Am I a shallow gamer for not liking the Wii U?

I keep hearing how the Wii U is the best console to buy out of the three next-gen consoles but for some reason the games on the Wii U just don't do anything for me. Is there something I'm missing?

I mean I grew up with Nintendo and I still enjoy playing on my old Nintendo consoles, but I just have lost interest in Nintendo games around the Gamecube era. I just personally can't get into modern Nintendo games. I feel like they don't offer me the experiences that appeal to me as a 31 yr old male. I mean if I was 7 I could see myself being a huge Wii U fan, but my tastes have changed. Is it really shallow of me for wanting more mature themes?

When was the last time Nintendo really made a compelling story in any of their single player games? Mario is still saving Peach and Link is still saving Zelda. I've grown tired of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Nintendo philosophy of making games. Where is Nintendo's answer to Uncharted, Tomb Raider, God of War, Halo, TLOU, GTA, Far Cry, COD? Why can't they make a game that appeals to gamers like myself who enjoy all these more mature themed games?

I'm just tired of people trying to make me feel bad for not digging modern Nintendo games and being called shallow for wanting games that are more in the style of Game of Thrones than Toy Story.

No, you just have your own preferences.

EDIT: That said, not every game needs to try and tell a story anyway. Games are about being games, if I want stories, I'll go and watch a movie or better still, read a book.

However, that's just my opinion, and the wonderful thing about games is that everyone can play it for their own reason, all of which can be different, and still be right. You choose to play games for their storytelling, and Nintendo's games don't fit in with that. So you don't like their games and consequently their hardware.

As said above, this doesn't mean you are shallow, it just means you have your own set of different sensibilities when it comes to video games.

I kinda feel the same way haha. It has a really enticing lineup but I haven't taken the plunge because it doesn't have my dudebro games on it lol

No, it doesn't make you shallow at all. While I may not agree with your thoughts on the Wii U's games being rehashes and unoriginal, don't let others' opinions poison your own judgment, just play the games you want to on the platform you want to. You aren't shallow if you play on the Wii U, PC, PS4, or Xbox One. Gaming is supposed to be fun, not painful because, you don't own the, "best" system which is very subjective.

@charizard1605:

Also, I'm tired of being made fun of for enjoying games like Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain because a lot of pretentious gamers don't consider them to be true games. I just look at those games as the natural evolution of the point and click adventure genre. A genre I don't remember ever being looked down upon.

Nintendo's focus is gameplay and always has been. Very few games control or feel as intuitive as a Nintendo games. Its what makes their games so good. If I wanted a story I'd read Pride and Prejudice. There's nothing wrong with liking the shallow experiences you get with a CoD. I like the campaigns myself and I would have bought it if it came out on Wii U. But since Nintendo's focus is on gameplay and not story, and your focus is on story... its natural it wouldn't appeal to you. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Ehhh. I mean, again, opinions are subjective, and if transcendent storytelling is what you value in your games more than anything else, then yes, i can see the appeal of David Cage's games, and I can see why you would like them.

However, the caveat to that being (because of course there is a caveat) that Cage's games aren't very good at what they do- they don't have a good story to tell, they don't tell it well, and they fail to use the medium to their advantage, unlike, say, Telltale's games.

But again, of course, this is just my opinion, and if you think otherwise, that is every bit as valid as what I think. I may not think much of storytelling in games, and especially of how Cage handles it, but if you do, who am I to tell you you are wrong for thinking so? Anyone who dismisses your opinion as wrong because of your liking of those games would be singularly narrow minded. There is a way to go about that.

For instance, I think we can both safely conclude that any game that I like is probably not one you will enjoy, or any that you like is not one I will care for. This is because we have both established different preferences in gaming, and we are just going for what is appealing in whatever kind of games we like. In this case, we can just safely conclude our opinions don't coincide and move on. Unfortunately, most people take to attacking each other's opinions instead, and that is where they go wrong.

I doubt it has to do with Nintendo games not having compelling stories, because...quite frankly, none of the games you listed has a compelling story with the exception of TLOU, and even that's just your typical Road/post-apocalyptic zombie affair. The Deus Ex series is pretty much the only series I've ever seen that has a real message to it outside of the Final Fantasy friendship is forever non-sense.

The idea that Nintendo should simply do what everyone else is doing is silly.

No, not really.

If Nintendo had the 3rd party support of Sony or Microsoft, it would be ruling the console wars with an iron dick.

Problem is...it doesn't.

Most people who don't have a high end gaming PC and only have the money/time to buy one new console tend to stay away from Nintendo because of just that.

The majority of gamers have no interest in being confined to playing nothing but Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and Donkey Kong Country for the next 5+ years and missing out on Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls VI, MGS V, GTA VI, Arkham Knight, the yearly installments of Call of Duty, Madden, NBA 2K, FIFA, etc.

Well let me list my top 10 favorite games of all time. It will give you an idea of what kind of games appeal to me.

