Editorial: The Wii U is going out with a whimper and that sucks
Three months ago I wrote an opinion piece and said, it was a good time to buy a Wii U. I still think there is value in buying a Wii U this late in the game, especially since a lot of titles are coming to the Nintendo Selects range, the Wii U eShop is brimming with amazing Nindie content (how long will that last) and of course Breath of the Wild.
But for those who already have invested in the console, for those who have been there since day one – the system is effectively dead. That really sucks, but what’s worse is the way it’s going out not with a bang but with a whimper. In just over a month Paper Mario: Color Splash will launch, it’ll probably be good despite the hate-mind against it since reveal. After that though, what’s left for the Wii U?
LEGO Dimensions and Skylanders.
Sure we have The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sometime in March, but until then there’s nothing scheduled at all for the Wii U from Nintendo or third parties at retail. November? Nothing, December? Nil, January? Zero, February? Zilch. Including most of October and then March, that’s over 6 months of absolutely no releases for the system.
Are we just supposed to accept that?
It’s a metaphor.
Obviously in reality there’s nothing we can do, third parties won’t have a bar of the system, Nintendo’s teams have moved on and in some cases we’re getting ports of Wii U games on the 3DS. You can’t blame Nintendo for that, there’s almost 5 times the amount of people who own a Nintendo 3DS – porting them makes financial sense and no one should begrudge Nintendo for wanting people to play their games.
Nintendo is adding value to the Nintendo 3DS by porting games to the system, adding amiibo support to Animal Crossing: New Leaf, New 3DS gets SNES games on Virtual Console – the 3DS is going to go out with a bang. Nintendo has doubled down on that system.
Elsewhere we have both Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem coming to mobile which should be fun if nothing else. There’s no shortage of stuff to play for Nintendo fans.
Whether or not the Wii U is your only console, it still feels like we’re getting robbed of a great send off for the console. Maybe it just doesn’t deserve it or maybe Nintendo is better off just cutting and running?
I have ONLY Nintendo consoles in my household, and given the amount of games I have in my collection that I haven’t completed, nor barely started due to parenting and lack of game time, I have a tonne of great games to tide me over until the NX hits our shores! I realise that wouldn’t be the case for a lot of gamers, but like you said, there’s not much you can do without more solid titles being released between now and March! We all just have to enjoy the gems we own already, and bide our time for now for more gems to grab our attention on NX next year!
I’m in the position where the Wii U is not my only console, cause I have a ps3 with games i still haven’t completed. The Wii U, however is my primary gaming console and I am extremely disappointed in the fact that it’s a dead console now. I’ve still got Wii U games to complete that will take a while and will probably tide me over till March (Hyrule Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Lunatic mode on Tokyo Mirage Sessions#FE) until Breath of the Wild releases. Its just sad that the Wii U which was a solid console is going out with a whimper and not a bang. I’m completely hyped for Breath of the Wild but if the NX turns out to be worth getting day 1 my Wii U is just going to be completely forgotten cause why would I get the game for Wii U when i have an NX?
Even with the NX i’m still concerned even with Nintendo saying that they wont make the same mistakes with the Wii U that it wont have the impact it needs. There is only one officially confirmed game for the console, so unless we are getting some big hitters like a new metroid game the console won’t sell. That leaves people waiting even longer between waiting for solid library to build on the NX meaning they wont take the risk in buying the console and having a “dead” Wii U for another 6-12 months on top of the 6 month wait now.
Same. I plan on completing my enormous backlog of titles. It’s some nice breathing room before the NX stuff hits.
I’m just going to go a little off topic about the Wii U for a sec and highlight the 3ds. I’m just as worried about the 3ds’s life span as well, especially with the last nintendo direct. I love my 3ds and it has had a great first half of 2016. Bravely Second, Project X Zone 2, Fire Emblem Fates, Kirby Planet Robobot were all games I got Day 1 cause I was excited for them. This second half of 2016, however, makes me worried for the 3ds’s future. I am only genuinely excited for one game (Azure Striker Gunvolt 2) and I am only going to get Pokemon Sun/Moon cause it’s Pokemon. Sure there are games like Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice and Dragon Quest VII but I’m not into those series. Early 2017 doesn’t seem entirely promising either.
the wii u has the longevity that all the other consoles know and i think most owners of the console know that. they know in 10 years mario kart 8, smash bros, donkey kong, mario bros etc. will still be there and still be some of the most fantastic versions of those titles. that’s all that matters to me, the console and the games are timeless
Personally, I don’t think this is a bad thing.
You say the Wii U is getting abandoned for the NX, but on the flipside, that might mean the NX will be getting NEW GAMES INSTEAD OF PORTS.
Remember how horrible some system launches were, when the first two years were just the Game of the Year/Definitive Edition of a dozen games from the last 5 years?
Yes, I see the irony of Breath of the Wild being a launch title, but we haven’t exactly heard about other ports being launch titles, yeah?
I think it is a shame the Wii U is being left out in the dark as its final goodbye. But again if that means the NX has some really amazing games, and maybe more importantly, franchises, that people have been screaming out for, then maybe it is worth it. I think the sooner they announce the NX, and the games that are coming out for it, the better we will all feel, and hey, if it really is an amazing system, maybe we will also quickly forget about the barren Wii U finale?
The 3DS to me feels like it’s in its way out too. Sure, it was actually a pretty good Nintendo Direct for 3DS owners, but of the biggest releases were none the less Wii U ports. Mario Maker getting a stripped back online component could be telling too of where the long term interests are and the lack of desire to fully support a new online platform.
I’ll grab Mario Maker. If I hadn’t 100% completed it, Yoshis Woolly World would have been a good buy. The announcements did leave me feeling as though the NX is where the portables future is though given the biggest news IMO were ports.
Not that I’m too fussed, again hopefully it means a great NX launch lineup.
Paper Mario
Breath of the Wild
Lego Dimensions
Skylanders
Darksiders (1st game)
Just Dance
Nindies
Virtual Console releases
Look, it’s not a massive list by any stretch of the imagination, but there’s enough there to tide me over until NX. The Wii U has been my favourite Nintendo console since the SNES and even if this is the beginning of the end, I feel I’ve more than got my $400 worth over the past few years.
It was always going to be the case…look at Nintendo’s Xmas for the wii U last year…Mario Tennis etc, it was just a lack of effort to really keep the Wii U alive, I think Super Mario Maker was the last Wii U ‘exclusive’ before Zelda (before the 3DS version came along). I’m sure we’ll get a ton of ‘it was like the Dreamcast/underrated console’ articles in the months to come, but the sad reality is that this was Nintendo being cocky with their Wii and totally stuffing it up big time with the Wii U.