The Wii U had a tough 2015. Nintendo can boast that they have released some of the most excellent exclusives of the year, yes, but with their next console looming in the horizon, it’s hard not to feel like 2015 was a transitional period.
This is part of our 2015 “State of” series, a look at how the five major consoles (and PC) are doing this year.
Let’s go back in time to the middle of 2015. May saw the release of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a solid game with a distinct visual style. Nothing ground-breaking, par for the course for a Nintendo console. By now, we all know that Nintendo hardware means playing Nintendo-developed games, be it new iterations of classic franchises, or virtual console re-issues of fan favourites.
The start of the year was anchored almost entirely by Nintendo’s continued support of Smash Bros. That game may have come out in 2014, but 2015 was the year Nintendo invested heavily in updates. That support, in combination with the ever-growing fighting game scene, made 2015 feel like it was the year of Smash Bros. Smash Bros. broke records in 2015. One of the biggest bombshells of the year was from Smash Bros.. Some of the most inspirational stories of 2015, eSports-wise, were for Smash Bros. A Wii U game from 2014 became one of the most talked about things in 2015!
The flip-side is that this demonstrates how weak 2015 was for the Wii U: one of its stand-out games wasn’t actually released that year.
The kid-friendly competitive shooter Splatoon also came out in 2015, and it was great. Leave it to Nintendo to find a way to make shooters feel fresh again. While the launch of Splatoon was kind of rocky thanks to a number of bizarre oversights and a lack of content, Nintendo kept updating the game throughout the year with a number of maps, modes, and gear — all of which were free. In 2015, the Wii U felt like an advent calendar for Splatoon owners, especially with the constantly rolling events known as “Splatfest.” While it took Nintendo a while to catch on to the whole games-as-services thing, now it feels like they’re showing everyone how it should be done.
More than anything, though, 2015 felt like the year that Nintendo went overboard with Amiibo. Nearly every game they released this year came packaged with a little plastic figurine or in some way connected to them. It was hard not to get the sense that Nintendo is as interested in selling figurines as they are in developing games. Sometimes, it can even feel like a cynical cash-grab that capitalises entirely on the cuteness of Nintendo characters. Oh, I shouldn’t talk shit. I bought a bunch of Amiibo in 2015. Nintendo’s ‘Amiibo problem’ only exists because people like me have enabled it.
And then there was Mario Maker. Real talk, everyone slept on this game for most of 2015, until it was actually released in spring and suddenly Mario became relevant to gaming once more. This is the most exciting Mario has been in a long, long time. Even the game’s obtuse course-curation system couldn’t stop how much arse it kicked. Players built some of the most ridiculous and inspired creations with Mario Maker, and I’m glad Nintendo had the confidence to let their fans run loose with their iconic mascot.
Games like Mario Maker demonstrate that Nintendo has started to see the value in listening to fans. Updates to Mario Maker (as well as Splatoon and Smash Bros.) often focused on player complaints and concerns. Had you asked me in 2014, I would have never guessed that Nintendo would become this receptive and flexible.
Some of Nintendo’s old ways of thinking still linger, though. YouTube is a huge part of gaming culture, and people on YouTube love playing and sharing Nintendo games. Unfortunately, sharing Wii U gameplay videos on YouTube was a nightmare in 2015, thanks to Nintendo’s draconian stance on copyright claims. Nintendo’s YouTube revenue sharing program kind of sucks, too, but at this point YouTubers might just have to take what they can get.
Nintendo also cracked down hard on some of the more niche communities that have helped the Wii U’s fandom grow into what it is today. Speedrunners, who helped build the remix culture that Mario Maker draws so heavily from, saw many of their beloved accomplishments with emulated Mario games wiped from existence on YouTube. These are the same people who are keeping Mario Maker alive right now — they don’t have a choice, really. If they want to make elaborate Mario creations, they have to play Mario Maker. Nintendo is within their rights to shut down courses created through Mario emulators, but the communities Nintendo is ‘fighting’ here also feel pretty harmless. In 2015, it sometimes felt like Nintendo was betraying some of its most hardcore fans, and given that the Wii U is so reliant on the evangelising efforts of the community, that’s not just awful, it’s counterproductive.
