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Let me start this article by saying the obvious: the Nintendo Switch is a fantastic console, and I’m by no means here to discuss that, so please put down your torches and forks.
What I would like to mention, however, is how Nintendo continues to blatantly ignore all the suckers who bought their previous console at launch. You know, the one with the big Fisher Price tablet screen and horrible third-party support. The one that also marketed so poorly that most consumers couldn’t tell if it was a standalone console or just a Wii add-on.
Well, I knew it wasn’t an add-on, Nintendo. And dare I say it, I defended that damn piece of plastic that nobody wanted as if it were a member of my own family. Mario’s stuffed son that I haven’t had yet, so to speak.
When everyone else was jumping ship, proclaiming that Nintendo was doomed and should never make a console again, I held on. It was me and the Wii U – yeah, the damn Wii U – against the world, and I loved that stupid thing no matter how badly it sold or how miserably it was supported.
A golden dark age
Although the console will largely be remembered as a catastrophic failure, Nintendo produced some of its best work for the Wii U. There’s no question about it – a quick look at Metacritic proves it. Super Mario 3D World was incredibly brilliant; Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is the best platform game I have ever played; Bayonetta 2 was a fabulous sequel that no one saw coming; and Mario Kart 8 is comfortably the best entry in the series (although I have a soft spot for Mario Kart: Double Dash).
“I defended that piece of plastic as if it were a member of my family.”
We were also gifted with Pikmin 3, which still has the most realistic portrayal of fruits in any video game to date, as well as a side-scrolling Mario game in New Super Mario Bros. U. More niche titles also came to the sick. systems like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker rounded out the Wii U’s little library with nothing but sheer quality.
And then, as expected, Nintendo disconnected it. The glorious generation of gaming on Wii U was over (stop laughing at your back) and Nintendo Switch suddenly became the fashionable and attractive place to be.
Switch it on
Of course, like any Nintendo fan, he was ready for round two, just in case the Nintendo Switch doesn’t ignite a spark among consumers. However, as soon as the machine was revealed with that very catchy White Denim track “Ha Ha Ha Ha (yeah)”, it became clear that Nintendo had managed to bottle up the lightning bolt once again. It helped that the Nintendo Switch launched with one of the greatest Legend of Zelda games of all time in the form of Breath of the Wild. But unlike Wii U, everyone understood what the Nintendo Switch was in an instant.
Now, I played Breath of the Wild on Switch and not on Wii U. It made sense at the time, as the best years of Wii U are behind us. And yes, I also bought Mario Kart 8 Deluxe because there is no way I am going to miss out on educating people anytime, anywhere. But it was clear that a worrying trend was beginning to emerge.
Announcement after announcement, more Wii U games were heading to Nintendo Switch. Some included additional content, or previously released DLC, and some also had a “new Funky mode” (or you’ll know what that means or not). But sadly, since Nintendo is a notoriously restricted business, these re-releases were in most cases marked at full price. So not only were it the biggest releases in Switch games that I had already purchased, thoroughly enjoyed, and frequently completed, I was now left with the option of raising the full price to experience déjà vu, or have nothing to play with.
Wii remember U
And sadly, it has been for a while. New releases for hardcore Wii U fans are few and far between. All of the titles I’ve mentioned here are either available now or coming to Switch in the future, which is great, if you’ve never played them of course. But to me, it seems like Nintendo is going for the easy money rather than trying to match its superb performance on Wii U.
The company was up against the wall, and excellent software was needed to sell its hardware. Now though, the company can afford to release Super Mario 3D All-Stars for just six months before taking it out of sale, because hey, why not?
To all Wii U owners who suffered through Nintendo’s darkest timeline like me … I hear their screams. I guess they sound like mine: “No more Wii U ports! No more Wii U ports! ”. After all, there would be no Wii U without me, or indeed you, and it’s about time Nintendo started serving its backers when no one else would.
