It seems like every time I log on here I have an update about something, but it usually involves the same news stories over and over. In particular, "Wii U important for the world says Nintendo". I certainly don't agree with Nintendo's statement, but I find the Wii U to be important from another perspective. It's important, but more for Nintendo than anyone else.

Nintendo: Wii changed the perception of our brand

I remember the Nintendo 2006 press conference clearly. There were tons of games unveiled, including clips of next generation Mario and Metroid games and the new IP, Project Hammer. Ubisoft came out and gave a demonstration of Red Steel, giving the crowd an idea of things to come with Nintendo's new controller. In short, the press conference left many gamers, myself included, anxious to get our hands on Wii. Sure, the name was kind of dumb and I'll never forget all the Wii jokes, but that was all irrelevant after the conference.

Fast forward six years and we find that the Wii didn't live up to the expectations of many people who purchased the system. Project Hammer was canceled, loads of shovelware made its way on to the platform, Wii gamers usually got the worst 3rd party ports, when Wii didn't get the worst port, it sometimes didn't get the game at all, friend codes turned out to be a huge pain, games were usually graphically inferior to those on other platforms and Nintendo itself is guilty of releasing some very crappy titles. Don't get me wrong here, I like my Wii and I have over 40 games for it if you count those purchased in the virtual console. It has plenty of gems, but the system could have been so much more.

Sure, it has Xenoblade, The Last Story, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, and Red Steel 2, but I would have loved to play Crysis or Mass Effect with pointer control. Once High Voltage managed to get the shooting mechanics down, I actually preferred to play shooters on Wii for the enhanced control. It felt more engaging and I couldn't help but fantasize about playing AAA games from other platforms with Wii control. If Crysis 2 or The Darkness ran well on Nintendo's platform, I would have bought them for Wii as opposed to competing consoles and maybe even PC.

The Wii is viewed by many as a family, or casual, console; something for mom, dad, and grandma to play on a rainy day. This casual perception has carried over to Nintendo's next console, along with the idea that it will be technically inferior to other next gen competitors. The disappointing showing at E3 didn't do much to convince skeptics, either. I actually feel that it did a bit more damage than good, and that's all because of their business decisions regarding Wii.

Wii U must overcome the negative perception of the brand that Nintendo created with Wii. It has to prove that customers won't get shafted with the worst versions of multiplatform games, prove that customers won't miss out on certain next gen multiplatform games, prove that Nintendo is taking online gaming seriously, and prove that it's not just 2006 all over again. Nintendo has an uphill battle on their hands, and that's what makes the Wii U so important. It is incredibly important for them, not for the world.

Does the Wii U set itself apart from other systems? Yes, but so did Wii and that didn't turn out as well as many had hoped. It made Nintendo a lot of money, but at the cost of its image. Time will tell whether the Wii U is just another Wii when next gen projects start coming into the limelight. I will buy the Wii U because I love Nintendo's first party games, but I hope that Wii U achieves more than its predecessor.