pan out like that. It released at the end of the PS3's life whilst being only slightly more powerful and lacking the appeal of being an all round multimedia player.

Bluray and DVD be damned, I'm talking as a game console. Wii U actually has games unlike XO and PS4.

 

[Viral Maze]

The hate on the Wii U, I think, isn't warranted, but its understandable. Nintendo released an interesting console with interesting design choices that I enjoyed (love the second screen), but didn't market it well, or make it appealing to the masses, as well as failed to produce big name system seller games from tried franchises. On top of that, they killed the console 3 years in.

It's not that the Wii U didn't bring anything to the table during those 3 years, but if you're paying $300 dollars, you expect at least 5-10 years.

By this reasoning... Why are you even bothering yourself with PS4 and XBOne's? Why don't you just get yourself a PC and call it a day?

PC != console. I don't intend to speak for Deus, but c'man. You're strawmaning here.

Bluray and DVD be damned, I'm talking as a game console. Wii U actually has games unlike XO and PS4.

PS4 actually has the largest library... What are you on about?

 

[Dio]

Nintendo consoles are not multimedia machines, they are video games consoles. The Wii U was made to play games not DVDs, I find it very irritating when people use that as a way to undermine the Wii U when it was never built for that purpose.

PlayStation and Xbox consoles will always be superior to Nintendo consoles hardware wise because they do more than play video games, they need that extra tech to perform the other tasks it has. The fact that the Wii U uses inferior hardware yet still produces spectacular visuals actually does make it good for what it is: a dedicated video games console.

It produces inferior visuals to these multimedia consoles though. That's how poor it is compared to PS4 and XBOX 1. It does nothing better than it's competition hardware wise.

 

[the8thark]

PS4 actually has the largest library... What are you on about?

Mountains of crapware do not make for a good console game library.

 

[Lozjam]

The hate on the Wii U, I think, isn't warranted, but its understandable. Nintendo released an interesting console with interesting design choices that I enjoyed (love the second screen), but didn't market it well, or make it appealing to the masses, as well as failed to produce big name system seller games from tried franchises. On top of that, they killed the console 3 years in.

It's not that the Wii U didn't bring anything to the table during those 3 years, but if you're paying $300 dollars, you expect at least 5-10 years.



PC != console. I don't intend to speak for Deus, but c'man. You're strawmaning here.



PS4 actually has the largest library... What are you on about?

Here's the thing though.
Deus never said "Videogame console". He merely said that the Wii U was "lacking the appeal of an all around multi-media player". Which is in itself, a poor way to judge a videogame console.

It produces inferior visuals to these multimedia consoles though. That's how poor it is compared to PS4 and XBOX 1. It does nothing better than it's competition hardware wise.

It's not really that the Wii U produced inferior visuals. It is the people that make the games. Of which, I know of several Wii U titles that look better than any other game on PS4 or XBO(except for maybe Ratchet and Clank).

May I remind you of Xenoblade Chronicles X? Which uncontestedly has the biggest open world of any of the games this generation with no in-between loading times, and beautiful graphics. To top this off, despite being on "vastly inferior hardware", Xenoblade is not plagued by bugs like the other Open World games as well.

 

[the8thark]

Here's the thing though.
Deus never said "Videogame console". He merely said that the Wii U was "lacking the appeal of an all around multi-media player". Which is in itself, a poor way to judge a videogame console.

Well said. That is like saying an fish is lacking the appeal of a coconut because it is a fish.
Nintendo is not making a HTPC. Nintendo is making dedicated video game consoles. You can say the people who want a HTPC that can also play games will pass on the WiiU. I believe Nintendo are aware of this and never went for that share of the market.

I do think the NX will be more in the digital world and less of a dedicated games console.

 

[Soul]

Nintendo consoles are not multimedia machines, they are video games consoles. The Wii U was made to play games not DVDs, I find it very irritating when people use that as a way to undermine the Wii U when it was never built for that purpose.

The question is, why wasn't it built for that? I know I was pissed when I found I had to buy a blue ray player because my Wii U refused to play my Cowboy Bebop blue rays. It's just such a missed opportunity. To clarify, I didn't buy my Wii U to play blue rays on it, but I kind of just expected it could do that.

