Feature: Reflecting on Four Years of the Wii U

In my eyes, the Wii U only had one major release that I bought in 2016....and it was Mario and Sonic at the Rio Olympics!!!!

I spent hours chasing my high score in Archery as Princess Daisy! This title is super underrated, Nintendo Life even gave it a scathing 5/10!!!!

The Wii u was good okayee console.

Good console. Some classic games that really jived well with the gamepad.

Everything about the future of Nintendo now rests on the Switch's shoulders. I'm very optimistic though.

I share pretty much all of the above four opinions. I do believe the Wii U will be revered by many in the future as the GameCube is today: Both misunderstood/poorly marketed to the general public but home of some of the finest video game experiences I have played in my whole gamer life.

I think it deserved to fail. It's underpowered, overpriced (both the console and the games), and has few good games. It is by far Nintendo's worst effort and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. They sent it out to die. It had no major titles at launch. No Zelda, no 3D Mario, nothing. Where were the heavy hitters Nintendo?

It was the first system that I bought with my own money, and for that reason alone, I will never forget it. It also gave me the most fun game experiences I've ever had, be it sailing through the Great Seas in Wind Waker HD, beating up my friends in Super Smash Bros, or playing Nintendo Land with my friends and family. I believe that the Wii U was an innovative system that deserved much better than what it got.

I love the Wii U! It was the first Nintendo console I purchased over 40 games for and that felt like an accomplishment in itself! I loved Smash 4, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D world and many other first party titles!

It was the third party which I enjoyed the most though with the Wii U! Whether it was the Batman Arkham City or Batman Arkham Origins both of which the dual screen play was amazing with! The dual screen made for a great accompany to the console and is is a shame that it was so poorly received! Here is to a health Switch lifespan!

No cross buy VC games with 3DS killed much of the potential use for me. Why would I want to buy 2 copies of the same game at full price on the same account?

Plus, I really only bought it for Xenoblade and Tokyo Mirage, which took forever to release. Though Bayo 2 was fun and MK8 was great. Without single player in Smash Bros though, I didn't touch this version much

The WiiU was the first Nintendo console I never felt compelled to actually purchase. I eventually relented due to the lack of any decent games to play with my family on PlayStation/Xbox. (And I really wanted to play Xenoblade X)

It was then I realised the WiiU's true strength. The gamepad was and still is a crap idea. But where else can I get 4 controllers together and play anything as good as MK8, 3D World or Smash?

Nintendo should have ditched the gamepad several years ago, redesigned the console to be slimmer and done a pack in with 2 Wiimotes, 2 Pro pads and Mario Kart 8 for £250. They could have sold it on the back of local multiplayer. There is still a massive market for this that is all but ignored by PS4/X1 to the point that VR is the ultimate expression of that push.

I saw the switch video with the guys playing NBA at the court and I was sold. I preordered one already.

I just hope people don't subscribe to the belief that Wii U was better than the Wii. Any true Nintendo fan - who wasn't swayed by the rhetoric of "lol, the Wii is a shovelware console!" - knows the Wii had way more classic games than the Wii U or GameCube. Sadly those games didn't get the coverage they deserved. Fair enough, if you have played almost every acclaimed Wii game and still think Wii U is better, then you're entitled to that opinion, but a lot of people haven't.

It was the best and worst of Nintendo combined. Great games and a good system design that was plagued by bad decisions.

There is this one good thing about the Wii u. It did let me finish a lot of Nintendo backlog.
I didn't 100% super Mario 64 but I managed to with the gamepad play.
I went again with super Mario sunshine to finish.
Super Mario Galaxy and the green stars.
And me and my kids finished super Mario 3D world together.

All on my Wii u

I usually trash Nintendo for not giving us a sole Wii U Zelda and Metroid, but my household loved Nintendoland, New Super Mario Bros Wii U, Super Smash Bros, and my personal favorite Windwaker HD.

Wii U flamed out because Nintendo was arrogant and thought it was still the early 90s. You could argue those times are coming back, but in 2012 no one was looking for remakes, family friendly games that don't innovate, and really insular multiplayer experiences that only appealed to the absolute hardest of cores in Nintendo's base.

