The Story of the Wii U (Complete Series)

at e3 2011 nintendo showed off their latest creation a tablet-like controller named the wii u it showcased gameplay for a home console that was never seen before it combined the best aspects of gaming and technologies most popular advancements in the last decade motion controls dual screen setups off tv play all packaged into a singular controller from the creators of the revolutionary wii in nintendo ds it should have been a smash hit nintendo was unveiling their next home console and it seemed to have everything consumers wanted from a new system why is it then that no one knew exactly what they were looking at everything has a story this is the story of the wii u in this series we'll be taking a look at the development release life and legacy of nintendo's eighth generation home console in this episode we'll specifically look at the road to release for the wii u and how nintendo crafted and revealed the system to the world by the end of the 2000s nintendo was bigger than ever for the first time since the late 80s and early 90s nintendo was dominating the gaming market the nintendo ds was the best selling system of the era and the wii was the most popular home console of the generation after the failure of the gamecube the wii gave nintendo a new avenue in a marketplace that had been chasing graphic fidelity for nearly 30 years the wii was lightning in a bottle casual gamers non-gamers and first-time gamers flocked to the system the idea of controlling games with motion controls was not a new concept nintendo's first console the nes even experimented with this but the wii simplicity low price point and pack in game wii sports helped the system sell over a hundred million units during its lifespan this made it nintendo's best selling home console ever so a follow-up was guaranteed early concepts for a wii successor go back to around 2008 at the time the wii was at the height of its popularity with multiple big name titles hitting the system from both nintendo and its third-party partners while the wii was popular it came with many downsides when compared to its competition the xbox 360 and playstation 3. both systems boasted high definition graphics and strong online systems that cater to hardcore gamers growing demand for online connectivity the wii running titles at a maximum of 480p and hosting a fairly limited online network was falling behind its competition when it came to bringing in hardcore gamers nintendo remained coy on the development of their new console by 2010 rumors began spreading that a revised wii with hd output and blu-ray capability was in the works but nintendo swayed these rumors away satori iwata the president of nintendo stated at e3 2010 that nintendo wouldn't release a new home console until they felt like they explored all the creative ideas they had with the wii ten months later in april 2011 iwata would announce that nintendo's next home console codenamed project cafe would be revealed at e3 2011. e3 2011 started with a mild bang for nintendo following their successful press conference from 2010 nintendo began by showing the legend of zelda skyward sword next came announcements for the nintendo 3ds that launched earlier that year the last half of the conference was dedicated to project cafe like so many times before reggie fisa may the president of nintendo of america came on stage to announce nintendo's latest creation rather than show off the system or controller first reggie gave project cafe an official name the next era of nintendo would be defined by wii u after the name reveal the controller for the system was showcased it was a tablet like controller featuring a large touchscreen and the standard nintendo buttons circle pads that were first featured on the nintendo 3ds were in place as opposed to analog sticks seen on other controllers beyond the screen nintendo revealed a whole host of features on the controller a microphone and camera were placed on the controller for video chatting spall speakers were located on the gamepad even a stylus similar to that of the nintendo ds's was included in the controller's shell concepts for the new gamepad were inspired in part by the wii's blue light whenever a wii connected to the internet received a message from nintendo or another player a blue light around the disc tray would light up indicating that the system had received a notification for the developers at nintendo they wanted to go further with the idea of communicating ideas beyond the standard tv screen nintendo showcased more than just the controller's unique features at e3 multiple games and game concepts for the gamepad were shown off a version of wii sports using the game pad a new version of new super mario brothers and a concept trailer for a new legend of zelda splashed across the screen to give gamers an idea about the possibilities the wii u would offer to developers awata even announced that a new version of super smash brothers will be coming to both the wii u and 3ds to a cheering crowd next came the third parties nintendo hoped that with a new high definition console many of the games that skipped the wii would finally find a home on the wii u the most notable of these third-party companies was ea while many ea published games were released on the wii nintendo and ea were not on the best terms when it came to publishing ea's biggest titles for the wii major titles like mass effect dead space and battlefield all skipped the wii while ea's popular sports games received watered-down ports ea ceo john riccitello came on stage to personally announce ea support for the wii u while no specific games were announced the partnership between ea and nintendo was unprecedented everything seemed to be going perfectly the wii u was announced its features detailed and many of the biggest issues that we had were addressed in the announcement but for journalists and consumers the idea of the wii u was more confusing than anything nintendo had failed to properly showcase exactly what the wii u was was it a brand new system or was it some sort of accessory for the wii how did this new controller work with a tv was the gamepad the actual console the reveal of the wii u should have been a slam dunk but nintendo suffered in the days following the announcement within two days of the system's reveal nintendo's stock dropped by 10 sony's new handheld the playstation vita won most of the praise from critics on the hardware side at e3 2011. the vita even beat out the wii u to win the game critics award for best hardware all hope wasn't lost