EDIT: Just for clarity off the bat, this missed potential I speak of is in regard to experiences that could only really have been uniquely experienced on a system like the Wii U. This isn't about the missed potential of what could have made the system a commercial success. That aspect holds no weight in the topic I wish to discuss here.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to look back at the Wii U and recognize that despite being a commercial failure that it was a great and unique system that truly offered some unique experiences that can't (easily) be experienced elsewhere (2 Switchs can accomplish the same kind of setup when they're directly connected to each other, if one is docked and one is handheld, Pac Man Vs on the system lets us realize that same kind of functionality, but beyond that and just having multiplayer Switch games played in such a way, that's about all we've seen of such functionality on the Switch. Also a Vita communicating with a PS4 could achieve similar results, but to my understanding that kind of functionality was never really utilized by Sony beyond remote play).
Even still, while we got some great experiences on the Wii U, it isn't hard to recognize that there is still a lot ground that could be covered with the system. We know they dropped some of such features because a game was then getting a multiplatform release, like Breath of the Wild originally offering an always displayed Map on the GamePad and allowing for on the fly inventory management without pausing like in Wind Waker HD. I'd have certainly enjoyed those features, but I digress.
But what else would you have wanted to see for unique Wii U experiences that never materialized? Here are some thoughts I've had:
-It probably goes without saying that the announced ability for 2 GamePads on the same system was never realized, and that alone could change up a LOT. The major GameCube games that played when linked to a GBA could certainly have reappeared here as 2-player only versions: Four Swords Adventures or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles would have made for great 2 Player versions on the Wii U with both players having their own GamePad for their equivalent GBA functions in the original games.
-Split Screen multiplayer Virtual Console games could have had an option to display one split screen on the TV and the other split screen on the GamePad. Nintendo 64 games are an easy target here, 2 player Mario Kart 64 or Donkey Kong 64's multiplayer for example could have done this (maybe even 3 player split screen if they had implemented the ability to connect to a second GamePad). But there are old games that had split screen too that could have utilized this: Super Mario Kart, Sonic 2 and 3's race modes definitely could too(I know Genesis wasn't on the Wii U's VC, but it's an example that could have used the feature regardless).
-Seems like Mario Kart 8 could theoretically have offered 5 player multiplayer where the TV is split in 4 screens, and the GamePad is their own screen. I imagine this wasn't an option because at that point, frame rate and/or resolution would take a hit, still why couldn't one player get their own screen on the GamePad and not have the GamePad mirror the split screen on the TV when playing with 2 to 4 players?
-If they had released the ability to connect two GamePads to the system, then a Remake of Spy Vs. Spy could have been perfect. Both players play mainly on their GamePads, but when they both enter the same room and are able to fight, then you'd both look at the TV and see each other in the same room and could fight there, as kind of an evolution of how that mechanic originally worked in the original games of the series.
-The ability to play GBA virtual console games in multiplayer seems like a no-brainer. Those multiplayer experiences go largely unrealized today, yet there are so many great ones, seems like it'd feasibly be possible to have 2 Game Boys emulating at once (potentially 3 if they again added that second Game Pad connectivity), one on the TV, the other on the GamePad, and then have them connected so they could be experiencing the multiplayer aspects of those great games (I genuinely miss the GBA version of Mario Bros that came bundled with every freaking Mario game for the system).
-Minecraft dropped the ball with their Wii U port, they could have allowed for on the fly inventory management without having to pause the game, but instead the screen is just mirrored, not allowing for this feature, even though I believe the devs tweeted that the ability would have arrived in time, it never did.
-The Wii U can communicate with a DS (or 3DS), so why not allow for any DS VC game on the Wii U to be able to wirelessly connect to DS systems for multiplayer experiences? This feature is incredibly underutilized and when they had a perfect use for it, they didn't even bother to implement it, such a shame.
-Pokemon Snap. Do I need to say more? No system will ever be as perfectly designed for a Pokemon Snap game than the Wii U, and the fact that the Switch actually saw a new Snap game, makes this all the more maddening that it never saw a Wii U release. I'm sure you know what I mean: your GamePad is your camera, utilizing the Gyro, you move it around to get your best pictures, while the TV continues to show your craft as it moves along it's path to help you catch glimpses of what else is happening around you beyond what you're looking to capture on your GamePad.
-Circling back to Breath of the Wild, I do kinda wonder if they may have had bigger plans for Wolf Link in the game. Like maybe a second player could have controlled Wolf Link on the GamePad. I bet they considered this at some point, but realistically it would have just been too taxing on the Wii U, and framerate and/or resolution would have taken a big hit to implement, still that would have been really cool if they could have done that.
-This one is more theoretical, I'm not sure if this easily could have been implemented or not, but when in the vWii or launching Wii VC games from the Wii U menu, it'd be nice if the system could be tricked into recognizing a Wii U pro controller as a Wii Classic controller connected to a Wiimote. As it is, the GamePad can function in this way for Wii VC games and injects, but not the Pro Controllers.
-The native Super Mario 64 port could utilize the modded code that allows for 2 player split screen, and again, have one player on the TV and one on the GamePad. I'm fairly certain this one is entirely possible now, but no one has done it yet.