Games like Smash and Splatoon seem super cool, but they're jokes to the "splash out and buy the $200 special edition season pass with a free T-shirt of the HD annual release game" crowd that is mostly funding the hobby at this point.

With the Switch, I'd personally love to see Nintendo get back into the game by courting lots of third parties and letting THEM do this branding work, but it's Nintendo so I have no idea how they can keep the NS from being a similar flop. But I'm ready to be surprised and/or to see them ride this current tide of retro love we've been seeing.

I love my Wii U. It really brought me into modern gaming. The simple lesson is that the Wii U failed for lack of third party support. Otherwise, it was an incredible console. There is a long list of outstanding games, headed by MK8 and Splatoon. My grade school kids love it too; this will be their NES.

Nintendo worried too much about staying profitable on their hardware when they should have worried about market share and moving units. By the time PS4 and XB1 released it was too late they needed to cut prices and move units at Christmas.

I remember getting my Wii U on Christmas Day back in 2014. I had waited to get the system since I was initially hesitant. However, after finally playing Mario Kart 8 with some friends when one of them brought it over, I just knew I had to get one. So I saved up a lot of money for it and to this day, I'm so glad I've spent so much time on the system. It's a shame though it had such horrible marketing.

I said my goodbye 3 years ago.

This is probably my second favorite console, but it is one that has frustrated me like no other. It hurt to see the potential of the console go to waste due to poor marketing decisions and an inability to think outside of the box.

My comments about Wii U :
1. Year 2013 was the wonderful momentum for Wii U. Plenty of good games but Nintendo screwed up on year 2014. Year 2015 even worse by launched Amiibo Festival. Year 2016 was very hopeless even there are a few good Wii U games. My critiques for Nintendo : Stop making Amiibo too much, don't force us to use amiibo to start and continue the games (Amiibo Festival case) and give us some color variation for next machines (Gosh...why always black color. I want white or blue. Maybe other people really wants special colors).
2. Expand the internal storage. 32 GB was still ridiculous too small. At least 256 - 512 GB is quite enough.
3. Create some new IP's. Some people really bored with same Mario games over and over again. So far I know, Wii U is lack of Cartoonish/ Realism Boxing games, Rhythm games like Bemani, Vacation games like Go Vacation Wii or Fishing Resort Wii, Life simulation games ala The Sims, Good RPG's like FF XII or Tactical RPG like FF Tactics, Misc genre like Tomodachi Life, Fitness games like Gold's Gym Cardio Workout Wii, etc.
4. Gamepad idea is really wonderful idea. Off Tv, Tablet like feature but poor range limit. But I think Gamepad failure lead to Switch idea, Totally portable gamepad.
5. Cut the price, create good marketing teams, Introduce Wii U on many advertising, explain clearly how to play Wii U so peoples will understand and might have an interest to buy.

Well my comments so far about Wii U. A disaster yet lovable machine from Nintendo. Thank you Wii U for entertaining me.

The Wii U was the first Nintendo system where certain things happening changed my decision of buying the console from no chance to absolutely.

Up to launch, I wasn't particularly impressed. A Nintendo Land demo in GAME was ok but really felt like it would be really dull for a single player experience. Also with having 3 years experience with Xbox 360 at the time, I felt that NSMBU should've just been DLC for NSMBWii in the same way you could get DLC for a few third party titles like the Mega Man games on WiiWare.

My status continued being no chance until E3 2013 came along. Rock Band 3 DLC had stopped in April with American Pie and there I was in June seeing trailers of a brand new Mario Kart game alongside a bunch of other promising titles like Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World and Sonic Lost World. I was then sold on Wii U and got one in early September as the big wave of games started in late September.

Then at EGX in late September, I came across the Nintendo Life streetpass area. While a fair amount of the day was in the MK7 tournament, I did get to play some of the fantastic Wii U titles before leaving. After that I signed up for a Nintendo Life account and the Nintendo hype train was at maximum speed for a few years.

