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[foxuzamaki]

This is the funniest part...Yes, the trailer made it look like just a new controller for the Wii but they also -

- Made the Wii U console look 95% the same as the original Wii

- Called it the Wii U

- The playable demos all used Wii level graphics

Frightening.

That was the worse, NSMBU and the wild posts club demo they had loomed and good and was HD but the general consumer can't really differ between resolution so they just looked like the same game to them

 

[foxuzamaki]

Nintendo's forced memes are the worst.

Nnintendo never forced memes, they were just silly really but the non specific action dis in fact catch on for a while

 

[Rodney McKay]

I'm a huge Nintendo fan and I don't think I would have gotten a Wii U if I hadn't gotten it as a surprise birthday present. I remember when I launched shortly after I moved to a new apartment and didn't even know it was coming out until I walked into a Best Buy and saw the demo kiosk for it.

I remember when it came out and there was nothing I wanted play until Pikmin 3 (which I still have only played about half of). And after that there was only 3D World (which I didn't like as much as 3D Land), Captain Toad (probably my favorite original Wii U game), and Bayonetta 2 (which I own, but still haven't played, haha).

Other than those games, everything else that I was even moderately interested in were just ports (Zelda WW, TP), ended up being disappointments (Star Fox), or I wanted to play on other consoles like Rayman Legends (Vita), and all the ones coming to switch with improvements (Mario Kart, LEGO City Undercover, Smash Bros, and probably Mario Maker eventually).

Definitely the Nintendo system I've put the least amount of time with. But I do want to get back to Pikmin 3, finish Twilight Princess, and finally play Bayonetta 1+2. I didn't even buy Paper Mario for it feels like a game that might get a quick Switch port someday.

 

[Living the Dream]

BAHAHAHA

People still say this in 2017? Oh wow

It's TheMoon. He can't say a single negative thing about Nintendo.

Wii U marketing, pricing, game selections, OS, services and all were a complete failure.

The Switch had a phenomenal initial reveal, but ever since the true announcement, it's been down hill. Shame really.

A bit off topic-- did the internet just make up Karen as that girl's name or was that Nintendo?

Like your job and name, made up.

 

[Timeless]

Wii U owner and I don't think the tablet worked out at all. Added serious cost to the hardware and I can't think of one time it was more than a gimmick or an "ok". DS had great uses of the touch screen, Wii U I didn't play anything that made sense for the touch. Weren't replacement tablets $100+ via Nintendo? Or at least that was the rumor? And wasn't the console supposed to support 2 tablets per device? Is that even possible in homebrew if you have two tablets?

DS:

Ace Attorney
Picross 3D
Elite Beat Agents
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2
Professor Layton

I used the gamepad for Pikmin 3 (latest patch) and still didn't find it pleasant. I always had to slide out the stylus or keep it handy on a coffee table to manipulate the resistive touch screen. Mario 3D World used it as a complete gimmick. Zelda WW was kind of cool but could've been a smartphone app for the second screen stuff.

The whole point of the tablet was a value add. Something no other company (tablet or gaming) could do. And that was predicated on the low lag and tight integration between console and TV. But in the US, a far larger market than Japan, TVs are not such a hard commodity to have in a house that you need to do the off-screen play. So then you have tablet integration in games, which most of the time is tacked on or passive stuff like maps and inventories.

 

[Alex Stroud]

Nintendo's efforts at promoting this console were some of those most laughably bad in video game history, but I still love the little guy. Still got a lot of backlog to go through as well, so he'll be staying put on my entertainment stand while I make room for his lil' bro next month.

 

[Astral Dog]

I'm a huge Nintendo fan and I don't think I would have gotten a Wii U if I hadn't gotten it as a surprise birthday present. I remember when I launched shortly after I moved to a new apartment and didn't even know it was coming out until I walked into a Best Buy and saw the demo kiosk for it.

I remember when it came out and there was nothing I wanted play until Pikmin 3 (which I still have only played about half of). And after that there was only 3D World (which I didn't like as much as 3D Land), Captain Toad (probably my favorite original Wii U game), and Bayonetta 2 (which I own, but still haven't played, haha).