though the wii u wouldn't launch until 2012 which gave nintendo plenty of time to right the ship for the rest of 2011 and much of 2012 nintendo focused their efforts on the 3ds and wii the last of the wii's biggest games came out in late 2011 and early 2012. the 3ds received its own new games and a price cut to help it compete in the market it wouldn't be until e3 2012 that nintendo would bring forward more details on the wii u on june 3rd 2012 nintendo released a pre-recorded video detailing the wii u under their nintendo direct banner the 30 minute long video brought forth a ton of new information on the wii u first up was a redesign of the gamepad the gamepad shown off at e3 2011 had slightly changed the biggest difference was the removal of the circle pads for analog sticks nintendo also announced a pro controller for the wii u a more traditional controller with similar layouts to the xbox 360 controller iwata who hosted the pre-e3 direct covered many topics about the wii u's user interface including the home screen a social networking service called miiverse and a brand new game with new super mario bros u nintendo's e3 2012 press conference was dedicated almost entirely to the wii u in contrast to their show from the previous year nintendo showcased the entire wii u console alongside the gamepad from the beginning of the conference nintendo announced new games for the wii u including wii fit u and the long-awaited pikmin 3. warner brothers in ubisoft appeared in the conference to announce new titles for the wii u including exclusive titles lego city undercover and zombie u the final 15 minutes of nintendo's press conference was dedicated to a new game nintendo land the mini game collection was a celebration of all things nintendo and more importantly a strong showcase for the wii's potential but for hardcore gamers this was seen as a bit of a disappointment to close the show for all of the talk about appealing more to core gamers nintendo didn't seem to be stepping up to the plate with software that matched their interest nintendo finished their press conference with a showcase of fireworks within nintendo land with their e3 2012 press conference it was the last time nintendo would host an in-person conference at e3 to date but the information didn't stop there after the press conference more games for the wii u were announced including a new wario game and project p 100 a new title from platinum games the wii u's image wasn't completely fixed after e3 however many were still confused about whether or not the console was an accessory to the wii or a brand new system entirely even late night host jimmy fallon was confused when he got a chance to play the system on his show nintendo still had their work cut out for them and they didn't have long on september 3rd 2012 nintendo announced the release dates and pricing for the wii u gamers would be able to get their hands on the wii u in november or december of that year depending on which region they lived in it was finally time to see if nintendo could catch lightning twice [Music] on november 18 2012 the wii u launched in north america the wii u launched with two different bundles in the region a white wii u with eight gigabytes of internal memory sold for 299.99 as part of the basic bundle a deluxe bundle retailed for 349.99 came with a black wii u with 32 gigabytes of internal memory and a copy of nintendo land for pow regions the wii u launched a few days later on november 30th and japan received the system on december 8th 24 games were available on the wii u on launch day beyond nintendo land nintendo released new super mario bros u and sing party while also publishing a port of ninja gaiden 3. major 3rd party companies supported the launch as well activision warner brothers and sega all published ports of their most recent games for the system ubisoft was the biggest third party partner at launch six ubisoft games were available on launch day including two exclusives rabbids land and zombie u the wii u offered a variety of features on day one although a large update for the system held many of these features back from being immediately available the nintendo eshop an internet browser a netflix app and miiverse were all available on launch day tv the cable television application was available later in december when it launched on december 20th the wii u was completely backwards compatible with the wii players were able to transfer their data off of their wii to the wii u through a cute animated sequence with nintendo's pikmin characters this method allowed users to transfer ownership of downloaded titles from the wii to the wii u as nintendo did not have any sort of unified account system between its two consoles these titles and wii games were playable through a separate wii menu on the wii u the wii u came with a single game pad for multiplayer titles players would either have to use a pro controller that launched the same day as the wii u or the wiimotes and various other wii accessories that launched earlier in fact some wii u titles required the wii remote to function like just dance 4 and multiplayer titles in nintendo land early impressions of the system were mixed while many praised nintendo for finally jumping into the world of high definition gaming the lack of any killer app for the system made it a tough sell many noted that titles like nintendo land did a great job of showing off what the wii u could do but it wasn't nearly as impressive or exciting as the wii's packing title wii sports luckily for nintendo the wii u didn't have much in the way of competition for the holiday season in 2012. the playstation 3 and xbox 360 were entering their sixth and seventh year on the market respectfully and their successors had yet to be announced worldwide the wii sold a solid 3 million units in 2012. unfortunately the wii u's fortunes were about to dry up nintendo started 2013 off with a bang on january 23 a new nintendo direct released focusing exclusively on the wii u during the direct satori iwata presented information on the wii u's upcoming hardware updates and announced that the wii u would be getting its own virtual console service the direct gave some new information on upcoming releases in the super mario mario kart and smash bros series although the actual games were not shown off platinumgames was also in attendance being able to show off project p100 again now titled the wonderful 101 and they announced that bayonetta 2 would be coming to the wii u as an exclusive title nintendo went even further with new announcements a crossover between the