Wii U has Highest Rated Exclusives, No Signs of Slowing Down

Hardcore Gamer: The big Nintendo news going around the web is the promise from Nintendo of America's president that the Wii U has a long life ahead of it. Those who are paying attention know that this isn't news at all. That isn't just our opinion, either. It's echoed among dozens of video game reviewers across the industry.

[ValKilmer]

THANK YOU! Nintendo far and away has the best exclusive titles this console generation and will continue to have them. So there's no Madden -- who cares? I'd rather have Smash Bros and Bayonetta than EA cash grabs any day.

[NextLevel]

People obviously do care, it's part of the reason for such low sales. Missing games like Bioshock's, Far Cry's etc.

"I'd rather have Smash Bros and Bayonetta than EA cash grabs any day."

I think you are forgetting the Wii and the mass amounts of shovelware it pumped out. Nintendo's first party for most part has always been solid for ages though, no one can deny that.

[EliteGameKnight]

I think its reached a point where people don't know about all the fun games the system has. Nintendo really should put out some commercials showing some of the games that are available.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

There's a point you're missing in your "part of the reason" that makes it totally invalid...

Even if Bioshock, Far Cry, and every other multiplat under the sun showed up on the Wii U...
No one would care.

Know why?

Two reasons:
#1, they'd likely be really horribly done ports with no new or exclusive content to make them stand out from the graphically-focused versions on the other two next-gen consoles or the cheaper prices of the previous-gen console versions.
#2, so long as other versions exist on other consoles, gamers who have been buying them on those systems will continue to do so.
Because that's how they've been TRAINED to buy their third party games sheerly by the focus of the industry itself.

The only way that would change, is if those ports started getting really REALLY attractive exclusive content that no other system could get.
Do you think they'd do that?
Because I sure don't.

So, I'm going to contest what you've said.
Val is right; NO ONE CARES ABOUT PORTS ON WII U.

You know the majority wouldn't purchase Madden on Wii U unless it was an exclusive, and even then, half the fanbase would rage-quit before they'd do it, because that's just how used they are to playing Madden on any console OTHER than a Nintendo console.

Nintendo does not need ports.

THEY NEED THIRD PARTY EXCLUSIVES.
END OF.

[miyamoto]

I know two games with over 200 GOTY awards and 70+ perfect scores each and they armade by one of the most acclaimed developers of all time & not on Wii U

[herbs]

Yes Miyamoto we all thoroughly enjoyed The Last Of Us and guess what you get to buy it again.

[GordonKnight]

I'm happy for the Wii U. People are starting to see it's a great Nintendo system for Nintendo games past, current & future.

@ Nextlevel

The Wii did have a lot of shovelware, but MOST 3rd party games are shovel.

IMO: It's funny how Gamers say the Wii U is their secondary console for Nintendo exclusives, but they only play 3rd party games on their main console.

Wii U>PS4>X1

[MysticStrummer]

"Nintendo far and away has the best exclusive titles this console generation and will continue to have them. So there's no Madden -- who cares? I'd rather have Smash Bros and Bayonetta"

I haven't bought a Madden game since 05, but I have no interest in Smash Bros, Bayonetta, or any other Nintendo exclusive either. I'm glad Nintendo is sticking to their guns and not giving up, but saying they have "far and away has the best exclusive titles this console generation" is nothing more than an opinion.

[Chrischi1988]

It is an opinion, but look at reviews, it is not like only the nintendo fanboys think the nintendo games are great. And comparing just the exclusives, there Nintendo is number one, that is what most prof. journalist also say.

[randomass171]

I think the point is that opinion is widely agreed upon. And I'm not bothered. Nintendo does indeed make great games. I wouldn't have gotten a Wii U without that in mind.

[weekev15]

Whilst I agree with you the article is saying "highest rated" which the wiius games unarguably are higher rated than anything on xbone and ps4, althougg TLOU remastered will come out so I guess that will count as a highly rated ps4 game.

[iamnsuperman]

To quote the infamous line "Well that's like your opinion man"

Honestly I don't rate Nintendo's games. They don't appeal to me at all. Super Mario Galaxy is a perfect example of this, critics loved it but I just could not get into it. Same with other Nintendo games. They never really captivate my interest as other franchises have done. But the real reason why I comment is you mention this:

"So there's no Madden -- who cares? I'd rather have Smash Bros and Bayonetta than EA cash grabs any day."

That is cool but also irrelevant. You have given a bias comparison. The Wii U doesn't get other top notch third party games as well as the cash grabs.

[BX81]

Lmao, is that the dude?

