Why did the Wii U die so fast? (In your opinion)

[Samster]

We all know how much of a flop the Wii U was when it came out. The ads were lame, it was overpriced, and the system wasn’t even that great. Pretty much the only thing that kept people playing it was the games, like Super Mario Maker, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Nintendo Land. I believe the Wii U died mainly because Nintendo gave up on it. I saw constant complaints that you could only use one GamePad with a console, and Nintendo did nothing to fix it. They didn’t sell GamePads separately, they didn’t do anything right. The Wii U died because Nintendo didn’t try anymore once they saw people didn’t enjoy it. They didn’t try to make it better or submit to customer’s demands, they just let it die out. That’s my opinion on it, anyway. So, what’s your reasoning on why the Wii U passed away so quickly?

 

[NATT44]

That seems to be about right, from what I understand.
I never had Wii U. I only regret it because I missed out on a few good first-party titles, but in the end I think the Switch will cover all my bases.
Another part of it may be the design of the controller/system itself. Nintendo sort of went in a different direction and it just didn't work out. Not a lot of games took full advantage of it, so it just ended up being inconvenient to use, especially with the bad tech support as you said.
They're bringin' it back with the Switch, though, that's for sure!

 

[Zukrad]

The marketing for it was terrible, the first announcement it wasn't clear if it was a new console or just a new accessory for the Wii, and since the announcement put way too much emphasis on "New controller" rather than "Wii 2", I as well as many other assumed it was going to be a new accessory for the Wii

It also had a lot of issues in the game departments, it had not many significant titles during most of its run, New Super Mario Bros. U (the 4th New Super Mario Bros. in the last 10 years), Zombie U and Nintendo Land being the Wii Sport equivalent, by focusing on showing off the Gamepad gimmick, but unlike Wii Sport, they did not come with the console for free...

Everything else at launch had been avaliable in other consoles for a while or had little promotion beforehand

Shortly after other games were released, being Game and Wario (the worst Wario Ware imo), Pikmin 3 (only in NoA), Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. While the catalog on the Wii U has improved sort off, is still pretty bland compared to prior consoles and the switch, which is about 2 years old. Look who there is not a single Pokemon game aside from the worst Rumble yet, no Zelda game until BotW (and Warriors I guess), the only Kirby game was the terrible sequel to the terrible paintbrush Kirby on the DS, there was no Fire Emblem (Mirage of Season doesn't count... as a game), no Metroid at all, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart and the new IP Splatoon came way too late, and more importantly most of the AAA games being released in every console and PC wasn't available on Wii U

The reasons of this last one are still vague, but the biggest one seems to be that Nintendo force the usage of the Gamepad on the developers, which they eventually just gave up on the extra effort to put a game on a console that was barely selling. And Nintendo also forced the gamepad gimmick onto themselves, ruining many games gameplay like Paper Mario and Star Fox Zero

The Wii U has a chain of terrible decisions and it pretty much killed itself

 

[Shiny]

Yeah I wasn't sure if it was just a new Wii controller or not. They were not too clear on that. I'm sure if Ninrendo advertisted it better and properly it would hve become a lot more successful.

 

[luigiFTW]

One big reason people stopped porting is because the game engine was outdated. The os is actually a upgraded version of the wii os.
Plus it was really hard to make games work with wii remotes, so games required use solely of the gamepad or pro controller, making sales worse.

I have brought my wii u to other people’s houses and they still had a hard time grasping that its not a wii, its a wii u, even though you can use your wiimotes.
Then they ask, “well why wouldn’t i just use the wii then?” And i facepalm and say “do you see those graphics?” Or “the gamepad doesn’t work on the wii!”

The wii u was only for intellectuals.

 

[Shiny]

One big reason people stopped porting is because the game engine was outdated. The os is actually a upgraded version of the wii os.
Plus it was really hard to make games work with wii remotes, so games required use solely of the gamepad or pro controller, making sales worse.

