The Nintendo Wii U turns 5 years old

IMG_5642.JPG

November 18, 2012 was a big day; Nintendo had just released its latest console onto the market. The Wii U was ready for the spotlight, armed with its tablet controller and exclusives like Nintendoland and New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo was ready to move into the "HD" era. Offering two variations, a white 8GB console that retailed for $299.99, and a 32GB black version, for $349.99. Bundled with it came the infamous Wii U tablet controller, Nintendoland, and the system itself. Those who purchased the console on launch also had access to third party ports and titles like Assassin's Creed III, Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, and Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. It was a modest lineup, and many people balked at the mildly outdated technology and few games offered. Nintendo had high hopes for its console, projecting sales of 90 million units.

The Wii U would go on to get mild third party support, with ports of games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, and Mass Effect 3. Ubisoft had planned to really back the Wii U, but when sales weren't up to expectations, the publisher began to turn its back on the console, to the point of taking the then to-be Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends, and making it multiplatform. Competition from stronger consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 further hurt the Wii U, as customers weren't swayed to buy a weaker console with few exclusives. Nintendo looked to be in a bind--their 2013 lineup would be crucial if they wanted to turn around their low sales.

The following year brought a good chunk of games to the table. There was a mainline Mario game in the co-op focused platformer, Super Mario 3D World. A classic Zelda game from the GameCube era got a fresh coat of high def paint with Wind Waker HD. Pikmin 3 hit store shelves to moderate praise, and SEGA signed a contract with Nintendo to create three Sonic games for the Wii U, one of which being Sonic Lost World. However, it wasn't enough. Sales foundered, and the Wii U continued being ridiculed by many.

2014 was certainly a turnaround year for the system. Nintendo came out of the gate strong; their highly anticipated Super Smash Bros. title was released after years of teasing. SEGA had given an unlikely sequel in the form of Bayonetta 2. In-house studio Retro put out what was considered one of the best platformers in years: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Nintendo fans cheered as a new Mario Kart game finally revved into full gear. An even more unlikely alliance occurred when Koei Tecmo and Nintendo partnered to create Hyrule Warriors. Nintendo Nindies was established to give indie devs incentive to put their games on the console, which resulted in beloved games like Shovel Knight, Freedom Planet, and Shantae. Things were looking much brighter for the Wii U.

2015 kept up the pace with a sequel to a well established Wii RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles X, had an overnight success with the creative online shooter Splatoon, and had even more success with Mario Maker. In the end, though, all these games were not enough to save the Wii U from selling abysmally. With the aforementioned library, it has a solid amount of cult classics, well enough to be remembered for years after. Nintendo however, would halt production on the Wii U before the system could have a 5th birthday. Today, the Wii U turns five years old. Though the Switch now overshadows it, the Wii U still made an impact.

What are your fondest memories of the Wii U? Were you a fan? Did you dislike it? Are you yet to purchase one at all, or were you a loyal early adopter? Be sure you share your comments below!
 

VinsCool

Persona Secretiva Felineus
Global Moderator
Joined
Jan 7, 2014
Messages
14,600
Trophies
4
Location
Another World
Website
www.gbatemp.net
XP
25,204
Country
Canada
Sack of crap just like the Switch, the only diff now is that Nintendo emptied their bank accounts on advertising and paying off reviewers/advertisers.
Have you tried either to back this statement?
Or are you just flaming for the sake of flaming? :P
 

WhiteMaze

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2013
Messages
1,085
Trophies
2
Age
32
XP
2,211
Country
Portugal
Happy birthday Wii U!

A shame that you're actually a great console but your retarded parents decided to fuck up your childhood and are now focusing on the Switch newborn only while telling you they wish you'd never been born.

I'm sure you'll grow up to be a great serial killer.

Don't worry though. The Playstation Vita feels you.
 

leonmagnus99

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2013
Messages
3,704
Trophies
2
Age
33
Location
Seinegald
XP
2,875
Country
Iraq
i think i got my wii u over 3 years ago ,sometime 2014 i think.

i got it mainly for SSB4, i bought it bundled with SSB4/MK8 , it was worth every penny.
i love the console.

and i still play on it very often , wii ngc wii u vcs etc.
and i also at times use it to watch anime.

the WiiU is great stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarthDub

Noctosphere

Nova's Guardian
Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
6,721
Trophies
3
Age
30
Location
Biblically accurate Hell
XP
18,136
Country
Canada
Happy birthday Wii U!

