Thoughts on the common reasons for Wii U fails

[Gamer4647]

This is heavily oponion based so don't shoot me down, but I think most of the reasons about the Wii U failing are rather odd:

• How outdated specs and third party support are issues with the Wii U is confusing since the Wii had no problem with third party games and was widely successful despite being behind the Xbox 360 and PS3

• The name may be an issue, but somebody could have thought the PS4 is a 4th iteration of the original Playstation or the Xbox One being the original Xbox (no offense) and accessories would normally say, straight after it's name, what it is (Turtle Beach Headset, Wii U Pro Controller, Xbox Chatpad, etc.) so shouldn't be too confusing to gamers

• The gamepad is a gimmick but it worked well with the 3DS and DS systems, so how it didn't work on a much more powerful system is baffling, especially since they could have made more impressive games using the two screens

• The launch lineup could be considered as a reason for it's shortcomings, but if regarding to Nintendo exclusives, the original Wii probably didn't have a killer launch either

• The price is expensive, but wasn't matched to real next gen consoles £500, so not exactly a big hit

However, feel free to mention anything I might have missed (such as marketing) or prove me wrong below

 

[Hayleia]

I'd mostly say it's the lack of games (at launch or even now). Personally, if I got a Wii U today, I'd only get Smash 4 (that I already have on my 3DS) and Splatoon (that I'd rather play either with a mouse or on a handheld) on it. And I'd have to buy a TV too on top of that. Really, do two games justify paying a whole console and a TV ? Not in my opinion.

Then yeah, of course, I'm probably quite hard to satisfy, one may say (and tastes depend on people so obviously, I only like two games but people can like more). But still, since the 3DS has more games I like, I bought 3 of them and no Wii U. That choice doesn't take power or anything into consideration, just the game library.

 

[TheSpiritedWarrior]

I'd mostly say it's the lack of games (at launch or even now). Personally, if I got a Wii U today, I'd only get Smash 4 (that I already have on my 3DS) and Splatoon (that I'd rather play either with a mouse or on a handheld) on it. And I'd have to buy a TV too on top of that. Really, do two games justify paying a whole console and a TV ? Not in my opinion.

Then yeah, of course, I'm probably quite hard to satisfy, one may say (and tastes depend on people so obviously, I only like two games but people can like more). But still, since the 3DS has more games I like, I bought 3 of them and no Wii U. That choice doesn't take power or anything into consideration, just the game library.

There are much more wii u games than just those 2.

Personally, on the top of my mind, xenoblade chornicles x, donkey kong country tropical freeze, splatoon, and mario maker have justfied my purchase. I have much more games (first party) but these are my personal favorites. There are plenty of wii u games and in my opinion, the purchase is worth it.

Games such as Splatoon are not capable enough to be on a handheld, and for me, I would prefer shooters on the tv in the first place. I am excited to buy Star fox Zero and Legend of Zelda in the future, and never really cared about how it was a "failure."

 

[Hayleia]

There are much more wii u games than just those 2.

Personally, on the top of my mind, xenoblade chornicles x, donkey kong country tropical freeze, splatoon, and mario maker have justfied my purchase. I have much more games (first party) but these are my personal favorites. There are plenty of wii u games and in my opinion, the purchase is worth it.

Well I said in my post "Then yeah, of course, I'm probably quite hard to satisfy, one may say (and tastes depend on people so obviously, I only like two games but people can like more)". Because really, in the list you mentionned, the only game I'm interested in is Splatoon. I don't like Mario games in general (I launched 3D Land only once on my 3DS), I don't like Xenoblade (same, only launched once on my New 3DS), and I remember playing a lot of DKC a long time ago but for some reason, I'm not interested anymore (otherwise I'd have DKCR for 3DS).

I am excited to buy Star fox Zero and Legend of Zelda in the future, and never really cared about how it was a "failure."

