Console Debate #21 Wii U

[fox | 1,665]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

Never played one, but I know most of the library from other consoles.  A fair amount of good stuff, but no reason to play it here.  And I can't say a tablet thrills me.  And of the remaining exclusives, Xenoblade is the only one I particularly want on the Switch.

Probably like a 6 or 7. 

[Nintegageo | 582]

This and the 3DS are the only Nintendo consoles I've never played. It's Nintendo so I'm sure it is good.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

4. The top end is really good, as basically all Nintendo platforms are. NSMBU is oustanding, one of the very best Marios IMO, and Mario Maker was amazing too, making it the best 2D Mario console since SNES. And then the third party games... oh damn there aren't any. A Nintendo console with only 150 games across its 5 year lifespan, including all the Funky Barns, Turbo Stunt Squads, The Croods, and Ben 10 Omniverse 2s. Big yikes.

The only thing more disappointing than Wii U is that we had to relive another 3 years of Wii U after the Switch came out when we got all the same games fed back to us again.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

12 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

The only thing more disappointing than Wii U is that we had to relive another 3 years of Wii U after the Switch came out when we got all the same games fed back to us again.

Sucks to suck.  Us (super) late adopters got to experience 2 consoles at once.  Sans iPad.

Finally, my laziness pays off! 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,012]

10 minutes ago, Nintegageo said:

This and the 3DS are the only Nintendo consoles I've never played. It's Nintendo so I'm sure it is good.

The latter is a crime. 

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

6 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Sucks to suck.  Us late adopters got to experience 2 consoles at once.  Sans iPad 

Finally, my laziness pays off! 

2 consoles?? Switch has Wii U, Playstation, PC, Gamecube, PS2, and Wii remakes, ports, and remasters. Just about the only console game I have yet to play on a Switch is a Switch game. 

[Brickman | 3,983]

I went with 4.

First party and some third party stuff is great but unfortunately the rest sucks and the console is bad versus the Xbox and PS3. I'm glad nearly everything has been ported to the switch from the Wii U that was good. Just need that Fatal Frame game!

[Vectrex28 | 366]

One for the bin. All of the remotely decent games for it got ported to the Switch already. Even the bloody Virtual Boy has more games worth playing (Wario Land VB, V-Tetris, Teleroboxer, etc.)

[Nintegageo | 582]

1 hour ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

The latter is a crime. 

I think that was when I was done school.

[OptOut | 8,883]

What's a Wii U?

[JamesRobot | 5,788]

Well it's automatically better than the Wii.  You have the entire Wii library, it's HD, and it's controller scheme is finally nailed down to a real standard after essentially three generations of experimental controllers.  And the tablet while not perfectly executed, is clearly a Switch prototype. 

[nrslam | 474]

I'm in the minority for really liking this console. My manly hands have no issues with the tablet, and I can use it to play games without tying up the TV. The game roster is small but I enjoy many of them, and it wasn't too hard to get them all fairly cheap. Likely the last console I'll ever have a full set for. Being able to play all the Wii games is a nice bonus. 8.

[TDIRunner | 2,730]

The Wii U was one of the best consoles Nintendo ever made. It's just a shame they handled it do poorly. The sad thing is that most people who complain about it don't even know what they are talking about. Many complain about the tablet, but it's rarely required. I have hundreds of hours with the Wii U and I've turned on the tablet maybe 3 or 4 times.  If you like it it's there. If not, don't use it.

The Wii U has by far the best ratio of good games to bad of any Nintendo console. Of course that's easier when the library is under 200 games with almost no 3rd party support. However, shovelware is almost nonexistent. Sadly the system has been made mostly obsolete by porting all of the games to thg he Switch.  But I'm glad Nintendo did this because some really amazing games were released for the Wii U and many people would have missed out otherwise. 

[AstralSoul | 502]

I have a lot to say about this one...

I used to crap on the Wii U a lot, and not without reason as during it's lifespan the library was sparse and underwhelming at best, on top of that, the gamepad was good in theory but having to be tethered to an outlet with it or lose battery in 2-3 hours, along with the fact that if broken the gamepad was difficult to replace as they didn't just sell new ones in stores. Many of the games they put out felt half assed, like Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, Animal crossing amiibo Festival, Star Fox Zero, along with the rereleases of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess being the consoles' only real Zeldas as BotW was more of a switch game at the point it came out as everyone had moved on. Third party support was the worst it ever was for a Nintendo platform. There was so much that Nintendo did wrong during that generation that it is the one Nintendo console that I never care to revisit.

But yet I rated the console a 6 which by definition of the topic is a "good" console meanwhile judging from my bashing of the system it would read more like a 2/10 or worse. Why? Well, quite simply, the console was more of a great console with missed potential than anything. It could have been amazing if they marketed it better and built it's library and got more third parties on board. I was not a fan of the Wii and in my opinion the Wii U was and could've been bigger and better than it. The fact that Wii U could play Wii games was a plus, the gamepad was a neat idea that I really wish got to see it's true potential, unlike the motion control innovation of the Wii. When the games were good, they were great, even amazing. There's a reason games like Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Pikmin 3 and Mario Kart 8 got ports to the Switch - they're amazing and some of the best the Wii U had to offer. Had that kind of quality graced the Wii U the entire span of its life, the system itself could've been amazing.

