Topic: Why is the Wii U's library so lauded?

I think all this shows is that HD development on top of a handheld that can consistently put out 3D console-quality games has stretched Nintendo a bit. Lets hope that if the NX launches as a 3rd pillar, it quickly replaces whichever (if not both) platform it is intended to replace.

@IceClimbers
I personally don't think they have an issue with quality, the quality of software on the Wii U has been fantastic. Maybe not as original as Galaxy or Prime thus far but overall pretty fantastic. And the bit on the previous page where I compared the first couple of years of Wii, GC and Wii U? It's pretty even really, arguably the GC is just above the Wii U and the Wii just under. But when you go to the third year? Is Xenoblade, Splatoon and Starfox more or less than Punchout, New SMB & Wii Sports Resort or Metroid Prime 2, Pikmin 2 & Paper Mario?

The Wii U holds its own. I think the only complaint about their software output is that it has been slow to ramp up.

But I just showed that they weren't. The only game I accidentally repeated was Eternal Darkness. If Wii Sports Club and WW HD count, then Master Quest most definitely counts. It really offered MORE new content than WWHD did. Just because one is shinier doesn't mean much. Feel free to ignore the Japanese only Captain Rainbow, I just included it because I included Doshin and Cubivore, and I wanted to be thorough. The Wii and GC were still both pretty far ahead of the Wii U 2 years in, and that's excluding the casual games like Wii Fit U, Wii Party U, Wii Play, Big Brain Academy, and Wii Music.

Bayonetta 1 is almost a straight port, if we can count that, we might as well count the collectors edition of Zelda games for GC too.

Arguably that statement is true, I'm not sure what more inspiration one needs to keep playing as long as the base mechanics are solid.

Wii U's library is no SNES or PS2 but when Wii U gets games, they're usually pretty high quality. Good chunk of the time some of the best games period that you could get at the time.

Just based on either personal experience or hearing from others
-Nintendo Land*
-Rayman Legends**
-Need For Speed Most Wanted U**
-Super Mario 3D World
-Hyrule Warriors
-Wind Waker HD**
-Guacamelee
-Little Inferno
-Wonderful 101
-Bayonetta 2
-Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate**
-Shovel Knight
-Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails
-Lone Survivor
-Thomas Was Alone
-The Switcher
-Stealth Inc 2
-Mario Kart 8***
-Super Smash Bros
-Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
-Elliot Quest
-Deus Ex: Human Revolution**
-Assassin's Creed IV
-Skylanders Swap Force (srsly, look it up. Apparently a legit awesome game)
-Pikmin 3 (how did I forget it? )
-Child of Light
-Darksiders 2

*for a pack-in game, Nintendo Land is brilliant
**best version of the game
***but maybe only when it came with a free game

The PS4 and XB1's library have nothing to do with the Wii U's great library of games.

So I don't think the Wii U's library is lauded at all..

@iKhan
And Mario Party, and you included WarioWare when I made a point of excluding the Wii U equivalent. And I didn't include Monster Hunter, Lego City and Sonic on the Wii U list. Also I didn't include Super Mario Sluggers because I never had a change to get it. Maybe unfair but still. Also Endless Ocean isn't really a game, not sure if it counts, and you keep saying the Master Quest disk counts but it was a bonus disk when you brought Wind Waker. I didn't count it for the same reason I didn't count Bayonetta.

Also you're ignoring the broader point here by nitpicking. You say they're not equal because you could bend the list to make the GC and Wii look better than I did in that list I came up with. However in that list I came up with there were more Wii U than Wii or GC titles. I'm more than happy to concede that the GC was ahead of the Wii U by this point but.... not by much and mostly because Prime and Wind Waker are better than 3D World and Bayonetta 2.

Because a genre does not move forward by repeating the same mechanics, for a genre to move forward it needs to either redefine them or add something onto the formula. 3D World using gimmicks to mix things up is like putting spices on week old bread. You can put all of the little extras on it you want, it won't mask the taste if the bread itself is stale.

I think they need to stop focusing so much on platformers and release other types of games. I own New Super Mario U, Mario 3D World, and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and I can honestly say, none of them are that exciting to play for me, unless I'm playing them multiplayer.

You ARE aware that the last Platformer they released was over a year ago, right? I mean, unless you're counting Kirby, but that doesn't work much like a Platformer so much as a Puzzle game.

Nintendo at least tries to be creative. You just repeat your same argument over and over and over again...

You can't really judge the Wii U library against the PS2 or SNES libraries (or any of the other previous platforms), there was a lot more games for those systems, but then they weren't half as technically advanced as gen 8. Were going to get less games this gen from previous gens just because a game costs more to produce these days. The Wii U however does blow the Wii to pieces just by not depending on shovelware to fill up the roster. It's also the first real Nintendo system to have some decent indie games on it.