Yeah, I didn't say it was a "failure", because to me, it only has 2 interesting games but the PS4 and XB1 combined have 0 games, so if the Wii U was a failure according to me, what would the PS4 and XB1 be ?
So yeah, I only explained why I'd personally not buy one, at least for now, but if you have a lot of games you like, obviously get one and enjoy them. That's what I'd do too if it was the case for me, and that's what I do with my 3DS systems.

 

[Gamer4647]

The thing is why are there no games?

The audience is the only thing, not the console itself; nobody's interested with the Wii U, so nobody will develop for it
The gaming industry is too reliant on third party games across multiple platforms, rather than the games that make each console stand out
If every game was released on all platforms, there would be no point buying a specific console for a certain name, and the gamers nowadays are somewhat responsible
People are expecting more realistic games, rather than unique games, which is a bummer to people looking for some variety, and it's also about how powerful the system is now, not how good the games are; people nowadays are more interested in Call of Duty, Fifa, and that Star Wars 'reskin' of Battlefield (BTW, I'm not saying these are bad)

 

[Pookie]

The biggest fail of the Wii U is making fans believe that it was a hybrid. They leaned in too close to that topic and the fans are mad at what they got. The Wii U also needs a messaging system like the PlayStation and Xbox consoles have. Also having a camera but no allocation to take regular pictures is a huge mistake made by Nintendo.

 

[Gamer4647]

The biggest fail of the Wii U is making fans believe that it was a hybrid. They leaned in too close to that topic and the fans are mad at what they got. The Wii U also needs a messaging system like the PlayStation and Xbox consoles have. Also having a camera but no allocation to take regular pictures is a huge mistake made by Nintendo.

The cameras on Nintendo systems are generally cheap and since everybody has smartphones, it's not too bad
I agree that they need to implement a better system such as notifications, but not a messaging system since Miiverse already handles the conversation part of things (sort of anyway)

 

[Pookie]

The cameras on Nintendo systems are generally cheap and since everybody has smartphones, it's not too bad
I agree that they need to implement a better system such as notifications, but not a messaging system since Miiverse already handles the conversation part of things (sort of anyway)

Miiverse does a horrible job on the messaging system, you don't get a notification other than the home button lighting up. Some people may not notice it or play on the Screen, like I do. The PlayStation and Xbox messaging system has a pop-up on the corner of the screen, and you can simply press their version of the home button to check the message.

 

[9070]

Everything.

It's incredibly underpowered, Miiverse is awful, the OS is slow as hell, it lacks third party support and there aren't enough first party games to make it seem like it has any life. 3-4 month droughts are not okay. Also it wasn't advertised at all.

 

[Gamer4647]

The cameras on Nintendo systems are generally cheap and since everybody has smartphones, it's not too bad
I agree that they need to implement a better system such as notifications, but not a messaging system since Miiverse already handles the conversation part of things (sort of anyway)

Miiverse does a horrible job on the messaging system, you don't get a notification other than the home button lighting up. Some people may not notice it or play on the Screen, like I do. The PlayStation and Xbox messaging system has a pop-up on the corner of the screen, and you can simply press their version of the home button to check the message.

I did say about notifications, and said 'sort of anyway' about Miiverse

Everything.

It's incredibly underpowered, Miiverse is awful, the OS is slow as hell, it lacks third party support and there aren't enough first party games to make it seem like it has any life. 3-4 month droughts are not okay. Also it wasn't advertised at all.

Ok

 

[3905]

The launch for it wasn't really that great, and it lacked good advertisement up until recently, at the predicted end of the Wii U's production life. The sales for the Wii U haven't actually picked up until about 2014 when titles like Mario Kart and Smash Bros making appearances for the fans to love. They fixed most of their mistakes now, but it's kinda late since the Wii U is pretty much gone after 2 or 3 years >.>

Hopefully the NX has a way better launch than the Wii U, otherwise who knows how well that thing will sell? >.<

 

[TheSpiritedWarrior]

Well I said in my post "Then yeah, of course, I'm probably quite hard to satisfy, one may say (and tastes depend on people so obviously, I only like two games but people can like more)". Because really, in the list you mentionned, the only game I'm interested in is Splatoon. I don't like Mario games in general (I launched 3D Land only once on my 3DS), I don't like Xenoblade (same, only launched once on my New 3DS), and I remember playing a lot of DKC a long time ago but for some reason, I'm not interested anymore (otherwise I'd have DKCR for 3DS).


