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

Trogdor1123

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
Great games, just not nearly enough of them. Also, you have to be a Nintendo fan to really get any value. I like it but it's far from a great console.
 
R

robrueda

Member
I agree, the Wii U is a hell of a Console with dismal sales. is the only place where you can play ALL home console Zelda Games.

The Best Nintendo games ever made are playable on the Wii U, on TV and in second screen mode.

BTW Rayman Legends is the best plataformer ever, and its best on the Wii U.
 
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……forgetit

Member
GreatestHits said:
Again you say you had fun (you don't go into detail), you imply weaknesses in marketing and sales (no detail here either but we all know about it's commercial failure), then call it weak (absolutely no detail here, why was it so weak?). This is why people call it underrated. It is a great console that wasn't well-received
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Then I'll explain, it's the weakest home console I've owned in terms of giving me fun, quality experiences. My console history goes: SNES, N64, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PS4, Wii U and now Switch. I left out handhelds outside of switch sense it's a special case. Out of all of those consoles I spent the least amount of time with the Wii U. Every other console on that list gave me more enjoyment than the Wii U outside of the Switch, but it's young, so we'll see how that goes.

It's release cycle was incredibly sparse, the breakout games for me were Mario 3D world, Smash bros, Mario Kart, and splatoon. I played many more of the games that came to the console, Xenoblade, Mario Maker, ect but none of those really grabbed me. The console had some great games, but their quality don't make up for the lack of quantity.
 
G

GreatestHits

Member
Spork4000 said:
Then I'll explain, it's the weakest home console I've owned in terms of giving me fun, quality experiences. My console history goes: SNES, N64, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PS4, Wii U and now Switch. I left out handhelds outside of switch sense it's a special case. Out of all of those consoles I spent the least amount of time with the Wii U. Every other console on that list gave me more enjoyment than the Wii U outside of the Switch, but it's young, so we'll see how that goes.

It's release cycle was incredibly sparse, the breakout games for me were Mario 3D world, Smash bros, Mario Kart, and splatoon. I played many more of the games that came to the console, Xenoblade, Mario Maker, ect but none of those really grabbed me. The console had some great games, but their quality don't make up for the lack of quantity.
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So in summary, it was very weak because even though it had quality games, it didn't have a high quantity of them. Ok, thanks for explaining. I hear most people say that for a system that relies on it's first-party output, it had a very high quantity of high quality games. But to each his own perspective. I think we need that WiiUgames.jpg right about now

And yes we did have to wait for all those first-party games to come out, and we waited a while. The PS4 had an even more pathetic wait, but it's got 3rd party support, no gimmicks, and ended up with a great library...so... we love it

Oh ya it also focused on tech specs, IQ, and sold gangbusters. One of my points is there is fame and infamy tied to consoles based on sales performance...even amongst the enlightened 'enthusiast' crowd
 
P

Ponchito

Member
I disagree. It did have some good games but the hardware was terrible.

The controller was a mess, the dual screen unecesaary. Just an ill conceived product. Even if they tried to make it better as time went on.
 
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……forgetit

Member
GreatestHits said:
So in summary, it was very weak because even though it had quality games, it didn't have a high quantity of them. Ok, thanks for explaining. I hear most people say that for a system that relies on it's first-party output, it had a very high quantity of high quality games. But to each his own perspective. I think we need that WiiUgames.jpg right about now

And yes we did have to wait for all those first-party games to come out, and we waited a while. The PS4 had an even more pathetic wait, but it's got 3rd party support, no gimmicks, and ended up eith a great library...so... we love it

Oh ya it also sold gangbusters. One of my points is there is fame and infamy tied to consoles based on sales performance
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Well the PS4 had a pretty bad launch, that's easy to see, but I had some great things to play at launch and the first major game I enjoyed came faster than with the Wii U, 4 months for infamous second son vs a full year until Super Mario 3D world. The PS4 had a short drought at launch but it wasn't close to as bad as the Wii Us, also third part support is really important. It would be wrong to discount those when the breakout title at the Wii U's launch was also a third party game. Essentially, yes the Wii U was a fun console if you stuck with it, but it doesn't stack up if you compare it to anything else out at the time.
 