A shame that you're actually a great console but your retarded parents decided to fuck up your childhood and are now focusing on the Switch newborn only while telling you they wish you'd never been born.

I'm sure you'll grow up to be a great serial killer.

Don't worry though. The Playstation Vita feels you.
well, thats one way to see it
im more thinking the way how hundreads of dog and cat get abandonned on july 1st every year in quebec
 

pedro702

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
12,713
Trophies
2
Age
33
XP
8,667
Country
Portugal
I don't own the adapter and imagine few do, but that info about the half presses is something new to me. Thanks!

I use Nintendont, but only on the original Wii with real GCN controllers. Also, I didn't realize the original CC had analog triggers. I only have the CCP. Going to have to seek out an original now.
few do? i think anyone that has a wiiu hacked probably has a wiiu gc adapter either official or mayflash since they are preety cheap, original CC is kinda ass, your better off investing on wiiu pro and use the half press or wiiu gc adapter for nintendont and ssbu really.
 

Noctosphere

Nova's Guardian
Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
6,721
Trophies
3
Age
30
Location
Biblically accurate Hell
XP
18,136
Country
Canada
Article does not mention BOTW, wow. The world's #1 ranked game, and so good on WiiU that it makes the Switch look pointless in many ways.
actually, releasing it on wii u was pointless
why wasting your money on wii u botw, knowing its the last 1st party game for the console, instead of investing more into the switch where you can get the same game(with better graphics btw) and get more 1st party games
honnestly, 95% of people who buy nintendo consoles do it for 1st party game
the rest, rare people, buy it for 3rd party game

now i have a question, is 2nd party game a thing?
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
I personally love the wii u. it's about the only system I play anymore. it doesn't have a lot of great games, but the ones that are great (mostly 1st and 2nd party games) are amazing. I keep coming back to tropical freeze and wooly world. :P I'm trying to beat tropical freeze (100%) without dying, but there are too many places to screw up. lol with wooly world, which I just started playing again, I had forgotten how adorable it was. I'm trying to beat that game without dying, but like tropical freeze, I always manage to screw up. I have 200%/100% respectively with both games, so I'm trying this on new save files. I wish I could go back to dkc 3, but I have 103%, 104%, and 105% save files which is all the save slots. this is on the wii u as well. I can't seem to get 105% on the actual cart with my retron. lightning lookout! is brutal with no dk barrels and no midway barrel. I also have 100% on yoshi's island on the wii u without save states. I feel that save states are cheap. I haven't gone back to super mario 64. I beat it with 100% on the wii u, but I lost all saves and games when my hdd crashed. super mario 64, imo, is frustrating especially getting the 100 coins in each stage. there's really no margin for error or very little of it. the wii u is also where I fell in love with shovel knight. I have it for the 3ds and the ps4 as well. the ps4 version is the one where I finally beat the game without dying after having gone through the game many times on the wii u. I have so many fond memories of the system that I could go on for hours talking about it. I want a switch badly, so I can carry on the tradition. :)
 

Azmort

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
245
Trophies
0
Age
33
XP
1,367
Country
Mexico
I love it, the homebrew on it made it the best emulation station and it is the Smash Bros machine, something that my friends and I have played far more than Halo or another console multiplayer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarthDub

Hells Malice

Are you a bully?
Member
GBAtemp Patron
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
7,122
Trophies
3
Age
32
XP
9,256
Country
Canada
Nintenyearolds deluding themselves that the WiiU is a good console is amazing. Good consoles don't live for 3 years. That's not actually a thing.
You might be able to derive a small speck of worth out of the very small pool of exclusives, because what it did have were great, but there's no denying it was an absolute failure. Poor advertising, poor branding, poor 3rd party support, poor 1st party support, underpowered last gen specs. It had absolutely nothing going for it. Nintendo ending its life early was a clear cut, undeniable, admittance that it was a failure. Any delusions of success are simply human nature to try and justify a purchase. Hell I bought the thing at launch, and did have fun on it, but that doesn't change the truth.

Article does not mention BOTW, wow. The world's #1 ranked game, and so good on WiiU that it makes the Switch look pointless in many ways.