fire emblem series and shimagame tensei was revealed to be in development a new rpg from monolith was also revealed good feel announced a new yoshi game themed around yarn similar to their previous work curry's epic yarn finally aji numa the producer of the legend of zelda series announced that his team at nintendo was already hard at work on the next installment of the zelda franchise to help tide fans over into the release of this new adventure the legend of zelda the wind waker was getting an hd remaster for the wii u while a new nintendo direct made fans and owners of the wii u happy it didn't translate to sales january 2013 saw the wii u sell only 57 000 systems in the united states far below the likes of the playstation 3 and xbox 360 for the month in february even worse news hit rayman legends originally a launch title for the wii u before it was delayed was being delayed once again the exclusive title was only a few weeks away from launch when ubisoft pushed the title back to september alongside the delay came more bitter news for nintendo fans rayman legends was no longer a wii u exclusive as it launched on the xbox 360 and playstation 3 on the same day as the wii u version this left the wii u without any major titles releasing in the first two months of 2013. mark saw a trio of titles tried to turn the wii u sluggish sales around monster hunter 3 ultimate lego city undercover and game and wario all launched for the system but it didn't seem to make too much of a dent worldwide nintendo sold less than half a million wii u's during the first quarter of 2013. in april nintendo hosted another nintendo direct announcing new super luigi u for the wii u and confirming that the super nintendo classic earthbound would be re-released in north america for the first time in almost 20 years the virtual console launched as well in april although the wii u's virtual console offered far fewer games than the we had e3 was once again nintendo's time to shine mario kart 8 super mario 3d world donkey kong country tropical freeze and most importantly super smash brothers were all announced for the wii u during nintendo's fourth major direct of 2013. it was also the first year that nintendo skipped out on hosting a major press conference at e3 leading many to wonder if the company planned out having a future in the larger gaming world nintendo software announcements were largely overshadowed at e3 by both microsoft and sony both companies announced new game consoles earlier in 2013 and e3 was the first chance many gamers had a chance at playing the xbox one and playstation 4. like nintendo was stumbling out of the gate after confusing gamers with the xbox one's announcement sony came out flying with clear messaging and a powerful strike against microsoft's claims that the xbox one wouldn't play used titles for nintendo their time as the only 8th generation home console was coming to an end by november sony and microsoft would launch their new home consoles and a new console war would begin after the release of gaming wario at the end of march in japan the wii saw massive drought of new game releases on the nintendo eshop new super luigi u and earthbound were released in june and july but nintendo published no new re-retail releases worldwide ea who had just a year earlier committed to publishing titles for the wii u announced during the summer of 2013 that they were scaling back their publishing efforts on the system due to less than stellar sales ubisoft one of the system's biggest contributors made statements that they would not publish any more wii u exclusive games due to similar reasons in april and may only five games were released on the wii u at retail june saw only one title released gaming wario although this was only in north america and pow regions july saw three new titles released in various regions although the biggest one pikmin 3 wouldn't make its way to the states until august 4th the pikmin series was in a bit of an odd spot before the release of pikmin 3. pikmin 1 and 2 released on the gamecube in 2001 and 2004 respectively but the series went dormant after that pikmin's protagonist captain olimar made his way into super smash bros brawl in 2008 but otherwise the series largely seemed dead pikmin created by legendary game designer shigeru miyamoto was never a smashing success on the gamecube however miyamoto held a deep love for the series and always wished to return to it in interviews throughout 2007 and 2008 miyamoto mentioned the possibilities for the pikmin series enwi and how he would like to return to it pikmin 1 and 2 saw ports on the wii under the new play control line even but it wasn't until e3 2008 that news of a new pikmin was confirmed pikmin 3 began development on the wii sometime in 2008 although nintendo and miyamoto remained quiet on how the game was progressing in fact pikmin 3 wouldn't be mentioned publicly again until e3 2011 when miyamoto confirmed that development for pikmin 3 had shifted from the wii to the wii u at e3 2012 nintendo opened their press conference with the first ever look at pikmin 3 with its gorgeous graphics and unique gameplay pikmin 3 was originally planned as a wii u launch title but ever the perfectionist miyamoto and his team opted to continue working on the game and it slipped to spring 2013. pikmin 3 wouldn't make its spring launch either instead it came out in japan on july 13 2013 a power release followed on july 26 and north america received the game on august 4th the game was a major hit at launch and gave hungry wii u owners their first new content in months pikmin 3 helped bolster wii u sales worldwide although not as significantly as nintendo might have hoped the most important thing about pikmin 3 was that it ended the long drought of retail releases for the wii u as the following month saw more great games come to the console pikmin 3 marked a turning point in 2013 for the wii u the great game drought that plagued the system since launch was finally coming to an end as nintendo prepared to shower consumers with new games in the coming months but before any of those titles hit store shelves nintendo made one move to bring in more consumers who were still on the fence announced on august 29 2013 the wii u would be receiving a price cut the deluxe bundle for the wii u was marked down to 299.99 while the basic bundle was phased out completely this wasn't the first time nintendo lowered the price of a system within its first year the 3ds saw a dramatic price cut during its first year on the market as did pass systems like the nintendo gamecube the