Also in comparison to the XB1 and PS4, the Wii U is different. Not only do those two machines have a lot of the same 3rd party titles, but a lot of those titles are the same skeleton in different skin. AC4, AC Union, FC4 and Watch dogs are all pretty much the same mechanics. SMBU and Donkey Kong may both be platformers, but they do feel like different experiences. You have to add in to the fact Nintendo is still a Japanese company and it's games feel Japanese- out there, humorous, and colourful, whereas both the Xb1 and PS4 are aiming at the 'average Western gamer'. For people who don't feel they fit into that bracket, the Wii U is a godsend. I think it's great and worthwhile.

Snow world, water world, desert world, grass world, castle world, star world, cloud world...rinse wash and repeat for 30 years....

But hey, there is a cat suit!

Wii U has high quality exclusives, in my opinion. Xenoblade Chronicles X and Splatoon are gonna showcase that high level of quality.

Yes, and this cat suit allows for a previously completely unseen level of vertical exploration. Not only do many levels compliment this new feature through hard-to-reach areas and secrets, it also alters aerial behaviour for the characters in a new way. So, while the general layout is the same, the gameplay was extended drastically. Stating that thry keep reusing basic design choices is superficial, since that holds no information in regards to the actual level design, up to and including the character-dependant difficulty curve.

Although I generally agree that those themes are overused and are everything but unique, 3D World is different. The worlds are themed after the aforementioned grass, desert, ocean, etc, world, but the levels themselves don't fit the theme of the world. The desert world for example has five conventional levels, but only one has a desert theme. So, for 3D World, your argument doesn't hold up.

I will confess that the PS4/Xbox One has nothing for me, but then again I don't really keep up with them that much.

So is the Wii U really like the Dreamcast? Low selling but beloved due to great games? Or is it simply the least worst option in terms of game selection among the 8th gen home consoles.

Subjectively, I think it's the best. I don't think I've ever had so many surprises and long play times since...the 3DS.

I'm nitpicking? You are the one randomly excluding games because you personally feel "they shouldn't count". I'm pretty much consistently counting every Nintendo IP on this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_published_by_Nintendo#Wii) excluding casual games because you seemed like you wanted to do that (which, if you ask me, doens't make much sense anyway, as a game is a game). Monster Hunter, Lego City, and Sonic are all 3rd party IPs that Nintendo just happened to publish (I honestly forgot that Bayonetta 2 counted under that banner, but keep including it if it makes you happy). Once you start including those, it gets really hairy to keep track of. Maybe the Wii U does better when you count 3rd party games, and honestly, I'd have to take you at your word, because I'm not willing to go dig up data to show one way or the other.

I actually had no idea that Master Quest was only a preorder bonus. I could have sworn I saw a commercial advertising just OoT+MQ alone.

Look again, I included Game&Wario too. Endless Ocean was sold in a game box for the Wii U at a retail price. That's a game when you are just trying to get data, I'm not trying to bias this with personal opinions about the games on the list. DK Barrel Blast may have gotten poor reviews, but so did Game&Wario. You still missed Excite Truck, Battalion Wars 2, and Pokemon BR.

That all said, I did forget to add NSLU on Wii U and My Pokemon Ranch and Link's Crossbow Training (if you can count NES Remix and Pushmo on Wii, Crossbow Training has to count too). I'm not trying to nitpick here, most of these are just honest mistakes.

I love how "shovelware" always becomes the go-to excuse when people want to discredit the Wii's library. It's kind of like how people like to make the Wii the scapegoat for all of Nintendo's reputation and 3rd party woes when such problems have been around since the NES.

Most of the Wii's shovelware is so forgettable that no one ever even remembers what it is, so saying "shovelware filled the Wii's roster" is a ridiculous overstatement.. The Wii had a surprisingly large library of legitimate games, mostly first party, but with a good amount of 3rd party games as well.

For me, the Wii U has the best games on ANY platform since the GCN. To me, the Wii U is slowly overtaking the GCN as my favorite ever console.

It has nothing to do with the lack of must-own titles for the PS4/XBO. It has to do with its own amazingness. In just a little over 6 months, I have more games for my Wii U than I did for the Wii, and I'm only a few games short of owning the same as I did for my 360 (which is the most games I've ever owned for a console).

Granted, I've sold/traded a lot of Wii/GCN/360 games over the years, so it's not a true comparison ... it's more of a comparison of the games I have on hand. But the points, I feel, is still valid. The Wii U has the best library for this generation, by far, and it has nothing to do with the lack of games on the other two.

Just Bayonetta 2 is the best game in 6 years, on any platform, period. And it's an exclusive.