Opinion - Four Logical, Easy Wii U Ports for the Switch - Article
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 21 March 2018 / 4,921 Views
We all know that the Nintendo Switch is producing a lot more games - at least in its first year - than the Wii U did. There are reports and estimations that the Switch has roughly three times more titles than the Wii U did by this point in its life cycle. We also know that the Nintendo Switch is selling extremely well, and that even ports from the Wii U are becoming big hits (such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe), or are at least selling decently (Rayman Legends has over half of Wii U total sales, despite only being out since September, for example).
There are probably quite a few publishers working on porting old Wii U games (or other console games) to the Switch already. We know Nintendo is bringing some of its own exclusives over to the Switch for starters (such as Hyrule Warriors and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze), but there are four often overlooked games in particular that I think should be ported to the Switch from the Wii U. These are not games that are often mentioned, nor are they titles that will sell ridiculously large amounts, but porting them would represent a second chance for the commercial success that they so deserve and would incentivise the development of additional, better games in their respective series.
On a humorous note, I originally had Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on here, but then Nintendo announced a port so I had to go back to the drawing board and find a replacement.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Somewhere along the way, Nintendo had a fantastic idea to port a game that is famous for how much people went from despising it to adoring it. Never in my life have I heard of a title that people hated so much when I was young which then became a cult classic to so many in later years. Sadly, Nintendo’s brilliant idea to bring it back into the spotlight was undermined by something the company never expected to happen - the Wii U bombed worse than the GameCube.
Wind Waker on the Nintendo Switch makes sense because this is finally a system that is both popular and powerful enough to do it justice. The GameCube and Wii U were both powerful enough, but neither were popular at the time. Wind Waker currently sits at 4.6 million (GameCube) and 2.06 million (Wii U) sold at retail, according to VGChartz. I think a Switch version would easily sell more than the Wii U version, and probably even the GameCube one, making this a lucrative port, particularly as the game is already ready to go on modern hardware so shouldn't require much development work.
Pikmin 3
The Pikmin series always seems to do quite well on the worst selling of Nintendo devices. Pikmin 1 and 2 sold 1.63 million and 1.20 million units respectively on a console (the GameCube) that sold just 21.74 million units in total. And Pikmin 3 was plagued by an even worse selling system than the GameCube, yet it still managed a higher attach rate on the Wii U than the original two games did on the GameCube (8.7% attach rate compared to 7.5%).
There's no doubting this is a fairly niche Nintendo series, but could that not in part be because it's only ever been given a shot on poor selling platforms or devices that are well past their peak (Hey! Pikmin, I’m looking at you!)?
With inevitable rumors and reports of Pikmin 4 lurking on the internet since long before the Switch came out, I think it’s time to show the series - and Pikmin 3 in particular - some love and port it to the Switch. If nothing else, this would test the waters for Pikmin 4 and give the series more exposure ahead of its release.
The Wonderful 101
Ah, Platinum. How famous you’ve become for making niche games. Indeed, I don’t believe I’ve known a developer to so consistently make such out of nowhere games or deals with companies. If you asked people during the original Bayonetta years if they ever imagined Bayonetta becoming Nintendo exclusive, for example, I've little doubt that they would have laughed at the absurdity of the idea. But that wasn’t the only Platinum exclusive Nintendo secured.
The other was The Wonderful 101 - a weird, wonderful, and difficult game (at least early on). It sold pretty poorly on the Wii U (we have it at around 380,000 units globally), but as with Pikmin 3, this game could benefit from being a system that's performing well and where quirky titles like this are performing better than anyone could have expected. Given that Platinum has already ported Bayonetta and its sequel over, and is currently working on Bayonetta 3 as an exclusive for the platform, and has even ported Vanquish and Bayonetta to Steam in recent years, why stop there?
Paper Mario: Color Splash
It’s no secret that Paper Mario has been on the decline in recent years, both in terms of critical and commercial success. Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Color Splash, both cut from the same mold, had similar Metacritic scores (7.5 and 7.4, respectively). Compare that to the original three, all of which had 8.5 or higher, and it paints a sad picture.
Obviously, things need to change in this series, but I would rather Nintendo push for some increased sales to continue the justification of making more Paper Mario games than for them to give up on it altogether. I need Paper Mario in my life and Color Splash’s sales on the Wii U are so horrible that I’m fearful for its future. Sometimes you have to swallow some disgusting medicine before you can reward yourself with ice cream, and that is what I’m afraid this has come to.
The series sells, on average prior to Color Splash, 2.44 mill copies apiece. Color Splash only sold .86 million units. There's a very real risk that Nintendo will interpret this as meaning the series should be locked away behind a thousand year door. The Switch could just be the salvation this series needs.
