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 It was a modest lineup, and many people balked at the mildly outdated technology and few games offered.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!

 

[Lazyboss]

I love my Wii U. The failure was mainly due to bad marketing. Also, a lot of weak-minded people suffer from the "induction effect". They decide they don't like the Wii U without even trying it just because other people don't like it.

Pretty much this, i used to hate the Wii U and keep thinking its's a failure but i didn't own one back then just because many people hates it, but now i wanted a console to enjoy with the family and after nintendo announced the Switch, that when i remembered the Wii U, really it was a good console and i don't understand why all the hate.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I'm hoping to find one in the 120-150 range. We have 52 dollars right now that we have collectively gotten from change and college campus surveys.
I haven't really found one there yet. The best i have seen are on amazon

College campus surveys, ahaha xD

But yeah, $120-150 sounds reasonable. Maybe you'll have to look online. Good luck, man, hope you find one!

 

[invaderyoyo]

I bought it solely for Smash. I knew I wouldn't use it for anything else. Playing Gamecube games on it is really cool, though.

 

[VinsCool]

Objectively a commercial failure, but a fantastic system to play almost all Nintendo generations nearly perfectly.

I do know the WiiU is a failed generation, but the few games we had for it were pretty good, and homebrew programs let us do things Nintendo never intended us to ever do.
Gamecube and Wii games through the Gamepad? Now possible!
Emulators? Retroarch is improving!
Only thing missing is a fully featured multimedia player and miscelaneous tools

 

[Noctosphere]

Objectively a commercial failure, but a fantastic system to play almost Nintendo generations near perfectly.

I do know the WiiU is a failed generation, but the few games we had for it were pretty good, and homebrew programs let us do things Nintendo never intended us to ever do.
Gamecube and Wii games through the Gamepad? Now possible!
Emulators? Retroarch is improving!
Only this missing is a fully featured multimedia player and miscelaneous tools

Well, for a while i used my wii u to stream movie and tv show by using the browser to acces plex

 

[Lazyboss]

The Wii U was objectively a failure. The Switch is succeeding in ways the former could not.

"maybe in the future the Switch will succeed then i will get one"

To be completely and brutally honest? If you're that ignorant to think the Wii U had a shot and somehow the Switch is doing poorly, nothing I say will change that. Also, try to avoid such a long run on sentence. That was terrible to read.

Not to mention, poor marketing is only a small piece as to why the console did so bad. Everyone knew it was out there, not a lot of people cared for what it offered from a hardware aspect. It went to shit less than halfway through its lifespan. First party titles were there, but they weren't enough to keep the system going.. Obviously.

English is not my language, so you have to excuse my bad English.
anyway, i don get why the Wii U failed in the eyes of the fans, i know there are many who thought that it's just a new controller for the Wii, and others thought it's a new console that you can use it as portable like the Switch now, many who got disappointed after release, yes you cannot play all games on the gamepad and some games still required the wiimote which is not even coming with the system and on top of that it's expensive, but still the WiiU have many good exclusive games.
the Switch is a good idea, don't get me wrong i like the idea of the Switch, but still it's too early to get one because there are only 2 or 3 games worth it, BOTW was meant to be on the Wii U, but when Nintendo announced it for the Switch then everyone forgot about the Wii U and act like BOTW was only for the Switch while it's the exact same game on the Wii U but no one cares.

 

[Noctosphere]

English is not my language, so you have to excuse my bad English.
anyway, i don get why the Wii U failed in the eyes of the fans, i know there are many who thought that it's just a new controller for the Wii, and others thought it's a new console that you can use it as portable like the Switch now, many who got disappointed after release, yes you cannot play all games on the gamepad and some games still required the wiimote which is not even coming with the system and on top of that it's expensive, but still the WiiU have many good exclusive games.
the Switch is a good idea, don't get me wrong i like the idea of the Switch, but still it's too early to get one because there are only 2 or 3 games worth it, BOTW was meant to be on the Wii U, but when Nintendo announced it for the Switch then everyone forgot about the Wii U and act like BOTW was only for the Switch while it's the exact same game on the Wii U but no one cares.

