It's probably their worse console since nes
That or the Wii.
It's probably their worse console since nes
I saw your list and although i think it's a fair point, i found it strange that great games like art of balance, child of light, freedom planet and others aren't there. They are all above 80% on gamerankings too.I don't agree at all, I think it's Nintendo's worst console (other than Virtual Boy), probably by a significant margin. I think it's severely lacking in quantity of games compared to other Nintendo consoles. Many major Nintendo franchises are outright missing (exclusive Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Mario Golf or Strikers off the top of my head), and the third-party support is abysmal even compared to N64/Gamecube/Wii, looking at the lists in my topic here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1220838
I don't regret purchasing it, I enjoyed my Wii U and it's justified itself as a console worth owning to me. It's still worse than the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii IMO.
I love my Wii U but honestly I loved the N64 more. Maybe it's the nostalgia but there were so many games on that system that I spent hours upon hours on. The Wii U still gets some love but not nearly as much.
In the past, the degree to which most of the Wii U games (bar a few cases like Smash and Mario Kart) were "better" than their GameCube/Wii/3DS analogs content- and gameplay-wise was about the difference we'd see between sequels on the same platform.
Some good examples:
NSMB U vs. NSMBWii
Wii Sports Club vs. Wii Sports
Pikmin 3 vs. Pikmin 1/2 NPC
Zelda HD remakes vs. Zelda GCN/Wii originals
Super Mario 3D World vs. Super Mario 3D Land
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze vs. DKCR
Except this time you had to buy a $300-350 console to get those sequels...sequels that for the most part (outside of HD visuals which we've seen aren't a huge selling point for Nintendo) you could have gotten on Wii.
That's not a good look.
I saw your list and although i think it's a fair point, i found it strange that great games like art of balance, child of light, freedom planet and others aren't there. They are all above 80% on gamerankings too.
Still, i guess it's fair though.
Aside from 3 games, Nintendo hasn't really done much of that. The amount they did is vastly overstated by the fandom. Brawl, MKW, and Skyward Sword were really the only games guilty of that. And Nintendo has always been good at great fun games, the Wii had tons of them. And excessive content is the last thing I would use to describe most Wii U games.
NSMBU and progressive in the same sentence? I don't buy that. It's one of the safest platformers I've ever seen. Safe is a word that describes most of Nintendo's output on the Wii U. Save for Splatoon, Mario Maker, and W101, most of Nintendo's Wii U games are just rehashed Wii/DS ideas, 3D world takes it a step further by rehashing a 3DS game.
That's what Nintendo has ALWAYS been about. That's never changed. I'm sorry if I sound cynical towards the Wii U, but let's be honest here. Nintendo has put out far better products IMO. It has great games true, but most of the brilliance on Wii U honestly, just comes from indie developers. Nintendo played it far too safe with this platform and it's a shame. Splatoon, 101, and Mario Maker are the only things Nintendo has put out that capture the innovative spirit of the Wii/DS era.
I get it. I agree with you on this, but i don't think it's much on Wii u's fault. Most sites tend to review the best version, which usually is the ps4 version. Wii u reviews are usually relegated to dedicated sites, but the same happens with the Xbox one versions, with some exceptions. They make a general review, but using the ps4 as the lowest denominator. I was seeing this on mn9 reviews, where the u version got some exclusive problems which makes it have a lower metacritic than the other versions, but in the meantime, there is much less reviews about it.It's because they have less than 10 reviews. The fact that they're excluded due to low review count is a fair counterargument, but I also think it speaks to how irrelevant Wii U versions of games like those are to a lot of people that they don't bother to get reviewed as much. For example, Child of Light is on several other platforms where it is probably cheaper during sales than it ever was on Wii U, and Freedom Planet came out like a year after the PC version.
Again, I admit it's a fair point though, and I think it is a potential flaw in my list. I also think there are N64 games that were excluded due to low review count, since there weren't as many reviews back then.
