Nintendo’s recent announcement that Xenoblade Chronicles X is heading to the Switch has brought a lot of excitement, but it also brings up thoughts of its home console: the Wii U.
The Nintendo Switch’s predecessor was a commercial failure and suffered from numerous downsides such as poor marketing, little to no third party support, and a thin library.
And through it all, fans are still clamoring for games to be brought over from the console to the Switch. This at least begs the question of if the Wii U was really all that bad.
For some, the negatives I listed are enough to send you packing and you would be fair in doing so. That said, I am not arguing that the Wii U was perfect or even a top-tier Nintendo console. Rather, I’m arguing that it’s not as bad as people remember.
Sure, the library was thin, but there are enough memorable titles that everyone wants them all to port over to the Switch. It all starts with Mario Kart 8 and continues on to Xenoblade Chronicles X, Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, and Pikmin 3.
Let’s also not forget that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is also a Wii U game. Yes, the Switch did most of the heavy lifting, but it still sold over a million copies on the Wii U.
When games are developed for tandem consoles, there is always going to be some give and take. Since BotW was both, it couldn’t drift too far from what the Wii U could handle while still being next-generation enough for the Switch.
I’m not saying the Wii U held BotW back. I bring it up more to say that it is technically part of the Wii U’s library.
The Legend of Zelda found a solid home on the Wii U as well. Of the 21 mainline games that launched prior to the Switch’s launch, 12 were playable on the Wii U.
Several of those games, such as the DS titles, are not available anywhere else at this point. To add to that, Hyrule Warriors got its start on the Wii U.
This point also highlights how solid of a Virtual Console the Wii U had. Not only did it have a solid lineup of NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Advance titles, but it also worked in Wii and DS titles.
Several games are still locked on the Wii U such as Fire Emblem and the Sacred Stones, Super Mario RPG, and Donkey Kong 64.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the library on the Wii U because that seems to be a major complaint from people. I agree on the point that it was far from ideal.
That said, when a Wii U game was good, it left a large enough impression that people still want them on Switch.
Another major complaint was the bulky GamePad as a controller. It really felt unnecessary but there was a pro controller that could replace it. Furthermore, the GamePade struggled to walk so the Switch could sprint.
It’s very clear Nintendo built on the Wii U in making the Switch. Honeslty, the Wii U and the Switch are more closely related than the Wii U and the Wii were. That’s where the marketing largely failed.
Look, people have legitimate complaints about the Wii U and they are fully justified in hating it. I felt let down for years with mine. All of that said, time appears to be softening the view on this failed console.
It’s not perfect and it’s no where near Nintendo’s best console. For me, it’s one of Nintendo’s most underrated consoles solely because of how much people discount it.
I believe it’s better than the popular view on the console and doesn’t deserve all the hate it gets. Absolutely, it deserves the criticism, but at the end of the day, it was more of a C console than an F.
What do you think? Was the Wii U that bad? Has your view on the console softened over the years? Will it ever? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.
Featured Image: Nintendo
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