Those are just my immediate thoughts on the matter. I imagine that some of these things could theoretically be accomplished by the homebrew scene, though I'm certain not all of them can, and I'm also not holding my breath on any of them ever being realized at this point. But I really would have loved to see a lot of this realized on the system. Regardless, what are your thoughts? Are there other experiences you can think of that you'd love to have seen accomplished on the Wii U? If so, I'd love to hear your ideas too.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to look back at the Wii U and recognize that despite being a commercial failure that it was a great and unique system that truly offered some unique experiences that can't (easily) be experienced elsewhere (2 Switchs can accomplish the same kind of setup when they're directly connected to each other, if one is docked and one is handheld, Pac Man Vs on the system lets us realize that same kind of functionality, but beyond that and just having multiplayer Switch games played in such a way, that's about all we've seen of such functionality on the Switch. Also a Vita communicating with a PS4 could achieve similar results, but to my understanding that kind of functionality was never really utilized by Sony beyond remote play).
Even still, while we got some great experiences on the Wii U, it isn't hard to recognize that there is still a lot ground that could be covered with the system. We know they dropped some of such features because a game was then getting a multiplatform release, like Breath of the Wild originally offering an always displayed Map on the GamePad and allowing for on the fly inventory management without pausing like in Wind Waker HD. I'd have certainly enjoyed those features, but I digress.
But what else would you have wanted to see for unique Wii U experiences that never materialized? Here are some thoughts I've had:
-It probably goes without saying that the announced ability for 2 GamePads on the same system was never realized, and that alone could change up a LOT. The major GameCube games that played when linked to a GBA could certainly have reappeared here as 2-player only versions: Four Swords Adventures or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles would have made for great 2 Player versions on the Wii U with both players having their own GamePad for their equivalent GBA functions in the original games.
-Split Screen multiplayer Virtual Console games could have had an option to display one split screen on the TV and the other split screen on the GamePad. Nintendo 64 games are an easy target here, 2 player Mario Kart 64 or Donkey Kong 64's multiplayer for example could have done this (maybe even 3 player split screen if they had implemented the ability to connect to a second GamePad). But there are old games that had split screen too that could have utilized this: Super Mario Kart, Sonic 2 and 3's race modes definitely could too(I know Genesis wasn't on the Wii U's VC, but it's an example that could have used the feature regardless).
-Seems like Mario Kart 8 could theoretically have offered 5 player multiplayer where the TV is split in 4 screens, and the GamePad is their own screen. I imagine this wasn't an option because at that point, frame rate and/or resolution would take a hit, still why couldn't one player get their own screen on the GamePad and not have the GamePad mirror the split screen on the TV when playing with 2 to 4 players?
-If they had released the ability to connect two GamePads to the system, then a Remake of Spy Vs. Spy could have been perfect. Both players play mainly on their GamePads, but when they both enter the same room and are able to fight, then you'd both look at the TV and see each other in the same room and could fight there, as kind of an evolution of how that mechanic originally worked in the original games of the series.
-The ability to play GBA virtual console games in multiplayer seems like a no-brainer. Those multiplayer experiences go largely unrealized today, yet there are so many great ones, seems like it'd feasibly be possible to have 2 Game Boys emulating at once (potentially 3 if they again added that second Game Pad connectivity), one on the TV, the other on the GamePad, and then have them connected so they could be experiencing the multiplayer aspects of those great games (I genuinely miss the GBA version of Mario Bros that came bundled with every freaking Mario game for the system).
-Minecraft dropped the ball with their Wii U port, they could have allowed for on the fly inventory management without having to pause the game, but instead the screen is just mirrored, not allowing for this feature, even though I believe the devs tweeted that the ability would have arrived in time, it never did.
-The Wii U can communicate with a DS (or 3DS), so why not allow for any DS VC game on the Wii U to be able to wirelessly connect to DS systems for multiplayer experiences? This feature is incredibly underutilized and when they had a perfect use for it, they didn't even bother to implement it, such a shame.
-Pokemon Snap. Do I need to say more? No system will ever be as perfectly designed for a Pokemon Snap game than the Wii U, and the fact that the Switch actually saw a new Snap game, makes this all the more maddening that it never saw a Wii U release. I'm sure you know what I mean: your GamePad is your camera, utilizing the Gyro, you move it around to get your best pictures, while the TV continues to show your craft as it moves along it's path to help you catch glimpses of what else is happening around you beyond what you're looking to capture on your GamePad.
-Circling back to Breath of the Wild, I do kinda wonder if they may have had bigger plans for Wolf Link in the game. Like maybe a second player could have controlled Wolf Link on the GamePad. I bet they considered this at some point, but realistically it would have just been too taxing on the Wii U, and framerate and/or resolution would have taken a big hit to implement, still that would have been really cool if they could have done that.
-This one is more theoretical, I'm not sure if this easily could have been implemented or not, but when in the vWii or launching Wii VC games from the Wii U menu, it'd be nice if the system could be tricked into recognizing a Wii U pro controller as a Wii Classic controller connected to a Wiimote. As it is, the GamePad can function in this way for Wii VC games and injects, but not the Pro Controllers.
-The native Super Mario 64 port could utilize the modded code that allows for 2 player split screen, and again, have one player on the TV and one on the GamePad. I'm fairly certain this one is entirely possible now, but no one has done it yet.
Those are just my immediate thoughts on the matter. I imagine that some of these things could theoretically be accomplished by the homebrew scene, though I'm certain not all of them can, and I'm also not holding my breath on any of them ever being realized at this point. But I really would have loved to see a lot of this realized on the system. Regardless, what are your thoughts? Are there other experiences you can think of that you'd love to have seen accomplished on the Wii U? If so, I'd love to hear your ideas too.
Last edited by MikaDubbz,