I Regret Buying a Wii U

This is an article that I've been wanting to write for awhile, but have always just put it off in the hopes that things pick up for my Wii U. Although after hitting that three year mark and the discussion of a new Nintendo console coming in the near future this is the best time to do so. I honestly had the highest of hopes with a new Nintendo console on certain aspects of what the Wii had brought into play and which I hoped would be transferred forward. Like many others I was one of the first to pick these up and had only the highest of hopes for the first true HD Nintendo console. What followed were years of dust and the prayers that there might be some stellar games coming that could bring the console back. That of course has never really happened and that's why there are rumblings of a new console in the near future. To be perfectly honest the real reason I haven't let the console go has been the dreams of getting a proper Animal Crossing, but sadly I will be bailing out in the near future. To those that love playing the games on Wii U, that's perfectly fine and don't want to rain on your parade but the console is lacking in some key areas.





The first and biggest issue for me has been the absolute lack of games. Coming from Wii I had expected the console to be filled with tons of titles first and third party, not all had to be great as it was a pure numbers game. From a press/Youtuber point of view I saw this as an opportunity to cover a vast amount of titles in that regard yet it never happened and Nintendo basically killed any desires to make videos with their policies. That is a different story and not at all considered a part of this article, just wanted to state that before anyone says I'm just whining. At the start of the Wii U there was one title I was really looking forward to and that was Pikmin 3. It was supposed to be my first golden Wii U title and a couple delays killed my desire for it. I played Wii U for a bit with the small amount of launch titles present and then just left it to grow dust until Pikmin 3 finally released almost a year later which was disappointing in the wait, but an amazing title to play. From there I enjoyed the Scribblenauts games that released along Mario Kart 8 and from there nothing really else. Taking a look at the titles the Wii U apparently features a list of six hundred games so I was wondering what was missed over the years since it's shocking to have so little titles despite the time. Upon breaking this down 200 titles are just virtual console so they don't count. To elaborate I personally don't consider porting to be new games for a console, they need to at least update the graphics or do something to make it worthwhile especially if they don't have backwards compatibility support for them. An additional 300 are multiplatform so I mostly likely would enjoy them more on PC or on my primary console. What's left is a solid number of just under 200 exclusive titles so I'm unsure why there was so little I had played. Maybe it was a lack of pushing these titles from a marketing stand point though as Press some of these should be showing up in press releases. No matter the problem in this regard some looked interesting whereas others I had never heard of until doing research, but by the end of my current time with the Wii U there hasn't been much making me want to turn it on. Which is why I created this photo of a depressed Wii U on a train being sent away, it looks rather sad doesn't it?



Once more I need to say that this was a console I was 100% behind considering I bought it so early and have held onto it for so long. I really was hoping that this would be a strong side console for me to enjoy and it came at just the right pricing point yet it still has sold very poorly over its lifespan. I'd like to take a look at what could be contributing factors of this as part of why. The biggest problem aside from the lack of quickly released first party games is the naming of the console. This has caused many to assume that this is just an addition to the Wii instead of its own entity, that being from general people I've talked to about the console and what I've seen in online postings. That has been a huge factor as well causing much confusion, at least in some of the more casual gamers that I've chatted to over the last few years. Another problem is the silly gamepad, I know it's cool to play off the screen so someone else can use the main TV though you have to admit as a primary controller it's stupid. That's as plain as I can put it as this is not a fun thing to hold, if they wanted to make a separate portion be just a handheld they should have went that route. This thing is awkward to hold, it constantly distracts from the much larger screen I play the game on and it feels more like a gimmick than a proper controller. Aside from that the Pro Controller is a huge improvement though it isn't fully supported across all the titles which hinders its use.

Another aspect that the Wii U completely fails on is the actual software running on the device. While their first party games always look beautiful the infrastructure supporting them is awful. It's hard to connect with friends and even harder to play with them as it seems to hide any actual social interactions. Instead of improving with the times and understanding that people like to be connected, Nintendo has chosen to keep things locked. I understand they are child oriented, but you do need to take some strides in growing your platform. If not any difference there Nintendo should be focusing on updating their dashboard which has been given the minimal of changes over time. Whereas the Xbox One receives updates constantly and Playstation 4 has also been given its fair share of updates since launch as well. On the flip side Nintendo hasn't changed anything and while some may argue it doesn't need to, it never hurts to provide gamers with tweaks and additions. Personally it has been great being on Xbox One Preview program and receiving an update almost every month with something new. One final thing to mention would be that Nintendo should work on creating an achievement system of sorts, I know that games are for fun yet I've been ruined by achievements on Xbox. I felt almost no motivation to really accomplish anything on Wii U games as there was nothing to earn for my efforts. It's worked well on all other major platforms available in the current generations and has proven to be beneficial in getting people to try out new areas in games along with trying titles they might not have otherwise given a look at.

I'm sure I could come up with more problems or minor issues I have surrounding this console, though I think I covered most of the basics. Ultimately I regret my purchase of the console and believe this one will be a forgotten experience that was launched out of place in comparison to the competition. Whether that be from the lack of games, lack of general third party support and the disappointing infrastructure of their service the console has never really offered much for me. For those that stand by the console I suppose that's good for you, but it's about my time to bail and hopefully one day Nintendo can offer a better console that fits my needs. At this point I won't ever be blindly supporting anything Nintendo until actual releases justify it.