I have brought my wii u to other people’s houses and they still had a hard time grasping that its not a wii, its a wii u, even though you can use your wiimotes.
Then they ask, “well why wouldn’t i just use the wii then?” And i facepalm and say “do you see those graphics?” Or “the gamepad doesn’t work on the wii!”

The wii u was only for intellectuals.

it would been really cool if you could use the Wii U Gamepad to play Wii games.

 

[luigiFTW]

it would been really cool if you could use the Wii U Gamepad to play Wii games.

you can, but only as a classic controller in wii games you have downloaded to your wii u XD

 

[Shiny]

you can, but only as a classic controller in wii games you have downloaded to your wii u XD

Ah, so its kind of pointless in a sort of way, right? Still cool though I guess.

 

[Arshan]

I think it was a combination of both horrible marketing, and lack of support on Nintendo's end.

Of course, we all know about how horrible the marketing ads were, just look at some of the advertisements for the system and you'll immediately see why. Marketing plays a big deal in how the system is perceived by the general person. If you showed me a PS4 ad next to a wii u one without showing me the game lineup, 9/10 people would choose the PS4. It looked like the console for gaming, while the Wii U was just a child's toy in comparison.

The second reason was Nintendo's own lack of titles for the system. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, which has a bunch of higher quality titles coming out every month, the Wii U would have an entire year between First Party releases. For the year of 2017, 2018, and what we've seen of 2019, the switch get's 2 system sellers per year, along with about 7 other switch titles that sell incredibly high numbers each year. The Wii U on the other hand, had huge droughts of third party games, with nearly nothing to play.

Another argument could be made that the Wii U wasn't powerful enough to run third party games, but neither is the switch, and it still get's third parties. The problem was just the switch sold much more, so the companies wanted to get in. The reason the switch sold more was because of the first party games.

 

[Samster]

All of these are fantastic points. Nintendo didn’t listen to the fans on this console, they just gave up. They shoveled out games, and quickly tried to change gears and speed towards the Nintendo Switch (known as the NX back then).

 

[TheSpiritedWarrior]

Back in the Wii u days I absolutely refused to believe that the console would die early and Nintendo would somehow make a hoard of games and make the console popular again. Of course, that never happened.

It's marketing and a bad name, I'm pretty sure that even with a lack of games it would've easily sold to Gamecube levels if the execution of the console was better. Bundling a super popular console like the Wii with the Wii u branding seemed like a good idea and a way to easily inform the consumer, but Nintendo didn't think that naming thoroughly enough since people would confuse the 2.

Nintendo is still behind the times in regard to 3rd party, good hardware (internally) and modern infrastructure. There is still a severe lack of 3rd party support from the big guys and the smartphone hardware probably is part of the reason. Modern infrastructure such as a proper UI and GOOD online with proper servers is also really bad on the Switch. For the heck of it, the Wii u did these things better since online was free, basic entertainment apps were available, the UI wasn't so boring, and Miiverse definitely helped make the gaming experience less lonely.

Nintendo nailed the marketing of the Switch and that contributed to its widespread success, that's all there is to it. Make the consumer feel like they need it and they'll fork out the cash.

 

[EnderLord]

I think, like pretty much everyone else, that the reason the Wii U was such a failure and died so fast, was the poor marketing. The marketing featured a lot of kids, and that made it look like a child's toy. It didn't look like something the young adult or teen audience would want to buy. Like @TheSpiritedWarrior said above me; the name wasn't a good idea as well. The whole "Wii U" name made it seem like an extension to the Wii, for example, the N64 Disk Drive, which also flopped, and never got a worldwide release outside of Japan.
Sometimes, marketing decides if a console is a hit, or an utter failure. The Wii U and Nintendo Switch are both examples. The Wii U's marketing seemed like the console only appealed to kids; a child's toy. The Nintendo Switch's marketing, however, had an emphasis on young adults and people of that age group. Sure, there were kids, but they weren't the predominant force in the advertisements. It didn't look like a child's toy; it looked like a professional game console. It looked like a console.. for everyone. That, my friends, is why the Wii U died so fast; poor marketing

 

[DarkSSJShinji]

I agree. The marketing for the Wii U console wasn't all that great.
What I also think why Nintendo abandoned the Wii U so quickly was because it
was a test run for the Switch. All of the development suddenly went to the Switch when the Wii U
flopped in the market. If the Wii U had the technology and functionality that the Switch has now, it probably
wouldn't have died so rapidly.

