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Wii Switched them up for U

(Can I have points for the title?)

So the mini direct hit today and revealed a lot of ports and DLC (does this mean a longer direct with top tier 1st party games will drop soon?) all coming to the Switch.

Like the Gamecube before it, the Wii U didn't sell very well but still had some great games. Those great Wii U games are quickly running over to the Switch.

Mario Kart 8 and Pokken are already there (and Rayman but meh), now we have Bayonetta 1&2, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and Hyrule Warriors coming too. All almost within the space of a year.

I imagine that the top tier WiiU games will all be on Switch by 2020. Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Captain Toad, Paper Mario Color Splash, Super Mario 3D World... hell, Pikmin 3 (a damn Wii U launch title) will probably see some Switch life.

Poor Wii U, poor Gamecube, people don't support a console even though they know Nintendo put out quality software and then expect to see the games on the next console because they 'missed' them (and then complain about having too many ports).

I dont want to retread the 'how do you feel about ports' question, ports and re-releases can be a good thing if the games are so old that they're hard to get a hold of.

But expecting ports of great games from a console people actively avoided is something else. Obviously Nintendo needs to make their money back and what better platform is there than a well performing console... but dammit, if people wanted to play the games why didn't they buy the console?

Anyway... despite needing to make money, should Nintendo be pouring so many ports of the Wii U into the Switch?

Do you think the Wii U ports are selling Switch units where they initially failed to sell Wii Us?

(I have a friend now wanting to buy a Switch because of DK and Hyrule Warriors... i could wire up my Wii U and have them play those games right now, but they want to play on Switch...)

What made these games so undesirable on Wii U but so good on Switch? And dont say the handheld freedom because most of the people i know will play them exclusively docked.
 
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Princess Niki

Allons-y
Staff member
Moderator
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Aug 27, 2011
Location
Alola
For me it's handheld freedom but I have a Wii U and most of these games but have yet to beat them cuz I tend to use my 3DS and Switch more since I like to take them to school. Bayanetta is the only port so far I don't own already and that's cuz there were games I wanted more and could barely afford at the time.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
(Can I have points for the title?)
Sure. The title on it's own makes zero sense so I had to read the topic to see the context.

Mario Kart 8 and Pokken are already there (and Rayman but meh), now we have Bayonetta 1&2, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and Hyrule Warriors coming too. All almost within the space of a year.
Splatoon 2 is a port in all but name.

Anyway... despite needing to make money, should Nintendo be pouring so many ports of the Wii U into the Switch?
If it's what the public want (based on sales) the sure. As lnog as nintendo keep putting out enough new content as well, there's no harm. The ports are often outsourced anyway so it's all good.

Do you think the Wii U ports are selling Switch units where they initially failed to sell Wii Us?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Splatoon 2. Both WiiU ports on the Switch that are selling huge numbers of Switches. Nintendo refusing to do firect ports and insisting on new content being added is a good idea. It helps the ports sell.

What made these games so undesirable on Wii U but so good on Switch?
The lack of a console selling new game. Most people are willing to buy a port on the Switch because they already own the console thanks to BotW or Mario Odyssey ot another new content game. Getting a port to go with that is fine. But back in the WiiU days you had to buy the console to play the ports because there was no good new games worth getting a WiiU for, for at least for first 2 years of WiiU life. MK8 was the first game people seriously considered was WiiU console selling worthy and that released ages after the console did.

The short and easily understandable answer is this.
Good ports sell well to those who already own a console. You need a good new game however to get that console sold in the first place.
 
Joined
Jun 14, 2011
I'm not really fond of what Nintendo is doing at the moment, it's basically ripping the uniqueness of the Wii U away from it. There are loads of good games for the Wii U, if they are going to port every single one of them like they seem to be doing, then why make the Wii U in the first place? It's a very underrated console and it's a shame Nintendo is trying to do everything to make sure people forget it exsisted. I'm not saying they should still support the Wii U as the Switch is with us now, but by god, give the Wii U a break! So what if it was a commercial faliure, don't take away the few things that gave it some dignity, not even the virtual boy got that treatment.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
I'm not really fond of what Nintendo is doing at the moment, it's basically ripping the uniqueness of the Wii U away from it. There are loads of good games for the Wii U, if they are going to port every single one of them like they seem to be doing, then why make the Wii U in the first place? It's a very underrated console and it's a shame Nintendo is trying to do everything to make sure people forget it exsisted. I'm not saying they should still support the Wii U as the Switch is with us now, but by god, give the Wii U a break! So what if it was a commercial faliure, don't take away the few things that gave it some dignity, not even the virtual boy got that treatment.
A lot of people take this attitude about Nintendo. I respect this attitude however I want to share my thoughts on it.