 

[Viral Maze]

Here's the thing though.
Deus never said "Videogame console". He merely said that the Wii U was "lacking the appeal of an all around multi-media player". Which is in itself, a poor way to judge a videogame console.

I agree and disagree. Though definitely a console should be measured by its library, its not the only factor. When the competition also has great games, that look better and play better (objectively), and has more features, it brings down the appeal of your console.

It's not really that the Wii U produced inferior visuals. It is the people that make the games. Of which, I know of several Wii U titles that look better than any other game on PS4 or XBO(except for maybe Ratchet and Clank).

I'd like to see a list of these.

Mountains of crapware do not make for a good console game library.

Does ditching a console 3 years into it's lifecycle make for a better game library?

Well said. That is like saying an fish is lacking the appeal of a coconut because it is a fish.
Nintendo is not making a HTPC. Nintendo is making dedicated video game consoles. You can say the people who want a HTPC that can also play games will pass on the WiiU. I believe Nintendo are aware of this and never went for that share of the market.

That is Nintendo's problem though. It's so far up its own ass, its lost touch with the 'mainstream'. 12 million people agree with you, that they don't need their console to be a multimedia center, but 60 million PS4 users disagree. 20 million Xbox One users disagree. Granted, these numbers aren't mutually exclusive and there is a lot of overlap, but the point still stands. The masses want a game console that also does multimedia.
It's not that the fish sucks because it lacks the appeal of a coconut, its that the fish can't continue to survive in this environment because its failing to adapt to it's surroundings and to its competitors. Nintendo console sales have been dropping each gen (minus the Wii), so Nintendo needs to adapt and change and appeal to a bigger audience.

 

[Lozjam]

I agree and disagree. Though definitely a console should be measured by its library, its not the only factor. When the competition also has great games, that look better and play better (objectively), and has more features, it brings down the appeal of your console.



I'd like to see a list of these.



Does ditching a console 3 years into it's lifecycle make for a better game library?



That is Nintendo's problem though. It's so far up its own ass, its lost touch with the 'mainstream'. 12 million people agree with you, that they don't need their console to be a multimedia center, but 60 million PS4 users disagree. 20 million Xbox One users disagree. Granted, these numbers aren't mutually exclusive and there is a lot of overlap, but the point still stands. The masses want a game console that also does multimedia.
It's not that the fish sucks because it lacks the appeal of a coconut, its that the fish can't continue to survive in this environment because its failing to adapt to it's surroundings and to its competitors. Nintendo console sales have been dropping each gen (minus the Wii), so Nintendo needs to adapt and change and appeal to a bigger audience.

Many Nintendo game play better. They do not have the massive frame drops that the competition has, and many of them focus on Gameplay over story.

Nintendo also has numerous games that truly match next gen games in terms of graphics these titles are:
Mariokart 8
Smash Bros for Wii U
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Splatoon
Xenoblade X
Yoshi's Wooly World
Wind Waker HD
Bayonetta 2
Pikmin 3

Many of these titles even run at 1080p at 60 frames per second, something that PS4 and XBO games are barely able to do for some reason.


As regarding to Nintendo's core audience. They have what they need, and the 50 million people with 3DS's would agree. Nintendo has a huge audience currently. However, if you have a 3DS there is not much incentive to get a Wii U at all. As you can get 3DS equivalents to most of the biggest games of Wii U, and the 3DS has third party support, and more exclusives and franchises tied to it.

 

[Dio]

Many Nintendo game play better. They do not have the massive frame drops that the competition has, and many of them focus on Gameplay over story.

Nintendo also has numerous games that truly match next gen games in terms of graphics these titles are:
Mariokart 8
Smash Bros for Wii U
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Splatoon
Xenoblade X
Yoshi's Wooly World
Wind Waker HD
Bayonetta 2
Pikmin 3

Many of these titles even run at 1080p at 60 frames per second, something that PS4 and XBO games are barely able to do for some reason.