The disappointments of E3 2015 and the release of Rock Band 4 did make me thankful I got an XB1 in June 2015 though there were still plenty of fun Wii U times afterwards whether in the form of finally 100%'ing Hyrule Warriors outside of Cucco's Fury, creating some crazy courses in Super Mario Maker, beating all star hard with all characters in Smash or participating in the Star Fox Zero Nintendo UK challenge (plenty of others too).

As for the future. Providing Nintendo doesn't cancel it, I will buy BotW for Wii U irrelevant how good or bad the Switch is (I made the mistake of not buying GC Twilight Princess back in the day and I'm not making it again with Wii U BotW).

@UK-Nintendo
Softmod your Wii U ? Oh.. now I understand. But, thanks. I will keep my Wii U just the way it is. I can use my old Wii to play Gamecube games.

@Anti-Matter that's great. I still have my old Wii too.

Ah, the Wii U, you've been an interesting console to say the least.

While many on here have much more negative outlooks on the thing, I've loved it.

I've loved nearly time I've played on this system, whether it be the intense local-multiplayer cessions over Nintendo Land, NSMBU, 3D World, Smash, or Mario Kart or the times relentlessly splaying others online in Splatoon, or building creating creations in Super Mario Maker and Minecraft.

Yeah, the Wii U had its flaws; price, Gamepad battery, marketing, etc., but that really doesn't matter that much to me, personally. The Wii U is probably the best console I've ever owned because of the experiences I've had with it.

Thank you, Wii U. Here's hoping the Switch gets the sales it deserves.

I love my Wii U and still play it more often than my other consoles.
The name killed it right out of the gate, and it's a shame because it has housed so many incredible games. Four years is way too short for any modern console, though. Investing in all those titles and accessories makes it harder to embrace what's next, primarily for storage reasons.

I got into the Wii U late in the game. I know I wanted Smash, Zelda, and Mario Kart, but it was ultimately the Humble Bundles that got me to splurge on a system (got it on Craigslist). All the same, it's been fun.

I bought the Wii U after I played Super Mario 3D World at a Nintendo demo station in a mall in the Vancouver area. I couldn't believe a Nintendo game could look that good. I loved nearly everything I have played for the system. I will remember it fondly but I also remember the day I bought a PS4 because I was tired of waiting month after month for new games. The Wii U is going to be ridiculously collectible and rarer games that sold less than 1 million copies will be coveted and expensive.

@sleepinglion I can relate to this comment. I have a few racing wheels, a pro controller, smash controllers, a bunch of Wii remotes etc. It's clear that none of that will transfer forward and will only be usable for the Wii and Wii U. That's a big investment for only 3 years of ownership. I'm a bit miffed by that. As a personal choice, I am not buying the Switch at launch. I want Nintendo to prove to me this system will be supported. I'll see after the 6 months.

Top 5 Wii U games in no particular order are:

~ Super Mario Maker
~ Yoshi's Woolly World
~ Xenoblade Chronicles X
~ Bayonetta 2
~ Zelda: Breath of the Wild(even though it's yet to be released)

There's other great games that don't make the list for one reason or another. Like Mario Kart 8, completely gimped Battle Mode and for that reason it'll never make the cut. If it had a BM matching the other side of the game then it could possibly be Wii U's best game.

And while the system may be 4 years old, it died a long time before that. At least a year ago, with XCX being its last AAA title and games before and after that extremely sporadic.

I really like the gamepad. It's by no means perfect and it was in general poorly utilised. It still has untapped potential.

Mario Kart 8 is not as amazing as everyone makes it sound IMO. Battle mode is terrible and character roster is mediocre. Otherwise it's pretty good, hope the Switch improves it. Those other games though, yes they deserve the accolades!

@Paddle1 Blasphemy! It's among the most awesome Mario Karts ever made! And they haven't had a proper battle system since MK64 and Double Dash...

Meanwhile, the Wii turned 10 today.

The Wii U was all about the Gamepad. The only redeeming feature about the Gamepad is Off TV play. The biggest complaint about the Gamepad is the lack of range. Hence, the Switch.

As a day one owner, terrible decision on my part to invest.

