Why did the Wii U fail?

[EmmaMay]

Please can someone tell me why the Wii U failed, was it because of the controller, not enough multi platform games or something else

[Nexxus]

gimmie a sec

[xTrixieHD]

because it's just a wii with a crappy drone controller that lasts an hour on batteries.

[Totallycasual]

I think a lot of people were scared off by the huge controller with a screen thing, as cool as it was with some games it just seemed like a gimmick to me. I would have been happier with an upgraded N64 controller and better hardware in the console itself. 

[Nexxus]

 

 

[ShadowCaptain]

6 minutes ago, EmmaMay said:

Please can someone tell me why the Wii U failed, was it because of the controller, not enough multi platform games or something else

 

-Many people did not realise it was a new console, because Wii and Wii U sound very similar, people did not realise it was some sort of new console
-The tablet controller put people off as they thought that was the only way to play
-Lack of 3rd party games, and lack of "blockbuster" titles

-Sub par "hardcore" games due to its lack of power - barely holds up to other next gen consoles, more like a ps3 power

-more people are interested in PC/Xbox/PS3 games like Skyrim, Fallout, Call Of Duty, Battlefield, Uncharted, than they are in Mario, Zelza and JRPGs

[wyattzx]

The Wii U is a failure in the conventional sense. However, it was a success for Nintendo in terms of adaptation, staying relevant, and proving games that are family-friendly, promote socializing, and include even more interaction than the original Wii. The console's sales numbers were hindered by the impending release of the "next generation" of consoles shortly thereafter, and they simply overshadowed it. A lot of people didn't understand that the Wii U was separate from the Wii, and it's not just a tablet controller. 

 

That being said, Nintendo has had major success with its first-party titles on the console, and the library for the Wii U is big, solely because of in-house games. 

[Yog]

People don't want to invest in a console if it doesn't have the games they want. Third party developers aren't going to develop for a console if there aren't enough people buying it. Third party developers wanted to wait to see the sales on the console and people wanted to wait to see the third party developers. As you that sort of a thing doesn't fix itself...kind of a negative feedback loop. I'm afraid nothing is going to change for nintendo unless they either make development so easy that it would be just stupid for third parties not to throw their games on the console or they bribe some key developers mega bucks make games for it.

[skywake]

Because console gaming runs in cycles, what's popular for one generation is often unpopular in the next. Mostly because people want something they missed out on in the generation prior. By the time the Wii U launched people had already enjoyed Nintendo's first party experience on the Wii. People were also ready for a console that actually delivered on the promise of HD gaming. The Wii U launched as another Nintendo box with the same games as the Wii and with only a minor upgrade in performance from the 360.

 

For people like me who always enjoyed the Wii as a secondary box specifically for Nintendo games? For the fans who brought Nintendo's consoles for those big franchises? It delivered. There's nothing particularly wrong with the hardware, there's nothing wrong with the GamePad as a concept. So I take issue with the idea that it's some kind of Virtual Boy 2.0 because it's not. The issue was that most people weren't in that boat. Most people wanted a user-friendly multi-platform box that could do things that the 360 couldn't. The writing was on the wall for the Wii U from day 1 because Nintendo weren't interested in making that product.

[PlayStation 2]

The circlejerk on the Wii U failing is real.

 

The Wii U, from a sales standpoint, failed. From an install base standpoint, it still made cash just from its install base alone. Splatoon sold an assload of units for a console with only 10 million units. Mario Kart 8 pretty much sold to a 3:5 ratio with the console. Double Dash didn't sell that well IIRC. 

 

Think of the Wii U like the GameCube except that the Wii U got fucked over by third party developers.

[TacoSenpai]

Mostly poor marketing and sharing the "Wii" branding.  They could have literally called it anything else and I think it would have done better.  Hell at the E3 they revealed it they should have revealed the box itself rather than the controller.  All of what they did prior to it made no differentiation between it and its predecessor.  When the Nintendo fan/ consumer doesn't even know its a new console you failed to communicate as a business period.  Like many others have said its a great little system the exclusives are well polished and hell even the online features on the console are a vast improvement over the last generation.

[LegacyStijncat]

Poor marketing (let's say a prayer for all the people sued by Nintendo for making lets plays)

Touchpad made it hard for 3th party game devs

The above caused no big titles aside from Nintendo themselves

High price for a family console

Etcetera

[Sharkyx1]

Awful name, high price, game starved early on 

[sqwidee]

Costs too much for what it is, games cost too much for what they are, no Legend of Zelda at launch, no 3rd party support, no actual Metroid

 

It was missing the stuff Nintendo never includes anyway (like 3rd party support), but also the stuff people expect from Nintendo (like Zelda). I feel ripped off and I never even bought one  

[Wolf_Lbh]

The Wii U failed because it launched without any major releases.

Splatoon, Mario Kart, Super Smash, Mario all came out much later than the release of the console. Hell "Zelda Wii U" doesn't even have a name yet let alone a release! You can't blame 3rd party devs for not working on games for the wii u when it had crap for a consumer base. I mean how many people honestly own just a wii u? I would estimate very very few. Perhaps a few more now given the fairly recent epic releases but those didn't come out until past the halfway point of the wii u's lifecycle so no dev in their right mind would start working on a game for an existing console when every other dev is starting on next gen games.

So in short the wii u didn't get 3rd party support because it didn't give 3rd parties any reason to support it, and didn't get mainstream appeal because it didn't release with many games that had it. Also it didn't have any decent controller until ages after it came out when they released the gamecube controller adapter for like $50 WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT IN!