price cut went into effect on september 20th alongside a brand new deluxe bundle launching on september 20th the legend of zelda the wind waker hd hit the nintendo eshop for digital download a physical release followed two weeks later top incentivized zelda fans a limited edition wii u bundle with the wind waker hd was released on september 20th this package was the same as the deluxe wii u system but swapped out nintendo land for a downloadable copy of wind waker hd the bundle also featured an exclusive wii u gamepad with gold trimming around the edges platinum's exclusive title the wonderful 101 came out in north america on september 15th although it was released in other regions in august directed by hideki kamiya known for his work on many classic capcom and platinum game titles the wonderful 101 was published by nintendo and received a fair amount of marketing behind it reviews were positive but sales were less than stellar still the wonderful 101 developed a cult fanbase who still praised the ones wii u exclusive in late october we fit you and we part of you who released for the wii u these were the first titles to continue the weed line of games that saw a massive commercial success on nintendo's previous console both games received special retail bundles for wii party u a small stand was included for the wii u gamepad that allowed the game to be played on flat surfaces wii fit you came out with a special balance board bundle the balance mode was the same one used for the wii so players who played the past titles only needed to purchase the new software nintendo also released a wii fit u pedometer alongside the game a special promotion for wii fit u allowed owners of the wii balance board to download a 30 day trial of wii fit u before they purchased the game if players purchased a pedometer and synced it to this trial version a full version of the game was unlocked for players to keep wii fit u was the only wii u title to ever use the wii balance board the wii u's time as the only 8th generation home console on the market came to a close on november 15 2013 when sony launched the playstation 4. a week later on november 22nd microsoft released the xbox one the playstation 4 retailed for 400 and the xbox one came in at 500 making the wii u cheaper than its immediate competition the wii u had a leg up in japan as well with the playstation 4 and xbox one wouldn't release until 2014. industry analysts saw potential in the wii u notably with families and younger children but most of the talk in late 2013 was around the shiny new boxes from two of technology's biggest players there were still some major releases for the wii u in november on november 26th the wii u officially launched in brazil one of the fastest growing gaming markets in the world on november 22nd the same day the xbox one released super mario 3d world hit store shelves and the nintendo heat shop the latest 3d mario game was a smash hit on the wii u selling over 5 million units during its lifetime and bringing multiplayer front and center to the 3d mario titles 3d world capped off a string of months that saw major releases for the wii u the wii u fared better with third party releases in the fall than earlier in 2013. ubisoft released rayman legends assassin's creed 4 black flag and splinter saw blacklist on the system wb games released a watered-down version of batman arkham origins that liked the multiplayer mode found on other consoles activision published new interviews for skylanders in the call of duty series finally sega published two new exclusive titles for the wii u sonic lost world and mario and sonic at the sochi 2014 olympic games the fall of 2013 was more than just the beginning of a next console war for me it was the start of my stint working in retail and selling video games i had a part-time job at a local best buy where i saw primarily video games and consoles it was the best time to be a best buy employee i worked the midnight launches for both the playstation 4 and xbox one i got to see first hand which games people were gravitating to and most importantly i was the go-to person for anything and everything wii u my appreciation for nintendo's bizarre console was twofold on one hand i'm a major nintendo fan and will almost always champion their products on the other i was legitimately excited about the wii u after playing it at a friend's house during spring break i just loved everything that this system had to offer i was convinced that innovation not power would once again win the console war after all this is how nintendo succeeded with the wii and how sony had done so well with the playstation one and two while my time at best buy was short-lived i loved talking up the wii u i finally recall selling wii u's to families who wanted a system to play the latest mario i love clearing up exactly what a wii u was now don't get me wrong i still sold other consoles even the playstation vita but the wii u held a special place in my heart i even watched robert kirkman the creator of the walking dead purchase a wii u from our store only two days before christmas that's not really relevant to the history of the wii u but it just sort of helps bring me closer to my attachment for the system everything culminated on christmas day when i received my own wii u it was a christmas gift for my parents but i picked it out and ordered it myself i was so excited when the system showed up on my doorstep that i immediately started playing it despite christmas still being weeks away i got the deluxe edition with new super mario bros u and new super luigi u included that was released in november for the holiday season i got a special bundle that included nintendo land as well bought a ton of games for the system on black friday quickly emptying my bank account of my hard earned money zombie u rayman legends pikmin 3 and disney infinity all lined my shelf before my wii u even arrived the day after christmas i went to some shops and bought super mario 3d world and the wonderful 101 it was the last time i got a major console around the holidays and in a way was the last time i got to experience the excitement of getting a new system on christmas morning like i grew up with 2014 started off poorly for nintendo at an investors meeting in january of 2014 nintendo announced that the wii u sold a total of 5.86 million we used since launch that meant that throughout all of 2013 nintendo failed to sell more wii u's than they had in the last six weeks of 2012. in response to the poor sales satori iwata took a pay cut of 50 for the next several months while