[Chrischi1988]

They dont, but these games can be played everywhere else. Nintendo is the only plattform, that offers experiences, that you can only get on nintendo plattforms and those exclusives also get some of the highest ratings of the whole gaming industry. You can say you dont like these games, but you cannot deny that.

[BullyMangler]

If a game like mario Galaxy cHANGES the gaming industry by introducing new physiques to gaming, then we have to give it props. Its a FACT that mario galaxies do just that.

Critics didnt give mario galaxy the Game of the Generation award just because they had fun playing it, they praised it because mario Galaxy evolved gaming.

nintendo is your daddy. get used to it :(:

[jcnba28]

You sound jealous of Nintendo's success. Keep hating brother.

[SpinalRemains138]

An infamous line!!??!!??

Blasphemer!!

That is The Dude 100%

[Magicite]

And lowest hardware sales EVER (for Nintendo console).

[generic-user-name]

Love how you single out Madden, leaving out games like Destiny, The Division, MGSV, Assassin's Creed Unity, Witcher 3 and future games like RDR2 and Fallout 4.

Not fooling anyone.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

so you want all three platforms to offer the same

[LOL_WUT]

No, but there should be some diversity in your consoles catalog from the usual year to year franchises thats where 3rd party games come into play. ;)

[Ol_G]

Well a lot of people like me don't Care about any of those games think about that and how it invalidates the point you were trying to make

[user5669510]

wiiu exclusive ratings dont matter only sonys does.

[NextLevel]

Nintendo has amazing first party studios, but they also get alot of free passes based on nostalgia.

[ValKilmer]

Replace all the characters in Super Mario World 3D with Platypus and it's still an incredible game.

[KonsoruMasuta]

I'd buy it.

[DualWielding]

yes but would it sell? Rayman Legends is as great a game as a Mario Platformer but doesn't sell at much because its not mario..... If anybody tried to sell a game like A Link Between Worlds at $40.00 without the Zelda Franchise they would be laughed out

[Vegamyster]

@ferthepoet

Rayman was launched a little over week or so before GTAV & Wind Waker HD came out, if it came out when it was suppose it would have sold much better. It had no competition and Wii-U owners were craving a new game at the time, hype went away once the long delay hit.

[Chrischi1988]

"but would it sell?"

Yes it would, of course not as much as with Mario, you guys act like it is a bad thing, that a game has a name. Just like AC, COD, GoW, Fifa and many more. You act like the same thing doesnt happen on your consoles... bias pretty much?

And it would sell more, than other franchises, that change all their characters to unknown ones, that is because all Nintendo games focus around gameplay, gameplay doesnt change, just because of a different protagonist, but story would change.

[randomass171]

Mario 3D World with a platypus... I'd play the crap out of that. XD

[user5669510]

when you loss the arguement jump to the next dumbest thing even if it doesnt have to do with anything.
"yes but would it sell? "

[Metallox]

I wouldn't give them anything, their games are just that good.

[-Foxtrot]

Skyward Sword is a perfect example of nostalgia. It was such a step back gameplay wise with how limiting and repetitive is was compared to past main Zelda games yet people made out like it was the best game ever. Not to mention the forced motion controls.

Yet you can't say anything bad about it apparently

Was it a bad game...no but was it as good as people made it out to be "Perfect", "GOTY", "Amazing"...no.

[thegent]

you always assume your opinions are facts. just because you didnt enjoy it as much as other entries doesn't mean other people didn't. it is in my top 3 zeldas.

[-Foxtrot]

@thegent

So saying it was repetitive and limited compared to past Zelda games is just an opinion....I'm sorry but you can't say it's just an opinion because the fact is Skyward Sword was repetive and limited compared to past Zelda games. Even reviews mentioned this yet still gave it a good score.

An opinion is like, for EXAMPLE. "The motion controls were horrible" but instead I've said "Not to mention the forced motion controls". I didn't like how they were forced, a choice would of been nice.

[Concertoine]

I personally hate Skyward Sword to the core, but my friend thinks its his favorite. He loves the motion controls, thinks they propel it to a level of immersion above the other games, the art style and the dungeons while admitting the game is too linear.

I dislike almost everything about the game (even the stuff he likes), but his insight into why he loved the game let me see how an objective reviewer would give points for new things included aside from the lack of old things.

If you ask me the motion controls, potion mixing system, over world, etc that were included are not only not enough to balance the distinct lack of what made past games good, but also bad things themseves. I can at least understand why critics might think it is a good game. I think if it was calked something besides TLOZ i would've liked it.