The Wii U’s sales have never been huge, but the small-ish group of people who have picked up the console have built one of the best communities in gaming. Nintendo’s social media experiment continues with Miiverse, and the service saw a big update in 2015. While it’s not as robust as Facebook or anything, Miiverse is still pretty fantastic. It helps that Nintendo integrates Miiverse into games. I know that I can browse any game on there, no matter how esoteric, and see some hilarious and entertaining comments about Nintendo games. The art is often phenomenal too, considering how limited the tools are.
Here at the tail end of 2015, the Wii U feels kind of barren. There was Project Zero, a game that might not fit on your Wii U if you got it as a digital download. There was Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is actually pretty good, but a bit obscure. Oh, and, uh….Mario Tennis? Sure.
While there are a few exciting games on the horizon — Zelda, SMT X Fire Emblem, and the Pokémon fighting game, for example — it feels like the Wii U lost momentum in 2015. For most owners, I would imagine that isn’t a big deal: the Wii U has been considered a ‘secondary’ console by a lot of people, the sort of thing that complements something like a PS4, Xbox One, or PC. Despite some great games and killer moments, the Wii U’s sidekick role didn’t really change in 2015. And next year, we’ll already be hearing about its successor. Maybe even playing it.
Illustration by Sam Woolley
Comments
46 responses to “The State Of The Wii U In 2015”
I’ve had a very solid wii u year. The exclusives were almost all amazing, and there were plenty of interesting indie games released.
I’m smashing through X right now, and it’s the only rpg to really hold my attention in a very long time.
I’m still playing splatoon almost religiously, it keeps getting great new ways to murder with ink (the sloshing machine, omfg!).
And I’ve still got some more affordable space adventure, shovel knight, and fast racing neo to get through.
Splatoon – so good. I was pretty ‘meh’ about this leading up to and past release. I kept hearing everyone saying how great it was even though I’m not really interested in online shooters. Man oh man, was I wrong. Loving this game so much and SO glad I picked it up.
My thoughts on amiibo – they are cool little figurines of your favourite game characters. If you really like a game, I think they are a cool bit of loot to have with it. Of course, the fact that they play well together with the game is a bonus.
Amiibo are amazing. Great quality figures of great game characters at a best ever price for that sort of thing – and they do stuff in games! No more AU $25 for a similar sized not as nice looking 3rd party Nintendo figure.
Nintendo don’t have the capacity to innovate while maintaining their (usually immaculate) standards of polish, while at the same time making games that can compete with today’s AAA blockbusters.
I don’t think it’s a spiral that they’re going to get out of as long as they’re near single-handily propping up a console. The days when Nintendo would take 7+ years to create an industry-standard title in terms of scope the way they did with OOT are long gone.
They aren’t even trying anymore. Even games like Splatoon that do innovate launch to criticisms that the games feel half-finished in terms of content. Other titles don’t innovate (see all the WiiU games that contain the beating heart of a N64 game), feel stripped down to fill a hole in the release schedule (see full priced Mario level maker that doesn’t have a Mario game attached) or get lost in development limbo trying to live up to impossibly high standards on old hardware (Zelda).
Nintendo have been able to get by for YEARS on the legacy of their AAA franchises, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the gap in value between a Nintendo title like the Mario level maker when other consoles get games like Halo which contain multiple, well-polished components, as well as games with the scope of The Witcher 3 of MGS V.
I just can’t see them getting back into a competitive position unless they’re getting out at least two industry-standard-setting games a year, which isn’t going to happen when all their resources are directed towards getting quick-fix releases like Captain Toad, Kirby or the new Animal Crossing out the door.
I really don’t agree with Splatoon being half finished on release. All the content that is available now was there sitting on the disc, they just trickled it out to keep it fresh which for an online shooter is understandable and reasonable, plus all of those updates and extras weren’t DLC they are a part and parcel of the retail game.
Also the amiibo added a good amount of content with replayability too.
Anyone who said that game was rushed were dead wrong, they’ve just been sensitised to that response due to overwhelming load of half assed releases.
You can hate that content was gated, but it wasn’t unfinished.
There was common criticism from reviewers that it lacked content at launch, I think IGN even called it “half-finished” (they’ve updated their review in the last month).