C

chronic_archaic

Member
I like the system for the few games that leverage it's strengths (using the Gamepad to some degree, using the power of it's GPU to render really impressive graphics for it's tech, and it's support for many controllers without adapters) but this was limited to Nintendo first party, a few indies, and... well, maybe just Treyarch? To me the Wii U is an interesting console that fell flat because of a gimmick that failed to add significance in the majority of it's games and using a CPU that was 14 years old at it's release turned off any chance of decent third party support it could have gotten - and the support it did get, was very often ports of games that were inferior to their last gen editions. The only ports the system got I know could be worth it compared to last gen are NFS Most Wanted, Black Ops 2, Ghosts, and maybe Deus Ex. And for the COD games - they're only advantage is the amount of control options they have, in terms of framerate they both suffer in the SP modes. I think my biggest unforgivable thing about the console is it's CPU - it is absolutely garbage, and I can't believe Nintendo thought they could reuse the tech a third time. If they had kept the Wii CPU on the board and put an entirely new, possibly non PowerPC based CPU in the system it would have been something like $400, but then you have to ask yourself is the Gamepad worth the cost? I don't think it was, and the Wii used it's strengths so much more often in both first and third party that I feel that is the system which is underrated.
 
phant0m

phant0m

Member
No. It had a great library. But it was the worst system I've ever owned from a hardware and ecosystem perspective. Absolutely horrid.
 
G

GreatestHits

Member
Spork4000 said:
Well the PS4 had a pretty bad launch, that's easy to see, but I had some great things to play at launch and the first major game I enjoyed came faster than with the Wii U, 4 months for infamous second son vs a full year until Super Mario 3D world. The PS4 had a short drought at launch but it wasn't close to as bad as the Wii Us, also third part support is really important. It would be wrong to discount those when the breakout title at the Wii U's launch was also a third party game.
Click to expand...

Well now you've brought the debate (and I started it) into the territory of Nintendo vs. Non-nintendo. If you like Infamous more than 3D World then it's all moot. If you like 3rd party support more than Nintendo first party, then the conversation is a bit derailed. We already know the premise here, it's a Nintendo console.

The point is, it is underrated, and a gem in the Nintendo lineup when you experience it on it's own, without tying public perception, the launch, etc. Into the picture. It is quirky with it's cloudy execution of the gamepad idea, but the games are amazing, and the games were different. The talk about the WiiU is about it's flaws usually, and as a whole, thanks to the games, it really is a bad ass system compared to the other Nintendo platforms (it's BC with Wii). In usual conversation, it's (very) strong points are always undermined by the flaws that just don't matter much when it's firing on all cylindars
 
R

Robiin

Member
It has given me the most amount of playtime of any system this generation, and it is mainly because of one game.

I have 700 hours in Smash for Wii U. And still play it daily.

For that game alone, the Wii U was fantastic for me.

Now bring on the Switch port!
 
E

Exuro

Member
JThird said:
Well, Wii U did nothing wrong. Customers are idiots. No offense.
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Nintendo did an absolutely awful job at revealing/explaining the Wii U. Most everyone I know that had heard of it thought it was a controller addon, and Nintendo's E3 reveal was the main reason for that thought.
 
V

VDenter

Banned
JThird said:
Well, Wii U did nothing wrong. Customers are idiots. No offense.
Click to expand...

A controller that was underused and only inflated the consoles price. It also was a pain to find a replacement for if it happened to break. Tell me again exactly how Nintendo did nothing wrong ? Or how exactly are the customers idiots for ignoring an unappealing system?
 