[randomass171]

@Concertoine I personally liked SS for its story and motion controls, but I agree that it had simplistic design and it was far, far too easy and too guilty of holding the player's hand. It was a tough transition for me, but I too can see why people liked it as much as they did. It was a game with a lot of polish and it tried very hard to be a good entry point for newer, younger fans of the series.

[DC777]

It didn't sell well anyway regardless of over zealous reviews or being one of the most revered game franchises there is.

Personally hate motion controls because most take away from core gameplay.

[maniacmayhem]

I love how people think Nintendo gets free passes. Nintendo has got nothing but extreme flack and hate from every corner of the industry.

It seems certain people like to think Nintendo gets a free pass whenever anything positive comes their way.

[-Foxtrot]

Really?

They have/had extreme flack because the Wii U's launch wasn't solid.

It's like they didn't know what they were doing with it and sometimes even today it's like they still aren't sure.

The reason it's not been selling well is because of their poor decisions they've made in the past. Take the name for example, trying to ride off the Wii's success, thats the kind of arrogance that bite Sony on the arse in 2006.

Look at when they first showed it off at E3 2011, was it a new console or a tablet for the Wii? It was very confusing at first. Even E3 2012 they didn't seem like they had a well thought out plan.

You might think Nintendo are getting hated on for nothing but they have deepened themselves in some problems so it's not people pulling things out from thin air.

Microsoft - Last Year DRM stuff

Sony - Arrogance 2006 - 2007

Out of all three Nintendo is getting it lightly, they should be lucky. It's different if Nintendo were getting hated on for no reason but they aren't. So I don't know why people are thinking they are getting it as bad as others when really they aren't.

Are they improving now...yes, yes they are but they still have some issues to work out.

[maniacmayhem]

@Fox

You have to be blind to not see the extreme hate Nintendo has been getting since the tail end of the Wii.

I am not or never said that they are getting bad press for no reason and most is warranted, but to sit there and say Nintendo gets a free pass or that journalists and others have been going easy on Nintendo is just plain wrong.

The lack of third party support should show everyone how much of a free pass they are NOT getting. And before E3 almost every story was declaring Nintendo a failure, or telling us how Nintendo should throw in the towel and go the Sega route. Even most saying how Nintendo should put their games on smartphones.

With 90% of the stories being doom and gloom I don't see how anyone is taking it easy on Nintendo.

It comes down to perception, I found when bad press was going on about Sony a lot of people said "the media was biased." When 360 got good news "MS paid for it." And now we have Nintendo gets a free pass.

[Realplaya]

Dude let it go. They take their time making games if they don't think the game is good they push it back. If the game isn't worth it they don't release it. You can use your 5 bubbles but your flat out wrong.

[marloc_x]

Kudos to N for not pulling the trigger until a game is right for them..

[jcnba28]

Ah yes the nostalgia excuse lol

That's like saying let's blame Nintendo because they are the oldest video game company still standing after all these years.

You guys need to come up with better excuses.

[truechainz]

First of all that is called branding. Nintendo did plenty to create characters that became internationally known and recognizable to this day. It takes a ton of work (and the right timing) for that to happen. So there is nothing "free" and them being able to make that happen, and Sony and Microsoft would kill for a character with that kind of recognition. Second, when games like Pikmin came out they still had great review scores even with no prior recognition to fall back on.

[NextLevel]

I agree that it's not Nintendo's fault and it does have to do with their characters being iconic.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

The little system that could. Nintendo will still be around long after their detractors have stopes gaming.

Haters gonna hate, doubters gonna cry, message board shills will rage at their computers.

[-Foxtrot]

"In fact, 2013 was a wildly successful year for Wii U exclusives. Of the 10 exclusive Wii U titles released in 2013, five of them sported at least an 80 rating, with two breaking 90 (Wind Waker and Super Mario 3D World). Not a single exclusive from Xbox One or PS4 broke 90, with highest rated games at 78 and 84 respectively"

The Wii U has been out much longer, the Xbox One and PS4 came out in November, they had roughly one and a half month before 2013 ended. Highly unfair comparison especially with launch games.

[ValKilmer]

Wii U still had better games in its first year than PS4 and Xbox One will have in their first.

[-Foxtrot]

Most of the launch games Nintendo had for the Wii U were old games that were on the PS3/360.

Batman Arkham City, Mass Effect 3, Assassin’s Creed III, Darksiders II, Madden NFL 13, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge which was basically Ninja Gaiden 3.

The only two decent must have games were New Super Mario Bros U and ZombiU. Least the PS4/Xbox One had multiplatform games coming out the same time.

[Blackleg-sanji]

O geez just give the wiiU its credit it has great exclusives my god

[-Foxtrot]

I'm not saying it does.

