Another reason why I think Wii U failed, that nobody really talks about

Not that this alone caused Wii U to fail, but probably contributed to that, at least to an extent.

That is, the Wii U was shown at E3 two years in a row, before it ever launched, and both of those E3 showings were negative in how Wii U was perceived by most people, from those inside the games industry and gamers alike.

E3 2011 where it was so badly revealed, causing the initial confusion over what it was (a new controller for the Wii ???) And that stupid, stupid name.

Then, E3 2012 where launch details were given and actual games were shown including the awkward Nintendo Land. Other than the Pikmin 3 reveal, E3 2012 was pretty bad for Wii U.

Contrast that with the Nintendo Switch selling very, very well so far, without ever having had a public showing at E3. Nintendo was pretty smart in that way, because most of their E3 presentations come off really badly. Last year, Nintendo's E3 presence was entirely Zelda: Breath of the Wild (ironically for the Wii U) and that payed off for the launch of Switch this past March.

Having back to back E3 showings of Wii U that were both pretty terrible before the system was even released certainly did Wii U no favors. Your thoughts?

The finale of Nintendo's 2012 E3 conference was a disaster. How are you going to end your show with a glorified tech demo called Nintendo Land? They should have had a 3D Mario ready at launch.

I agree, actually, this was a major indicator of the Wii U's impending failure, and a stark difference in how things are for the Switch. Certain posters on this board who are trying to push the narrative that the Switch, too, will fail, however, will simply choose to ignore this, or construct strawmen arguments as to why this information is irrelevant, so I feel like sadly, the true implication of this thread will be lost.

thats because wii u sucked but switch is great. nintendo finally made a good system for the first time in years.

Nope. The wiiu failed because no one cares about Nintendo home consoles other than the few million who always buy them. Ask someone today about Nintendo and they'll tell you how great they are, how they want them to succeed, etc, but ask them which console they own and it won't be a Nintendo console.

Well of course, Sean Malstrom has been saying the impending doom of the Wii U since 2011, and Malstrom haters shit on him for it. Yeah, it was very bad as when I saw the gamepad, I was completely confused and thought it was another Wii Accessory.

There's a number of things that went wrong with the Wii U. For me, the system isn't as bad as a lot of people allege. I have 181 games on my Wii U. I don't know how people can say there are no games for that system. There is. There's just not a lot of big budget 3rd party games. But as far as first party/exclusives go, the Wii U is one of the very best supported Nintendo consoles EVER. Anyone who passed up on that system because of "lack of multiplats" missed out.

The two most exciting games from that 2012 conference were Rayman Legends and ZombiU- Rayman got delayed and became a multiplat, and ZombiU didn't meet the potential they had for it.

What was Nintendo thinking? Another New Super Mario Bros and Nintendoland being the big offerings? Both great games, but those games weren't going to sell a system.

@drummerdave9099: Nintendo was smoking that third party pipe. Thank goodness those days are behind us.

Wii U failed because it was a garbage system from a garbage company.

right?! Who needs 3rd party

@aigis: Amen. All we need is Nintendo baby. May Farore's grace fall upon us for eternity. Thank you for those Wii U ports, dem haters be rektd.

The Wii U was very anti climatic in its showcase.

This thread is like a hive for fanboys...

I thought everyone talks about the Wii U's horrible marketing as a reason it failed? or maybe it's just me because I'm on gaming sites each day and do the whole YouTube channel thing. Long story short is games are a business. You want a large install base before you invest money in trying to capture that base. Nintendo DID NOT have that install base thanks to many reasons and so naturally devs would not invest. Was easier to just say the console was to weak than to just remind gamers that money needs to be made. Looks like the Switch wont have that problem.

it failed cause nintendo is greedy and overpricing their stuff among other things

Yet Apple do just fine with an even heavier overpricing strategy. Weird that.

I think you are totally right, TC.

In both instances when the Wii U was given a platform, it failed to explain itself well (I as well as other gamers were even confused about it) and provide a compelling incentive to purchase the system with compelling software. I think had they been clearer with the unveiling of the console and made New Super Mario Bros. U the star of the show (not Nintendoland), they may have generated more buzz from the Nintendo Wii audience.

The Nintendo Switch has been more successful in communicate the system's features and intentions as well as highlighting this with compelling software.

@drummerdave9099: On the contrary, I think had they focused more on the Mario game, they would have gotten a little more buzz than they did; keeping in mind that New Super Mario Bros. Wii was a very popular title on the Nintendo Wii.

Your thinking of Sony and the Vita...lol. We know it hurts Shep, youll make it.

@charizard1605: The Switch is already a success regardless of what I think. I'll get one eventually for Mario and mini me.

Hype up and buzz only helps over time if that hype up and buzz are positive. Wii U had very negative reception each time and giving people too much time to soak it in is a very very bad idea.