I personally believe that the games and IPs are what Nintendo considers unique, not the hardware itself. If Nintendo makes an amazing game, they want as many people as possible to enjoy the unique experience. That's why many of their best selling first party games are ported multiple times over. Nintendo knows the WiiU was a commercial failure. However some of the games first released on the WiiU were amazing and unique. Why should a failed console block the opportunity of more people enjoying the unique experiences of great games?

The Nintendo hardware is just the tool or price of admission to experience these amazing games. A good tool or console allows for a better in game experience. I believe the ports existing at all is actually putting the WiiU library on a higher pedistool. Nintendo believe more people want to access this amazing library. Nintendo feel these games deserve a 2nd life. Failed hardware should never limit the ability of anyone to experience a great game.

As an aside, this is the exact premise of the Virtual Console. To give those old games another life. Sure the purists want to play them on old RGB modded actual NES and SNES hardware. But the rest of us are ok with just playing the ports on the VC. Sure it's not the exact look from the 80's and 90's but it's close enough and it helps scratch that nostalgic itch. Another example of the good games being the amazing experience and not the harware itself in isolation.
 
I'm finding the ports irritating for multiple reasons. As someone who has a handful of the games in question already on Wii U, it's not giving me any reason to get a Switch. They're milking out titles they made years ago so they can continue not learning from their mistakes. Instead of reflecting on where the Wii U went wrong, they're just gonna keep throwing more and more titles (most of which already exist, so it saves effort in developing games) to give the Switch as strong of an early game lineup as possible. And it's just not fair. It's basically a half-assed life insurance policy for the console. If Nintendo knew how to market their games in the first place, they wouldn't have to do it that way.

Moreover, if I do get the Switch, I still will have to pay full price for games I already own--some of which I paid for DLC originally. I mean, at least I won't have to pay for the DLC all over again (since it is now included as part of the actual game!!), but I'm still having to pay for the game. It's like the ultimate "**** you" to all the people who put faith in Nintendo by getting the Wii U. They failed us, and this is their way for thanking us for believing in them. Robbing the Wii U of its lineup in general is really lame, like, the Wii U did in fact have some good titles on it, but it's Nintendo's fault that they suck at marketing them that the games were not enough to save the Wii U's sales. But porting them to the Switch is lazy. They are going after literally every moderately successful Wii U title and putting it on the Switch. Maybe they learned how to expand their marketing techniques, but not including the people who got Wii U's in the first place in that audience is really ****ty. It's like they think only Nintendo loyalists got the Wii U, so we'll definitely blindly rebuy all the games we already own.

Though, that's not even what's bothering me the most right now. Nintendo is using the ports as a way to disguise the fact that they take way too long to develop strong games. The reason the Wii U failed, I believe, is because Nintendo was unable to keep up with other game developers in keeping big releases coming. By staggering out games that have been on the Wii U, they're neglecting addressing and correcting this glaring issue that they have--and once they run out of Wii U titles to port to the Switch, the Switch could very well find itself lacking new first party releases. They're just using the WIi U ports to buy them time. That's the only reason I can think of. Re-releases will keep the money flowing, and their customers somewhat occupied, while they work at a snail's pace on new games.
 
I have no problems with with so many Wii U ports coming to Switch because I bought some games I feel confident won't come to Switch, and I played them enough to feel my purchase was worth it. New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, the original Splatoon, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Nintendo Land, etc. probably aren't coming to Switch, and I played them long enough, especially the first three to make their exclusivity to Wii U worth it.

Is it a shame the Wii U won't have as strong a legacy down the line? Sure, I loved the little box and hoped people would remember it fondly down the line. But I'm glad millions of people now have a chance to play games they missed out on. Ports don't use much resources compared to new games so the many people who skipped a Wii U are satisfied and Nintendo pads out the year. It's a pretty sparse first half of the year for people who bought a Wii U, however, as only Kirby and Mario Tennis are there as new titles.

I also disagree with the sentiment that Nintendo still isn't used to HD development and is slow to make new games. We got Breath of the Wild in March last year, Arms in June, Splatoon 2 in July, Super Mario Odyssey in October, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in December (I'm not including Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle as that was developed by Ubisoft). If Nintendo can churn out a high quality first party release every other month, that's a good release cadence to maintain.
 

Lozjam

A Cool, Cool Mountain
Joined
May 24, 2015
People didn't buy Wii U games because the Wii U was a badly misunderstood console with terrible marketing and an identity crisis.