Other than those games, everything else that I was even moderately interested in were just ports (Zelda WW, TP), ended up being disappointments (Star Fox), or I wanted to play on other consoles like Rayman Legends (Vita), and all the ones coming to switch with improvements (Mario Kart, LEGO City Undercover, Smash Bros, and probably Mario Maker eventually).

Definitely the Nintendo system I've put the least amount of time with. But I do want to get back to Pikmin 3, finish Twilight Princess, and finally play Bayonetta 1+2. I didn't even buy Paper Mario for it feels like a game that might get a quick Switch port someday.

Go there and play Bayonetta NAO

 

[BiggNife]

I think it's a trailer that does a decent job of showing what the Wii U gamepad was capable of but is god-awful in terms of overall messaging and whether or not the Wii U was a new system or a peripheral.

The Switch trailer was a noticeable improvement, and they're finally ditched the confusing Wii branding, so at least they're learning.

 

[Ultimadrago]

So many people here saw how messed up it was from the word GO.

Yep. We need some quotes in here seeing how awful, blind Nintendo defenders missed the mark on this.

I guess the way they work is "Broken Clock" style.

Let's hear it for the Wii U Switch!

 

[Poltergust]

As an avid gamer and Nintendo fan, even I was confused as to what exactly I was seeing when I saw this for the first time.

Man, the marketing of this thing was soooooo bad.

 

[Garraboa]

Aww damn. I want a Karen Amiibo! XD

But yeah, the Wii U reveal trailer was absolutely putrid. It at the very minimun delivered on almost every experience it showed (except those browser and YT shenanigans, and I consider Kirby and the Rainbow Curse a "Play only on the new controller" experience).

EDIT: I mean, some people say that hindsight is 20/20, but even I remember at that time being throroughly bored at the trailer. It was just Wii up ports and that stupid Zapper with the Gamepad mounted on. I just wanted more info on 3D Land and Mario Kart 7!

 

[Finale Fireworker]

A bit off topic-- did the internet just make up Karen as that girl's name or was that Nintendo?

Karen is a very common joke name for women on the internet, like Kevin for males.

The name Karen for somebody's wife was also a Twitter joke format for a while. Things like "NOT NOW KAREN" helped cement the name as one of the western internet's go-tos.

The internet named her Karen, but in a way, it was always her name.

 

[mrkgoo]

I understand what they were trying to do, and that was to not directly compete with other consoles in a spec-war. They tried to de-emphasise the console part and emphasise the controller.

But boy did they go about it the wrong way and it backfired.

 

[broncobuster]

I remember laughing at it and closing the stream to do something else. It was bad. And for a few years there Nintendo's E3 shows recovered from the similarly bad Wii Music showing.

Other thing about the first showing, those analog sliders on the gamepad. I recall some defensiveness around choosing sliders over sticks, but thankfully Nintendo came to their senses. Now we got the Switch with mini-sticks, as it should.

 

[Ricerocket]

While there was confusion, the concept alone is why it flopped imo. Looking away from the TV to do the same shit you can do on the TV made no sense to me. A glorified map/UI companion app.

For one example, Weapon wheels makes it so you can switch to many different weapons quick without taking your focus off the screen.

That and it looked fisher price already back then without the need of the Switch to show that.

 

[Joei]

Why the hell is that guy petting his dog over video chat?

And did the Wii U actually have that feature? Insane I owned the system for several years and didn't know.

Aside from using the gamepad for item management and Zelda features in WW and TP and whatever their Mario games require me to do, and to play games obviously, I literally have not done anything else displayed in that trailer. That was so ridiculously bad. And I love my Wii U.


Oh, and the fact that we still don't have a new Zelda on the market (for another month anyways) when that was a focus....