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……forgetit

Member
GreatestHits said:
Well now you've brought the debate (and I started it) into the territory of Nintendo vs. Non-nintendo. If you like Infamous more than 3D World then it's all moot. If you like 3rd party support more than Nintendo first party, then the comversation is derailed. We already know the premise here, it's a Nintendo console.

The point is, it is underrated, and a gem in the Nintendo lineup when you experience it on it's own, without tying public perception, the launch, etc. Into the picture. It is quirky with it's cloudy execution of the gamepad idea, but the games are amazing, and the games were different. The talk about the WiiU is about it's flaws usually, and as a whole, thanks to the games, it really is a bad ass system compared to the other Nintendo platforms (it's BC with Wii). It's (very) strong points are always undermined by the flaws that just don't matter much when it's firing on all cylindars
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I don't like Second Son more than 3D world, the wait for it was just much shorter than the wait for 3D world. My point is that it's really not under rated when put into the context of the industry around it. It really didn't deserve to do more than it did. For it to be under rated it would have to deserve better than it did, a few of it's games deserved better, but the system itself deserved exactly what it got.

JThird said:
Well, Wii U did nothing wrong. Customers are idiots. No offense.
Click to expand...


Silly things like this, I bought the console at launch and even I have to admit it was a very hard sell outside of a certain type of person that would enjoy it. I found it really hard to recommend to people despite enjoying it myself.
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
It has a few great games and is worth owning. However other consoles have many great games rather than a few, so I definitely can't rank Wii U all that highly. The hardware itself was very bad which didn't help matters.
 
G

GreatestHits

Member
Exuro said:
Nintendo did an absolutely awful job at revealing/explaining the Wii U. Most everyone I know that had heard of it thought it was a controller addon, and Nintendo's E3 reveal was the main reason for that thought.
Click to expand...

True story. Nintendo being out of touch is why we still have Nintendo. But it has a dark side. Like, "yeah WiiU! Get it! Get it? Our first HD console! We and You!!". Lol. Nintendo doesn't understand their market fully. But if they did, or cared about it as top priority, I think we'd have another PS4/XB1 clone

And that is fucking boring and so yes I'm a PC+Nintendo guy

Anyways I think you're tying underrated to sales and success, and I don't think that's the measuring stick of the rating that OP is talking about. I think the perception of how fun the experience is, not it's success as a console in the market, is what's underrated.

Jigorath said:
Lol no.

I hated the WiiU.
Click to expand...

Incredibly thoughtful, appreciate the insight
 
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……forgetit

Member
GreatestHits said:
True story. Nintendo being out of touch is why we still have Nintendo. But it has a dark side. Like, "yeah WiiU! Get it! Get it? Our first HD console! We and You!!". Lol. Nintendo doesn't understand their market fully. But if they did, or cared about it as top priority, I think we'd have another PS4/XB1 clone

And that is fucking boring and so yes I'm a PC+Nintendo guy

Anyways I think you're tying underrated to sales and success, and I don't think that's the measuring stick of the rating that OP is talking about. I think the perception of how fun the experience is, not it's success as a console in the market, is what's underrated.
Click to expand...

Assuming this is aimed at me? I gotta disagree with you. I don't think anyone would disagree that there's fun to be had on the system. I brought mine to plenty of college parties and we all had fun with mario kart and other games. Plenty would love to play to games on the console, but it just isn't worth the asking price. The console doing poorly doesn't mean their's a huge contingent thinking there's nothing fun to play on it.
 
W

W. L. Saga

Neo Member
To me, consoles are entertainment boxes above all else. If I'm having fun playing one, then nothing else really matters. That said, the Wii U gave me hundreds of hours of fun across multiple games. That's what I bought it for. So, it did - and still does - its job fantastically. So no, it isn't a failed console to me in any regards, besides the commercial one - which means jack shit in 2017 and onwards.
 