But those three games are in arguably the most important franchises for Nintendo: Zelda, Smash, and Mario Kart. A big part of a Nintendo system's appeal, to me, are the quality of games in these evergreen franchises. I expect to play Kart, Smash, and Zelda for dozens if not hundreds of hours. So shit like tripping and rubber banding is a big problem for the overall enjoyment of the console. MK Wii in particular was pretty bland and uninspired. It's still MK, though, so I had a great time with it.
And I liked all those games for Wii, even put Skyward Sword in my top 10 Nintendo games list. I liked the Wiimote and motion controls too. But I still feel that, overall, Wii U software quality was higher and the experience more focused on fast paced fun. Even an undisputed masterpiece like Galaxy seemed slower paced and more methodical than 3D World. That's my opinion and all, but when I think Nintendo, I think "throw me quickly into an imaginative, colorful zany world and give me fun, creative ways to get to the flag pole". That's what the NES, SNES, and Wii U libraries particularly excelled at IMO.
If you ignore the lazy shovelware, there were plenty of games that used the Wii Remote well. Like No More Heroes, MadWorld, and Nintendo's first party games. And the Wii was far from dark times, they perhaps one of the best times. Maybe not for the pretentious "hardcore" crowd who takes the medium way too seriously, but for everyone, it was fine. If anything, another Wii or DS is probably what Nintendo needs right now after the mess the Wii U made.I agree with the OP. Wii U felt like a love letter to gamers after the waggle tragedy of the previous gen. Too bad that meant abysmal hardware sales. I'm worried about the NX, because I feel like Nintendo will be trying to recreate the Wii and those were the dark times as far as I'm concerned.
SNES still the best though.
But there's more to Nintendo than just those games. Where's the Wii U's Sin & Punishment, Punch-Out!!, WarioWare, Endless Ocean. Where are the quirky casual games? the great revivals? The simple local multiplayer? The distinct, arcade feel? I'm not arguing you on the Wii's S/K/Z entries, I'm just saying that the Wii U is lacking so much of what the Wii got right.
The Wii still delivered on those types of games. Sin & Punishment, Rhythm Heaven Fever, WarioWare, Excite games, Art Style series, Mario Strikers Charged, NSMBWii, DKCR. So it's unfair to discount the Wii in that regard. Hell, the GameCube and N64 had plenty of those types of games too.
The sad thing is the kind of games you're asking about are lacking in all of gaming now as it's becoming more of a hits driven business. I think Nintendo still made a nice effort this gen for smaller quirkier titles, developing or producing games like Pikmin 3, Lego City Undercover, or Capitan Todd. And I'd also argue that Wii U made up some of the gap with pretty good indie support. But yeah, we're not seeing as many titles like Boom Blox or Excite Bots in general. Last gen was kinda the last gasp for that, so score a point for the Wii library there.
My point about Wii U delivering though was not that other consoles didn't give you that classic Nintendo fix, but, that Wii U did it better IMO. MK8 was WAYYY better than MK Wii, same with Smash Wii U vs Brawl or NSMB U vs NSMB. I liked all of these Wii iterations, but Wii U library versions were much better. I loved DKC Returns, but Tropical Freeze is a huge improvement; I'd say it even rivals DKC 2. And although this is divisive, IMO at least, I preferred 3D World to the Galaxy games, though they're all brilliant.
As we can see, a lot of this is based on personal opinion and taste. But IMO at least, Wii U games did a better job of what Nintendo is best at than games on N64/GC/Wii. The library isn't reinventing the wheel and is lacking mid tier depth from previous generations. But when I think "I want to play some Nintendo!", I'm reaching for the GamePad first.
Edit: meant "developing or publishing", not "producing".
I apologize if it seems like I'm shoving my opinion down your throat. That's not my intention. The Wii U has great games, fantastic games even. But with a few exceptions (Splatoon, indies, Mario Maker) it lacks the imperfect, yet sincere charm and innovative spirit of the Wii/DS. Even the main gimmick of the system, was just haphazardly slapped together with no real thought, and is nowhere near as clever, intuitive, or Foward-thinking as the Wii Remote. I don't mind the idea behind the Gamepad, but it's execution really kills it. I don't hate the Wii U, rather I see it as similar to the Sega Saturn, or Windows 8. There are some great ideas, and even great games, but all that potential is locked behind bad design and poor business decisions. Hopefully the NX gets Nintendo back on track.