Why do people make such a big deal when someone tries to point out some logic. it's not fair to compare a console that has been out in 2013 from January to December to consoles which has only been out from November to December.

You make it sound like people are saying certain things when they aren't.

When did I say in that comment above "The Wii U doesn't have great exclusives"

Honestly man...so defensive. The disagrees prove aswell how upset people get aswell when people have hardly said anything horrible.

[Thatguy-310]

It's Nintendo. Logic doesn't come into play because they have to make it look good some way. This year I'm pretty sure Far Cry 4 and Destiny will score 90+ on metacritic.

[HogHug]

It is fair to compare numbers though. 10 exclusives for the Wii U in 2013, nine for Xbox One. What's not fair about comparing those?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

You know, I find it funny that people use the "It's been out longer" excuse here, but when people compare the sales of the first three days of Mario Kart to the 5-source-seller Watch Dog's first week, suddenly the time that each was out doesn't matter and Watch Dogs magically still sold more in the same comparative time frame.

Also, as far as the difference goes, the Wii U's initial two years were filled with negativity towards it and issues in building the install base, whereas the other two did not have those issues for very long[Xbone], if at all[PS4].

The opening time frame is pretty inconsequential when the Wii U didn't do spectacularly during that time frame.

Now if the Wii U had took off like a damned rocket and soared to success easily, and the PS4 and XBone had still blown past it in sales, then I'd say the timeframe was much more significant a piece of information.

As it is, with the Wii U's issues and Nintendo's advertising incompetence holding it back, I'd say the comparison is more than fair.

[bass4g]

The wiiu did take off like a rocket though, the sales at launch were higher than every previous console apart from the wii, you may think differently because of the way it was reported. Now obviously it didn't do as well as the ps4 and xbox one and sales tapered off quickly but it is incorrect to say that the sales at launch of the wii u were poor. It's more that it was never able to maintain the amount sales.

[McScroggz]

You know, once again I was about to reply to you. But you know what? I'm done man. You just don't care about logic or reason. All you care about is spreading the word about how awesome Nintendo is and how crappy everyone else is. It's tiresome.

If you really don't understand the logic that the Wii U has been out a full year more than the PS4 and Xbox One, and how that is a significant amount of time at the beginning of a console, then I don't know what to tell you.

[-Foxtrot]

@McScroggz

I was done replying to him a long time ago...you'd be wasting your time

[HogHug]

@McScroggz but what about the idea that the Wii U and Xbox One have a comparable sample size of exclusives. 10-9, respectively. Does that not supersede the time element?

[mydyingparadiselost]

"Most of the launch games Nintendo had for the Wii U were old games that were on the PS3/360."

TLOU remastered, GTA V, Metro, Walking Dead, Grim Fandango, Halo, Tomb Raider, Ratchet and Clank, Rayman and rumors of many more are looking to fill the new gens libraries. Don't get me wrong, I didn't buy any of these games on their original release so I'm looking forward to pretty much all of them but third parties are doing the same thing here that they were on the Wii U, except they'll actually be improved instead of gimped or being a poor value.

[Spotie]

And that's fine, but at least count those games coming to the XB1 and PS4, if you're gonna count those cross-gen games/ports for the Wii U.

And sorry, but anybody who thinks there isn't a bit of nostalgia bias in reviewing a Nintendo game...

[truechainz]

Well even if you compare exclusives for the first 3 or 6 months of each console's lifetime the wii u still has the highest rated exclusives so though the author should not have compared a year's worth of time with wii u to half that basically for the other two.

[PSNintyGamer]

"Sets up stand"
Alright I got popcorn, pizza, all the good stuff, anyone want anything?

[tinkypop]

pizza would be good please... few beers thanks

[Blackleg-sanji]

Popcorn extra butter and a extra peperoni pizza

[BattleN]

lol are u in a public place or what? haha!

[EliteGameKnight]

https://www.youtube.com/wat... :)

[colonel179]

You can say anything about Nintendo, but they know how to make games. Nintendo's games are always among the best of the industry, and always very well received and rated.

[BattleN]

So good in fact that they cause N4g users to sport avatar's of there respective games haha!

[colonel179]

of course! The Legend of Zelda is my favorite franchise ever!

[BattleN]

Agreed!

[TekoIie]

... No idea what you're talking about ;)

[lobocob]

Lol. Sad headline. Should be "wii-u has Nintendo games"

[HollywoodLA]

Nintendo games are incredibly simplistic platformers. They are not Uncharted, The Order, Gears of War etc..