I feel the Scorpio has been twiddling it's thumbs too long. Nintendo even pushed it with all the NX rumors. The smartest thing Nintendo did was a switch reveal in Nov and System release in March. Don't give bad buzz time to settle in. People didn't love the price...but who cares there wasn't enough time to let it settle in.

The reveal and launch need to be close together. That's the world we live in now. I'm still waiting for someone to pull a "beyonce/radiohead" in videogames: in other words announce a game and then say it's available right now to download. But a big game like COD. Hyping up a release is the old way of doing things.

It's all about the announcement and the same day launch that really gets the internet in a buzz filled frenzy. If activision had annouced that COD:WWII was available RIGHT NOW how many people would have gotten it? Even the haters would have been curious enough to purchase the game right away. No time to digest, no time to hate, no time to read reviews, it's out NOW so try it. That would have been amazing. Instead it's the typical hype up til a Nov release date...BORING. Now there's too much time to hate and cut that trailer to pieces.

You're right, considering New Super Mario Bros. U was the Wii U's second best selling title with 5.68 million units sold.

@Bread_or_Decide: Considering New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought in something like 24 million, you'd have expected Nintendo to depend on its sequel. They obviously had an awful lot of confidence in Nintendoland, although I don't see why. :/

Nintendo Land was a great concept...on paper...but that gamepad and overall wii fatigue ruined its chances at success.

A Nintendo theme park video game? WHAT? SIGN ME UP.

1-2 Switch has the same problem. It's a great idea on paper...but the execution was mostly poop.

@Bread_or_Decide: It just wasn't a fun game for me, and there is too much setup for a casual experience. :/

It was a bad idea using that as the big finale at E3.

NintendoLand had some great ideas, and yes, looks great on paper but it really wasn't much fun and poorly executed. It was no Wii Sports.

Nintendo had the same exact problems with the Switch.

Every mistake they had with the Wii U they doubled down with the Switch

There are only 2 reasons the wiiu failed:

1. They used tech that was rubbish

2. A lack of meaningful AAA games

The Wii U failed because it made a terrible bet on a technology with little gaming benefits. The 3DS made a similar error, but leveraging the company's profits and de-emphasizing its name-bearing feature allowed it to die another day.

To what should I attribute my readings of the things you post in a sarcastic tone?

I know, but those very things became apparent during E3 2011 and E3 2012.

I would add.

3. Terrible communication

4. High price at retail that never came down.

Wii U:

1. Lousy reveal and marketing, and hence, poor launch

2. Lousy hardware and loss of 3rd party support

Switch

1. Strong reveal. Strong launch.

2. Zelda: BotW....a game initially for the Wii U, was made to be a launch game for the Switch instead

3. Nintendo basically told the Wii U to commit seppuku so that the Switch will not share the same fate

4. Lousy hardware and loss of 3rd party support

Both may have had different starts, but the fate of both will probably be the same. In the other thread, you have people who claim that they didn't buy the Switch for COD, while at the same time rooting for the Switch's success. While this is both intuitive and true for most people, the Switch needs games like COD to survive the generation, and more so for its owners to buy games like COD on the Switch. Don't you all understand that a strong launch does not mean a generation-long success? There isn't enough Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid and Splatoon games to last an entire generation. Even if there were, nobody wants to just play those games for 8 years. COD not coming to the Switch is the first nail in the coffin. If other AAA franchises do the same, the fate of the Switch will be sealed

A Wii Ulogy.

Reasons why Wii U failed

1. People were tired of the current Generation (360 and PS3) they wanted an actual "NEW" generation. Wii U didn't give the audience anything more then 360 like Graphics.
2. Wii name. Wii was a tired brand at this point.
3. The Console was rarely shown. Coupled with the Wii name people thought it was a new peripheral for the Wii rather then a new game system.

You're correct, that's part of it.

The Wii U failed for many reasons. But the biggest reason it failed was because it just wasn't a very well designed system to begin with. Sure you can blame the poor marketing and branding for that. But those were all byproducts of just how poorly conceived the Wii U actually was. I mean, how do you even market Asymmetrical gameplay? how do you even market it to the casual gamer? How do convince developers to use outdated hardware to take advantage of this? The Wii U never had an answer for any of this, because Nintendo never justified why it should exist in the first place. It's clear they had no idea what they were doing with this thing, and their gross incompetence throughout this era damaged the company's reputation with consumers and developers.

This is why the Switch is such a breath of fresh air. Because it's a product that actually has a reason to exist. It has a focus, and a vision, and is trying to make it as easy as possible for developers to take advantage of it. So those who say Nintendo has learned nothing from the Wii U really shouldn't be taken seriously. Nintendo has proven they learned from the Wii U's major failures.