Don’t get me wrong here, Splatoon is a good game and would be a good game on any machine. It’s not the best example to use because it was clearly the most interesting thing Nintendo did this year (maybe in the life of the WIiU) and they have continued to update it.
It’s not a huge system-seller though, which is what Nintendo needs if they’re going to get away from sub-Dreamcast sales figures. If you’re going to be a system that lives or dies by its exclusives then they need to be at least semi-frequent and they need to be at least as good as the very best games on other consoles.
In the pre-Wii days if you didn’t own Nintendo’s console then you were going to miss out on 4-5 of the top-10 games in any given generation. 45 of the top-50 would likely be on other consoles, but that 5 would easily make the Nintendo console good value. Outside of Mario Galaxy, Nintendo haven’t made too many games of that standard since the Wii launched. Plenty of good titles that appeal to the Nintendo faithful, but no titles that really change your expectations of how good a game can be.
Those games (Mass Effect, Witcher 3, Bioshock, Fallout/ Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption ect) have all been on the other systems. I mean if you sat out the Wii generation entirely, would you feel like you missed much in terms of evolution if you jumped straight from the Gamecube to the WiiU? While Nintendo titles are still solid, you haven’t seen that kind of progression in their games at all in the past decade.
None of those games you mention are exclusives so I’m not sure why you keep comparing them to Nintendo’s games.
Neither Sony of MS made them either.
It doesn’t matter who makes the games, as long as the system is getting great games then it doesn’t matter who is making them at all.
At the same time as development cycles get longer, more expensive and more complex, Nintendo has been getting less and less 3rd party support. Then end result is that while the best developers (teams like Rockstar and CD Project) are giving games like GTA or Cyberpunk 2077 years and years to become great, adding in additional features like GTA Online that could nearly stand alone, Nintendo have to scope everything from the ground up with putting SOMETHING on the release schedule to keep the hardware selling.
The end result is sequels that don’t innovate, or spin offs based on existing products (Super Mario 3D Land> Super Mario 3D World> Captain Toad), or stand-alone 2D level makers passed off as full retail releases. Very few people will buy a Nintendo console for these games (see the WiiU sales figures for proof), but what choice do they have? Making brilliant games takes time and it’s hard to sell a console now for a Zelda that won’t be out for several years.
Have an Animal Crossing game with 2/3rds of an Animal Crossing game missing instead. Have a dozen 2D platformers. Have HD remakes of old Zelda’s…. Anything that’s quick!
I guess I am the perfect target audience. I can’t sit and play games for hours every day and they are pumping out stuff that I want faster than I can play it. Some of those you mention are purely fluff like that animal crossing rubbish but Super Mario 3D land is a joy to play.
GTA is probably the only game I would have jumped into out of the ones you listed. Not really interested in the Witcher or stuff like that – and time constraints.
I find myself playing games for for the pure fun and escapism and getting into some great TV for the mature heavy stuff. Worldwide Netflix!
Are you suggesting that games like Halo are more innovative than games like Captain Toad? Really?
That’s a bit of an unfair comparison, plenty mobile games are more innovative than Halo.
So no, I don’t think it’s more innovative that Captain Toad.
I do think that a game like Captain Toad is a good example for my other points though.
It’s a fairly short puzzle game built on an existing framework and sold as a stand-alone near-full priced title (it’s still north of $50 almost everywhere).
It would be a $10-20 DLC package for Super Mario 3D World (or whatever it’s called), or a stand-alone sub $30 downloadable PSN/XBL game if it was on another console.
Look at a game like Trials Evolution, it launched at about $25 with a hearty single player game, multiplayer (although some online functionality was missing at launch) and an EXTREAMLY comprehensive set of creation tools.
Halo 5 is a single player campaign, with the forge editor, replay editor and multiple multiplayer modes.
Mario Maker is a 2D level maker with almost zero single player content.
Where once a full-retail price Nintendo game would be the best value product on the market, now they’re good (or even great games) that have been limited in either innovation, scope or features to get it out the door and fill a hole in the retail release schedule. If you’re playing something like The Witcher 3 then it’s impossible not to feel like Nintendo are WAY behind the pack in terms of what they are trying to do.