I have loved my Wii U. It's a shame that more people didn't buy in, because they missed so many good games, more than I care to list here (and others have done a good job of that already). I'll be playing mine long after the Switch arrives.

@StarDust4Ever There are rumors that Nintendo will improve the battle mode, among other things, such as new characters and tracks. Give this article a read. https://arcadegirl64.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/rumor-mario-kart-for-switch-brings-a-mix-of-old-and-new/

I've said it numerous times before and I'll say it again: the idea for the Wii U as a system was stupid. Basing an entire system off of a single game like Nintendo Land was silly. It's game library, however, is great. Games like Tropical Freeze, Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Wooly World are truly incredible. If money isn't too much of an issue, I think the Wii U is worth picking up today.

I picked up a Wii U day one and have never regreted it there are so many amazing titles on Wii U to this day I have yet to play an action title I like as much as Bayonetta 2 on any system .

Any console that has Smash on it can keep me going till the next one comes out. Brawl had me stick with the Wii for 8 years or so. Probably more. Now, even though I'm 100% getting Switch the day it comes out, I don't plan on leaving my Wii U in the dust. Not to mention Bayonetta 2, Splatoon and I haven't even finished Xenoblade Chronicles X yet. For me, the Wii U will be living much longer than my PS4: which is sat gathering dust right next to it.

can someone tell me what game that is in the picture at the start of the article, where the 4 remotes and gamepad are being used?

For me my favorite WiiU game was a remake. The Wind Waker was so brilliant. I remember when I got it for the Gamecube and was so disappointed. It was to cartoony. The controls were weird. I tried to get into it but never got past that stupid Dragon level. So when I saw they were going to release it again I was a little apprehensive, but there were not many releases. So I said to myself, " self it's a Zelda game come on". When I downloaded at 12:00 my wifi was lagging. I was getting so mad at Comcast. When it finally downloaded, it was 2 o'clock o'clock in the morning. I was so tired I only got the green tunic and hit the hay. When I woke up I played the heck out of that game. It was so polished so beautifully done . I could not say one bad thing about it. It became my favorite Zelda game. Riding the boat was not a task. The online mii interaction was awesome. #Tingle. It took me about two weeks to finish it and I loved every minute of it. The adventure and the color shades were beautiful. This game utilize the gamepad and did it well. The WiiU had great moments. Mario kart was so fun to play with my family again. I Even took it to a party and made a drinking game of it. Never really was a Smash enthusiast, but I got a free 3DS demo and play the heck out of it. I had to have it for the WiiU. It became another drinking game at a party. I lost miserably and loved every drunken moment. The games I spend The most time with were Hyrule Warriors and Xenoblade. Those game sucked me in. Although I own a PS4, I only want to play my WiiU and 3DS. I even got free games Pikmin 3 which was so amazing and Tropical freeze. That one was hard.
I don't think it was a failure. I just think of it as a friend who died too young. It's life was short and sweet. Sure it has its flaws, but so what. I love it and still do.

It's a bit like the GC, but unlike it, at least half of the games worth getting on the console are tied to the eshop, for which server support will inevitably die; perhaps sooner, perhaps later.

It's the most valuable console in that it incorporates every manner of poor mistake Nintendo are wont to make; mistakes they MUST learn from if they are to have any sort of chance at recapturing the respect and admiration of the true gaming community.

The WiiU is a lot like the Dreamcast. It's a commercial failure but has gems that gamers will always love.

I sure do miss my Wii U, but with the Switch launch so close, I can't afford to go back now. Wii U had so much potential. But when I lost a ton of game save data to hard drive confusion I was quite irritated. I'm so hoping they improve Nintendo ID accounts. If I drop my 3DS and break it, that's thousands of dollars and hours lost forever. But I can't deny Wii U and I did have some amazing times with Bayonetta 2, Smash, MK8, Zombi U, Wind Waker, Donkey Kong, Super Mario 3D Land, AC4, Deus Ex, Rayman Legends, Tekken, Art Academy, and a ton of indie and VC games. This feels like the death of a friend to be sure. Cheers to the future.