G

GreatestHits

Member
Spork4000 said:
Assuming this is aimed at me? I gotta disagree with you. I don't think anyone would disagree that there's fun to be had on the system. I brought mine to plenty of college parties and we all had fun with mario kart and other games. Plenty would love to play to games on the console, but it just isn't worth the asking price. The console doing poorly doesn't mean their's a huge contingent thinking there's nothing fun to play on it.
Click to expand...

You said you don't think it's underrated when put in the context of the industry. My point is that it truly is underrated as a console on it's own merit. And for $200, and with the switch doing so well, yeah most people are going to buy a switch and hope for the best. But it plays Wii, GC if you mod it, and has the WiiU library. I understand you mention playing at colllege parties, Smash and Mario Kart, but the system has a lot more to offer than that. 3 libraries, the strongest 3D Nintendo games of all-time, on one console. Not bad to say the least
 
S

StrangeRoboMemory

Member
I've enjoyed the hell out of my Wii U and I play it a ton; still have to beat BOTW and I have a few big games I haven't even touched yet like Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Wind Waker HD. No reason for me to get a Switch yet, really...maybe Black Friday 2018, depending on the potential bundles. My rule of thumb is that I need to see five exclusive games that I really want to play, and Switch doesn't have that yet...ARMS is the only game that I'm excited about, and I'm sure that Mario Odyssey will be amazing, but that's it for now. By the time I bought a Wii U, it had passed the five games test handily...I bought Mario 3D World, Smash, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Splatoon right away, and I was over the moon with them. Snatched up Wonderful 101 and Pikmin 3 a few months later, and buying the console was more than justified at that point.

Overall, I really feel that the Wii U is the new Sega Saturn. Unappreciated in its time, didn't speak to what the market really wanted, but in retrospect people will realize that it had a nice little treasure trove of hidden gems and straight-out masterpieces.
 
S

schopaia

Member
VDenter said:
A controller that was underused and only inflated the consoles price. It also was a pain to find a replacement for if it happened to break. Tell me again exactly how Nintendo did nothing wrong ? Or how exactly are the customers idiots for ignoring an unappealing system?
Click to expand...

I'm hearing this REALLY often on Neogaf. How many gamepads have you broken? How hard is it to call nintendo support to get a replacement?
 
…

……forgetit

Member
GreatestHits said:
You said you don't think it's underrated when put in the context of the industry. My point is that it truly is underrated as a console on it's own merit. And for $200, and with the switch doing so well, yeah most people are going to buy a switch and hope for the best. But it plays Wii, GC if you mod it, and has the WiiU library. I understand you mention playing at colllege parties, Smash and Mario Kart, but the system has a lot more to offer than that. 3 libraries, the strongest 3D Nintendo games of all-time, on one console. Not bad to say the least
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying, their's value to the Wii U, but to the average consumer or gamer that really isn't worth it. Everything you said can be don on a PC too, also I'm not going to mod my switch to go back and play games I beat a decade ago when I barely have time to play the games coming out now. I mean sure it's a nice GameCube and Wii emulation machine, but there really isn't much worth in being that when you can do it better elsewhere.

Also I know it's cheaper than buying an expensive gaming PC to emulate on, my point is that to most, that "lot more to offer" really isn't worth much in the grand scheme of things.
 
F

fabricated backlash

Member
I like the WiiU. Some of the games I got to enjoy on it, I hold very dear. The two screen setup allowed for some awesome MP evenings with friends and family.

However I won't contest that I will never share a single tear for it's absolute failure to find an audience. If anything, I feel like Nintendo should've gotten a much more brutal financial beating for releasing such a short sighted piece of hardware. Personally the WiiU is the WiiHD. Just launched 3 years too late and with one of the worst unique selling points ever.

So no, it's not one of the best consoles ever, not by a long shot. I'd rank it right along the Virtual Boy and the OG xbone with Kinect.
 