1. Metal Gear Solid

2. Snatcher

3. Red Dead Redemption

4. Star Fox 64

5. Secret of Monkey Island

6. Super Punch Out

7. Soul Calibur

8. Rise of the Dragon

9. Grand Theft Auto 5

10. TMNT: Turtles in Time

That's actually a fairly varied list lol, with not any one single underlying unified preferences showing up. My assumption is your taste for more story oriented games only manifested in more recent years, around the last generation or so, I'd say.

I would say that is probably the case.

Don't listen to the Nintendo propaganda in this forum. It's still a very mediocre system compared to the other two.

Nintendo is not only Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon you know.

That probably explains it, it would be why your list wasn't helpful in determining your tastes as it would have been otherwise.

But hey, you're clear that you like story based games, and since, yes, the Wii U very obviously does lack in those compared to the other two systems, there is no harm in not being as personally interested in the console as others are. I guess for the sake of fairness, all you can do is acknowledge that the Wii U is great for what it is, but what it is doesn't appeal to you, since it doesn't align with your tastes. That way, no one will actually argue with you, because to do so would be to attack your taste- and anyone who does that isn't worth arguing with anyway.

lol 'propaganda.' It's like you're out on a mission to be taken less and less seriously with every passing day.

LOL, I'm well aware of that. I just gave the obvious examples.

No, it just means you have different tastes.

Now if you were saying that Nintendo games suck in general then you might need your head examined.

Well its not like anyone here would really care what a 31 years old thinks about the Wii U line up its your opinion.

No, it just means that you have different tastes now. I like story-driven games too, although I also like Nintendo's game as well.

Yes. You're doing a bad thing by not buying a Wii U and you should feel bad.

Not liking them is not being shallow, but saying they only appeal to kids is.

I'll tell you what being a shallow gamer is: I was with a friend the other day and we went to see one of his pals and the conversation turned to video games. My friend's friend declared that the only games he plays are "Call of Duty and Guitar Hero" in a stupid display of bravado.

I almost laugh out loud but didn't want to hurt his feelings.

I'm the opposite. The older I get (I'm 30 now), the more gameplay I demand from my games. I couldn't even finish The Last of Us because it has too much story and too many cutscenes. I honestly thought that the AI and gameplay in TLOU was a bit better than average. When a game has better than average gameplay and rounds up all the GOTY awards simply for its cinematics, story and cutscenes, that to me is the epitome of a game I just don't want to play. When I read reviews and games get flawless scores for controls, fun factor, graphics, sound and gameplay but low scores for story, that's my kind of game. My kind of game is New Super Mario Bros U, Mario Kart 8, Contra 3: Alien Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time, Diablo 3, StarCraft, Battlefield 4, games that are completely reliant on gameplay and only have a story for the sake of having a story. If I get taken out of the game at all for any reason and I'm not in control, I just about lose interest entirely.

I personally feel like games do a really poor job of telling stories in comparison to books and movies. I feel like the people who create stories for games are much less talented than the people creating stories for books and movies and they probably get paid a lot less, too. Not to mention, the delivery of the story is worse in games.

Ok.

Different tastes indeed.

That's the great thing about Nintendo doing their own thing. Microsoft and Sony offer more mature experiences and Nintendo offers an alternative that's different. If you get a PS4/Xbox One and a WiiU you can have both. It would suck if all companies offered the same thing.

I don't see Sony or Microsoft actually offering "Mature" experiences either.

They just make games differently.

Nintendos the best because they still care about gameplay, if cutscenes are more of your thing then thats fine....

I never said gameplay doesn't matter to me. I just really enjoy a great story alongside my games. I personally thought the gameplay in Uncharted 2/3 was great.

They do have more mature situations in some of their games, but that doesn't make them any more sophisticated. Quite the opposite in most cases.

My favorite thing about gaming is testing my skills and hand eye coordination. I absolutely love the game Danmaku Death from the Play Store on Android phones. The game is hard as nails but so rewarding. It requires insane hand eye coordination and skill. Being a shoot em up with no story to speak of, no cutscenes, no filler, it's exactly my kind of game. I love games that test my skills and my skills can't be tested if I'm watching a long cutscene.

One of my favorite games last gen was Max Payne 3 but man, it really grinded my gears the fact that I couldn't skip those cutscenes.

I'm confused by the analogies you use.

"Mature themes" in games like Uncharted and God of War, comparing Game of Thrones to Toy Story, and acting like Wii U only appeals to 7 year olds....... I'm just not sure your opinions are well-founded.

But with that said there's nothing wrong with liking any games.

I don't think that's necessarily bad unless he acts like there's no game on earth he'd play other than CoD or Guitar Hero.

There's always at least legitimate reason to not like a console so you're not wrong to dislike it.

I never said Wii U only appeals to 7 yr olds, but lets face it Nintendo does intentionally aim at the younger audience for the most part. Bayonetta 2 being one exception.

@emgesp

I disagree about Uncharted. Yes it was ambitious but the execution was lacking, the bullet sponges, AI, Platforming and puzzles, theres not a single thing this game was able to nail down perfectly.

Maybe not "only" 7 year olds, but it's not correct to say Nintendo doesn't provide experiences for a "31 year old male" and that "if I was 7 I could see myself being a huge Wii U fan" .