It's a shame that the system flopped the way it did. I really wanted to like it. I guess I did like at times, but looking back it's the most forgettable gaming experience I'vee had especially now that I can just play my favorite games from it on Switch. And theres not much more I can say than that. 

[peg | 370]

Honestly I think I'd rather play the 64 than this shit. 1/10.

[Webhead123 | 675]

6/10

It boasts a handful of great titles but the whole thing was so horribly mismanaged and half-baked that it really has no relevance anymore, especially since all the best stuff was (smartly) migrated over to the Switch.

I only bought one used and only ever owned a handful of games for it. But I must say, at the time, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon and Mario Maker were pretty incredible and...the Wii U was where I first fell in love with Breath of the Wild...before I saved up the money to finally get a Switch. For that, I'll always appreciate the Wii U despite its failures.

If it weren't for the fact that it houses a few of my now-unobtainable Wii Ware-only gems like the Konami "ReBirth" games, I probably wouldn't bother keeping it. Konami needs to get a clue and release those games as a physical collection. Once all the Wii and Wii U hard drives die off, the world will have lost three really excellent games.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Webhead123

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

3 hours ago, OptOut said:

What's a Wii U?

It's a gamepad accessory for the Wii that no one bought I think.

[Strange | 1,700]

Gross.

The first Nintendo console to really disappoint me. The first party stuff was good, but no console can survive on first-party titles alone. Not even a Nintendo console.

[Estil | 1,264]

As I mentioned before, I honestly think the Wii U was a half hearted stop gap sort of deal.  How do I figure you might ask?  Well, the Switch does pretty much everything the Wii U does, except it's much smaller/thinner, and most importantly of all, actually holds a decent battery charge.  So what I'm saying is the basic idea of the Switch was already mostly the Wii U (the one big exception being those Voltron like joy-com controllers)...the problem was that back then (2012) the tech wasn't ready/cost efficient back then to shrink the tablet down to a more manageable size and have it hold a decent battery life. 

For example, a full color lit screen portable was certainly possible back in 1991 (Game Gear) IF you didn't mind it being more expensive, needing more batteries, and the batteries being eaten up like cookies in front of Cookie Monster.  Why else do you think Nintendo didn't have a color portable until 1998 and didn't have a lit/rechargeable one until 2003?  Incidentally when I first saw a picture of the GBA in magazines I honestly expected it would be about Game Gear/Nomad size, believe it or not.

I'm probably not explaining this quite right but I think Nintendo knew the Wii U was probably not going to be as successful as the Wii...but they couldn't just keep the Wii going for that long and needed something to fill the gen gap.  This might also explain why (in my eyes) they spent way too much time in the Switch's first year or two with mostly Wii U ports.  I wanted the Switch to "be itself" so to speak.  I guess it's another piece of (albeit circumstantial) evidence that the Switch was what Nintendo wanted the Wii U to be all along but back then the tech wasn't ready/affordable enough yet.

I'm honestly glad to have my Wii U and at the time I really thought it had potential.  I wonder if at some point I should do that Wii U homebrew channel thingie like I did a few years back with the Wii if it's now realistically possible to have Wii U roms/isos on it so I don't have to change discs.  Or you guys think it's too soon?

Edited March 27, 2021 by Estil

[ifightdragons | 234]

This might be harsh, but I'm only waiting for these games to receive Switch ports, and it's goodbye to that joke of a console:

Wind Waker HD

Twilight Princess HD

Yoshi's Woolly World

Edited March 27, 2021 by ifightdragons

[Estil | 1,264]

3 hours ago, ifightdragons said:

These might be harsh, but I'm only waiting for these games to receive Switch ports, and it's goodbye to that joke of a console:

Wind Waker HD

Twilight Princess HD

Yoshi's Woolly World

And if they never get Switch ports, what then?  Won't that just blister your bagpipes? Remember I'm still patiently waiting for Mario Kart 9...which  every console since SNES and every handheld since GBA has gotten.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Estil

[Tulpa | 3,490]

5 hours ago, Estil said:

I'm probably not explaining this quite right but I think Nintendo knew the Wii U was probably not going to be as successful as the Wii...but they couldn't just keep the Wii going for that long and needed something to fill the gen gap. 

Wasn't so much a generation gap as the Wii U and the Switch are both considered eighth generation consoles (and Nintendo probably doesn't give a shit about console generations.) It was more getting a high definition console on the market since HDTVs by that time had critical mass among consumers.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Tulpa

[croagunk | 798]

7/10. There are some good games on the Wii U. The only thing I don’t like about it is the game pad and how some games require the use of it. I like using the pro controller.

[ifightdragons | 234]

5 hours ago, Estil said:

And if they never get Switch ports, what then?  Won't that just blister your bagpipes? Remember I'm still patiently waiting for Mario Kart 9...which  every console since SNES and every handheld since GBA has gotten.

Lol yeah that would be annoying.

I'm very optimistic that all the Zelda games will be remade and remastered ad nauseaum, but the Yoshi game - which is quite good - is but a thin hope.