You're comparing apples and oranges. It's like Resogun being the highest rated PS4 game (I believe it still is, I could be wrong.) CLEARLY Killzone:Shadowfall is BETTER in EVERY WAY. So you can't compare different titles like that, and then walk away claiming victory. It's belligerent.

By the way, how are those amazing Nintendo games selling? Other than Mario Kart -- NOT GREAT. How's the hardware selling -- NOT GREAT.

[Blackleg-sanji]

Bayonetta 2, wwhd, zombieU, hyrule Warriors, xenoblade x, smash bros, smt x fire emblem arent platformers

[HollywoodLA]

I'm not sure all of those games are internally Nintendo developed. Either way, Nintendo games simple do not stack up to cinematic pieces like The Order, Uncharted, Gears. They simply don't.

Nintnedo is in a different market. Don't take it from me though. It was Nintendo, going back to the launch of Wii, saying things like "We're doing our own thing, we're not directly competing with the rest."

It's just a fact. Did you not read my Resogun example? Although you didn't disagree with what I said, you just wanted to point out that the above titles are "not platformers."

Smash is a platformer/fighter hybrid anyway. So that's out.

[Vegamyster]

@HollywoodLA

Nintendo focuses on gameplay, you'll be able to play their games in 10 years and they'll still play/feel great. Look at Goldeneye007 for example, amazing game for it's time but Mario, Rare's other IP Banjo Kazooie ect still old up quite well.

"You're comparing apples and oranges. It's like Resogun being the highest rated PS4 game (I believe it still is, I could be wrong.) CLEARLY Killzone:Shadowfall is BETTER in EVERY WAY."

Shadow Fall is one of the most traded in next-gen games.

"Either way, Nintendo games simple do not stack up to cinematic pieces like The Order, Uncharted, Gears. They simply don't. "

Gears & Uncharted can be found for cheap in value bins at EB/Gamestop while Nintendo's titles still have a high trade value because people don't want to get rid of them.

[bass4g]

@HollywoodLA In your OPINION. It's impossible to counteract your argument because it is your opinion, but I will say that a lot of people found killzone shadowfall to be incredibly mediocre and it's metacritic scores reflect that the same can't be said for most of nintendo's exclusives. Nintendo are doing things differently you're right but that does not make them immediately inferior to every other non-nintendo game, I'm not even sure how you'd judge that. In gameplay? that's opinion and again nintendo games usually are held pretty highly in this regard. In story? This may be lacking in nintendo games but then there are always a lot of people that prefer gameplay over story, again opinion. In content? To say that nintendo games have less content than other games is factually untrue. Why would how well titles are selling be relevant either? Sales=/=quality. And even on the sales front the wiiu has I believe the highest attach rates of the 3 consoles and nintendo games have extremely long legs. Mario 3d world is still selling. It's up to 2.1 million now. Also, and this isn't really a point at all, but in what universe is smash bros a platformer/fighter hybrid?! Have you actually played smash? Is because it has mario in it? because I'm pretty sure the characters in a game does not determine its gameplay. Is it because you can jump in it? there are a lot of fighting games that allow jumping. Is it because of subspace emissary mode in brawl? Subspace emissary mode is only in brawl and it was widely derided for it's use of platforming elements because platforming does not fit in with the smash bros gameplay.

[Dubaman]

"Incredibly simplistic platformers"
Please tell me what's so complicated about crouching behind a wall, poking my gun out and then shooting an enemy in the face? What happens in a platformer when you find a new enemy? You have to work out how to defeat them, using which items and knowing their weak spots. What do you do in shooters (which is all you listed by the way. Edgey)? You find a new enemy and using the biggest f*king gun you can find then shoot them in the face. That's why they're so popular, they're simple. Especially after the obligatory tutorial level. FUN!

Resogun may be the better game on PS4 according to some people and saying Killzone is better in everywhere is just opinion and wrong. Isn't Resogun climbing the lofty heights of 1080p and 60fps? Where's KZ? I guess it fails there. Plus some people don't like Killzone. My brother sold his after a fortnight, for example.
Speaking of sales, I know VGChartz aren't completely trustworthy with its figures but if you looked you'd see that the highest selling game on the PS4 is COD:Ghosts at around 2.3Million, XOne's is Titanfall at just under 2Million. WiiU's is NSMBU at just over 4Million. PS4, the only one where a port of a last gen game is the highest selling. Looks like more people think that Ghosts is better than Killzone Shadowfall in "EVERY WAY".

Point: People like different things. I think Gears of War is boring and sh*te. Uncharted looks like nothing special and the only reason The Order piques my interest is because i'm a fan of narrative driven single player experiences. Doesn't mean i don't like rant and rave with colourful cartoony Donkey Kong when i die just before a checkpoint.

