Mike's 2017 Boxed Wii U Collection

The Nintendo Switch has finally arrived, so it's officially the end of the Wii U era.  As is my tradition, the older console (the Wii U) is now being moved down to the basement of my TV stand to make room for the newest system at the top.  It's getting a bit crowded in there with all these systems, but for now, thanks to these vertical stands, I still have enough room.

When the Wii U was first unveiled at E3 2011, I was pissed at the monstrous new controller.  I absolutely hated the dual analog control scheme that had dominated console gaming during the PS2/GameCube/XBox era, so when Nintendo tried something different with the original Wii, I was overjoyed at the simpler and more intuitive control scheme.  There was simply no going back to dual analog for any type of shooter after that.

But then Nintendo went and did something incredibly stupid with the Wii U: it betrayed Wii owners by turning its back on the Wii Remote and resurrecting the terrible, archaic, dual analog control scheme.  Even worse, Nintendo was now putting a huge screen in the middle of this new controller, making the so-called "GamePad" (a term improperly adopted from the NES era) the largest, most complex and convoluted controller in Nintendo's history.  Oh, and the battery life sucked too.

I just couldn't understand how Nintendo could be this arrogant and stupid after their incredible success with the Wii.  How could Nintendo go from making their simplest, easiest-to-use controller, to their largest, most complex and confusing one?  What made them think that Wii owners would accept that?

To put this into perspective, Nintendo's decision with the Wii U was as crazy as Nintendo theoretically abandoning the successful D-pad controller design of the NES era (the true GamePad, not that Wii U monstrosity) just to go back to an Atari-style joystick design for the SNES.  I honestly expected Nintendo to release a Wii 2 or Super Wii that would improve upon the motion control scheme of the Wii, but I was wrong.  Nintendo let me and millions of others down.  Oh, and Nintendo had the audacity to call this system part of the Wii family after doing all of this.  Then Nintendo was shocked when the system didn't sell like the Wii.  Go figure.

In reality, the Wii U wasn't truly a Wii.  It may have hijacked the name for marketing purposes, but the system itself was simply an evolution of the GameCube/Game Boy Advance connectivity that had been used two generations prior for games like The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.  So the Wii U concept wasn't even truly new.

I also hated the name "Wii U."  While Wii was a catchy name that anyone could remember (because it sounds like "we," meaning everyone), Wii U was contradictory and stupid.  If it's for everyone, why does it also have to specify that it's for you?  Who thought of this stupid name?  As one Youtuber put it, "Wii U" sounded like the siren on an ambulance.  Not only that, but I have always detested morons on the internet who used letters to replace words (such as "u" instead of "you").  But now, Nintendo itself was doing that

For the first time in my gaming career, I actually considered not buying a Nintendo system.  But about a full year later, something interesting happened.  Nintendo started showing Wii Remote support for games like Pikmin 3 and Call of Duty Black Ops 2, plus they changed the questionable "New Super Mario Bros. Mii" into the much more attractive "New Super Mario Bros. U."

So based on the confirmed Wii Remote support and the awesome new Super Mario Bros. game, I changed my mind and decided to get a Wii U at launch.  I preordered my Deluxe system from Wal-Mart and picked up a copy of New Super Mario Bros. U on launch day.  After spending a few hours downloading and installing the system updates (ugh), I invited my friend Peter to try the system with me.

We had a bunch of fun playing both Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U.  Oddly, Peter seemed to really enjoy the GamePad, especially since it gave him his own screen.  I later had Drew and Luke try the system as well, and they all seemed to enjoy it, especially Nintendo Land (we really liked Zelda Battle Quest and Metroid Blast, not to mention the competitive multiplayer games).  Whenever my friends visited, I simply handed them the GamePad and stuck to my Wii Remote, and that seemed to work out great.

Even though I already owned four Wii Remotes (white ones), I picked up a black Wii Remote Plus and nunchuck for the Wii U specifically, as well as a black Wii Wheel (I always thought the black ones looked cool).  Later, when Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate came out, I bought a black Classic Controller Pro as well (before, I had only owned the original White Classic Controller that lacked handles).

While the Wii U didn't have the mass appeal that the Wii did, it still had some fun multiplayer games.  Unfortunately, within less than a year, developers began abandoning the system left and right due to terrible sales, and I witnessed the worst gaming drought I have ever seen in my life.  The Wii U suffered from a drought so bad that it made the worst elements of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube eras look like a golden age.

Game after game was cancelled or delayed, and worst of all, I never got a Wii Remote FPS to play online following my awesome experience with Conduit 2.  Unlike the Nintendo 64, the Wii U just didn't have the kick-ass games to make the droughts bearable.  No GoldenEye.  No Perfect Dark.  No Excitebike 64.  No Conker's Bad Fur Day.  The system didn't even receive an original Zelda game until the Switch was released.  In 2015 I bought a single retail game (Super Mario Maker), and in 2016, I didn't buy anything.  That's how bad it was.  My Wii U game collection is the smallest of any of my home consoles.

I ended up mostly buying platformers (which I have always loved) and playing a few online games like Mario Kart 8 and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, but even those games eventually got old.  In addition, Mario Kart 8 ended up becoming incredibly frustrating to the point that I stopped playing it shortly before the Switch launched.  I would currently rate it as the second-worst Mario Kart game behind the giant turd that is Mario Kart 7.

None of my Wii U games really impressed me with any ground-breaking designs like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Metroid Prime.  But like I said, I enjoyed all the multiplayer games that I bought.  Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was probably the best of the bunch.  Shovel Knight and FAST Racing Neo were a lot of fun, but again, nothing ground breaking.

Overall, I think I have to rate the Wii U as the worst Nintendo console so far, which is shocking because I didn't think Nintendo could actually do worse than the GameCube.  But the biggest problem was simply the lack of games.  Even if the GameCube didn't have that many games I wanted to play, it still had far more than the Wii U.  The Wii U was like a barren desert.

The second problem was the GamePad itself.  Too many games required that terrible controller, and certain system functions (such as system options/settings) couldn't even be accessed without it.  So if you used a different controller, you would be forced to switch to the GamePad for no good reason.  I left the stupid thing in a drawer most of the time and just let the battery die.  I would only connect it when I needed it for system/game settings, or when a friend visited.  Serves that stupid controller right.

But looking back, I wouldn't have changed my decision to purchase the Wii U.  The games that I did buy were definitely worth it, and I got to spend a decent amount of time playing multiplayer games (local or online) with friends.  I just wish the system had received more titles.