As regarding to Nintendo's core audience. They have what they need, and the 50 million people with 3DS's would agree. Nintendo has a huge audience currently. However, if you have a 3DS there is not much incentive to get a Wii U at all. As you can get 3DS equivalents to most of the biggest games of Wii U, and the 3DS has third party support, and more exclusives and franchises tied to it.

None of those match the Witcher 3.
We also have Unravel on next gen which also is superior in graphics to all the games you mentioned.

 

[Viral Maze]

Many Nintendo game play better. They do not have the massive frame drops that the competition has, and many of them focus on Gameplay over story.

Nintendo also has numerous games that truly match next gen games in terms of graphics these titles are:
Mariokart 8
Smash Bros for Wii U
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Splatoon
Xenoblade X
Yoshi's Wooly World
Wind Waker HD
Bayonetta 2
Pikmin 3

Many of these titles even run at 1080p at 60 frames per second, something that PS4 and XBO games are barely able to do for some reason.

A lot of those are great games, with great gameplay, no denying that.
BUT just because some run at 1080p60fps doesn't put them on par with other games on the PS4 or XBO graphically. Wii U games use a lot less features like dynamic lighting, and detailed textures, anti-aliasing, etc. That is the exact reason why many games are still not 1080p60fps. Rare Replay lets me play Perfect Dark (2000) at 1080p60fps but that doesn't mean it looks as good as Uncharted 4.

As regarding to Nintendo's core audience. They have what they need, and the 50 million people with 3DS's would agree. Nintendo has a huge audience currently. However, if you have a 3DS there is not much incentive to get a Wii U at all. As you can get 3DS equivalents to most of the biggest games of Wii U, and the 3DS has third party support, and more exclusives and franchises tied to it.

Exactly this. I agree. Nintendo dominates the handheld space but that's hardly translating to the console space. Nintendo needs a change in strategy. I'm glad Miyamoto is taking a step back in the NX's development. Nintendo needs something that competes, rather than going off to their own corner to do whatever else.

 

[SpiteChaotic]

I would of preferred a maybe option. Since while the Wii U has the gamepad which is hit and miss in its usage. While I like to use it as a mini tv and it is a neat map or option screen. It can be annoying with its size for being used as a controller. Sure the Wii U doesn't use the most top notch processors and doesn't have the graphics like the ps4 or the Xbone. It also doesn't have much in the terms of third party support. So that hurts it a bit. So in that terms it deserves a bit of hate.

I'm not one for it has to be a god in hardware. I just want my games to look nice and play well. Which the games the Wii U does have nine times out of ten hit the mark. Even without the fancy hardware the games still look beautiful. Just cause it doesn't look so real that I could reach into my tv and slap the main character doesn't bother me. They play at 60 fps which I like. They are Nintendo quality goodness in the games that came out. It also has backwards compatibility and can easily transfer the memory from the wii to the wii u. So That is nice. So in those respects no it doesn't.

It depends on what you look for in your gaming console. The Wii U is not the best console to come out from Nintendo but it has its pros and cons. There will be things to like and hate. You will find some games on it enjoyable. So in respects its kinda like all systems where it gets love and hate.

 

[CrimsonCavalier]

It produces inferior visuals to these multimedia consoles though. That's how poor it is compared to PS4 and XBOX 1. It does nothing better than it's competition hardware wise.

I refuse to believe that there are no games on the Wii U that tickle your fancy. None of the games on the console are your cup of tea? You can't be a gamer and say that.

It's one thing to say that you prefer most of the games on the XBO than the Wii U, but if you're going to sit there and say none of the games on the console are any good then I really don't think you like games.

The Wii U did what it did very well. It was the best at doing what it did. Just because it was less powerful graphically than the competition doesn't make it an inferior console. It means that it had less power than the competition, not that, with the power it had, it underperformed. It played games, and it did it very well. And even the few extras that it did have, it did those well too (the Netflix UI, for example, is extremely intuitive and easy to use).

I'm sorry, but if you can't still be impressed with some of the visuals in Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, or Bayonetta 2, then you really have been drowned in the PS4 koolaid.