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The Wii U is criminally underrated - it's one of the best consoles ever made

QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Member
I'm sure most people saw that headline and immediately became confused and disoriented, but hear me out:

1. The Wii U has arguably the best/most accessible first party titles ever: NSMB Wii U, MK8, SSMB4, SM3DW, Mario Maker, WWHD, TPHD, BotW, etc... With the exception of Mario Kart 8's battle mode, all of those are roughly equal if not arguably better than their heralded predecessors (Mario Kart SNES, Melee, Super Mario World, etc..).

2. The (second?/third) party titles are absolutely impeccable: Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze (Greatest platformer of all time), Bayonetta 1/2 (greatest action game(s) ever made), Xenoblade Chronicles X (hoooly shit), Wonderful 101, Splatoon, Pikmin 3, Starfox Zero (it was good!), Hyrule Warriors, etc...

3. The virtual console (while much lamented) is still pretty damn awesome. I was playing A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time (switching back and forth using restores) on the gamepad, while using my TV for movies and other stuff.

4. Backwards compatibility with the entire Wii library (which also bleeds into some Gamecube games). I get the Metroid Prime Trilogy, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Super Mario Galaxy 1/2, etc, etc...

5. UI - yes I know it is barebones and simplistic, but it gets the job done and even my 3 year old daughter knows how to navigate the system. And dat internet browser... so good.

--

I know a lot of people like to bag on the Wii U, and its' launch and marketing was abysmal, but the system is so good.

I can't justify purchasing a Switch until at least Xenoblade Chronicles 2 drops, simply because of how amazing the Wii U is and how much mileage I still get out of it.

iwata-960.jpg
Click to expand...

Please understand, the Wii U is awesome.

--

Edit: Yes I understand for third party gaming it is "barren" - but for a Nintendo gaming console it is pure bliss. I would always recommend a secondary gaming machine with it, ala PC or PS4, but I would do that with almost any platform.

Edit 2: TL;DR: The Wii U is Nintendo's Dreamcast
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
inb4 the fun starts.

yes, I love the damn thing. warts (big as they are) and all. did/had lots of things it never really got appreciated for.
 
C

clevbrowns94

Member
Playing Breath of the Wild on in right now. Feels like one last gift from a console that gave gift after gift in terms of first party/Platinum games.
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
It's fairly good if you love every single game that Nintendo makes.

If there are even a percentage of Nintendo games you'd rather skip, it's a very barren console.
 
QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Member
dragonflys545 said:
It is if you only want to play Nintendo games.
Click to expand...

I should have added in the OP, but yes this is to a degree true. I am in the position where my wife and I each have a PS4 and gaming PC... but somehow I end up on the Wii U the most often.

Where else can you play the Metroid Prime Trilogy, then Xenoblade, then Mario, then Smash, then Bayonetta? Nowhere but Wii U! :D

Ahasverus said:
A console with fewer games than almost any other alternative is not the greatest of anything but the failure list.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can ignore the fact that you can play a vast majority of previous Nintendo games on the Wii U. And I would argue its own lineup is still quite strong.
 
G

Gator86

Member
OP lists almost every WiiU game worth playing in their post. It had some terrific games but its library was fucking laughable compared to almost any other recent major console.

Ahasverus said:
A console with fewer games than almost any other alternative is not the greatest of anything but the failure list.
Click to expand...

This. The mental gymnastics Nintendo fans jump through for this system is impressive. "Actually, having fewer good things is better than more good things." Sounds legit.
 
S

Social

Member
Major Nintendo fan here but no, it is FAR from one of the best consoles. It's an overcomplicated mess of a console in terms of input.
 
B

Brat-Sampson

Member
It was a significantly better console in terms of games than history will ever give it credit for. As a *system* however, it wasn't really anything special. I still don't like the feel of the gamepad, and its technology (regardless of how well it was used by Nintendo) was outdated pretty much at launch.
 
S

shnurgleton

Member
It was pretty good but suffered from lack of a coherent vision, marketing confusion, and extremely slim 3rd party support

Doesn't mean it didn't have great games though
 
B

bizzarewars

Banned
It's some mediocre hardware that got some excellent software. Wouldn't call it one of the best consoles ever made, but I enjoyed my time with it.
 
D

Durden77

Member
A system with some of Nintendo's best games bogged down as being an awkward as fuck system. It was a great "Nintendo box", but it's just not good enough as a system itself to be considered on of the greatest systems of all time. It's very telling that I want all those games on the Switch and never really want to think about the Wii U again. I see it as more of a test run for what they were really trying to do with the Switch than anything at this point.

Jawmuncher said:
The WiiU could've been great, if it had snake in smash.
Click to expand...

Also, this.
 
B

Boem

Member
There have been a lot of consoles man. To be one of the best, you need games. Not just a couple of good/great ones, a lot of good/great ones. Many consoles have that. The WiiU didn't.

I love fanboys.
 
