How the Nintendo Wii U Failed

This is the most original video I've ever done. Nobody has ever talked about the Wii U's failure.

★Gear I use★

[thecliffracer]

Once I got a GameCube emulator running on my wii u I genuinely started loving this console

[spunkieworks]

It’s the father of the switch tbh, Nintendo just didn’t care about the Wii U.

[Painmaster]

I got my Wii U at launch and didn't regret it one bit, as I was able to play some terrific games across its life cycle and enjoy some of Nintendo's best franchises in HD for the first time. Having said that, I still hope they port most of the Wii U's best games to the Switch so more people can enjoy them.

[maarekstele]

The WII U is highly under rated and also misunderstood. I love mine but like YSN I bought mine to play Nintendo games. Actually come to think of it over the years I think I bought pretty much every Nintendo system I purchased to play Nintendo games. 3rd party support was always just a bonus for me. Most of my time was dumped into the Nintendo titles. I think this is because I had a choice of consoles / PC's etc to play games on and I went to the Nintendo consoles for the Nintendo games and other systems for other things mostly.

[MrTuri]

In my opinion, what hurt the system most, was its reputation. The Wii U was very hated among core gamers, which made the system harder to sell, also because of word of mouth. But what also hurt the Wii U, was the lack of any games at launch. The first months of the Wii U where terrible. Almost no games where released on the system, and the first ''major'' game launching was 3D World, which came a year later after the system had launched

[TheRealDustinNunn]

Failure or not, the Wii U was an awesome console. I could care less about the negatives that it had and just stick with the positives of the Wii U. If you want to talk about a Nintendo console that is truly a failure, then you should be talking about the Nintendo Switch. And why is the Switch a failure, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. Because the Switch was rushed and Nintendo should have focused a lot more on the Wii U by releasing more games for the Wii U such as the Wii U versions of Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers, Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection, a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update patch for the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8, what have you. I mean, what was the point in Nintendo porting Mario Kart 8 to the Switch when there should have been a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update patch for the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8? Look at Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and the 3DS. They went through so many patch updates. And the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8 never got a patch update? That makes no sense at all!

[Antishadowwz]

I think one of the best & underrated games that came out of the Wii U was Nintendo land, wish they would make a sequel for the switch :(

[Michirin]

I wanted a Wii U but I couldn't afford one, I'm quite poor, and was already spending what little money I had with the 3DS's FAR more appealing library... (It certainly helps that 3DS games are a lot cheaper and sales happen quite often on the eShop)

[JamesHealeyTX]

I like the Switch, but I had felt I had missed out on the Wii and Wii U generation of games, so shortly after the Switch came out, I bought a refurbished Wii U.

It actually didn't work right out of the gate, so I had to send it in for repair, but I've been pleased with the system for the most part. I like it, but I also understand why it failed, whereas the Switch has succeeded.

I do have to wonder why the Wii did so well. I now work at a game store and a lot of times I have to operate the Wii. Just navigating the main menu is a hassle, because you can't simply do it with the D-pad and A and B buttons (or 1 and 2 buttons if you're holding it sideways). Having to plug in the motion sensor, position the motion sensor in the right place, and then use motion controls to operate just the main menu is a major hassle. I understand the novelty of motion controls, but even the Nintendo DS had a main menu that could be navigated without using the touch screen.

[Jaythaking]

The Wii U's concept and games were great, but the console was not.

[thanksbitch]

As a lifelong Nintendo fanboy, I will tell you the reason that this is the only console I ever skipped...aka...why I didn't buy one.
There were just no "console selling titles" for the system.
The biggest selling point for Nintendo consoles in the past for me was "I need it to play the new Mario or Zelda"
Super Mario U was 2-D, lazy and uninspired. Zelda titles were all ports.
We had no new true Mario or Zelda title within the first two years of launch then we got 3-D world, and again ...that was not a game that inspired me to purchase a dying system for
No new Animal Crossing. I will say Mario Maker made me strongly consider purchasing a system....but it still wasn't enough. At the end of the day, it's just a 2-d Mario creation tool of games I'd played decades ago.
In short, just lack of a system selling game.

Super Mario Odyssey...now that's a Mario game I'd buy (and have bought) a system for.

[MrPomegranX]

Worst: Marketing

Best: Smash Brothers

[alucard]

The Wii U didn't have too bad of hardware when it was released, it is more powerful than the Ps3 and 360, while only by a hair, I definitely noticed some Wii U games were a bit more detailed, and I believe it had at least 5 1080p games, Rayman Legends, Wind Waker Hd, Twilight princess hd, Smash Bros, and Monster Hunter tri Ultimate. It is also the best way to play retro games from its E shop, as the games are then in at least 720p. I also think it did get a good handful of third party games, however, it was built up by multiple developers. My biggest issue is how bad Wii games look on it, you are far better off playing Wii games off the og Wii, with component cables and put in 4:3 for the sharpest visuals. Some Wii games will go into a letter boxed mode like this and will be sharper, the only game I know of that does that is Skyward Sword. My favorite Wii U game is either Twilight Princess HD, Super Mario 3D World, or Breath Of The Wild.

[Alias_Anybody]

I'd argue price and prestige/reputation were the most significant factors. Good press is insanely important (as we've seen with the Switch) and the price has to look justified in comparison to features and power.

[policegking]

I actually played the Wii U on a train, luckily had a seat with a power source nearby where I was able to use it. (Had it with me to show it to some friends)

[joshjhutton]

Only the Virtual Boy sold less than the Wii U.

[Jorge-tprr]

I love the Wii U. It had many great games and features. Sadly, it didn’t sell well. In fact, I like the Wii U more than the Switch. The Switch isn’t as much fun as the Wii U.

[adriancui]

I don't think you can fault Nintendo with what they did to the Wii U. The 3DS was marketed and designed the exact same way as the Wii U was, an evolution of a last gen console with a new gimmick. The 3DS had 3D, and the Wii U had the tablet, two things that were immensely popular at the time. I find it strange that one worked, and the other failed, but the 3DS could have easily failed too if it weren't for that drastic price cut in it's first year.

[dysfunctionalwombat]

I actually plan to get one. I know it wont get more games, but neither will any other console older than it. And its much cheaper than the switch. And all of the worth while Wii U games are being ported to the switch. I know the switch versions are slightly better, but I can get a Wii U and a bunch of games ported to the switch, for less than a standalone switch. And the portable argument isn't enough to convince me. I don't really care about taking games with me. And I'm buying into the Wii U for 1st party games. I do tend to have family and friends come over quite often, and I already have a ton of Wii accessories, so I don't have to worry about buying extra controllers. Because 1 set of joycons is $69 each. Which is way to expensive. I would need more than 1 set obviously, which just makes it more expensive overall

[Subject]

You could always just make the Wii U portable by using a battery pack and plugging it in. Since all you need to be up and running is the console, power to the console and the controller, it's not too difficult to make portable