several other nintendo members took pay cuts of 20 to 30 percent in february donkey kong country tropical freeze released on the weed of critical acclaim originally planned for a late 2013 release nintendo pushed the game to early 2014 so retro studios the developer of the game had more time to optimize the final product tropical freeze was a big hit even bringing back donkey kong country's original composer david wise to compose for the series but tropical freeze highlighted a major problem for the wii u while playing the game the player had a choice of playing the game on either the gamepad or tv screen whichever option was chosen would leave the other screen blank what many feared seemed to have come true if not even retro studios one of nintendo's most talented development partners couldn't find a way to use the gamepad what incentives did other developers have in april game boy advance games were released on the wii u's virtual console advanced wars mario luigi superstar saga and metroid fusion debuted on the eshop on april 3rd new gba titles were released on the wii u throughout 2014 and all the way until 2017 after the wii u was officially discontinued at the end of may the biggest wii u game to date was released mario kart 8 was an immediate success on the wii u and helped nintendo sell around half a million wii u's during the second quarter of 2014. the first hd mario kart mario kart 8 launched alongside a new wii u deluxe bundle that included the 32 gigabyte wii u and a copy of mario kart 8. there was even a special promotion with the game through club nintendo if users registered their copy of mario kart 8 with club nintendo they were given the option of downloading one of 10 titles to their wii u for free going into e3 2014 all eyes were on nintendo to deliver exciting news about the wii u and deliver they did yoshi's woolly world was re-revealed with a new art style captain toad treasure tracker was announced as a spin-off from super mario 3d world kirby even got some love with an announcement of a new game with kirby in the rainbow curse extended looks at bayonetta 2 monolith soft's x and hyrule warriors a game nintendo announced at the end of 2013 were on full display nintendo went big with their showcase announcing multiple games that wouldn't release for the wii u until 2015 and beyond a new intellectual property was announced with splatoon nintendo's take on multiplayer shooters mario maker a level creation tool with mario assets was announced miyamoto even showed off early work for a new star fox game the first time the series was given a new title since 2007's star fox command the biggest announcement however was a game that would go on to define the wii u a new legend of zelda one radically different from past entries was on its way to the wii u fans wouldn't have to wait long either it had an intended release date of 2015. [Music] while e3 was highlighting many of the great games coming to the nintendo wii u tons of great games were making their way onto the nintendo eshop nintendo published efforts like dr luigi and pushmo world helped broad nintendo's profile on the system smaller games from third party publishing partners like ubisoft's child of light highlighted the eshop store page and of course there were plenty of fantastic independent games to come to the wii u the most notable of these being shovel knight they launched on june 26 2014 for the wii u 3ds and pc the rest of the summer was fairly light for the wii u wii sports club an updated version of the wii's pack in title saw a retail release in july in september the legend of zelda spin-off hyrule warriors came out created in cooperation with koei tecmo hyrule warriors brought the zelda series to the hack and slash gameplay of dynasty warriors the title was later re-released on both the 3ds and nintendo switch in october bayonetta 2 was released for the wii u first run copies of the game included a port of bayonetta 1 which previously released on the playstation 3 and xbox 360. alongside optimizing the game for wii u both banana titles featured new costumes for the game's titular character based on nintendo's classic franchises in december nintendo released two new titles captain toad treasure tracker released on december 5th in north america nes remix pack came out that same day combining nes remix 1 and 2 into a single retail release third party support for the wii u had dried up throughout 2014 but some notable titles were still coming to the system during the fall of 2014 watchdogs released on the wii u in november after hitting other consoles six months earlier sega released a second sonic game on the wii u sonic boom rise of lyric the title was both a critical and commercial flop for sega and was the last sonic platformer released for the system with all the great games nintendo was releasing throughout 2014 none were more exciting than the release of super smash brothers on the wii u first announced alongside the wii u at e3 2011 excitement for the new title had been building for years super smash brothers series director masahiro sakurai returned to the director's chair after work on the 3ds title kid icarus uprising finished joining sakurai nintendo's developers was bandai namco studios at e3 2013 the game was revealed alongside announcements of new characters modes stages and more the biggest moment for the game was the reveal of mega man as a playable fighter bringing capcom's blue bomber to the smash series regular updates were made on super smash brothers throughout 2013 and 2014 at e3 2014 multiple new characters were revealed for the game including me characters nintendo announced a gamecube adapter for the wii u that allowed players to play the latest super smash brothers with the classic nintendo gamecube controllers nintendo even brought demos of super smash brothers to best buys across america during e3 2014 which was the first time i got to experience super smash brothers for the wii u and meet actual employees from nintendo of america alongside super smash brothers nintendo unveiled their latest creation a new line of toys to life known as amiibo toys to life has steadily been growing in popularity since 2011 when skylanders spyro's adventure came out on the wii ps3 and xbox 360. in 2013 disney followed suit with their own line known as disney infinity both series featured playable characters that were unlocked by buying figurines of said character the starter packs of these titles included the disc needed to run the game a few characters and a special portal with a built-in nfc reader to scan the characters