I'll use Toy Story as an example since you also brought that up. That movie is beloved by kids, teens, young adults, old adults, seniors, and all in between.

That's the wavelength Nintendo operates on. They make games that anyone can enjoy, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to.

Yeah that's exactly how he said it, like all other games are trash that's below him. Was pretty funny.

Nope you just dont like what is has.

I can see it as a great console for getting some friends/family together in one room and playing games like Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros and 3D World but I just don't find the console compelling enough for the kind of single player experiences I'm into.

This does not make you a shallow gamer. I use to be one of the biggest nintendo fanboys there is but they lost me with the Wii. The WiiU is more of the same. If you buy a WiiU you must accept the negatives that comes with owning a Nintendo.

1. Their online system is a joke. Almost 0 voice chat because of the weird way nintendo has it set up, few users, and most of the bit online games don't come to the WiiU. Unless you enjoy Mario Kart or Smash Bros. I don't but to each his own.

2. Lack of 3rd party support. Nintendo misses out on the big 3rd part games. Due to technical or due to sales more and more 3rd party games skip Nintendo.

3. Long Droughts. Since the n64 nintendo has a track record of long droughts on their system. This is due to lack of 3rd party support and long releases between their own games.

If you want to buy it just for nintendo exclusives thats one thing. For a main system that is a whole different thing.

That's how I feel.

Heck you can find games that give off the same appeal that Playstation and Microsoft seem to find on the WiiU.

Injustice, Batman Arkham Origins, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Darksiders 2, and heck recently Bayonetta 1+2 can be found on the WiiU. Despite it being the worst version, Watchdogs is coming to WiiU in 2 weeks.

Those Experiences OP is looking for can be found on WiiU. Problem is 3rd Party Developers give out the worst supported versions (no DLC for COD or Mass Effect and the like) or no version at all (Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Crisis 3, and Metal Gear Revengence could have easily saw a WiiU release, but those Developers/Publishers didn't want to release a version). This is why most people who have a WiiU tend to go to Nintendo's Games because as far as we can see, Nintendo doesn't gimp their games and actually does DLC correctly.

With that said OP clearly like Sony exclusives more than Nintendo Exclusives listing games like Uncharted, God of War and The Last of Us as his clear cut examples.

It's weird how their games don't appeal to you as an adult who grew up with them. A large part of Nintendo's modern demographic is gamers who fit right into that category.

It is funny because I feel the exact same as the OP just in the opposite direction. A lot of my friends (I'm 34 years old) LOVE COD, Assassins Creed, FPS games and "mature" games.

I love playing Nintendo Games and Building games (Trove, Landmark, Minecraft, Starbound ect.)

I honestly think that all the war gray scale games are just plain boring. I love platformers (Donky Kong/Rayman ect) and Odd games (Pikmin/wonderful 101.) I love Zelda for the superior level design (nothing kiddy about some of those puzzles).

Do not feel bad people like myself get it FAR worse. You are just normal like most other people. However I cannot help but feel that society conditions people to feel this way to a certain degree. If you are a man you MUST like darker war games and games with color become "Kiddy". The comment about Zelda makes me laugh because I feel that most so called "mature" games are more of the same over and over just the same.

I have 14 games on my Wii U and think that It is a fantastic system and am still getting Captain Toad, and Smash this next few weeks. Different strokes for different folks :)

I still love my old Nintendo consoles and I play on them pretty regularly. I just for whatever reason can't get into the Wii U. Though, that new Star Fox game has me interested. If its anything like Star Fox 64 I might pull the trigger.

Doubtful. Heck, even if you refer to the SNES, Nintendo games still ruled the charts especially in the top ten.

Very much this; it just all boils down to preference. I love Nintendo games, but I know that they don't appeal to everyone. My best friend asked me about the Wii-U and I told him straight that its best to steer clear unless you want to play Nintendo titles (outside of the odd 3rd party support Bayo, W101, ZombiU, etc.) and he just isn't interested in nintendo titles. Just not his thing, and nothing wrong with that.

No, I dont think so. I own one and I dont like it munch, The weakest hardware, the weakest online and crippled 3rd part support dont help me when I'm not much of a fan of the 1st party Mario games.

I'm predicting the WiiU will be the last Nintendo console I'll ever buy,

I felt the same way about a decade ago. I skipped the Gamecube during its gen. Then Wii Sports sold me on a Wii and I used the backwards compatibility to play Gamecube games and realized just how wrong I was. IMO, Nintendo consoles always have some of the very best games of every gen, if not all of them. It lacks in quantity, but the quality necessitates a purchase. None of the other consoles are necessary. You can just close your eyes and pick one. You miss a whole lot by not picking up the Nintendo console at some point during the gen, though.

Then yeah its just your personal tastes and that's totally fine. I actually like the friends together/pick me up and play style games like what you mentioned so it's prolly why I am a sheep lol. But I absolutely story driven games like Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid and Last of Us. It's all just a matter of taste, so follow your tongue!

lol at this guy thinking he is more grown up than me because he plays call of duty, GTA and the last of us.

Nintendo doesnt need to make games for 32 year old males, they make games to everybody.