Captain Toad has 75+ levels and other bonus levels that can be unlocked on top of that…it’s not THAT short (especially if you go for all of the gems and bonus objectives). And it’s a game that was born out of fan interest and demand after they played the Captain Toad levels in SM3DW – it was Nintendo listening to their user base and delivering what they wanted.
Did Super Mario Maker even need single player content? I’d argue no.
In terms of comparisons to games like Witcher 3 – Xenoblade Chronicles X comes immediately to mind, which is a huge game, and let’s not forget the new Zelda game which is looking absolutely MASSIVE in scope.
I’ll believe it when I see it re: Zelda. I think that game is vaporware and I actually hope it never comes out on the WiiU.
Can you imagine the pressure of having to make an open world Zelda, have it released at LEAST 18 months after the world has been open-world horse riding/ boating/ adventuring in the Witcher 3, on hardware that was incapable of running the Witcher in the first place AND have everyone expect that it will look good and run smoothly (in Nintendo style)?
Oh, and absolutely everyone expects it to get reviews well into the 90’s and be a benchmark, system selling title. And if it gets delayed again into 2017 your whole system is dead, and the 10m odd loyal Nintendo fans who actually bought a WiiU feel burned.
That’s a ridiculous ask and I don’t blame them for burying the game away from public eyes while they work out how to manage the situation.
Zelda will be fine, Aonuma-san can’t afford another Skyward sword :p That’s why they’re taking their time with it.
Yes.
Pretty much every Zelda game is open world.
We’ve been riding horses/boating/adventuring in Zelda games since the N64.
What’s that got to do with anything? Nintendo aren’t porting Witcher 3 to make a new Zelda game.
Name me one Nintendo made game that doesn’t look good and run smoothly.
Wii U owners would definitely not feel burned if ONE game was delayed again. You didn’t hear anyone complaining the first time it got delayed…that’s because there’s a multitude of other awesome EXCLUSIVE games already available for the system that we can play…the same of which can not be said about the PS4 and Xbone.
You’re on crack if you think WiiU owners won’t be pissed if/when Zelda gets delayed again. The system hasn’t seen its own proper Zelda, Metroid or (arguably) 3D Mario. When you buy a Nintendo console you do so in the expectation that you’ll get good, console specific iterations of these franchises.
If all Zelda’s have been open world (and I kinda agree with you that they are) then you should tell Nintendo that. They seem pretty adamant that this one will be different and not your standard ‘HUB world with Forest/ Fire/ Ice/ Water/ Desert/ Time dungeons’ fare. I used the Witcher comparison because they’re both open world, 3rd person, high-fantasy action RPGs. If you’re releasing a game in late 2016 that can’t match the thrill and atmosphere of riding a horse through an interesting environment from a game from early 2015 then you’re going to have a problem.
Hyrule felt like a living breathing place when I first play OOT a million years ago, Skyrim felt like a living breathing place 4 years ago, today that place is the world of The Witcher. The worlds of Skyward Sword were artistically ok looking, but in order to keep the game and the character models looking like something post-2004 the game worlds were fragmented into small-medium sized blocks…. How they’re going to manage that on the WiiU hardware while keeping the “seamless open world” promise is going to be a real challenge for them, particularly as I agree with you that Nintendo games usually run at a solid 30fps minimum.
I certainly won’t be “pissed” if it gets delayed again (though I’m confident it won’t). As I said there are plenty of other great games on the Wii U I can play while I’m waiting.
I’d like to know what Super Mario 3D World was if that’s not a 3D Mario game though.
Since you’ve played it, what are your thoughts on it?
Wind Waker had a seamless open world 2 generations ago. The WiiU ran AC4 really well and that was also an open world with a more realistic slant. Since this Zelda is using the ‘toon shading’ again they should be able to stretch it quite a bit more.
Yeah, I might be a bit disappointed IF it gets delayed again, but it’ll be out next year for sure.
I buy a Nintendo machine specifically because I know they will put out some killer games like Mario Kart, 3D Mario, Smash Bros, Zelda and a bunch of other surprises. Pikmin has got to be one of my favourites and that alone would have sold me on the Wii U. Stuff like Hyrule Warriors was wacky but I put hours into that. Splatoon is another surprise. Stuff like that is the reason to buy a Nintendo.