H

Hilarion

Member
I've gotten more enjoyment out of the Wii U than any console I've ever owned, because it requires me to use my TV less than any console I've ever owned. As a handheld-first gamer who loves the handheld experience, I was SO happy to have a system that barely forces me to use the television outside of a few rare titles like Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

It's one of the things I like most about the Switch, too.

Best thing about the Wii U is it's the best way to play the Game Boy Advance library, which is, IMO, the strongest library of video game content ever. It looks great on the Wii U Gamepad screen.
 
K

Kyuur

Member
A lot of great software but as for the device itself, the Switch does nearly everything it did better already (async multiplayer left behind).
 
D

Doosi

Banned
wtf? it's nintendo's worst console. a handful of gems in a rather small sea of mediocrity. it's like nintendo's master system
 
H

Hilarion

Member
RoninChaos said:
Of course it did nothing wrong. That's why it sold so well, right?
Click to expand...

How well a console sells has zero correlation with how enjoyable those who played it found it.

Why should my enjoyment of the Wii U more than any other home console I've ever had be affected by how few other people bought it?
 
Jezbollah

Jezbollah

Member
I bought a Wii U. It quickly turned out into the most expensive console per-game-played that I have ever bought.

If it was one of the best consoles ever made, it wouldnt have sold so few. Nintendo are responsible for that.
 
T

twentytwo22

Member
It had a few good games. Buying it at launch was one of the worst ideas I've ever had, though. Also, people who say that Wii U is Nintendo's Dreamcast weren't there for Dreamcast. There were games to play on Dreamcast every single month it was on the market, including an absolutely amazing fleet of third party titles (and even more goodness if you played games released in Japan).
 
V

VDenter

Banned
schopaia said:
I'm hearing this REALLY often on Neogaf. How many gamepads have you broken? How hard is it to call nintendo support to get a replacement?
Click to expand...

No thankfully but that is not the point. If it happens to break now or fifteen years from now i am fucked. Even so it just highlights how unnecessary that tablet was and turned out to be nothing but an inconvenience to the consumer considering how much it ballooned the price point of the system. There are no upsides to it. So how can he call costumers dumb for choosing to support much more appealing consoles on the market?

You can sing all you want how many great games it had but so what? Every Nintendo system had a great library of games and for the average consumers most felt it was just not worth it this time around. The Wii U is a failure and it is all Nintendo's fault for creating such a mess of a system.
 
A

AEREC

Member
I wouldn't say its one of the best consoles ever made, the OS was insanely clunky and slow.

It had a great library of Nintendo first party titles.

I just recently sold mine and Im a little bummed that I wont get to play Tropical Freeze unless they ever port it to Switch...other it was collecting dust.
 
A

AzaK

Member
digdug2k said:
To be fair, "extremely expensive", "slow loading", "slow UI", and "a terrible shop" describes every console since the PS2 generation.
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Not even close. Loading a game on Wii U was painful. Games on my PS4 load nice and fast and the UI is responsive (Switch is also WAY better in these two areas). The shop on the PS4 isn't that hot I agree but certainly better than Nintendo's effort.

Expense wise I felt the my PS4 was fine as it were loaded with tech, storage and at least made an attempt to be graphically modern. Wii U had 32GB and was 360 level tech
 
ProgenitorCastle

ProgenitorCastle

Banned
Airola said:
Also Game & Wario.

The "Pictionary" game there was absolutely hilarious. You couldn't do the same with any other console. Well, maybe with some tablet or smartphone app that could be done, but fuck that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding me of Game & Wario, I'd like to own it and play it someday :p

Yea, agreed fully w/
Well, maybe with some tablet or smartphone app that could be done, but fuck that.
Click to expand...
XD

Macka said:
Seriously? Blowing on the controller is considered an achievement in game design? Not only were things like that already done years prior on the DS, but...it's not good
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone implied it's an achievement in game design. I love the feature personally though :p

You probably didn't play Super Mario 3D World then, because the feature imo works MUCH BETTER on the Wii U than similar stuff on the DS
 
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