Oh yeah BOTW on WiiU makes the switch soo pointless.
What with the WiiU's SOLID 20 FPS if you stand still looking at a wall, and god forbid you go anywhere near Kakariko. Enjoy crashes and even worse FPS just for being there. Enjoy those frame drops below 20 just for moving.
Mm yeah totally makes the switch irrelevant.
(even though it already has a bigger library of AAA exclusives than the WiiU, not even a year after its release)
 

ProtoKun7

GBAtemp Time Lord Regenerations: 4
Former Staff
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
7,525
Trophies
2
Location
Gallifrey
XP
1,351
Country
United Kingdom
I just got a Switch a few days ago (after being on the fence before release and put off a little by the reports of hardware trouble early on) and I've got to say, it is pretty great so far. Never tried a Wii U but the sales numbers say what needed to be said. I might've enjoyed it if I used one, I might not have, but I always thought the name was ridiculous. The Switch certainly feels inspired by the Wii U, only with a better name and even better portability.

I like the Switch, and this is coming from a primarily PC gamer now. Despite the cues from the Wii U, it's quite a unique console and if the Wii U helped conceive the Switch, it was worth it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VinsCool

Flirkyn

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2014
Messages
261
Trophies
0
Age
30
XP
1,967
Country
France
A great console that I loved (and still love tbh). Got it in 2014 to be prepared for Xenoblade X (which, like every Xeno game, are one of my favorite game ever with more than 150h in there, and more coming) and because I've always loved Nintendo Console. I've never regretted it.

Unfortunatly, this console had a sad story. Between one of the worst marketing I've ever saw, a terrible architecture for developpers (I honestly wasn't bothered by it's graphics capacities, but from what I heard, it's a pain in the ass to develop for it), a bashing from player and editor alike, and a terrible support from Nintendo, it's really a shame that this console didn't have a good treatment.

But even with it's more or less limited library, I still love it and have games to finish, like Tokyo Mirage Session (which I've play again earlier today), Project Zero 5, Xenoblade X post game, and some more.
 
Last edited by Flirkyn,

DarthDub

Amateur Hacker
Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
2,832
Trophies
1
Age
34
Location
Your mom's basement.
Website
www.gaiaonline.com
XP
3,607
Country
United States
Nintenyearolds deluding themselves that the WiiU is a good console is amazing. Good consoles don't live for 3 years. That's not actually a thing.
You might be able to derive a small speck of worth out of the very small pool of exclusives, because what it did have were great, but there's no denying it was an absolute failure. Poor advertising, poor branding, poor 3rd party support, poor 1st party support, underpowered last gen specs. It had absolutely nothing going for it. Nintendo ending its life early was a clear cut, undeniable, admittance that it was a failure. Any delusions of success are simply human nature to try and justify a purchase. Hell I bought the thing at launch, and did have fun on it, but that doesn't change the truth.



Oh yeah BOTW on WiiU makes the switch soo pointless.
What with the WiiU's SOLID 20 FPS if you stand still looking at a wall, and god forbid you go anywhere near Kakariko. Enjoy crashes and even worse FPS just for being there. Enjoy those frame drops below 20 just for moving.
Mm yeah totally makes the switch irrelevant.
(even though it already has a bigger library of AAA exclusives than the WiiU, not even a year after its release)
20 fps? Sure when it was first released. Then it got patches to fix it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VinsCool and Kioku

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • BakerMan
    The snack that smiles back, Ballsack!
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I thought it was an actual xBox at that price.
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    I wanna grab a 360 Slim and a 360 E one of these days. Missed the boat of getting them at their lowest though, once they were discontinued. Could've got them for cheap back when I was a broke 20 something working at Target, but then again, I was a broke 20 something working at Target
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Being broke is no fun.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    @Sicklyboy, $150 isn't that bad for a jtag slim on ebay
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I only wish it was actually playable.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    There's a guy on the Tube of You that makes playable mechanical arcade games out of Lego. This could work on the same principle.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Just a couple of guys taking their manatee out for some fresh air, why you have to molest them?
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Stupid Chinese shop switched their shipping company and this one is slooooooow.
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    STOP BUYING CHINESE CRAP THEN
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    SUPPORT LOCAL PRODUCTS, MAKE REVOLUTION
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    THEY KEEP REMOVING LOCAL SHIt AND REPLACING WItH INFERIOR CHINESE CRAP
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    THATS WHY MY PARTNER CANT GET A GOOTWEAR HIS SIZE ANYMORE
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    HE HAS BIG FOOT AND BIG DUCK
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    d*ck i mean*
  • LeoTCK @ LeoTCK:
    lol
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Mkay.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I just ordered another package from China just to spite you.
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    Communism lol
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    OUR products
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @LeoTCK actually good quality products are dying out because they can't compete with dropshipped chinese crap
    +1
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    @LeoTCK is your partner the sascrotch or smth?
    BakerMan @ BakerMan: @LeoTCK is your partner the sascrotch or smth?