[herbs]

Hollywood really... "Nintendo games are incredibly simplistic platformers"

You are among the most ignorant of gamers alive and you have no right to call anyone belligerent after making a statement like the one above. Yes many 2D Mario games are simplistic in some ways but last time I checked Nintendo's first party studios make more than just 2D platformers lol.

Also complex graphics do not equal a complex game something you obviously cannot fathom when you use The Order as an example of a complex game. You sound like a typical type of Sony fanboy you put cinematic graphics 1st and don't seem to care much for how games play its sad really because many of Sony's supremely talented studios seem to align with your tastes. Example current gen console games should focus on 60fps like Nintendo has instead of resolutions because it benifits both the graphics and gameplay but instead the whole industry is caught up in resolutions and making screenshots look pretty because there are so many just like you.

[HollywoodLA]

I'm not sure anyone here is able to intellectually and honestly admit the fact that Nintendo games simply cannot compete in todays market.

Why are wiiu sales so low? Why are wiiu software sales so low? Why is the PS4 destroying everything under the sun?

Go on, let's hear it, what excuses do we have now? These highly rated Nintendo games which NO ONE cares about. Why is the PS4 so highly sought after? Why did Killzone: ShadowFall outsell EVERY wiiu game in it's release window?

You guys don't have much of a leg to stand on. You can shout all you want -- sales prove me right.

: )

[fonger08]

@HollywoodLA I love how you've conveniently backed away from quality (reviews) argument and have reverted to sales... lets look at those exclusive game sales numbers shall we, given roughly the same release window(s):

Killzone vs Mario 3dWorld: 1.73 vs 2.10 million (shocking you were wrong)

Knack vs Wind Waker: 1.03 vs 0.97 (japan included knack in their PS4 release bundle)

Infamous vs Mario Kart 8: 1.39 vs 1.26 (Mario kart released 4 weeks ago Infamous released in March)

So much for your "killing" of game sales argument too. Do some research before you spout off nonsense.

[seatunt]

@Hollywood "Why did Killzone: ShadowFall outsell EVERY wiiu game in it's release window?" Did you not look this up? It seems you care an awful lot about Nintendo games... using up all your 3 bubbles to put your foot in your mouth... bravo.

[swice]

"I'm not sure anyone here is able to intellectually and honestly admit the fact that Nintendo games simply cannot compete in todays market."

You're right Hollywood, they're in a league of their own. No one can touch them

[fonger08]

Wait Zelda is platformer? Pikmin? Mario Kart? You've played the Order? And no one is talking about sales numbers but about "critical ratings" which Nintendo is winning (so far). When's the last time you've played a platformer, Flappybird that's seems about your type of skill level.

[herbs]

And all of Hollywood's baseless comments and bad opinions were thoroughly picked apart in the comments above lol. But does he even realize it, is his mind still capable of expanding or comprehending different points of view from new knowledge gained or has his view point become so narrow that reason no longer exists in his world. Those are the symptoms of a typical Fanboy...

[randomass171]

F-Zero, Star Fox and arguably Metroid are not simplistic platformers. Also Mario 3D World has sold fairly well and New Super Mario Bros. U sold over 4 million units.

[mydyingparadiselost]

I think your confusing the word 'Cinematic' with 'shootbang', not to mention if all it takes for a good game is a movie style presentation then I think your mistaking what games are. I think only 2 of the Uncharted games are worth playing, GoW only has 2 decent releases, The Order isn't even out yet and from what I've seen looks like it replaces quick time events with in game cut scenes and Shadows Fall is considered by many a failure of the Killzone franchise.
Also sales figures don't make good games, do you even realize how many classics and critically acclaimed games go unnoticed by most gamers? Okami, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, The Wonderful 101, almost every Suda 51 game, Deadly premonition, Lost Odyssey and SO MANY MORE. Have some respect for the medium you're entertained by, it's far more than just cinematics and action heroes.

[jcnba28]

"They are not Uncharted, The Order, Gears of War etc.. "

Wow.

1. Uncharted is one of the easiest and most linear games I've ever played.

2. The Order - The game isn't even out yet so how do you know how it plays? Judging by all those QTE's though it looks very easy.

3. Gears of War was another very easy game.

[truechainz]

lol killzone was garbage and resogun runs circles around it. The sad thing is that I feel you represent the majority of gamers with your statement. Not even talking about Nintendo games which you clearly haven't even bothered with because it takes twice focus to finish DK tropical freeze than it does for both uncharted and gears (both games I love though). It is sad that gamers like you only care about a cinematic experience when games like Resogun make Killzone look like a shiny turd as far as gameplay is concerned. That is why killzone is getting traded back in so much.