into the game amiibo kept the nfc compatibility of these figures but differed in many other aspects amiibo did not have their own game instead figures were scannable into various titles on nintendo systems with each amiibo compatible game offering different unlockable features for super smash brothers amiibos could be trained in battle all the way up to level 50 with all the save data being stored on the amiibo themselves while new information for smash bros came out steadily a massive leak of the game occurred in september right before the release of the game on the nintendo 3ds despite this both versions of super smash brothers continue to receive updates including a massive nintendo direct dedicated to the wii u version of the game before release super smash brothers for wii u released on november 21st 2014 in north america with other regions receiving the game in the following weeks on the same day the gamecube adapter and a special edition nintendo gamecube controller were released finally 12 different amiibo were released as the first wave of super smash amiibo characters like marth villager and wii fit trainer quickly sold out leading to the great scramble among nintendo fans to try and purchase the small figures super smash bros for wii u was an immediate success critically super smash bros was a phenomenal hit alongside glowing review scores super smash bros for wii u won multiple game of the year awards from outlets like nintendo life and usa today despite the 3ds version coming out beforehand super smash bros for wii u sold nearly half a million copies during its first three days on the north american market making it the fastest selling wii u game ever in total the wii u version sold over 5 million copies worldwide making it the 4th best-selling game on the wii u and the best-selling title for the system outside of the mario series updates for super smash bros began shortly after launch seven new playable characters were added to the game throughout 2015 including bayonetta the winner of a nintendo run popularity contest to see who players wanted in super smash brothers additional stages music and me costumes were also added to the game super smash bros for wii u received its final updates in 2016 as the wii u began to make way for nintendo's next home console 2015 started on a softer note for the wii u compared to the bombastic holiday season of 2014. on january 10 2015 nintendo of america announced that they would officially be pulling the wii u out of the brazilian gaming market citing the high cost for foreign companies to sell their products in the region nintendo wouldn't return to brazil until 2020 with the announcement that the nintendo switch would be coming to the region in the near future kirby and the rainbow curse kicked off the wii u's lineup of 2015 when it came out in japan in late january north america received the game in february but power agents had to wait until may to play the latest adventure from the pink puffball in march mario party 10 and a new line of amiibo hit store shelves alongside the latest mario party were amiibo for mario luigi bowser peach yoshi and toad at the time of release toad was the only new character to receive their first amiibo the other amiibo functioned exactly like their previously released super smash bros counterparts in april nintendo 64 games made their return to the virtual console and nintendo ds games debuted for the service nintendo's biggest game for the first half of 2015 was one they revealed just a year earlier platoon made waves at e3 2014 as a surprising new ip with a fresh take on a well-known genre development for the title began in 2013 when members of nintendo's ead animal crossing team began prototyping a four versus four area control title influenced by first-person shooters like battlefield and call of duty the splatoon team was noticeably younger than many of the other faces at nintendo who have been creating many of the company's hits for the past 30 years splatoon came out in may of 2015 across all regions and was a huge hit the title featured both single-player and multiplayer modes a ranking system and plenty of funky beats and fresh charm the world of splatoon was unlike anything nintendo made before the title was a critical and commercial success selling over one and a half million copies by the end of 2015. splatoon was updated throughout 2015 with the last new content releasing in early 2016. splatoon received its own line of amiibo as well and has quickly blossomed into one of nintendo's biggest series after splatoon's release came e3 and a new nintendo direct to coincide with it at e3 2015 satori awada shigeru miyamoto and reggie fizzame all appeared as puppets to debut the latest entry in the star fox series star fox zero other titles for the wii u were shown off including yoshi's woolly world monolithsoft's x now known as xenoblade chronicles x and super mario maker nintendo fans were left with mixed feelings after the direct as notable franchises like metroid and animal crossing received spin-offs after gamers begged for new entries in the popular series for the wii u but something felt off about the direct a month later and the world would know why e3 2014 was a big time for nintendo but one of nintendo's most recognizable faces was missing from the show floor despite appearing in nintendo's e3 direct satori iwata the president of nintendo was not in los angeles for the annual expo iwata became president of nintendo in 2002 becoming the first person outside of the yamauchi family to lead the company since its founding in 1889. iwata oversaw the success of both the nintendo ds and wii but was now facing down the challenge of making the wii u successful unknown to many at the time awada was facing an even deadlier battle cancer on june 5th 2014 iwata announced that he would not be attending e3 that year on advice from his doctor later that month iwata told nintendo shareholders that he would not be able to attend the annual general meeting of shareholders his stated reasoning left many concern a growth had been discovered and the executives bile duct during a routine exam the surgery was performed in june to remove the growth and iwata was recovering from surgery at the time iwata returned to in-person work at nintendo in october of 2014 noticeably slimmer iwata brushed off concerns saying he felt much healthier than before awada appeared in a new nintendo direct on november 5th 2014 brooming with his warm personality and welcoming back the many nintendo fans who missed him iwata's health continued to deteriorate