People buy Wii U Switch games because the Switch solves a fundamental problems a lot of busy gamers have, and all titles have the extra function of portability. They want to either experience new amazing games they missed on the Wii U, or pick up the games because of the portability. Porting games to the Switch takes an incredibly small amount of effort to creating new games(most of the time, Nintendo just hires outside development teams). It doesn't affect new games at all, as we have clearly seen.
I'm finding the ports irritating for multiple reasons. As someone who has a handful of the games in question already on Wii U, it's not giving me any reason to get a Switch. They're milking out titles they made years ago so they can continue not learning from their mistakes. Instead of reflecting on where the Wii U went wrong, they're just gonna keep throwing more and more titles (most of which already exist, so it saves effort in developing games) to give the Switch as strong of an early game lineup as possible. And it's just not fair. It's basically a half-assed life insurance policy for the console. If Nintendo knew how to market their games in the first place, they wouldn't have to do it that way.

Moreover, if I do get the Switch, I still will have to pay full price for games I already own--some of which I paid for DLC originally. I mean, at least I won't have to pay for the DLC all over again (since it is now included as part of the actual game!!), but I'm still having to pay for the game. It's like the ultimate "**** you" to all the people who put faith in Nintendo by getting the Wii U. They failed us, and this is their way for thanking us for believing in them. Robbing the Wii U of its lineup in general is really lame, like, the Wii U did in fact have some good titles on it, but it's Nintendo's fault that they suck at marketing them that the games were not enough to save the Wii U's sales. But porting them to the Switch is lazy. They are going after literally every moderately successful Wii U title and putting it on the Switch. Maybe they learned how to expand their marketing techniques, but not including the people who got Wii U's in the first place in that audience is really ****ty. It's like they think only Nintendo loyalists got the Wii U, so we'll definitely blindly rebuy all the games we already own.

Though, that's not even what's bothering me the most right now. Nintendo is using the ports as a way to disguise the fact that they take way too long to develop strong games. The reason the Wii U failed, I believe, is because Nintendo was unable to keep up with other game developers in keeping big releases coming. By staggering out games that have been on the Wii U, they're neglecting addressing and correcting this glaring issue that they have--and once they run out of Wii U titles to port to the Switch, the Switch could very well find itself lacking new first party releases. They're just using the WIi U ports to buy them time. That's the only reason I can think of. Re-releases will keep the money flowing, and their customers somewhat occupied, while they work at a snail's pace on new games.
PS4's first 2 years was entirely PS3 ports/cross releases. It's just simply how development works. The PS4 actually didn't have any worthwhile exclusive until Bloodborne released. However, how can you say this, when we have had the biggest year from Nintendo, in over 20 years?

From March, we got an insane amount of titles, even when you take out Wii U ports. 2 of which are games that have won numerous game of the year awards.

Breath of the Wild did release on Wii U, yes. But I will include it especially considering that people do count TP as a Wii game, not a port.

In terms of exclusive games, Nintendo Switch had:
Breath of the Wild
Super Bomberman R
1, 2 Switch
Snipperclips
ARMS
Splatoon 2
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Fire Emblem Warriors
Xenoblade 2
Super Mario Odyssey

But Nintendo is now taking a third party approach as well. And it did have a lot of really amazing third parties games as well. There was:
Doom
Skyrim(with Zelda content)
Sonic Mania
Stardew Valley
Dragonball Xenoverse
Rocket League(with Mario and Metroid Content)
Disgaea 5
Steam world Dig 2
Minecraft(with exclusive Mario Content)
L.A. Noire

And I am not even digging to the bottom of the barrel.

For 2018 so far, we have so far(there are going to be more games announced in the future):
Kirby Superstar Allies
Octopath Traveller
Mario Tennis Aces
Fire Emblem
(Potentially) Pokemon
Yoshi
The World Ends With You
No More Heroes: Travis Strikes again

Along with a solid third party lineup, being:
Fe
Megaman 11
Dark Souls Remastered
Wolfenstein 2
Starlink
Bloodstained
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Pacman
Dragon Quest Builders


Now, you can say what you will. These games may not appeal to you personally(you should know that you would be in the vast minority there considering the amazing sales of the Switch). But you cannot say that Nintendo's development is slow, or that they aren't getting enough games. That is a downright lie, as they have been getting more titles in the Switch's first year, than the Wii U's entire lifetime.

To put this in perspective, there are 745 games on the Wii U. This includes all retail gamss, all Eshop exclusive games, and all virtual console games.

The Switch has not even come out of its first year. There are currently 615 games on the system. There isn't any virtual console, nor any back catalogue from Nintendo to bolster that number. 615 games, in the Switch's first 10 months, versus 745 games in Wii U's now 5 years in the market.
 