 

[NolbertoS]

Nintendo pooched the Wii U reveal. Even then, when rhey revealed the wii U, the name they gave it was half of the problem giving Wii U poor sales. They should've marketed it better and differentiatw themselves better. Its sad that the Wii U will be remembered as a console worse than the Virtual Boy

 

[TheDinoman]

Its sad that the Wii U will be remembered as a console worse than the Virtual Boy

....eh, I wouldn't go that far.

The Wii U at least did have at least 10 good games to its name. The Virtual Boy literally had Wario Land and that was it. Wii U also at least managed to crack at least a million units, something the VB couldn't do.

Objectively speaking, the Wii U was a disaster, but I did enjoy my time with it. 3D World, Smash, Splatoon, Pikmin 3, Mario Kart 8, Tropical Freeze, Mario Maker, all good times.

 

[Brandon F]

Did such a thing even come out? I can't imagine that being comfortable.

Also the E3 2011 thread is pretty funny in retrospect.




I was right.

Funny, pages upon pages of people riled up thinking it was just a controller here on GAF. Literal confusion as to whether the console unit was just a repackaged Wii with an updated shell/look.

Obviously everyone on this forum wisened up fast, but scanning some of the pages of that thread around the trailer reveal is kind of shocking now.

But yes, given Nintendo pretty much hid the console box itself from view, even on the show floor, and pushed the gamepad so absurdly hard pretty much killed any momentum.

 

[Brandon F]

....eh, I wouldn't go that far.

The Wii U at least did have at least 10 good games to its name. The Virtual Boy literally had Wario Land and that was it. Wii U also at least managed to crack at least a million units, something the VB couldn't do.

Hey now, Red Alarm, Mario Tennis, and Teleroboxer weren't bad!

 

[Chill Penguin]

Even neogaf was confused about the messaging. If even the hardcore crowd couldn't definitively tell they were advertising a new console there's no hope for casuals. Thankfully the switch advertising has been on point.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Nintendo pooched the Wii U reveal. Even then, when rhey revealed the wii U, the name they gave it was half of the problem giving Wii U poor sales. They should've marketed it better and differentiatw themselves better. Its sad that the Wii U will be remembered as a console worse than the Virtual Boy

The Wii U is 1000x better than the Virtual Boy and will be remembered as a bad console with a good library of games. Give it this, it lasted 4 years more than the Virtual Boy's 6 month lifespan.

Hey now, Red Alarm, Mario Tennis, and Teleroboxer weren't bad!

AHMM!!

You forgot the best VB game ever.

 

[whitemex88]

 

[JawzPause]

Honestly i could write a dissertation on what a catastrophy the wii u was

 

[jay]

Is there any proof anywhere that consumers didn't understand what the Wii U was?

People have said this for years, but I've never seen one study, one survey, one poll, anything backing it up.

I think people understood the Wii U, and they just didn't want it.

I am a consumer and didn't understand it until after the video.

 

[Petrae]

Honestly i could write a dissertation on what a catastrophy the wii u was

I'd love to read a book documenting the WiiU disasterbacle. It was a mess from the word go.

 

[messiaen]

The Switch reveal tease was great, brilliant even. The conference was horrendous though; even comparable to the Wii U conference from what I remember.

 

[Rootbeer]

It's bad because so much of the stuff it shows isn't actually how you use your Wii U in the real world, as most developers chose not to focus on those sorts of game scenarios.

And that Zelda tease was just cruel. We got NOTHING approaching that on the Wii U. They quickly came out and said it was just a tech demonstration, but still, come on. It was clearly in there to excite people about a Zelda game which never came.

BotW is a whole other beast.

 

[Breakage]

Terrible trailer. It's no surprise ppl were confused. It looks like an add-on for the Wii. How could Nintendo get it so wrong?

 

[takriel]

OP, if you were a Joe Schmoe consumer, you would not have watched an E3 2011 reveal video (that only ever was used during the E3 stage show) for a console only released November 2012.

The reveal video was perfectly suited for illustrating to an E3 audience what this thing was. People just loved to play dumb.

I actually agree with you. People knew perfectly well that Nintendo was set to unveil their new console.