J

James Scott

Banned
I really liked its library. The hardware itself wasn't too great especially with Switch doing everything considerably better.
Just hope they port more of its library so the games aren't forgotten
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
dead souls said:
Even as a huge Nintendo fan I can't agree with this. It was a disaster.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. I liked it better than the Wii (hated waggle, hated it not being HD), but I wasn't a fan of the gamepad and a lot of the games people rave about weren't my cup of tea (Bayonetta, W101, Pikmin, Lego City etc.).

Switch is already shaping up much better as I at least like the hardware for once and the first year announced games so far is pretty solid for me.
 
P

Pinky

Banned
I wouldn't say it's one of the best ever, but it is up there in my book. Nintendo put out some high-quality, first-party gems. Super Mario Maker is king. Cant even tell you how many hours I sunk into it.
 
Q

QuackkAttack

Member
I love RPGs and hate platformers.

There were only 2 games on Wii U I would've bought: Xenoblade and #FE.

It was good if you like Mario/other Nintendo games.
 
L

Linkstrikesback

Member
Agree on most things there but I have to nitpick. There's no such thing as a second party game.

You listed a bunch of first party games, plus the ones made by platinum, which are in the weird grey area that colloquially could be called second party, but they're either first party or third party exclusives. I'm not sure which.

I have no idea how you ended up at that list when you even have EAD developed titles like Splatoon and Pikmin 3 as "second party".
 
O

OSHAN

Member
Only Nintendo console I bought and didn't bother keeping until after the gen was long dead. Can't agree at all OP.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
Off-TV play was the best innovation in consoles since the analog stick.

And now with the Switch it's basically been perfected.
 
D

Danielsan

Member
Yes it's a pretty good Nintendo game playing device. Terrible hardware though and worthless third-party support, as is par for the course with most Nintendo consoles.
 
M

Mr.Deadshot

Member
It was a underpowered console with a shitty gimmick (tablet). But Xenoblade Chronicles X and The Wonderful 101 alone are worth the purchase for me.

And then there are other great exclusives like Tokyo Mirrage Session, Smash, Mario Kart, Bayonetta 2, New Super Mario U+Luigi, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Mario Maker. I am still sad for my wife that there has never been a true Animal Crossing game on the Wii U :(
 
C

clevbrowns94

Member
Ahasverus said:
A console with fewer games than almost any other alternative is not the greatest of anything but the failure list.
Click to expand...

How many games on the Dreamcast? Yet it's considered one of the best consoles ever. Not suggesting Wii U is as good as Dreamcast, just that the number of games shouldn't be determinative. The Wii had a lot more games than the Wii U, but tons were shovelware.
 
T

TSM

Member
I have a lot of great games on my Wii U, but the actual console itself seemed ill conceived.
 
A

AtomicShroom

Member
The OS is slow as molasses. It was criminally unbearable before the patch which improved performance, only to make it less unbearable.
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
Yeah sorry not a chance. I own a wii u (jail broken), and its an awesome system. Its however EXTREMELY slow, if things get corrupt things go sideways real fast, the security on it (from Nintendo's POV) is a joke as the fact that its been jail broken now for a year and never fixed demonstrates, and while it has a dozen or so really good titles I don't think they compare at all to the 360, ps3, or ps4 exclusives library.

Massive hardware issues too - the USB ports don't supply enough power to power a USB2 drive, so you must use a Y adapter on any USB drive. It has 4 USB ports, which is nice, but if you use the front USB ports you can't close the front flip cover. Having a brick sucks. On and on.
 
M

Modoru

Member
I heard you out, and respectfully disagree. ☹️
I liked the Wii U, I did - that said, I genuinely don't think that the title of "one of the best console ever" should go anywhere near the WiiU.The gamepad was a neat concept but generally disregarded by most games other than the tv/tablet modes. The ability to play off the tv is great, but there's the switch now. Does it have the same games? No, but in due time, I'm sure it'll expand appropriately.
In terms of function, I feel they could've done more than a slightly refreshed Wii menu.
I'm too lazy to properly make my arguments so this is as far as I go
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
The Wii U is not only my least favorite Nintendo console, it's the worst console I've ever purchased. I got more enjoyment out of the Atari Lynx than the Wii U. My Wii U is boxed up and in storage and I'll probably never dig it out.

It did have a handful of great games though, no doubt.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
clevbrowns94 said:
How many games on the Dreamcast? Yet it's considered one of the best consoles ever. Not suggesting Wii U is as good as Dreamcast, just that the number of games shouldn't be determinative. The Wii had a lot more games than the Wii U, but tons were shovelware.
Click to expand...

So how many games does the Dreamcast have?
 
G

Gestault

Member
Considering the circumstances, the Wii U ended up with a ton of quality games from Nintendo. But I can't even say it definitely ranks favorably against Nintendo's other systems, let alone a wider net including other platforms.

As a system (in terms of hardware quirks and interface) it's annoying and overpriced. But there really are some classics in its library.
 
D

digitalrelic

Banned
No, it's one of the worst consoles ever made, that happened to have a ton of great games on it. The console hardware itself is exactly what made the system a failure. The software is the only thing that kept the console afloat.
 
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