@KirbyTheVampire I'm actually not offended if Nintendo rereleases the best games for Wii-U again on the Switch, with enhancements. While a discount would be nice for those of us who supported the Wii-U version, it's fairly obvious that won't happen. Anyway I see myself loving the Switch by not being confined to the bedroom when playing.

@StarDust4Ever Sorry man, was trying to reply to the guy before you, haha. Well, hope you enjoyed the article anyway. xP

Great but few games, the console was okay. Bought it day one as I do with all Nintendo and Sony console (and most software) products but I never regretted my decision.

Personally I enjoyed a lot of the games. But not without a lot of disapointing moments.

Highlights : Splatoon! Best new game series i've seen in the last decade. Wonderful 101 + Bayonette was also quite enjoyable. Plus Xenoblade was great too.

Lowlights : Underpowerd, no 3rd party support, hard to communicate with friends and hard to get friends to buy it. Gamepad range was way to small, and no analog triggers like button triggers in this time and age was really silly mistake made racing games a impossibility and most likely drove away 3rd party devs even more.

The three and half years that I've owned a Wii U I've likely only clocked two/three hours plating on the TV. Hundreds of hours on the gamepad!

I generally loved the gamepad, glad they've kept it for Switch.

My only gripe with the Wii U was the disappointing Virtual Console, so many classic games that'll never be released now. Switch needs a streaming service for the Virtual Console, 10/15/20 quid a month service and access to the library I'd be all over that!

I bought the Wii U at launch. It's difficult for me to rate against the Wii. I think I lean more towards Wii U as I prefer Mario Kart 8 to the Wii instalment. Also because of games like Xenoblade Chronicles X and Mario Maker. But great games on both consoles. I would've liked the new Smash Bros to have had a sub space like story mode but otherwise a good new entry for the franchise.
It's a shame the Wii U wasn't as successful as it could have been. Like one of the NL writers touched on, maybe if there wasn't that trouble with the 3DS, more focus would have been on Wii U whereby things would have turned out better.
I'll look back fondly on the console like the others for once again offering some of the best gameplay experiences.

"but I'll be enjoying my Wii U for some number of years after the Switch's launch; I've still got a fairly lengthy backlog of games to work through before I can retire it for good."

And that sums up my own comment better than I would, I guess.

Wii U's distinct features generally live on - Switch has gone to town with off-TV idea and asynchronous second screen gameplay is really the legacy of DS whose family Nintendo doesn't seem to be giving up anytime soon. Sad to see it go, but I still view its failure as one in the strictly comparative sense, by the standards and sale expectations the industry has long been used to.

@nolf69 The Mario Chase minigame in Nintendo Land.

I just can't see it being remembered fondly. Those consoles that sold poorly but are loved, didn't get that status through their poor sales. The Dreamcast was packed with new IP and new genres. Crazy Taxi, Shenmue, Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio,, Seaman, Samba De Amigo. Completely revolutionary stuff. That's ignoring all the really good games that did nothing new likes Skies of Arcadia, Code Veronica, Toy Commander, Power Stone, and Metropolis Street Racer. The Wii U has many good games, but most are just slight improvements over what came before. NSMBU, Monster Hunter, Pikmin 3, 3D World, Tropical Freeze, MK8, Smash Bros, Bayonetta. The only fresh new games were Wonderful 101 which has many, many problems, and Splatoon, which for me is the only gem the machine really has.

The Dreamcast and GameCube have so many games that you will see on greatest of all time lists, but I don't see that with Wii U. Smash and MK never appear on those things as the games are all so similar. The original Bayonetta is still more fondly remembered for the impact it had, even though the sequel improves it. Many on here will disagree, but it will take more than the hardcore fans on here to give it a Rep like the Dreamcast.