 

[Shiny]

I agree. The marketing for the Wii U console wasn't all that great.
What I also think why Nintendo abandoned the Wii U so quickly was because it
was a test run for the Switch. All of the development suddenly went to the Switch when the Wii U
flopped in the market. If the Wii U had the technology and functionality that the Switch has now, it probably
wouldn't have died so rapidly.

The Wii U could have been the Switch, but if that had happened, then there wouldn't be such thing as the switch, unless the Wii U was named the Switch, but then the Wii U wouldn't of actually happened because the Switch would have... Okay thats enough xD

 

[luigiFTW]

I agree. The marketing for the Wii U console wasn't all that great.
What I also think why Nintendo abandoned the Wii U so quickly was because it
was a test run for the Switch. All of the development suddenly went to the Switch when the Wii U
flopped in the market. If the Wii U had the technology and functionality that the Switch has now, it probably
wouldn't have died so rapidly.

This is extremely unlikely, as they probably got the idea of the switch from what people wished the wii u was. Why would they make a system that is a creative idea to test another idea that they already thought would be successful?
More likely they got the idea from what people wished the wii u was and decided to end the wii u earlier so they could use the better idea (though the idea for wii u was still creative and fun, just didn’t sell as well)

 

[Shiny]

Its too bad the Wii U died. There are some great games on it! Super Smash Bros 4, Mario Kart 8 (without this there wouldnt be the deluxe version!), Splatoon (no Splatoon, no Splatoon 2, no Marina), Super Mario Maker, and multiple other games. The Wii U was actually pretty cool.

 

[Samster]

Splatoon (no Splatoon, no Splatoon 2, NO MARINA).

GOD, THE HORROR. Thank God Nintendo made Splatoon.

 

[Duffy]

Yea I think it was sort of a perfect storm of badness for the Wii U. Firstly it had to follow the Wii, and most successful consoles' successor does not perform as well sales wise. It also looked less like a gaming device and more like a fischer-price toy... Not exactly something most gamers want. It had lackluster third party games which led to bad sales, and less third party games and that cycle continued throughout it's entire life. Many of the first party Nintendo titles were not as well received as previous games, and the ones that were received were not system sellers (Mario Kart 8, Splatoon) with the exception of sm4sh, which was on 3ds so many people didn't feel the need to pick up a wii u for it. It didn't help that it had poor marketing and was a less powerful system then the competition. It really didn't have the major things going for it, and sales reflected that.

 

[Zok]

I watched the Wii U launch pretty closely.

1. Terrible name, "is it a Wii upgrade or something?"

2. Bad hardware at launch, way behind PS4 and other consoles

3. Bad launch titles, very few new items, mostly reboots (Mass Effect 3 again, etc.)

4. Nintendo's dev teams had to learn (waayyyyy too long) how to use Wii U graphics/hardware
a. Which means no big new Nintendo titles at launch and lots of delays on announced games (Pikmin 3)

5. Third party teams forced to squeeze every bit out of the Wii U just to run games on low

6. Weird Nintendo focus on "adult gamers" and mature third party titles (Call of Duty etc) even though other consoles were miles ahead

7. Terrible use of the Wii U gamepad, wasn't used well in games
a. In same-room multiplayer, only one person having the gamepad created an asymmetrical experience that either didn't work or got stale

 

[Major]

Well it could have been because of the poor way they marketed it. It confused people a lot cause people didn't know for sure what they were trying to do with it at 1st. I have one know and really don't find it all that bad depending on the games you get for it. It's fun for me and I enjoy it. Really it's the switch prodo type cause it's all the switch is with a few changes here and there. At least that's what I think.