Topic: Wii U Turns 10 Years Old

The Wii U was released on November 18th, 2012, which makes the ill-fated Nintendo console ten years old. I thought it would be nice to share our thoughts on the system now that we are well within the Switch years.

I got the Wii U at my local Gamestop in southern California on release morning since none of my local game stores bothered to have a midnight release for it. That and the fact that I was the only person waiting outside the store prior to opening were good predictors of the potential success of the console. Regardless of the reception of the Wii U, I still personally like the system. Sure, I am loving my Nintendo Switch, but the second screen feature of the Wii U as well as its nearly 100% backwards compatibility with all the original Wii's games and accessories is something I really appreciate. Besides, the Joycons are step back in motion control gaming when compared to the Wiimote, in my opinion.

I won't lie. I sort of miss Miiverse and the interactive television features that were later stripped out of the Wii U.

Anyway, since this is the 10 year anniversary of the release on the Nintendo, here are my 10 favorite games on the Wii U:

-Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Come back to Nintendo, COD!)
-Mario Kart 8 + DLC packs
-Super Mario Maker
-NES Remix 1 & 2
-Super Mario 3D World
-Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD or Wind Waker HD (either HD version is fantastic!)
-Rayman Legends (An amazing example of what can be done with the second screen.)
-Xenoblade Chronicles X
-Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
-Nintendoland (This game gets too much hate.)

I got a Wii mini when the Wii U was 4. Good times.

I loved my Wii U, and still do play it. Actually, I still been using the Wii U eShop, even late last year to buy Sin and Punishment.

I remember receiving my Wii U for my birthday (personal note: I'm only getting consoles on my birthday from now on, avoids the server rush on Christmas), and after updating it and setup, I was playing Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. I also got Call of Duty Ghosts and Sonic Lost World shortly after. Always liked how COD had the map on the gamepad screen.

As much of an unpopular opinion this is, I actually liked Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric, honestly, it's one of my most played games on the system. Also, Splatoon started here. I was still surprised to find people playing Splatoon online on Wii U a few months ago. Makes me happy to see people still playing it, even with Splatoon 2 existing.

It still amazes me that Wii U had free online with more functions, and even voice chat in Mario Kart 8 friend's lobby out of the box (host a friends game, and the - button turns on chat in the lobby), yet the Switch is a paid service requires a phone and app for chat. I could even send messages to others via miiverse.

It feels like yesterday it was 2012 and my friend and I saw these at the local mall.

@Sunsy I miss kiosks

@Kermit1Pineapple Me too, it was fun looking at the new consoles that come out and trying new games. I think I tried a PS3 in GameStop once and played Pinball Arcade, and I actually ended up downloading it to my Wii U.

I love when games are multiplatform, I can just play it on a console or PC I have without needing to buy extra hardware.

I literally almost never touched my Wii U since year 2020 with just only 8 games. Currently I have 17 Wii U games but I don't have really high hype with Wii U games at the moment as my hype is currently on PS4 games.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika I was that kid... Though I washed my hands!

I got my Wii U for Christmas 2012 and still use it to this day (I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles X at the moment). Having a second screen on the GamePad adds a lot to games in my opinion, whether it's adjusting your spaceship's dashboard in Affordable Space Adventures, balancing a tray of desserts in Wii Fit U, or just honking a great big horn in Mario Kart. Even if it's just used for a map or inventory, it's still far more convenient having that in your hands at all times than having to pause the game to access it.

It's a shame the console sold so badly and we didn't get more developers experimenting with its unique controller. Maybe one day Nintendo will revisit the dual screen concept with a Switch peripheral or something. But either way I'll keep using my using Wii U for as long as it still works.

@Kermit1 what is a wii mini?

I actually got a refurbished Wii U in February 2014 from Nintendo’s online store (this was before I lived in a low-income apartment two years later). I've had a lot of games, but in the years that followed I ended up selling a majority of them to get by until I moved into the aforementioned apartment and my financial woes went away, so now I only have these games left:

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Disney Infinity 3.0
Mario Kart 8
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

Right now my biggest regret is not giving Splatoon a chance, can you imagine all the posts I could've made in all the Splatfests?