 

[Cheerilee]

I still believe that the WiiU was once planned as Wii HD revision which got later branded as new console because of several delays and problems.

No, Mr. Pachter.

Pachter argued that Wii had a fatal flaw in that it was clinging to SD when the rest of the industry had clearly moved on to HD (which was basically a required move on Iwata's part because Nintendo internally had burned up all of their faith in consoles, and Iwata's job was on the line so he couldn't afford to work with anything more than GameCubes and duct tape). Some would say that Pachter was right, because Wii died an early death. Pachter argued that Nintendo (once they were able to afford it) should have rolled into a straightforward iPhone-like "Wii HD" upgrade (which is what some confused consumers even thought the Wii U was). Like a PS4 Pro or an Xbox Scorpio.

Nintendo argued that graphics don't matter, and I remember seeing Reggie on TV arguing that Nintendo would not release a new console simply for the sake of increasing it's power or giving it HD support. Wii has widescreen, so what more do gamers need? Nintendo had seen great success with the USP's (unique selling propositions, or gimmicks) of DS and Wii, so the only way they're going to launch a new console is if it's the delivery system for an all-new revolutionary USP/gimmick.

Nintendo ran out of time to find a new USP/gimmick so they asked their hardware department "What have you got?" and scraped the bottom of the barrel of gimmicks to pull out Wii U. Or for another interpretation, Iwata saw that tablets could be the future, so they went with that, and then Apple revealed the iPad, and Iwata stayed the course even though that meant a war with Apple that Nintendo was nowhere near equipped to handle.

Wii U as a "Wii HD" console base was built around the price they wanted to sell Wii U for, and how much money was left in that price after the misguided Wii U GamePad gobbled up the bulk of that money. Iwata pushed Wii U into unfamiliar money-losing territory so that the poor cash-starved hardware could put up a respectable showing against five-year-old PS3/X360 hardware.

 

[The Lamp]

Reveal comes in on page 52
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432783&page=55




Well...























...Yep crystal clear mate.
I know these comments are the minority, but these people are on GAF. I mean, they were aware.

I agree with you, but E3 hype GAF comments are hardly thought-out or logical. They're usually impulsive hyperbole and shit-brained. Hardly the way the average consumer thinks or how someone thinks when they see an ad for the first time in a calm state.

I remember assuming that the Wii U was a new platform, but I think I searched for confirmation here because I had doubts.

 

[Hastati]

For all the Wii U's failures, would we consider the Amiibo line to have been its one success?

I'm curious to see if they can expand on the idea with the Switch at all, or if Amiibo's will suffer the same fate as other digital toys like Skylanders.

I actually really like Amiibo's, so I'd love for them to succeed, but no idea where they are going to go from here.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Pachter argued that Wii had a fatal flaw in that it was clinging to SD when the rest of the industry had clearly moved on to HD (which was basically a required move on Iwata's part because Nintendo internally had burned up all of their faith in consoles, and Iwata's job was on the line so he couldn't afford to work with anything more than GameCubes and duct tape). Some would say that Pachter was right, because Wii died an early death. Pachter argued that Nintendo (once they were able to afford it) should have rolled into a straightforward iPhone-like "Wii HD" upgrade (which is what some confused consumers even thought the Wii U was). Like a PS4 Pro or an Xbox Scorpio.

Nintendo argued that graphics don't matter, and I remember seeing Reggie on TV arguing that Nintendo would not release a new console simply for the sake of increasing it's power or giving it HD support. Wii has widescreen, so what more do gamers need? Nintendo had seen great success with the USP's (unique selling propositions, or gimmicks) of DS and Wii, so the only way they're going to launch a new console is if it's the delivery system for an all-new revolutionary USP/gimmick.

Nintendo ran out of time to find a new USP/gimmick so they asked their hardware department "What have you got?" and scraped the bottom of the barrel of gimmicks to pull out Wii U. Or for another interpretation, Iwata saw that tablets could be the future, so they went with that, and then Apple revealed the iPad, and Iwata stayed the course even though that meant a war with Apple that Nintendo was nowhere near equipped to handle.