[DualWielding]

The PS3 and the 3DS had better exclusives than the Wii U in 2013...

[Concertoine]

They did, but i think the point is an 8th gen comparison.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

8th generation console s in fact because 3DS is still counted as 8th generation.

[_LarZen_]

I hope Nintendo comes to their senses and start publishing Nintendo games to other systems. The WiiU is sadly a failure.

[Fel08]

Well, good thing Nintendo doesn't listen to idiotic comments like yours.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Mario Kart 8 disagrees, as does the install base which is only 1 or 2M behind the PS4 despite all of the sales troubles it had early in its life.

[generic-user-name]

"as does the install base which is only 1 or 2M behind the PS4"

You say that like the Wii U hasn't had a year's headstart against the PS4.

As for MK8, the PS4 version of Watch Dogs (and just the PS4 version alone) sold more than MK8.

[randomass171]

They make more money selling hardware than they would selling only software.

[jcnba28]

Your comment is sad failure :(

[deafdani]

Why? Their hardware brings more innovation to the industry than their competitors.

The PS4 only amped up the horsepower when compared to the PS4. The Wii U brought the Gamepad.

The PS4 hardware offers absolutely NOTHING that a good PC can't do.

The Wii U hardware, on the other hand, offers a lot of potential that is just not possible on a PC.

So, why should Nintendo leave the hardware business?

If anything, it would make more sense to just say that Sony should leave the hardware race and just start publishing their games on PC.

But I'm not making that claim because it would be ridiculous. And if that claim is ridiculous for Sony... it's even more ridiculous for Nintendo.

Nice try, though.

[paddy95]

Other than LBP3, all PS4 exclusive games this year don't interest me, heavily focusing on visuals rather than having fun. Wii u games offer what i'm looking for, fun gameplay at a solid 60 fps next gen.

[Fel08]

Nintendo has always made quality games. While everyone lese is bitching and whining about who has the best graphics and the most powerful console, Nintendo is just there making quality games with great gameplay.

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

A few other games came out during the first year of the WiiU as well - Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, and Grand Theft Auto 5. All were rated quite well, with Bioshock Infinite and GTA 5 scoring better than any Wii U game. Another thing is that none of them were released on Wii U and that is one of the major reasons why it isn't selling well. Sure you can play some great exclusives on Wii U, but that is all you can play. If you buy a Wii U instead of an XBox One or PS4 like this article suggests, you won't be playing The Witcher 3 or The Division, Assassin's Creed Unity, Arkham Knight, Evolve, Kingdom Hearts 3, Mass Effect 4, Lords of the Fallen, The Crew, Star Wars Battlefront, etc.

You cannot move the goalposts and say that all that matters are exclusives when 3rd party games are not on your system. Gamers do care about games and the Wii U sale numbers reflect that.

[Ol_G]

You can say that when you don't care about third party crap you don't know what someone else likes so to claim people are moving goalposts while they honestly don't care about third party is your problem

[Nodoze]

WiiU rocks. If you don't have one, you are missing out.

[zero_gamer]

The Wii U is indeed way more core focused than the Wii. It has a decent cult game support with Zombie U, Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade X, Fatal Frame, etc.

[YodaCracker]

You need strong third party support, which Nintendo is severely lacking, to back up the exclusives. Last gen Nintendo got away with it because of the whole motion control fad. But when 90% of the big third party releases are not coming to your console, then it doesn't matter how many exclusives you have, because it won't be able to match the other consoles' lineups.

Why was the PS2 so successful? Third party. Why was the Xbox 360 so successful? Third party. No GTA, MGS, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Battlefield, Dark Souls, BioShock, Witcher, Destiny, Arkham Knight, Far Cry and on and on and on. That's a killer.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

No one would buy those ports on Wii U so long as they go to other platforms too, though.

You know it's true; why would they?
It's been proven already that ports aren't going to do well on Wii U because third parties don't give any incentive to get them on the platform over the graphically-heavy versions on the other two next-gen systems.

So all of those games you have listed?
In the Wii U's case, they're literally inconsequential.

The Wii U wouldn't sell better from having ports that are less graphically impressive and even more poorly supported.[no DLC, delays in development, entire gameplay modes gutted out, etc etc etc]

Here's the fact of the matter: Nintendo's third party future for the Wii U, HAS to be in snagging exclusives, and relying upon indies.

People are already trained to buy their AAA multiplats on Sony or Microsoft consoles; Wii U getting them too wouldn't change that, so it's better to not waste the time and go after exclusives that will attract the core gamers into buying the Wii U alongside the others, instead.