I think the wiiu is a great console, but unfortunately was so badly marketed it didnt stand a chance. Nintendo never dropped the price, only 2 colours ( white and black) one minor limited edition ( wind waker HD). I swear i only saw one advertisement over its entire lifetime and a bad one at that. Nintendo did support it with great games ( Smash bros, Mario Kart, Mario Maker, Bayonetta 1/2, Splatoon, Wonderful 101 ( amazing game!) Rayman, Monster hunter 3, Twilight princess and Wind waker ( wind waker is the best hd remaster ive ever played) DK tropical Freeze Starfox Zero ( the controls are great people, play it for one playthrough and you can see what Myamoto was going for). I could keep going but you get the idea, this doesn't even touch on all the great download titles and all the extra dlc that came out for the system. (hyrule warriors just came to mind!) . Nintendo had a great system, but they failed on marketing, kept everything too close to there chest, made the architecture of the system too different from other systems, did not push for third party support and generally just didn't do what they normally do to sell a console. Its almost like the PSVita. A great hand held with no support or marketing ( even sony didnt support it) The Wiiu got supported by Nintendo, but it needed more. Still it will stay as one of my Favourite consoles of all time

Off-TV play was a godsend in my house and I'm pleased we'll still have that with Switch. Loved the use of the GamePad in Pikmin, ZombiU, Deus Ex, Nintendoland, Affordable space adventures to name a few. I'll miss the gameplay-enhancing second screen going forward but will always keep my WiiU hooked up in my gaming room.

I have huge affection for my WiiU. It has given me more amazing gaming experiences than I care to remember, but Nintendo really dropped the ball with nearly every other aspect: terrible name, not enough games at launch, no third party support, high price, confusing marketing, the list goes on and on. However, for me, a console is judged on its games and controller, and on this front they excelled themselves, even more than usual.

The Wii U was and is a fantastic console. As a gaming system it did few things wrong and I truly believe it deserves to stand as one of the best systems to own this generation.

Having said that, marketing and software releases were nothing short of an absolute disaster that just seemed to happen - constantly.

How the system survived this long to go on and sell even 15m units is a bit of a mystery to me, but I suppose it's also a testament to the quality and reach of Nintendo's IP.

Game design and execution is still to this day Nintendo's no' 1 strength and in that regard Wii U has delivered. Even if it took this long to have a lineup that's worth investing in, it got there in the end.
Sad though that with Switch's release as imminent, gamers are not likely to take advantage of Wii U's lineup in favour of new hardware.

The gamepad was for the most part a missed opportunity. But, when it was utilised - it delivered. I'm actually an advocate for gamepad gaming all the way. Off Tv Play was its least standout feature for me. Map inventory, freeing up screen real estate all gave the games that used it wisely a sense of immersion that other consoles hadn't yet achieved. At least until VR. Still, AR in my opinion is the better option compared to the isolated experience of VR. But, granted - VR has shown it can deliver on a pure immersive experience. Back to the gamepad though, and I think it also made console web surfing and menu navigation that much more intuitive. Beating out even the Wii mote and Nunchuck combination.

I never had an issue with the consoles hardware. Wii U was powerful enough to deliver engaging experiences and Nintendo's first party titles have proven that time and again over the last 4 years. It's sad that a combination of architecture differences and low install base meant luke-warm response from third party studios and publishers. The fault here though ultimately lies with Nintendo, their mixed marketing messages and unforgivable software delays. The onus is and always will be on them to drive the software experiences and install base of their own hardware. Without exception. It is their shortcomings in this area which resulted in commercial failure. This is the defining reason why 3rd parties could not find an audience for their particular brand of games 9 times out of 10.

All in all though, in and of itself, Wii U is a great little box full of hours of fun and enjoyment. Local multiplayer action or online. Nintendo even managed to provide engaging titles from their own development studios to cover those bases.

Bitter Sweet is Wii U's inherent flavour today. A real gem and a pity...

@RadioHedgeFund

"But where else can I get 4 controllers together and play anything as good as MK8, 3D World or Smash?"

The N64 and GameCube

@AndrewJ

I think your perspective would be common for anyone that managed to pick up the system from 2015 onward.

Spared all the droughts, delays and unknowns - a newcomer in 2015 onward would and will be quite spoiled for choice.

Bought a wii u day one! Sold it when Nintendo announced that Zelda wouldn't be shown at e3 last year. Never once regretted selling it tbh!! I certainly won't rush to buy the switch until I see what support it's going to get after a year or two. Xbox Scorpio and the ps5 will probably kill the switch

Wii U is my favourite home console of all time, because it's my only home console if I forget about NES clones in 90's.