Yeah, I didn't say it was a "failure", because to me, it only has 2 interesting games but the PS4 and XB1 combined have 0 games, so if the Wii U was a failure according to me, what would the PS4 and XB1 be ?
So yeah, I only explained why I'd personally not buy one, at least for now, but if you have a lot of games you like, obviously get one and enjoy them. That's what I'd do too if it was the case for me, and that's what I do with my 3DS systems.

Cool, that is pretty understandable.

The launch for it wasn't really that great, and it lacked good advertisement up until recently, at the predicted end of the Wii U's production life. The sales for the Wii U haven't actually picked up until about 2014 when titles like Mario Kart and Smash Bros making appearances for the fans to love. They fixed most of their mistakes now, but it's kinda late since the Wii U is pretty much gone after 2 or 3 years >.>

Hopefully the NX has a way better launch than the Wii U, otherwise who knows how well that thing will sell? >.<

I dunno... Nintendo has failed way too much with all their launches (for home consoles). Especially with rumors of a "ps5" and "xb2", I feel that once these consoles launch, the nx is in the dust. I honestly think nintendo is much more successful in their handhelds then the home consoles. They should release consoles and handhelds like normal, but no matter what nintendo actually does, their handhelds will always be the successful ones.

 

[3823]

I think people underestimate the Wii U because it came out at a weird time in the year. It was like dead-in-between after the ps3 was already made and the PS4 was in progress. Nice timing, Nintendo xD (If I'm correct) >.<

I was honestly hoping for more adventure games on the console but that didn't happen. Now I'm just waiting for Zelda U ;-;

 

[3dsatackman]

I would say the name was a big one, I knew a lot of people who thought that the WiiU was just going to be like the wii with some better graphics and a really cool controller(the gamepad). And along with the name there were hardly any really great games that came out when the WiiU first started, I think that if a game like Mario Maker had come out around the launch of the WiiU it would have helped out a lot with sales.

 

[dilawer]

Wii U failed because "Kids".

 

[Blue Knight]

The main reason it failed was, imo, the Gamepad.

The gamepad consumes many systen resources (thus limiting graphics, sound and gameplay), is tough to program for, limita multiplayer and many other flaws.

Had they gone with a more standard ganeplay method, like simply using the Wii Remotes or the Pro controller, it would have worked far better, have a better gane lineup, be cheaper (unless they used the Gamepad money to add to the actual console's specs) and overall more successful.

 

[2071]

The Wii U needed to have better launch in my opinion. The launch is a time that is particularly important because if it's not good, then for the following years it'll be hard Also, the manygames didn't seem to interest the audience besides only a select few. A lot of people were misinterpreting the entire console too ;-;

 

[Bobcam7!]

My opinion? The Wii U bombed because of the lack of communication (Leading some to believe the Wii U was just an add-on) and the fact that it took a gambit.

Ninty has always been prone to step out of the box. Nintendo played a large role in the video game industry, from the very start. Always introducing new things like the Wii's motion controls. In the Wii U's case it just didn't pay out.

 

[423]

The ads... the ads. Their marketing method wasn't too great, plus a lot of people thought (myself included) that they didn't explain enough detail about the Wii U. Tons of consumers didn't like the size of the gamepad, either. There was simply a lot of miscommunication, but the NX will hopefully rectify this issue. :/

 

[Chief]

I'm not sure if this has been already been mentioned but I was just turned off by the restrictive online play options. When comparing the features to Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is behind. Sure, they have great franchises on their system, but I'm getting older and my interests are changing. They just seem stuck on the same games and I needed something new. So I never ended up buying the Wii U console. I think I might be done with Nintendo.