I don’t see how 3D land was not a proper Mario. It was basically the old school traditional Mario brought into 3D. Lots of little levels per world – different twists in each.
I play Witcher 3 on PC and Xenoblade X on WiiU. I don’t see where your coming from. Mira is pretty impressive friend.
200 levels is not a full Mario game?
As long as they keep producing Splatoon type games Wii U will have a good future, Preferring to play my Wii U over my PS4 now just because of Splatoon.
You forgot Fast Racing Neo!
To be honest the amount of exclusives that Wii U is pumping out is actually more than what X1 and PS4 has but because third party gave up on Wii U, their sales fell behind.
I mean we had Bayonetta 2, Smash Bros, Zelda Wind Waker, Xenoblade X, Project Zero, Mario Maker, Captain Toad, Yoshi Wooly World, Splatoon, Kirby Epic Yarn, Rodea Sky Soldier It is a massive list of exclusives that easily beat what X1 and PS4 has. Not to mention the titles that was newly announced like Pokken, Star Fox, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem and Zelda Twilight Princess.
Precisely.
I think if the new console has enough grunt for third parties to also release their PS4/XB1 titles on the platform, it will be killer.
But the Wii-U got most of my time this year, followed by the PS4 and then my PC a long way behind.
I’m sure the Wii-U would pick back up if it wasn’t so damn expensive, atm due to xmas it costs more than ps4 and xbone
You sure? Target have Splatoon WiiUs for $335 while xbone is $399 standalone and PS4 is $419 Standalone
Plus it comes with a *screen* that you can play on if the TV is busy, and is also an excellent private netflix viewer.
There seems to be a lot of negativity in this article in general. Where I feel like this year was the first year the wiiu started to really gain traction in the wider community. People have now had their super powerful next gen consoles for 2 years and for the most part they haven’t offered a lot. Personally my ps4 has been in its box for most of the year. The ps4’s only has 2 essential games that aren’t availiable on other systems (bloodborne and infamous) and the majority of the games worth playing on it are sports games and COD.
Unfortunately you do miss a lot of great 3rd party games if you only own a Wii u. But at this point it’s exclusive titles and minimal 3rd party support have crossed the threshold where the console is a must buy.
Splatoon, Xenoblade X and Fast racing Neo are 3 of the top 7 essential gaming titles of the year (the witcher 3, fallout, bloodbourne, until dawn, and rocket league being the others)
The article only mentions Xenoblade Chronicles X in passing but this is actually one of the biggest releases of the year, certainly when it comes to JRPG’s.
The article mentions Smash Bros updates, Splatoon, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and Super Mario Maker, and makes brief mention of Mario Tennis and Fatal Frame (which, by the way, you can buy on disc to solve the storage space problem). Okay…but where are Yoshi’s Woolly World, Mario Party 10 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker? Where are eshop games like Fast Racing Neo and Typoman?
In addition to the new Zelda game, Pokken Tournament and Fire Emblem, next year we’ll also see the release of Starfox Zero, Twilight Princess HD and a new Dragon Quest.
I think the Wii U is looking pretty good. I keep saying I believe the NX is not going to be a replacement for the Wii U. IMO it’s going to be more of a replacement for the ageing 3DS.
Isn’t that two new Dragon Quest games?
The only one I’m aware of coming to the Wii U is that Dragon Quest 10 compilation, which will oddly include 3 versions of the same game (Wii, Wii U and 3DS).
I always find my Wii U goes through sporadic bursts of activity, before laying idle again for a month or so.
A new Metroid would totally solve this problem. Are you listening Nintendo??? 😛
My Wii U is the Donkey Kong feat. Mario Cart machine. Nothing more.
“IMO it’s going to be more of a replacement for the ageing 3DS”
Yeah, nah, not happening. Nintendo is in no position to risk screwing up their handheld line. It’s arguably the only thing keeping them alive at the moment. Plus there’s just no need replace the 3DS yet. Games still look and play great on the system, the New 3DS is still in its infancy, and the Vita is lagging waaaay too far behind to be considered competition.