Joking aside, I really enjoyed some exclusive games, like Splatoon (more than 300 hours), Mario Kart 8 (nearly 200 h) or Xenoblade Chronicles X (100 h or something like that). Also had a blast with Pikmin 3, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess or ports, like Deus Ex or Axiom Verge. Despite I am type of player who don't need many games, it had too few games to be my only game system, but I already owned 3DS, so...

I am, however, eternally grateful for throwing first Xenoblade Chronicles to Virtual Console and allowing to play it without Wii controlers (which I did not have at the time). It's probably the best game I have played in all my life and, despite it's not Wii U ex, I had a chance to know it because of this maybe poorly-selling, dramatically inaccurately advertised, but eventually really nice console.

@Clownshoes
Your right there, and one is a Sony fan working on a Nintendo fan site.

@Grumblevolcano
Thanks, haven't played that yet

I think the Wii U was fundamentally flawed from its inception. Its design priorities led to a system that was lumbered rather than enriched by its controller. Moreover the insistence on hardware backwards compatibility with the Wii rendered it not just underpowered but meant it had a bizarre architecture, representing a extreme hurdle for most multiplatform developers. Add poor messaging and weak to non-existent marketing - as well as a ridiculously high price - and it was always going to be a recipe for failure.

I said in a comment to a previous article that I don't understand the comparisons to the Gamecube and I stand by that. The libraries just don't compare. The Wii U is certainly my least favourite Nintendo console but I have enjoyed the games I've played on it (apart from Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze). My favourite games are Pikmin 3 and Yoshi's Woolly World. I've just started Captain Toad and am enjoying that too. Bayonetta 2 is fantastic.

Nintendo seemed to have struggled with HD development on the console but hopefully have learned from their mistakes. I'm not sure if the Wii U will be remembered all that fondly particularly if its best games get ported to the swith. It's true legacy could well be the Switch itself, especially if Nintendo learn from all their previous mistakes.

Got mine day one and regret nothing! Just wish they'd done a bit more with the pad and certain franchises.

Everyone was expecting and excited for a Metroid using the pad to scan environments.
Everyone thought the idea of a strategy game like the Wars or Fire Emblem series was so amazing obvious it had to happen.
Everyone wanted a Pokémon Snap 2 using the pad.
Everyone wanted an F-Zero in HD with online play.
Animal Crossing using the pad to edit your town and such.

There was so much Nintendo should have done, even if to them it seemed boringly obvious. Because those were the concepts that got people hyped for the idea of system but then never came to pass. I think them not pandering to those expectations lost them a lot of sales.

But what we did get was generally an absolute delight. Sure the FExSMT turned out to be even more niche than expected, StarFox was a mess and Paper Mario is still not what is deserves to be but we got gems like Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, The Wonderful 101 etc that made it all better.

They thought it would move 100 million units :s

I purchased my Wii U on launch day and played it regularly in 2012, 2013 & 2014. I really enjoyed NSMBU at launch as I felt it tried to be more original with the level design after the disappointment I had when playing NSMB2 a few months before.

In 2013 Wind Waker HD came out and it meant I could actually play through the whole game without giving up at the triforce hunt. DKCTF was an excellent follow up and I loved every minute of it and Mario Kart 8 with some great course design was excellent.

But as the games have dried up so has the amount of time I am spending on my Wii U. The only games I have got this year are Twilight Princess HD and Color Splash. To my surprise I quite enjoyed Color Splash and it gave me a decent sized adventure to play on the console.

I have enjoyed the library of titles overall and there are some true gems on the system.

I do feel Nintendo gave up on the gamepad to quickly and the few times I have used off TV play I have felt it is a great feature.

There is no doubt I have spent more time on the PS4 this year than the Wii U but if the Switch is getting all the rumoured games then II could see that changing next year.

My biggest disappointment with Wii U is that we will never get an exclusive Zelda title something that when I got the Wii U on launch day I thought was a guarantee.