throughout early 2015. despite this he appeared in two more nintendo directs one in january and one in april iwata was featured prominently in puppet form during nintendo's e3 direct that year as well for many these were the last words iwata sent directly to them on june 26th iwata was hospitalized once again he passed away on july 11th he was 55 years old nintendo announced his passing the next day to outpouring sentiment from fans funeral services were held on july 16th and 17th in kyoto japan where over 4 000 people came to pay their respects across the world nintendo fans of all ages showed their love for the legendary designer through memorials ewada's legacy is still being felt at nintendo and the gaming world at large titles that saw iwata as an executive producer were released until 2017 with the legend of zelda breath of the wild and mario kart 8 deluxe being the last games he was credited in in-game tributes were made to awada and breath of the wild featuring a mountain named after him and star fox zero being dedicated to him as the wingman who fell in battle oh my business car i am a corporate president in my mind i am a game developer but in my heart i am a gamer nintendo spent most of e3 2015 hyping up their next major release for the wii u super mario maker originally designed as a tool set within nintendo to create original mario games super mario maker was a surprising announcement at e3 2014 and for 2015 nintendo went all out a super mario maker competition was held during e3 as the final round of the nintendo world championships the title is also playable at certain best buy locations on june 17th and june 20th super mario maker made its debut on the wii u in september 2015. retail copies of the game came with a 96 page book that included design tips and tricks for gamers a special wii u bundle of the game and special edition amiibo were released on the same day the title was a phenomenon across the internet as gamers created and played levels to their heart's content the title was praised by critics with many of them claiming that this was the wii u's killer app super mario maker was a major hit with wii u owners in north america over half a million copies were sold during september 2015. it sold nearly a quarter of a million copies in japan during that same time period by the end of the wii u's lifespan super mario maker sold a total of 4 million copies worldwide a 3ds port of the game followed in late 2016 with a full sequel releasing in 2019 the rest of nintendo's fall 2015 lineup was a bit of a mixed bag yoshi's woolly world came out in north america in october after seeing a release in japan and power regions in the summer of 2015. in pal and north american territories fatal frame 5 maiden of blackwater released exclusively on the wii u's eshop fatal frame 5 released in japan in september of 2014 with a physical release for regions outside of japan this was the first fatal frame title to come out since fatal frame 3 hit the ps2 in 2005. in november two less than stellar titles were released with animal crossing amiibo festival and mario 10 as ultra smash animal crossing amiibo festival came bundled with two amiibo and required amiibo figurines to play a set of animal crossing amiibo cards were also released alongside the game and another spin-off called animal crossing happy home designer for the nintendo 3ds both animal crossing amiibo festival and mario tennis ultra smash were met with negative reviews 2015 ended with xenoblade chronicles x and devil's third making their way overseas both titles released early in the year in japan and devil's third released in august for pal territories xenoblade chronicles x was met with positive reviews while devil's third saw mixed reception the start of 2016 was slow for the wii u after a mountain of releases in late 2015 january and february saw a few notable releases beyond eshop shovelware and various ports on march 3rd the final nintendo direct covering wii u games aired later that month two major games came out for the wii u the first was the legend of zelda twilight princess hd a remaster of the gamecube and wii original the title was bundled alongside a wolf link amiibo that unlocks special content in the game and future zelda titles next came pokken tournament an arcade fighter developed by bandai namco that released in arcades in 2015. in april star fox fans were finally given a new game in the franchise for the first time in almost a decade developed in partnership with platinum games and nintendo star fox zero was meant to be a return to form for the series however awkward and unconventional controls led to the game receiving mixed reviews star fox zero's bundled alongside another game star fox guard rather than the star fox series traditional's on rail shooting gameplay guard played like a tower defense game using the wii u's game pad to switch between various vantage points while star fox may have been on everyone's minds in april nintendo made a major announcement during an investors meeting nintendo announced that their next console the nx would be coming out by march of 2017 the wii u's days were numbered for e3 2016 nintendo once again decided to try something unconventional like in previous years the company would not hold a major stage prep conference unlike previous years however nintendo did not hold a nintendo direct announcing new software or hardware in fact nintendo scaled back their nintendo directs in 2016 in part due to the passing of former host satori awada nintendo still attended e3 that year showcasing a singular game the legend of zelda for wii u the new zelda game received an official title at e3 as well with the subtitle breath of the wild while originally scheduled to release sometime in 2015 nintendo had delayed the game multiple times once to 2016 and then later into early 2017. the latter half of 2016 held few notable releases jun saw the international release of tokyo mirage sessions formerly known as fire emblem cross shimagame tensei their reports have critically acclaimed indies like axiom verge and jolt annualized releases from ubisoft and activision still came out adding another just dance and skylander game to the wii u's library nintendo's sole first party release for the fall was paper mario color splash color splash was the fifth game in the paper mario series and the first since 2012 sticker star for the nintendo 3ds color splash came out in early october and was met with decent reviews and sales but it didn't have much time to shine in the spotlight on october 20th 2016 nintendo revealed