What’s keeping them alive are their massive bank accounts. They can fail another 2 or 3 console cycles before things get dire.
You need to keep in mind that a) The NX is still likely a couple of years away (any rumours suggesting it might launch as soon as next year are just that – rumours) and b) The 3DS is almost 5 years old. It took them 7 years to replace the DS with the 3DS and the same kind of timeframe would line up if the NX releases in 2 years time.
The Wii U is only 3 years old, and Nintendo have shown that they are committed to that platform with ongoing support and new games, so this is why I’ll find it very unlikely the NX is supposed to be a replacement for the Wii U. The 3DS is the older hardware, it makes sense for that to be replaced first.
However I’m also not ruling out the possibility it could be some kind of hybrid system.
I don’t understand this article. It starts mentioning 3 exclusive games which were huge, innovative and game-changing. It talks about the ever-growing, peaceful and supportive community and Nintendo’s new feedback intaking attitude. Amiibo have proven both popular and profitable without being a necessity, etc. But through the article, it seems as though the writer tries really hard to build a big “but” to end the article with, even if takes dismissing such a momentous launch as Xeno-Cro X or failing to even mention FAST Racing Neo.
It seems to me that the writer started with a pre-conceived idea (“the WiiU was meh during 2015”) and then had to vaguely argue with herself against the abundant evidence to the contrary throughout the article to reach the desired conclusion.
If WiiU’s 2015 was meh, I look forward to see her position on the other consoles, while appropriately minimising the role of non-exclusive games for them
I think it just has to be accepted that many people who own a Wii-U enjoy it very much and see value in the console and it’s exclusives.
Then there are others (myself included) who just haven’t seen the value there in the exclusives to justify a purchase.
I’m not saying that no-one can enjoy their Wii-U because I don’t have one, because they obviously do. Similarly I don’t think people who own one can justifiably say I am missing out by not having a Wii-U, as I have little desire to play any of the games on the system.
But it covers just SO many genres, so well!
I guess if you exclusively like soccer games?
Yeah, it covers genres, but the games themselves don’t appeal to me (enough to purchase the console) for one reason or another.
Like I said, people enjoy all Wii-U immensely, just not everyone. Doesn’t mean anyone’s right or wrong.
I’ve had a Wii-U since launch and have had some awesome times with it, but if I had to make a choice for one console…. there’s no way it would be a Wii-U. On paper they have a decent amount of exclusives but I dunno, maybe it’s me… the UI is old, can tell it’s sluggish and not “modern”… gameplay is rehashed games I’ve been playing since I was 10. Don’t get me wrong I love it and it hits me in the nostalgia feels, but it wouldn’t be the “one” console I’d own if I had to choose.
For me, ps4 and xbox one are on par… I don’t care to argue the ins and outs… I own an xbox one and use it all the time for netflix, watching twitch, playing modern cross platform games, EA access, exclusive titles and free games on xbox live.
I find the quality of xbox’s controllers pretty amazing and the online experience pretty seamless. I just can’t see myself ever getting the same value (inside or outside of gaming) using the Wii-U. I think it needs to step up, but I’m a realist and know that they’ll just stick to being Nintendo, “fun”.
You didn’t even mention Yoshi’s Woolly World! Such a cute game! 😀
But yeah, you’re right. The Wii U had some fantastic games this year – but was also weighed down by some junk and mediocrity. Looking forward to next year a lot though – Zelda, SMTxFE, Pokken. They’ve kept a lot that’s further out close to their chest though… If anything is coming.
Not that keen on the motion controls for Star Fox either.
@whitepointer
I’d argue that it’s templated off the 3DS game, and that it in turn was templated into Captain Toad.
It’s not a console defining experience in the same way that the N64, GC and Wii are synonymous with SM64, Sunshine and Galaxy.
To me it’s another example of Nintendo taking a “let’s just do this as quickly as possible” approach to game development in order to fill holes in the release schedule.
lol @ Wii U
Thanks for the article Patricia. Just want to inform all folks who live outside US that Nintendo Wii is a great media Player. If you want to access Netflix and other streaming stations on your Nintendo Wii you can use UnoTelly as I do to get around the geo block.