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Was the Wii U worth it?

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
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Smash Bros. 4. Mario Kart 8. 3D world.- great new entries in their respective series. Finally getting to play the Earthbound games legally. Wind Waker's update. The great fanservice of Hyrule Warriors. With all that and more, its been worth it.
 

CrimsonCavalier

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Unquestionably yes. I will use generalizations and paint people with broad brushes here: if you didn't enjoy the Wii U, you don't like games. You had some deluded expectation, unreal and/or imaginary. If you weren't happy with the games, you didn't get the right ones, or you didn't give them a chance. I mean, unless all you like are shooters and sports games.

Games like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta, Deus Ex: HR Director's Cut, Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, Splatoon, Wind Waker HD (yes, it's a remake, but yes, it's better than the original, and by a lot) were all games that made the console worth owning. Bayonetta 2 is STILL the best game I've played in years. Mario Kart 8 is (imo) the best in the series. Splatoon is the best new IP I've played in a decade.

And we still haven't played Xenoblade X, StarFox, Fatal Frame, Mario Maker or SMT x FE. Or that mythical game known simply as "Zelda U".

I bought more games in less than a year for my Wii U (all of them GREAT games) than I ever did for any other console I've ever owned. And that doesn't even count virtual console.

That said, am I disappointed that Nintendo have, by all accounts, written the Wii U's eulogy? Yes. I'm more than disappointed, I'm upset. I'm upset because I haven't even had my Wii U for a full 365 days, and it's already done.

Do I like the direction Nintendo is taking with the NX (potentially, of course, because we still don't have any solid details)? No, no I do not.

I won't say this is my last Nintendo console, because I don't know what Nintendo have in store for us, but if Nintendo are going to abandon the Wii like they did (and they DID abandon the Wii, while Sony and MS are still supporting the PS360), and then abandon the Wii U like they seem to be doing, then maybe I will abandon them. I don't feel personally betrayed like some idiot, because Nintendo is a company that doesn't care about me personally, except as a customer. However, I do feel slighted and short-changed as a customer, because my $350 investment hasn't lasted a full year, and it's already being talked about as something from which they are moving on, and that makes me upset.
 
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I won't say this is my last Nintendo console, because I don't know what Nintendo have in store for us, but if Nintendo are going to abandon the Wii like they did (and they DID abandon the Wii, while Sony and MS are still supporting the PS360), and then abandon the Wii U like they seem to be doing, then maybe I will abandon them. I don't feel personally betrayed like some idiot, because Nintendo is a company that doesn't care about me personally, except as a customer. However, I do feel slighted and short-changed as a customer, because my $350 investment hasn't lasted a full year, and it's already being talked about as something from which they are moving on, and that makes me upset.
Nintendo have said the NX will not harm WiiU and 3DS development. I think the WiiU as a software platform will be around for a while yet. The Wii died for software a while after the WiiU came out. The Wii had over 5 years of games. That's pretty standard for Nintendo consoles. The WiiU is a 2012 console so 2016 is only 4 years. That's the end of 2016 to make 4 years too. I am sure Nintendo are fully aware of this shorter timeframe and will keep the WiiU alive for games at least till 2017 I would assume. But this is all speculation. We will ahve to wait till next year to get the information on this.
 

CrimsonCavalier

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Nintendo have said the NX will not harm WiiU and 3DS development. I think the WiiU as a software platform will be around for a while yet. The Wii died for software a while after the WiiU came out. The Wii had over 5 years of games. That's pretty standard for Nintendo consoles. The WiiU is a 2012 console so 2016 is only 4 years. That's the end of 2016 to make 4 years too. I am sure Nintendo are fully aware of this shorter timeframe and will keep the WiiU alive for games at least till 2017 I would assume. But this is all speculation. We will ahve to wait till next year to get the information on this.

Sure, but as you've said in the past, the Wii U did not have the greatest launch line-up. They could have softened the blow by continuing to support the Wii until people were a) aware that the Wii U was the next console b) enough people got the Wii U that the Wii was no longer worth keeping alive c) more developers got onboard (they never did, but no one could have really known that would happen).
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
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Nintendo have said the NX will not harm WiiU and 3DS development. I think the WiiU as a software platform will be around for a while yet.
ninendo said they wouldn't get into the mobile market,which they clearly turned their back on;nintendo said [i think reggie] that the 3ds will not have any redesigns,yet literally a few months later the 3ds xl showed up,and don't get me started on their "no plans for dlc" business for smash
ninendo's word doesn't mean jack anymore,and if you take into account how the wii and gamecube were dropped right when their backwards compatible successors came out,and the poor wii u sales,once the nx comes out of the horizon the wii u is as good as dead
 
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Wii U has been worth it for me. I bought the console last June for a great deal bundled with New Super Mario Bros U and Luigi U, and I got a download of Wind Waker HD for free. I've been able to relive tons of my favorite classic games via the Virtual Console, and I've gotten multiple free downloads of those games including a free download of Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze thanks to the Club Nintendo loyalty program. I had ridiculous fun hosting a Mario Kart Party for my birthday last summer and on a separate occasion I literally had 20 friends compete in a Mario Kart tournament on my Wii U. On my own, I've had lots of fun with Super Mario 3D World, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad's Adventure, Pikmin 3, Super Smash, and currently Bayonetta. I am RIDONCULOUSLY excited for Super Mario Maker in a few weeks, and I think Star Fox and Yoshi's Woolly World also look to be fun. No other console can offer me the kind of gaming experiences that Wii U has to offer. The games are straight up fun.
 