their next home console the nintendo switch originally under the code name nx the switch was in development at nintendo as early as 2012 after the release of the wii u the switch is a hybrid console meaning players can use it as both a handheld or home console with the included dock announced alongside the switch reports of titles like skyrim and mario kart as well as a brand new 3d mario title but the biggest game shown off for the switch wasn't even a switch game it was the legend of zelda breath of the wild the wii u swan song was about to become the switch's killer app the nintendo switch released on march 3rd 2017 across the world but the wii u didn't even make it to that day on january 31st 2017 production for wii u consoles officially came to an end the wii u was discontinued after only four years and three months on the market new titles still came to the wii u throughout 2017 both at retail and on the nintendo eshop nintendo's final release for the system was the legend of zelda breath of the wild the wii u version came out on the same day as the nintendo switch version march 3rd nintendo's support for the wii u mostly ended there on november 8th miiverse was shut down bringing an end to nintendo's social media experiment the final release for the wii u came out at the end of 2018 in october of that year just dance 2019 came out in a twist of fate the wii despite being released in 2006 continued to get new just dance titles until 2019 with the release of just dance 2020 currently the final physical release for the wii u is shakedown hawaii from v blank entertainment alongside a physical release of axiom verge these are the only limited run productions of wii u games and they never saw a release in any storefronts beyond their manufacturers today the wii u has gone down in history as nintendo's worst selling home console of all time with a total of 13.5 million units sold worldwide a total of 164 games were released at retail for the system with hundreds more being available through download in the nintendo eshop the best-selling title for the system is mario kart 8 with over 8.5 million copies sold worldwide giving it an attachment rate of over 60 percent 18 titles sold more than 1 million units on the wii u all of which were nintendo published first party titles a total of over 100 million games were sold for the wii u during its lifetime less than the amount of wii consoles nintendo sold today the wii u's legacy is still being written many of the system's most popular titles have been ported over to its successor the nintendo switch often with new content or quality of life updates in an interview in january 2017 reggie fisa may stated that the wii u was a stepping stone to the switch and it's hard not to see it as that now the wii u's gamepad was innovative in its own right and perhaps in a different era the gamepad would have been just as big a revolution as the wii remote this seemed to be nintendo's line of thinking as notable nintendo veterans like shigeru miyamoto stated that they expected the wii u to sell over 100 million units during its lifetime so the question remains what exactly went wrong the wii u is not the first nintendo console to be a commercial failure and it likely isn't the last but for any other company the wii would have meant the death of their console manufacturing the wii was often compared to sega's dreamcast during its heyday an interesting system with plenty of unique games that just couldn't keep up with the competition in hindsight the wii u might be closer to another sega system the sega saturn there is one key exception of course while the saturn struggled to even make a dent in the gaming scene compared to the incredibly popular playstation or nintendo 64 sega kept looking to the future of their next console unlike sega however nintendo continued to provide quality software on the wii u even when they knew they were losing money that commitment to the wii u was incredibly important everything else around the wii u however seemed to be going against it the poor marketing even from its initial announcement at e3 2011 left too many people confused especially those who first got into gaming with the wii the launch of the wii u liked any killer apps and many of the games available on the system released on the computer playstation 3 or xbox 360 months before they ever hit the wii u combine this with a complete lack of major third party support beyond 2013 and it's easy to see why no one beyond nintendo fans were picking up a wii u but regardless of all that the wii u paved the way for what could become nintendo's most successful console of all time at the time of this video the nintendo switch has sold more than 60 million units worldwide making it the second best-selling nintendo home console of all time many of the fantastic games made for the wii u found new life on the nintendo switch as millions of gamers had the opportunity to play some absolute classics that were previously locked behind the wii u's gamepad you might not think too much of the wii u now nintendo has moved past their past failure and is enjoying considerable success today despite there only being a handful of weave exclusives left i think they're well worth the price of admission nintendo land gaming wario and wii party u are all titles unlike anything else that can only be experienced on the wii u despite the mixed reception they received games like xenoblade chronicles x devil's third and star fox zero are still exclusive to the system there are still plenty of downloadable titles including a robust virtual console that are best experienced on the system and most importantly it's a key piece of gaming history it may go down in history as a commercial flop but the nintendo that rose from the ashes of the wii u's failure is stronger than ever thanks for watching this is the final part in a multi-part series about the wii u if you enjoyed the video be sure to leave a like and share it on your favorite social media platforms in the comments let me know your thoughts on the wii u and what wii u titles you would like to see on other systems be sure to subscribe to catch the next video whenever it releases and as always thank you for watching [Music] [Music] [Music] i

Channel: Double Dog

Views: 262,373

Rating: 4.8917675 out of 5

Keywords: wii u, wii, nintendo, ds, 3ds, mario, zelda, metroid, pokemon, pikmin, splatoon, super smash bros, mario kart, playstation, sony, microsoft, xbox, saturo iwata

Id: QsQ9SzuvdfE

Length: 56min 32sec (3392 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 01 2020