Topic: Is the Wii U a failure?

We are all Dooomed, everyone that has spent money on the Wii U has wasted it all. The system isn't selling as much as the Xbox One or Playstation 4. This means the console has no redeeming qualities and no one could have enjoyed their time using it. Lets just create a new landfill for everyone's Wii U. In 30 years they will find it and dig it up. /sarcasm

As a Nintendo fan, yes. The Wii U is a failure. Commercial failure, it failed to prove why we need a tablet controller, it is lack luster as far as features go, constant droughts. It is a failure.

I honestly don't care. I still enjoy games like Mario Kart 8 and Smash all the same.

Only commercially it's a failure, sure the constant game droughts are a nuisance but at least Nintendo are doing something to fix it. It may not be new games but adding more DLC to games like MK8 and Smash in drought-heavy areas is a fine alternative.

First, prove that the new console you're talking about is the successor to the Wii U. What features will that new console have?

Lack of indies? For my tastes, I think the indie market is pretty good. I have lots of Wii U indie games by now that I play a lot. Affordable Space Adventures, Scram Kitty, Stealth Inc. 2, Shovel Knight, OlliOlli, The Swapper, Armillo, Steamworld Dig, Teslagrad, Spy Chameleon, Stick it to the Man!, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition, Art of Balance, Ittle Dew, Swords and Soldiers HD, Tengami, Citizens of Earth, Chariot are all good games that have appeared during the past year.

For me, the Wii was a disaster. The Wii U is great. Looking forward to the Splatoon direct in a few hours.

I pressed the 'On' button of my Wii U - it powered up.

The Wii U OS successfully loaded without any issues.

I initiated the launch of game on a pre-inserted disc entitled 'Mario Kart 8'.

I hads big funs playing Mario Kart 8, something I couldn't have done without my Wii U.

Conclusion: my Wii U is not a failure.

Nintendo just released their financial report for fiscal year ending March 31, 2015. Long story short, they met shipment goals for both hardware and software and posted a profit of over 40 billion yen (335 million USD).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

Also noteworthy, Mario Kart 8 has officially crossed 5 million sales and Smash has crossed 10 (3.65 Wii U, 6.75 3DS).

I'm going to guess this has something to do with it...
2006-2008: $1US -> ~120Yen
2010-2013: $1US -> ~90Yen
2013-2014: $1US -> ~100Yen
2015 so far: $1US -> ~120Yen

HEY GUYS HAVE YOU HEARD THE WII U ISN'T SELLING WELL!?! -The Under-a-Rock Herald.

Yes. Commercially, it hasn't penetrated the market at all. In terms of games, it's the worst start Nintendo has had in a very long time.

Not to me. The Wii U has made me fall back in love with gaming again.

Not as much as you'd think. They also posted black in operating income this year, which they haven't done since 2011. They had a legitimate, bona fide profitable year.

If by "in a very long time" you mean "since before Wii," then yes.

At least since the GC. Look at the GC's first 2 years. Then look at the Wii's. With 3rd Party games, it's not even close. Without, in terms of volume the Wii and GC are still far better, and IMO, in quality, they are also better.

I would agree with the exception of some purely mechanical improvements. Granted, we're doing the 'why is the wii u library so lauded' dance now.

Duh!

You've apparently missed it, before, but we've already had this argument. Just looking at the worthwhile games, most Nintendo systems INCLUDING THE WII U have very similar sizes of library with very similar levels of quality throughout. The main difference was in variety as the Wii U clearly had more 2D platformers by this point in its life cycle than the others and the word "Mario" came up noticeably more often. That, however, doesn't change the fact that the Wii U has had some of the best Platformers (and honestly some of the best out of each series that has come to it, thus far) and it doesn't make the Wii U's library actually weaker.

Also, can we drop the 3rd party argument? I know people who already own a Wii U would love better 3rd Party support, but let's be real, here: they already have a Wii U. Their status isn't pending. They've already bought one. To the people outside, very few 3rd party titles are going to jump out without getting stamped in the head with an asterisk that leads to the extra note saying "Probably already on PC, runs better, and sells cheaper, too!" Thus far, Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, and Hyrule Warriors are the only notable cases of this not happening. (Not counting ZombiU or Lego City Undercover as it's a niche game. It has its fans, but the average gamer won't look at it twice.)

Mind you, I'm not saying 3rd parties are bad or that they don't belong on the Wii U or anything dumb like that. I'm simply saying that I'm not gonna have money for them, and I can't imagine that every single other Wii U owner is different. Nintendo owners will almost inevitably give priority to 1st party Nintendo titles and 3rd parties will often end up with the scraps. (As noted with Bayo and Hyrule Warriors, this doesn't always turn out so bad, but my point still stands.)

SKIP!

This is revisionist. I don't want to get in a list war here, but both Gamecube and Wii U had about the same number of full retail 1st party games and new IP in the first two years. Wii U may actually have a slight edge, because apart from full retail titles, they also had stuff like NES Remix, Pushmo World, and New Super Luigi Bros.

As for 3rd party in the same time period, there's too many to count for both (hundreds), but it's very easy to see that Gamecube's launch library was both smaller and poorer quality.

Best sellers on both systems are going to be Smash and Mario Kart, where Wii U will have the advantage in both sales and reception by the end of the generation.

I wasn't talking about quality in the games, which is going to be very subjective anyway. I will say though that the Gamecube did have Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, and F-Zero GX in the first two years, and those are commonly considered among the best games Nintendo has ever published. Animal Crossing was the big new IP on Gamecube and has since become one of Nintendo's most successful and popular properties.

All three financed, co-developed, and published by Nintendo. They also own the IP on two of them. It's a stretch to call them 3rd party games.

If you wanna get picky about it, Wonderful 101 is second party and Hyrule Warriors is a 3rd party collab with 1st party assets. Arguably, Bayonetta 2 is a second party game with third party assets, but as I already pointed out, there's some gray area on that one.

Failure means too many things for this to be answered as clearly as you would want.

Wii U as a failure: Sales successor to Wii, Sales for 1 of the big 3 home consoles for the biggest entertainment medium in the world, 3rd party support outside of some indies, compared to 3DS sales, knowing how to market or release games at a rate that is successful
Wii U as a notfailure: Is the only current gen home console that consistently justifies its own existence to hardcore gamers, the things we accepted with Wii's online were ludicrous

just for some examples. Wii U is Schrodinger's Failure clearly.