Actually, switch version of botw has better graphics
Also, one reason that pushed people to get botw on switch is that nintendo announced it would be the last 1st party game for wii u
Customer.wouldnt buy wii u version, knowing its the last 1st party game to come
They prefered to buy a switch and botw and have more new 1st party game at the same time.
Mmmmmh, english isnt my native language so idk if i get understood

 

[Deleted member 373223]

I really liked it. I really don't get why people do not like it. I loved the games a lot. I played super Mario 3d world a lot, and mario bros u and LUIGI U! I LOVED Luigi U! And Mario Maker, and Splatoon, and mk8, and all the games!

 

[wurstpistole]

I got very lucky and bought mine in late 2013 for like 300€ with a bunch of games and accessoires, ended up at around 120€ for the premium unit alone. That was a fair price to complete all the games worth playing. Sold it in early 2016, even with a profit. But never ever would I have spent over 300 bucks for the console alone.

 

[HomebrewJay]

The Wii U nowadays is only good for its Homebrew purposes. Glad I picked one up recently for $90 at my local electronic store!

 

[Ryccardo]

The Wii U was objectively a failure.

For their arbitrarily set expectations? Sure
Improvable by a better release schedule? Probably by a lot
Misleading name, bad reputation of the Wii that was mostly abandoned this decade? Yes
But I wouldnt't call 13% of the Wii (third best selling home console ever) a total disaster...

 

[Most-Wanted]

Its one of the best Used consoles to buy, tons of games now and every game for Free! ,Kids don't care about generation of console, so its a perfect Christmas present after you have hacked the device for them.

 

[Deleted-355425]

I bought one at launch at a super market, we took the box to the cashier and she waved over a staff member to go get it from the back as the box’s on th shelf we’re just display box’s. My wife followed her down to the room without her knowing and staff member in the store room shouted ‘omg someone’s actually bought one of these!?!’ Lolol I guess they were over priced and stuff for the time.

 

[xpoverzion]

View attachment 106343​

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!

What are my fondest memories of the Wii U?? How about the fact that it's the only Nintendo console that when hacked, can play just about every game nintendo has made over the past 30 years. The only exception are a few platform titles that are exclusive to the switch. Otherwise, if you know how to modify the Wii U, it's the best console Nintendo has ever made in my opinion. Anyone who says it was a failure just didn't know how to use it/hack it properly.

 

[Bimmel]

I love my Wii U. A bunch of nice games, great emulation of the Gamecube (thanks Nintendont!) and I'm able to play Wii games. Winner of the hearts.

 

[Mefisteso]

Well, I could write bad things about the Wii U 3rd Party support, but since it's hacked I think it's one of the best Nintendo systems to have .
Just think about it.
You can play almost every single Nintendo game since 1985 thx to the Wii backward compatibility, massive number of emulators and injectable VC and even play with a controller of your choice(Hid to vpad). The only exceptions are Switch (obvious, huh?) and 3DS games.
I selled my Wii, GC, N64, even Gameboys and SMD, coz I've got them all in one console. It's a great way to utilize Wii U.

 

[supaplex]

I still have my Wii U, I won't sell it even when I buy Switch because I have too many unfinished digital games. Right now playing Skyward Sword and Metroid Other M on Virtual Console. I also love to have sort of portable SNES and play VC games when my wife watches TV. And when I get used to stupidly small font in Xenoblade Chronicles X, I will finish it.

 

[Xen0]

Bought my one early too and honestly it isn´t that much of a failure for me. I have my 5-6 games I really loved and enjoed and thats enough for me.

 

[Noctosphere]

From what i read, the only people who doesnt consider wii u as a failure is the common hacker

 

[InsaneNutter]

The Wii U is a great console, it's got the Nintendo exclusives such as Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros and some others I really like such as Bayonetta 2 and Fast Racing Neo.

With Homebrew the console is capable of emulating every past Nintendo to date, with the exception of the 3DS.

It's a great console for those of us who enjoy local multiplayer gaming with friends. Sure i'd not have paid full price for it, however new for £140 with Mario Kart 8 was a great deal in my book.