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

So basically you are saying that people should buy an XBox One or PS4 first, and then buy a WiiU when they get the urge to play some Mario. Not exactly the best strategy for closing a sales gap. Despite what you believe, 3rd party games do matter. Gamers will choose between a PS4 and XBox One based on what exclusives they prefer, but only because they already know both have the 3rd party games that they want. For the Wii U though, the lack of 3rd party games has completely taken it out of the equation.

Just remember that people used to buy 3rd party games on Nintendo. When that stopped is also the same time that Nintendo stopped dominating the video game industry. Something to think about.

[DC777]

Perhaps but let's not forget Wii U has yet to miss any of those major 3rd party games. Even Watch Dogs is still coming and it remains to be seen about the rest as they have dropped ports to Nintendo last minute.

[fatneal]

what are you talking about? ninteno hasnt had 3rd party support since n64 and devs also favored sega over nintendo during the snes days too...3rd party is important but nintendo has proven it doesnt need it like the other companys do for 3 generations now

[windblowsagain]

I said Wii u would struggle long before it released and everyone slagged me off.lol.

It's not even like I wanted it to fail, it's just you could tell that before the wii, all Nintendo consoles haven't sold ps1,ps2 sales.

N64 sold 32mill. So i guessed that because the people that bought the wii were not graphics whores, mums,dads,granny's,little tim, etc. That the wii u would go back to n64 or below.

I said 20-30mill. I think it'll finish in that bracket.

Wii u does have some good games, But it does not have the buzz surrounding it.

[McScroggz]

Growing up, whenever my parents cooked spaghetti they used store bought sauces like Prego and Ragu. Eventually, because I'm picky, I made my own spaghetti from scratch. And it was better than the store bought sauces. So over the years I have continued to improve my sauce until I have it just like I like it. I don't even need to measure anything it's so well known to me. Whenever I make it for friends and family it's no surprise they really enjoy it - I mean I've been making it for several years now.

Nintendo is just like my sauce - it's refined over the years. It should be no surprise that their games are really good because most of their prominent games are iterations or interpretations of previous games.

Now, ask me to cook shrimp alfredo and we have a problem.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Woah an article not talking about the death of Wii U? Finally.

[chuck826]

I guess it would because all 30 and 40 year old virgins still going crazy over Mario and Zelda

[M3TR01DFANBOY]

What an immature and ignorant comment to make.

[jcnba28]

Grow up kid.

[stripe814]

Nintendo knows what do gamers want

[SH1ELD]

Another clue to distrust 3rd party games.

[Kaze88]

Yeah admit to that it has great exclusives, but the console aint selling that good and most of the ppl just think that wiiu is a another wii or a mario/zelda machine...which it is.

On the Wii i have about 10 games, wiiu 4 games, ps3 games 43. If i only had Nintendo console i would be bored out of my mind of the most part. Yes Mario Galaxy and Xenoblade where one of the best games on last generation, but 2-3 games per year aint enough man.

[kingdom18]

And? I'll enjoy some of the Wii U's exclusives and I will enjoy many Playstation exclusives and JRPGs. Also Mario is the best selling series, ever. No question. Why is this even a subject? Because some armchair journalists and spectators comment otherwise?

[CrowbaitBob]

I've never heard of anyone basing a console purchase on highest rated exclusives.

People buy the consoles that offer the games they want to play. I'll pick up a WiiU eventually, but I couldn't care less about what the collective gaming press has to say about anyone's exclusives.

Metacritic ratings are as irrlevant to me as "teh grafix" would be to the average WiiU fanboy. Neither affect gameplay no matter how hard they make your e-penis.

[Digimortal]

Even though yes 3rd party is lacking on the Wii U, most Nintendo fans just don't care. Most 3rd party games are not all that impressive (Very bias remark I know but I've been so let down with last gen, I lost hope in the 3rd party department to a degree of course) Nintendo is just manly going to focus on getting Exclusive titles to there system while making there quality first party titles. Which to me is perfectly fine. There not going any where any time soon. They are now making profit off the Wii U. So it doesn't matter if Nintendo comes out on top or second place or hell even last place. This whole console war is just something for the gaming community to moan and cry about. At the end of the day. Nintendo is hear to stay and don't plan on slowing down any time soon. Sony and Microsoft may have the 3rd party goods which is fine. Nintendo has the quality titles that I look for in video games (Not saying Sony and Microsoft don't but Nintendo just appeals to me more).

[Conrad22]

To be fair, the Wii U had a one-year head start compared to PS4 and Xbox One. On the other hand, Nintendo is known for their 1st party exclusives and their library is only going to get stronger!