Wii U as a "Wii HD" console base was built around the price they wanted to sell Wii U for, and how much money was left in that price after the misguided Wii U GamePad gobbled up the bulk of that money. Iwata pushed Wii U into unfamiliar money-losing territory so that the poor cash-starved hardware could put up a respectable showing against five-year-old PS3/X360 hardware.

Did wii really die an early death? It was on the market from like what, late 2005? To 2012 if not 2013

 

[tkscz]

I feel like people underestimate the failure of the wii u. It wasn't a very good console outside of marketing as well. I mean 13 million sold? That's not just confused moms.

I'm worried Nintendo thinks that marketing is enough for the Switch and not the acknowledgement of several company flaws.

You underestimate how bad the marketing for it was. It's more than mom's misunderstanding, people seriously didn't know this thing existed. Like I mean outside the gaming community, this thing is 100 percent invisible. The console itself wasn't bad, a lot of good games are on it, but when people were originally confused and then didn't even know the thing even came into existance, there is a huge problem.

 

[The Lamp]

While there was confusion, the concept alone is why it flopped imo. Looking away from the TV to do the same shit you can do on the TV made no sense to me. A glorified map/UI companion app.

For one example, Weapon wheels makes it so you can switch to many different weapons quick without taking your focus off the screen.

That and it looked fisher price already back then without the need of the Switch to show that.

The gamepad could have been the ULTIMATE way to play Mario Party or other party/board games because of the asymmetrical multiplayer. Honestly the game that capitalized on the concept more than anything was Nintendoland. Nothing since then really hit a home run with the concept. I sold Wii U's to friends just by playing Nintendoland. Too bad Mario Party 10 was hot diarrhea.

 

[BD1]

Best part of that trailer is the "bloop" sound effect when the U pops in the logo.

 

[Milly Osworth]

Why did they release a new controller for the Wii anyway?

 

[The Lamp]

I just don't relate to the people here who are saying they sold their Wii U with anticipation. I think selling back a Wii U is insane. They're going to be hard to find very soon and you can't play Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, or Smash with GCN controllers on any other recent platform. And it's the best way to play TP and WW

 

[bachikarn]

I was completely up to date with the 'Project Cafe' rumors, but for the majority of the trailer I was convinced all the rumors were wrong, and it was actually just an accessory to the Wii. Even the console looked like a Wii since it was far back in the distance. It was only when they showed the Zelda demo at the end of the trailer did I realize it was definitely a new system.

Not surprising that most thought it was just an iPad like accessory for the Wii, which I'm sure most thought they'd just get an iPad if they wanted something like that.

 

[0racle]

They showed so many uninteresting bullshit "gimmicks" in that trailer. So off-putting. Compare that to the Switch unveiling.

Sure


https://www.google.ca/search?q=swit...=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=u1HYzkQhACYmmM:

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Did wii really die an early death? It was on the market from like what, late 2005? To 2012 if not 2013

It entered the market on November 2006, also, most argue that 2010 was it's death date.

The Wii left public eyes around 2010 as one can see the heavy, I do mean HEAVY, drop off sales point year after year. At that point, the casual market left the Wii for mobile gaming as the mobile gaming scene started to boom. This is what Mr. Patcher was talking about when he said the Wii HD should have been a thing back then. The Wii brand was losing it's power and Nintendo failed to capitalize on it until it was too late.

For the sake of comparison, here's the PS2's sales chart year after year. (I'm using the PS2 because it's one of three consoles that sold more than 100 million units)

The Wii required the attention of the non gamer casual market and they failed to capitalize on it leaving Apple to grabbed them up. These people are known to pick up on what's trendy, and have no sense of loyalty.

 

[Macapala]

Honestly i could write a dissertation on what a catastrophy the wii u was

We're waiting....