I don't know if I will get a Switch at launch it all depends on the launch line up, for me when Zelda will be released is a deciding factor.
Would be great to pick up the Switch with a brand new Zelda title so if I have to wait until middle of next year to get a Switch them so be it I just hope the Switch is more successful for Nintendo than the Wii U!

The Wii U is a great console for me. Lego City Undercover is an absolute gem of a game that had me laughing out loud more than any other game I have played. DK Tropical Freeze is one of the most hardcore games of this gen with an unequalled soundtracked. Bayonetta 2 is amazing as is Mario Kart 8 but for me Mario 3D World is pure gaming joy and the best game of this gen and I don't understand the hate towards it.

Plus MP Trilogy for only 18 notes and Wind Waker in glorious HD..... just some of the reasons I love this console!

Also so many VC games finally available in 60HZ like Wave Race and Star Fox 64. Just brill!

Anyone that thinks they can get a better multiplayer experience from a 20 year old console is lying to themselves. The Wii u is awesome! Gamepad is great! Better than any other controller in the industry. HD graphics, The best versions of popular franchises to date. Sorry, but Mariokart 64 is not as fun today a it was in the 90's, nor is Smash. Anything that was great about the N64 or Gamecube era, Wii U does better, and then some. Splatoon itself is better than anything I've played in the last 20 years, and guess what, it's only on Wii U! The same people putting it down today will be the first to stand behind it religiously in the future, because those people gotta crap on everything new like spoiled brats so they sound smart on the internet. Thank you, Wii U, Goodbye!!

I knew I had to have a Wii U after reading ONMs review of Super Mario 3D World. I bought it the day that game released, which was actually Black Friday I believe? Got the NSMBU / NSLU Premium pack and Mario & Luigi remotes. I absolutely love it, my kids love it, and I even came home from work one night to find my partner playing Splatoon. Whatever its flaws and lack of commercial success, Wii U, and the GamePad, is much loved in my house!

I want to know how committed Nintendo is to providing hardware support to WiiU customers. With so few units produced will post production support also be shortened?

All these writers sound so young. Haha. "First time I bought a console with my own money", "brand new college student", etc. Man, I'm old.
Anyway, I missed the wii generation so even though the wii u ended underperforming, it's what brought me back to Nintendo and home consoles in general. I loved it and to this day it still sees a ton of action in group gatherings with the likes of Nintendo Land, Rumbo, and others. I'm ready for the Switch but my U isnt going anywhere anytime soon. Love it and always will. And let's all face it, the gamepad is the most comfortable controller ever built.

It pains me that nobody is talking about Lego City Undercover. That was an awesome game, it had a good use of the gamepad and some of the funniest writing in a game I've ever played. Plus watching my daughter drive a garbage truck through the city was priceless.

it had a major shortage of games. but splatoon changed my life. after 25 years of gaming all systems its my favorite game of all time.

Splendid console. In fact it's tied with the Gamecube for my favourite console. The lack of 3rd party support didn't affect me since I also play on PS4 and PC.

Great console with a stunning list of first party games and exclusives, though the Gamepad was underused in many games and the third party support was dire.

The Wii U sits among my favorite consoles of all time. If only the CPU had been faster we would have had a great console that was easy to program and port for. It took the family living room dynamic into consideration and made our gaming life all the better for it. Bring on the Switch!

the wii u was a major improvement over his predecessor the wii but still it had some huge flaws like the gamepad which was unnecesary , bulky and the battery dont last even 3 hourse straight, and of course the console lack some raw processsing power and ram to run other games , im sure many people would ve loved to play more third party titles on the wii u like batman arkham knight or resident revelations 2
Even so i really like the wii u, great console , somewhat good catalogue and free online gaming unlike ps4 and xbox one is a plus

@Nintendofan83 It's true, early adopters aren't usually rewarded at all. The products are at the highest prices they'll ever be whereas a year down the road they'll likely hurl out a special edition console with a new skin/design and cool add-ons. I jumped on the 3DS bandwagon early on and felt fairly discouraged to see awesome special edition units in later years. Even the Wii U put out a nice Zelda edition.