Hmm, see I'd consider the Wii and Wii U innovations to be equally under-realized. In both cases, I feel they only met their respective potentials twice. For the Wii-mote it was Wii Sports and Skyward Sword. For Wii U it was Nintendo Land and Super Mario Maker. So a few bright spots on either end of the lifetime, with some decent implementations here and there in between, but I don't think either system succeeded or failed on the basis of its' "gimmick". They're both good systems based on their libraries, not because either moved gaming forward with innovative control inputs.
I agree with your Wi points, but this is a bit much.The Wii U in comparison, feels like a cynical cash grab
That's essentially what the Wii U is, Sega Saturn 2.0. True, every product was designed with the intention of making money. But what I ment by cash grab was that Nintendo wanted to ride off the Wii's popularity with a new system, without understanding what made the Wii popular in the first place. As such, it ends up as a Wii successor in name only, as everything the Wii did right was tossed out the window with the Wii U.I agree with your Wi points, but this is a bit much.
Every product is a 'cash grab' in a sense, and I don't see anything cynical about the Wi U,
The Wii U is balf baked, that is for sure. I think they must have had pans to merge handhelds and consoles and/or foresaw a tablet boom and were developing these concepts, when they were forced to rush out a console due to the Wii dying.
The gamepad ended up an expensive albatross that went nowhere, and pointless backward compatibility hobbled the power while keeping costs up.
It reminds me of the Saturn - a rushed out, badly designed, too expensive console with a bunch of competing priorities all squeezed into its design.
Pros:
- Several of their series received their best installments yet on the Wii U; 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3, Smash 4, Yoshi's Woolly World, Tropical Freeze, New Super Mario Bros U/New Super Luigi U. I'm betting Paper Mario: Color Splash will follow this trend, can't wait.
I think following the Wii was one of their priorities that got lost.Nintendo wanted to ride off the Wii's popularity with a new system, without understanding what made the Wii popular in the first place. As such, it ends up as a Wii successor in name only, as everything the Wii did right was tossed out the window with the Wii U.
I think following the Wii was one of their priorities that got lost.
I think they understood what made the Wii successful, but had no idea how to follow it up. They wanted another innovation to carry on the Wii name, and realised better motion control would not be good enough (see the failure of Kinect 2 to see this assumption was correct). Then needed a new innovation. They just chose poorly.
Following up the Wii with a Wii 2 with a better Wii Remote (heck even just the motion plus version as standard) would almost certainly have done better. But would probably have stalled at max ~50 million, in the same was the 3DS has.
They rolled the dice and lost. Playing safe would have been a guaranteed loss, but a much smaller one most likely.
Yes it is all over the place, I'm agreeing with you.Well it definitely didn't seem like it, because Nintendo vision with the Wii U was all over the place. First they were hyping it up to be a PS360 competetor, then they were promoting it as a media box, then a family fun time system, then a hardcore Nintendo fans system, now some weird children's system. See what I mean? There's no consistent vision, it's just slapping random shit together and hoping for the best.
What's weird is that Nintendo had a ver y lackadaisical attitude towards the Wii U from the moment it was unveiled. The lack of info they gave after their vague and rushed reveal, and the lack of attention they gave the system throughout most of it's life. It's as if they knew this thing would bomb, yet they released it anyway.Yes it is all over the place, I'm agreeing with you.
But one of the things it wasn't was a Wii 2, and I think they were correct to not do that in a sense.
What they ended up doing ended up far worse, but I think it was just circumstances that forced it. They needed a system out, knew it couldn't be a Wii 2, and pushed out a prototype.
Yes, Gamecube is the only 'what everyone else is doing' console they have ever released.the innovation involved in all other nintendo platforms can't go without saying. every platform did something unique that the last didn't (barring gamecube)
If you think SNES was the peak then N64 started the decline, not GameCube...Nah. SNES was the peak of Nintendo consoles. Gamecube started the decline.