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mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
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i don't exactly agree w/ the wave of wii u ports coming on the switch if only b/c it reminds of the era where nintendo did nothing but rehash,but i can't entirely dislike b/c the wii u was such a dumpster fire that giving these games a second chance on a system people actually want can only be beneficial to nintendo and consumers who missed on these games the first time
i for one will be looking forward to playing hyrule warriors and the bayonetta games for the first time
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
From March, we got an insane amount of titles, even when you take out Wii U ports.
But Nintendo is now taking a third party approach as well.
That's a very smart tactic to take. The exact opposuite the WiiU did. The WiiU launched with the ports and the good games came later. Nintendo realised their mistake and dealt with it. The Switch first 6 months to a year was mostly games people really were hyped up for or certainty sellers like the Splatoon and Mario Kart ports. Once everyone has already bought a Switch, Nintendo is asking us, hey want a nostalgic port to take on the go with the Switch you already own?

Ports work really well to make money. But they only sell well they people who already own a console. All the WiiU ports no one bought because there was no good game reason to buy a WiiU in the first place. People are willing to pay $60-$100 for a good port, but not $450 for a console + ported game.

The PS4 is an anomoly of sorts. The poor botched WiiU and XB1 releases I think directly led to the PS4's initial successes. History shows the most powerful console doesn't sell the most hardware units because the hardware developers get the focus all wrong. The PS4 is the most powerful of it's generation (out of consoles that actually matter). The PS4 had no right to win but everyone else screwed up badly that the PS4 only had to limp over the line to win. Sony however to it's credit realised this and didn't want to win by default and stepped up it's game to make the PS4 a huge success.

If we consider now the era of Switch, PS4 Pro and XB1X, it's obvious who the winner is. The Switch by a long shot. The Switch didn't even have a backlog of games to use to carry over like the other two.

I do think Sony is slowly realising Iwata's mantra. Be at the heart of gaming. Our gaming hearts don't care for pixel counts and other such numbers. Our heart only cares for fun. Go to any PS Experience and look at the hype there of any game they just name drop and say nothing else about. The crowd there loses their collective mind. As long as the game looks good and is overall a good game, the fans of that particular IP will be happy. They expect only one thing. A really fun game. Of cause fun is a subjective thing but as long as enough people find that IP fun to generate enough sales, it's all good. This is on the game front though. On the hardware front, Sony still has a long way to go to realise that putting fun at the centre of any console design is the most important thing.
 

Jimmu

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
From a business standpoint it makes sense for them to be bringing these games to a wider audience for the cash dollar aspect. Many people skipped the Wii U and thus will want to buy the ports which can also be made with far less difficulty than an entire new game.

For me though, they aren't convincing me to get a Switch (as a Wii U owner). None of the exclusive Switch titles have me sold on the console as of yet and I can play many of these ported games on the Wii U (a little extra content that may not be available on a Wii U isn't enough to make me pay full price for a game again). I'll probably get a Switch eventually, maybe I just still have a sour taste in my mouth after the Wii U and the harsh realities of many adult commitments plus growing up are somewhat holding me back from jumping in like I might have five years ago.
 

misskitten

Hello Sweetie!
Joined
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Location
Norway
I don't think it's that the games were undesirable on the Wii U, but that the Wii U itself was undesirable for most (and I speak as someone who really loved my Wii U). Its whole life cycle it's had a really bad reputation, while the Switch has a really good reputation. The Switch's choice of docked/portable play is definitely an added desirable element because it gives us more freedom to choose how we want to play. And I do think the rest of the game library is another factor, the Switch already have several system sellers, so combined with these desirable ports, it's become "worth it" in people's minds to have the Switch rather than the Wii U.

Also, in terms of your friend, I bet another reason they would rather want to play on Switch - aside from the added content to both of those games - is that there's a big difference to play a game on a friend's console than your own. On your Wii U they get to try it, but it will be unpractical to properly play through them - while on their own Switch they don't depend on your availability to play, and though they are likely to exclusively play them docked, the option to play on the go is likely to be desirable. Also the console is by far the easiest to transport. I've been spending the past two weeks at my parents' place, and I brought my dock and extra controllers with me, allowing me to much more easily share the experience with my nieces. I would never have considered even trying to bring another home console with me like that. But because of how easy the Switch is to transport even with dock and wires, it was just a given for me that I would do that.

As for whether Nintendo should bring so many ports, as a Wii U owner, I still say yes. I especially think this is important since the Switch is the first modern Nintendo system that isn't backwards compatible. Every handheld since the Gameboy colour and every home console since the Wii has allowed us to play the former system games on our new system. It was an added selling point, especially if you skipped a console generation - which I did with the Gamecube. Now my stack of Gamecube games could nearly rival my stack of Wii games. Since we cannot just insert Wii U games into the Switch to play - porting those games instead is even more important now than it has ever been. And I do hope they continue, even if they end up porting every single Wii U game I ever bought. It won't take away any joy I've had with any of those games or make me feel cheated that I bought the old system, and I might even rebuy some of them to play on the go (though, definitely not all).
 

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