 

[Mega]

Yeah, great idea revealing the system by:

showing a Mario game that looks identical to NSBM Wii,

follow it up with repeated "___on the new controller," giving the impression it's a new Wii accessory, which it strongly resembles,

have someone drawing a Link character from a Wii launch title,

and showcase a Mii game that looks right out of Wii Sports

I was really unenthusiastic about the the Wii U reveal and commercials, and that was before I learned about widespread confusion among casual consumers. I just thought it looked really boring ad uninspired and gave no compelling reason to own one other than being HD Wii with an ugly outdated tablet.

A first for me: I waited over two years to buy either a Wii U or a 3DS and on both occasions I was mulling over my purchase before committing. There were a few games I wanted to play on each but I hated the hardware and was not happy putting down the cash. Heavy buyer's remorse that took time to get over.

My outlook is a lot more positive with Switch and I'll be picking up my preorder on launch.

 

[Mega]

late 2006, but most argue that 2010 was it's death date.

The Wii left public eyes around 2010 as one can see the heavy, I do mean HEAVY, drop off sales point year after year. At that point, the casual market left the Wii for mobile gaming as the mobile gaming scene started to boom. This is what Mr. Patcher was talking about when he said the Wii HD should have been a thing back then. The Wii brand was losing it's power and Nintendo failed to capitalize on it until it was too late.

No lies detected. Post-2009 Wii got its ass kicked by HD smartphones and tablets. The Wii U was a reaction to that with the clunky Wii U tablet, which in 2012 was already outdated and so unappealing. And it wasn't long after that tablets were falling out of favor for bigger smartphones with higher PPI and phablets. So they were very LTTP jumping onto a fading trend. Same with betting on 3D with the 3DS.

 

[Scipio]

Compared to the Switch now, which has much, much better marketing overall, the Wii U Gamepad looks more clunky and "Fisher-Pricy" (I don't think the Wii U console itself or the Wiimotes/Pro Controllers look that way, just the gamepad)

The Switch really looks like the ultimate Nintendo console if you compare them.

I concur with most posters in this thread. The Switch is everything the Wii U wanted to be, but wasn't.

Nintendo should have released a Wii HD in 2009-ish, and should have waited with the tablet console, until technology was advanced enough to support non only local wireless.

 

[Cheerilee]

Did wii really die an early death? It was on the market from like what, late 2005? To 2012 if not 2013

Charts already posted, but I figured I'd post anyways since I grabbed some different charts.

PlayStation/PS2/some PS3 (please ignore the yellow PSP)

Wii/WiiU

The thing to look for is, look how much life Wii had in the year Wii U was added to the chart. Then look at how much life PS1 had in the year PS2 was added. Then for a second comparison, look at how much life the PS2 had in it when PS3 was introduced. (Wii was getting killed, PS1/PS2 were just shy of the height of their game)

Then look at the legs on Wii after Wii U was introduced, compared to the legs on PS1/PS2. (Wii gets fucking murdered, PS1/PS2 have long, respectable lives)

That's how Wii was able to put out a stronger peak performance than PS2, but failed to even match PS1 in lifetime sales.

 

[JoeM86]

It's TheMoon. He can't say a single negative thing about Nintendo.

Wii U marketing, pricing, game selections, OS, services and all were a complete failure.

The Switch had a phenomenal initial reveal, but ever since the true announcement, it's been down hill. Shame really.

How so?

I get the launch line-up isn't as good as people had imagined it would be, and the online stuff is weird but everything else has been top-notch: marketing etc.

 

[Screamapillar]

I watched the Wii U reveal live in 2011, and to me it never occurred that it wasn't a new console with a wacky new controller. Not until following the E3 presentation, when I kept seeing people asking what the Wii U was. Then, Nintendo got Iwata to pose for a picture from the show, and posted to their Twitter that afternoon, of him holding the Wii U console and controller prototypes, saying "Please don't misunderstand, the Wii U is an entirely new console, with a new controller."

I remember thinking: "People think it's a Wii peripheral?"

lol.

 

[Diddy Kong]

It's pathetic that a bunch of Nintendo suits smiled and nodded at this and thought it would sell as much as the Wii did lmao