Making a list of what Nintendo's done wrong with the Wii U would be easy. But considering how that topic has been beaten to death, and will continue to be beaten for years to come, I thought it would be fun to think about what Nintendo has done RIGHT regarding the Wii U. In rough chronological order, here are ten things I think Nintendo did right.
1. Showing off 3rd Parties at E3 2011 and 2012
It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when many of us thought the Wii U would have deccent 3rd party support. Remember E3 2011? Nintendo showed off a prototype for NSMBU and some minigames, but their focus was on second and third party games. The first Wii U game ever announced was LEGO City, and back in mid-2011, Nintendo was showing off Mass Effect, Tekken, Aliens, Darksiders, Batman, and even that Alien game that evolved into the exclusive ZombiU.
2012 was not quite as good, but Nintendo once again did a decent job at showing off what third parties had to offer. ZombiU and Rayman Legends were really hyped exclusives, Warner Bros games like Scribblenauts and Batman: Arkham City were shown, and there were even a fair number of other multiplatform games like Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, EA sports games, etc.
Was Nintendo a paragon of supporting third parties for a little while? Probably not. But they made an effort to highlight their Wii U projects. And that convinced a lot of people that the Wii U would be supported for years to come.
2. Nintendo's Launch Duo
Nintendo has a pretty mixed record for launch games (by which I'm referring to games available day 1, not stuff released in March or whatever). On one hand, the Wii had Wii Sports and Twilight Princess. On the other hand, the 3DS had Steel Diver. The Wii U, IMO, falls closer to the Wii side of the spectrum.
First of all, Nintendo Land. A common complaint about the Wii U is that few games show off why the GamePad is a good idea. Nintendo Land is one of the few exceptions. Its use of asymetrical gameplay was fun and exciting, and the game, though not as revolutionary as Wii Sports, was more extensive. Nintendo Land may have ultimately disappointed compared to Wii Sports, but it was a good launch title for showing off what the Wii U could do.
New SUper Mario Bros U, meanwhile, has since become the best-selling game on the platform. 2D Mario games are easy choices for a launch lineup, because they appeal to a broad audience and are of generally high quality. The fact that NSMBU is considered by some to be the best 2D Mario since the SNES-era and incorporates new Wii U-specific elements helps, but ultimately what it comes down to is that Nintendo released their console with a great platformer.
Could Nintendo have released the Wii U with a better lineup? Maybe. Mario Party 9 could have been delayed to being a launch title, Paper Mario: Sticker Star could have been a console title, etc. But ultimately, Nintendo's Day 1 games for the Wii U were far from despicable.
3. Pricing the console at $300
Other than the recent PS4, few consoles have been able to succeed at a price of over $300. Remember when the PS3 began kicking ass? Back when the price was dropped to $300. By launching the Wii U at $300, Nintendo was able to, theoretically at least, compete with its last-gen adversaries. And later on, when the 32 GB model bundled with 1+ games became standard, $300 remained the standard. Sure, price alone can't sell a console. But being $100 to $200 cheaper than its closest competitiors is hardly a disadvantage.
4. Backwards Compatibility with the Wii
I "owned" (read "borrowed") a Wii for 6 months. In that time, I owned 3 retail games and bought a Wiimote Plus and Nunchuck. So imagine my delight when I learned that I could give the Wii back and keep playing my old games and use the Wiimote for Nintendo Land. The benefits of having backwards compatibility are not necessarily obvious on sales charts. But I've personally bought multiple original Wii games because I knew I'd be able to play them on my new machine. And I was also able to keep using my older controller. Backwards compatibility may not make a system a hit, but it allows older software to continue selling. Maybe that's why Mario Kart Wii continues to sell thousands of copies a week in 2014.
5. Miiverse
Miiverse is great. Not only does it give the Wii U a type of functionality unmatched by the competition, it also at least partially makes up for some of the Wii U's weaknesses. First, you have a great tool for advertising games. Second, you create communities around people playing the same game, encouraging them to be replayed, thus encouraging Wii U use. Third, by recording screenshots of prized moments, Nintendo has a stealth equivalent of the Achievements system, with GamerScore replaced by "Yeahs." Fourth, it gives a medium for developers to communicate with their fans, as is most evident with Sakurai's weekly screenshots.
6. SOME Third Party Relationships
Nintendo still has a long ways to go in winning 3rd party support. But a few companies have worked well with Nintendo on the Wii U, and deserve mention.