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Just like every other Nintendo hardware. NO one was like "oh that Super Nintendo was amazing". With Nintendo it's all about the games. The hardware mostly is forgettable. It's the gaming experiences that matter more. Was the WiiU worth it? That's the same as asking, Did you really enjoy any game released on the WiiU? We need to stop thinking about them as consoles and more as eras of games. This era of games was not the highest quantity but it had a lot of quality from Nintendo at least.

I know plenty of people who say just that about the SNES :P

The difference with SNES and WiiU is that SNES was pretty top of the line in specs while also having a great library. Hardware wise it was toe to toe with it's competition if not better and it didn't rely on some gimmick to sell it. WiiU cannot say that.
 
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I know plenty of people who say just that about the SNES :P

The difference with SNES and WiiU is that SNES was pretty top of the line in specs while also having a great library. Hardware wise it was toe to toe with it's competition if not better and it didn't rely on some gimmick to sell it. WiiU cannot say that.
The SNES had what you like to call gimmicks though. Super Scope and mouse. Only a a few games used them though. You could also say more buttons on the controller was a step up in the innovation stakes. What you say is true about the SNES having decent specs for the time. But I still think it was the SNES games that sold the SNES. Hardware on it's own does nothing, it only give you the the potential to make good games. Of cause better hardware (beefier specs and more innovative controls) increase that potential. But it's up to the game developes to realise that potential within their games. Many games on the SNES really reached that potential and even tried to push it further with things like the Super FX chip.

The Wii relied on innovative (or gimmicky to some) controls to sell it and it did well though. I still think games sell hardware and it's always been the case for Nintendo. Both the Wii and WiiU had innovative controls. The difference was the WiiU had no console selling game on launch and that was the killer.
 

CrimsonCavalier

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The SNES had what you like to call gimmicks though. Super Scope and mouse.

I think the big difference was that the SNES didn't force you to play with the Super Scope and mouse, the Wii U makes you play with the GamePad.

I mean, at this point it's too late to start arguing about the GamePad. That ship has sailed.

That said, I still don't think the GamePad was the reason for the Wii U's lack of success.
 
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With regard to the gamepad, Miyamoto talked recently about how its impact was diminished because between the time of development and release for Wii U, tablets began to improve and flood the market, which made the gamepad seem much less novel. Part of me wonders if Nintendo didn't see this writing on the wall during the development cycle which could be why they rushed Wii U to market a year ahead of the competition and and without enough solid launch games; they may have felt that waiting another year would hurt the new console more than releasing without a full lineup of games at launch.

Personally, I think Nintendo's branding of the Wii U hurt it more than anything. In my mind, the console is excellent and the games are second to none - but when I first heard about a new console coming out called the "Wii U", the first thing I thought of was "Pee-eww", and I was even confused wondering if the name was a joke. If Nintendo had done something as simple as calling the console the Super Wii, I think millions more of the same console would have flown off the shelves.
 

CrimsonCavalier

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With regard to the gamepad, Miyamoto talked recently about how its impact was diminished because between the time of development and release for Wii U, tablets began to improve and flood the market, which made the gamepad seem much less novel. Part of me wonders if Nintendo didn't see this writing on the wall during the development cycle which could be why they rushed Wii U to market a year ahead of the competition and and without enough solid launch games; they may have felt that waiting another year would hurt the new console more than releasing without a full lineup of games at launch.

Personally, I think Nintendo's branding of the Wii U hurt it more than anything. In my mind, the console is excellent and the games are second to none - but when I first heard about a new console coming out called the "Wii U", the first thing I thought of was "Pee-eww", and I was even confused wondering if the name was a joke. If Nintendo had done something as simple as calling the console the Super Wii, I think millions more of the same console would have flown off the shelves.

I actually agree. I think the Wii U's biggest flaws were an early release and terrible marketing, the name included. When people think the Wii U is just a peripheral for the current console, you know your marketing failed big time.

And the kicker is they're doing it again. They're releasing another console way too early.
 

ectoBiologist

Still Fandom Trash
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Short Answer: No

Long Answer: I just didn't think the Wii U had enough quality titles, and the ones that were quality weren't as good as compared to other similar games on different systems. It was definitely lacking in quite a few categories. I think it would have been more worth it if there was an ACTUAL Zelda game to come out, or some new series that were revolutionary for Nintendo. Maybe if I bought more games I would have enjoyed more, but from what I've played it wasn't that great of a console.
 
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I got mine a little after it came out, but I feel for the games that I play it for it was totally worth it. I don't have a Wii so I use my Wii U as my Wii instead of getting an actual Wii. This allowed me to finally play TP, SS. Which I thought both of those games were great, especially TP. But I dont really have that many titles for it, the ones that I do are all amazing (to me). Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D world, Donkey kong tropical freeze,... you get the point. But I wish they didn't give up on it so quickly. I feel ever since they announced they were working on the NX they just dropped everything for the U and just said "push it all back for the next one"

I also skipped the Wii, & just got the WiiU. As much for playing TP & SS & WW, as for the exercise games.
But let me ask you, I'm having a heck of a time getting TP or SS to start up. You know how you have to buy the old Wiimote with Motion Plus or whatever it's called. I CANNOT GET THE CURSOR TO POINT & CLICK ON SOMETHING. Yes, I've synced. I've synced 50 times. The guys at GameStop were worthless (of all the things I thought they might be able to help me with) and I've yet to find any other forum with anybody addressing this problem (granted I only spent about an hour searching before throwing a fit.)
Did you have any problems?
 

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