So that’s it! My list of four somewhat low profile games that I think should make the journey from the Wii U to the Switch. Just a reminder, if you only partially read the article, that this wasn’t a list of the four games that make the most sense to port, but rather the four that I think make sense despite not being on anyone’s radar. Let me know what you think of these port ideas and what other titles you'd like to see ported in the comments section below.
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Tokyo Mirage Sessions....
I would currently love a port of Tokyo Mirage Sessions the most. I would purchase it again in a blink of the eye and play it. Well agreed, it might not be the best seller, even on Switch. But it came late on WiiU and with not too much focus, I think it could sell at least the same. And for the ease of porting: well, Treasure Tracker is ported, so it should be possible for TMS#FE.
Xenoblade Chronicles X!
Most are asking for that, so I didn't include it on this list of "under the radar" games.
Meh. Actually I would very much prefer a HD-remaster of XC to the port of XCX. It should sell decently, as the series has grown in popularity.
Wonderful 101 Should absolutely happen. Very underrated game.
Super mario 3D world. It would outsell all four games in this list combined.
I agree, but that is a much bigger game. I was specifically targeting games that aren't the popular choice that could make sense to port.
They could add a couple levels with the Odyssey theme
Mario Maker, is my most wanted port right now.
Most are asking for that, so I didn't include it on this list of "under the radar" games.
As Much as I want Pikmin 3 on the go, I don't see that game working well without the Gamepad's 2nd screen.
What I loved most bout Pikmin 3 is the way I'd seamelessly survey the map on the gamepad, quickly jump to one of Olimars at a poke of the screen, and send off a squad of pikmin to the other end of the map while jumping into battle with bulborbs.
Pikmin 3 was back when Nintendo actually thought about using the gamepad for interesting things on the Wii U
A Pikmin 4 built as a Switch experience would make far more sense.
The second screen was a boon. i think you could move it to a "pause screen" and get an ok effect, but yes it was awesome.
Definitely agree on Wind Waker HD. I had that on gamecube but got it late and only played the beginning of the game before I ended up selling my gamecube, but loved what I played. I did not understand why people hated it when it came out (I guess just because people wanted "realistic" zelda and got cel-shaded instead).
The other 3 games I don't care about, never liked Paper Mario, the gameplay felt like they were made for 4 year olds. I could be down for Pikmin 3 though if they priced it at $20.
But mostly I just want Wind Waker and Mario Maker.
I really want fatal frame
YES!! But please the japanese uncut version! (WiiU wasn't codefree)
No Xenoblade X (it would be an astounding rare game to have), other than that go nuts.
I will say Fatal Frame V would be the best to have. Getting a physical copy or maybe even a collectors edition would be a great thing.
I don't agree wit the headline, tese are more like four games that deserve anoyer chance. Logical would be te SuperMario 2D games which sold gangbusters and have no sequel yet on Switch.
Also, on WW, I love the game, but it is clear the general public does not. I don't think putting it on a system that already has a far better Zelda game will make any difference.
My Perfect 4 Wii U Ports: Zelda: Wind Waker HD Zelda: Twilight Princess Mario 3D World Xenoblade Chronicles X. 3 Other good Wii U ports: Pikmin 3 Fatal Frame 5 New Super Mario Bros U. Other good titles already out/coming soon: Zelda: Breath of The Wild, Mariokart 8, Bayonetta 1 & 2 are already out for switch. Donkeykong: Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker & Smashbros will be out in the future. (I don't think Smash bros will be a complete port but it may blur the lines if it uses the Wii U build with additional characters, suits, items, stages, abilities, modes, etc).
If motherfucking Captian Toad can get ported then, we had better see the full Wii U library ported eventually.
Nah, I dont think Color Splach deserves to be ported.XCX deserves far more than it.Atually, far more than any game on this list.
Pikmin 3 .... it would be awesome but with a fourth games in the works it won´t happen... probably
YES TO ALL OF THEM!
No! No more Wii u ports. Captain Toad was the final straw, enough is enough!
I disagree.
This is coming from someone who owned a Wii u, i'll admit and i'm sure there are others that agree. Both ones who owned a Wii u and those that didn't.
I mostly agree, maybe barring the 2D Mario games which had good sales on Wii U and have no representation on Switch.
I really don't think a port of a remaster is a weird thing at all. Games are ported relentlessly these days. They made it HD so it looks good by modern standards. If that new version of the game gets released on more than one system there is nothing strange about that, just doing the normal porting strategy of getting a game out to as many people as possible. I would say a weird thing would be like what Shadow of the Colossus did, made on ps2, remastered on ps3, remade on ps4. I love the original game, but 3 sony gens in a row getting a new version of the game is just absurd. remastering a game so that it is "better" then releasing the game on more than one system doesn't feel strange at all. If they remade Wind Waker and released in on Switch that would be weird.