First, Ubisoft. Ubisoft has made 5 of the Top 20 selling Wii U titles: ZombiU, Rayman Legend, two Just Dance games, and Assassin's Creed 3. Ignoring the whole Rayman Legends delay debacle, Ubisoft has been a great supporter of the Wii U, bringing loads of notable games, including even a major launch exclusive. Maybe their support will end after Watch Dogs, but kudos to Nintendo and Ubisoft for bringing a bunch of games to players.
Next, Activision. Activision essentially only has two big series at the moment: Call of Duty and Skylanders. Both of these series have two entries on the Wii U. They also released some shovelware like a $40 Angry Birds port, but let's appreciate that they released a few notable games that weren't lazy ports.
Third, Warner Bros. From them, the Wii U has gotten three LEGO games (not including LEGO City), two Batman: Arkham games, two Scribblenauts games, and the Injustice DC fighting game. None of these games have pushed a load of hardware, but I for one own Arkham City and Injustice, and am glad to have had a chance to play them on the GamePad.
Fourth, Sega. Sega is not exactly a giant in the game industry anymore, but they've contributed to the Wii U cause. There are already three Sonic-themed games on the Wii U: Racing Transformed, Lost World, and Olympic Games 2014. Add Sonic Boom being an exclusive and their letting the Bayonetta license be used for a Wii U exclusive, and they deserve some credit.
7. Vastly improved indie relationships
Nintendo did not really get along well with indie developers in the Wii era. So it's kind of weird how well the Wii U has gotten at attracting indie developers. The Wii U launched with a number of indie games available, and scores have either been released or are in the works by now. Think about it: in the space of about a year and a half, we've had Bit Trip Runner 2, Trine 2, Little Inferno, Mighty Switch Force, Pinball, Mutant Mudds, CastleStorm, Toki Tori, Cloudberry Kingdom, Nano Assault, Unepic... the list goes on. And in the future, we're getting 1001 Spikes, A Hat in Time, Mighty No. 9, Dreamfall Chapters, Guacamelee, Oddworld, Shantae, Shovel Knight... there's no shortage.
The Wii U eShop is arguably already as good as WiiWare ever was. That's pretty impressive.
8. Cheap Games like Luigi U and Wind Waker HD
"Cheap Games" carries a lot of negative connotations. You know how it is. Words like "shovelware" and "crap" come to mind. But games like New Super Luigi U and Wind Waker HD, each in their own ways, are commendable.
First, Luigi U is commendable for being the rare example of nearly universally loved DLC. It was basically a remix of NSMBU with slightly different gameplay and a couple of new features (Nabbit and the like.) It was released as both digital DLC at $20 and a retail disc for $30. When eventually bundled with NSMBU in late 2013, it was thrown in on the disc to add value. Point being, this was easy money for Nintendo that actually strengthened, rather than weakening, the 2D Mario brand. Plus, considering how long it's going to be before we get a new 2D Mario, it gave that team something productive to work on for a few months.
Wind Waker HD is kind of the opposite. It was mostly developed in the space of six months, and involved only a portion of the Zelda team to make. This short project, involving a fraction of the resources of a true new Zelda game, accomplished several things. First, it gave the Zelda team experience with HD visuals and the Wii U in aprticular. Second, it taught them some of the possible uses of the GamePad. Third, it gave Wii U owners a great game to play, especially for those of us who never owned a GameCube. Fourth, it sold over a million copies, including digital sales, by the end of 2013.
Considering how Nintendo's resources have been stretched by both 3DS and HD development, these two "cheap games" turned out to be great deals for both Nintendo and consumers.
9. Working with other Companies to make Nintendo Exclusives
Nintendo may be poor at working with 3rd parties, but they have put on quite a show working with others to get Wii U exclusives published, but not entirely developed, by Nintendo. In no particular order:
- Bayonetta 2
- Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
- LEGO City Undercover
- The Wonderful 101
- Mario & Sonic at the 2014 Olympics
- Super Smash Bros 4
- Hyrule Warriors
That's seven notable games developed with major cooperation from outside companies. Including Super Smash Bros 4! Never since they trusted Rare with Donkey Kong in the 90's has Nintendo put so much faith in their partners.
10. Super Mario 3D World
Nothing in particular about this game. It's awesome, and I wanted to mention it.
Any smart moves by Nintendo that I missed?
Love and tolerate.
