Why Are Wii U Ports Gimped?

As we all know, the Wii U isn't the centerpiece for attention in the gaming world right now. It isn't as powerful as the Xbox One and PS4 but it's a little stronger than the 360 and PS3. Kinda sounds like a repeat of the 7th generation's Wii, huh? Well, kinda. Given its current situation it's kind of pulling a Dreamcast at this point. But does the Wii U deserve to be handed nothing but its siblings' scraps?

[R00bot]

Because third parties are looking for an excuse to dump the system.

Gimped port=bad sales=good reason to drop the console without looking like the bad guys.

[Errefus]

Not only that but they also dont support DLC on wii u and complaint later that the game didnt sell....

[pcz]

the correct answer is, the wiiu gets gimped ports because the console itself is gimped.

with its poor, inadequate tech, devs have no other choice but to custom-gimp their games to work on it.

[marloc_x]

"Bring out the gimp.."

[EliteGameKnight]

you do realize that weaker hardware doesn't mean bad games? Third Parties could make wonderful games that fall in line with the typical Nintendo fandom's taste and for far cheaper than on other systems simply because they don't have to focus on getting the top of the line effects. frankly making unique games for Wii U with proper advertisement could give these companies a lucrative side income. just look at avtivision's skylanders

[herbs]

Not everyone cares purely about therotical specs... All I ever wanted or expected from ports was parity with last gen but with all the HUD elements off the big screen and on the Gamepad. Most people only think of resolution and frame rates when discussing graphics I think having a cleared interface can be just as impactful. To bad so many ports don't even achieve this simple upgrade even when its basically at no cost to the console performance wise. New Hyrule Warriors doesn't even have this feature :(

[Chrischi1988]

Have you actually tried to put any thought into your answer, before writing your fanboy bs? So, because of the console not being as powerful, games dont get DLC, even though the normal game itself runs? This is the reason? Do the DLCs need more resources, than the normal game? So, a game runs in local multiplayer, but it doesnt work with online mutliplayer? Do you know, how dumb that sounds? I bet you actually have no idea, why people say Wii U games are gimped, you just like to hate on it, because it is cool in your PS4 community.

[3-4-5]

Yea they could make awesome versions of each game for the Wii U, but they TAKE THE EASY ROUTE....and blame Nintendo, instead of taking any kind of creative risk at all.

* At this point, we know it's not really Nintendo's fault alone....at first it seemed that way but I see through the BS now...

*3rd party Dev's need to Man up and just make some good games for the Wii U.

It seems like Dev's don't want to try anymore, or maybe the people running those studios are the fault...not sure.

[Dunban67]

Third party Dev s take big risk every time they put a game on the Wii U and they have been losing risk, otherwise they would continue to support the platform

If they deem the risk too high then the platform owner needs to step up and share some of the risk - in this case Nintendo does not seem willing to do so - maybe they think the risk is too high as well -

[3-4-5]

That is like saying I'm putting out a winning team, while trotting out my 3rd string Quarterback every Sunday.

* They aren't bringing their "A" game to the table when making these ports.

* Certain Games are selling on the Wii U.

IF DEV'S were smart and had any awareness they would be making THEIR version of that game or incorporating the elements of that games that worked....into theirs.

They need to TRY...

* The reason their VERSION sells worse is because it is released a year late and a gimped version.

WHO would want to buy that?

[Chrischi1988]

3rd Party devs dont take any risk putting a game on the Wii U, the way they do it. What is the risk? All these gimped games, all they do with them, makes pretty clear, that they will lose money on the game. There is no chance of making it in any way successful. Losing money is bound to their gimped games. A risk would mean, that there is the possibilty of the bad thing is not going to happen, but the way they do it, there is no chance of success, so there is no risk, they know they throw the money out of the window. Better would be, to put a little more effort in the games, then they would have a risk of losing money. This is no risk, this is 100% "bound to fail" sure.

[fonger08]

It's pretty clear that's a money/3rd party relations sort of thing. No one else's 1st party titles sell like Nintendo's (we can argue all day on the "milking" of those IPs, but that's a different topic). Which, in turn, allows them to scrape by at least with the Wii U. Nintendo, it seems, is focused almost completely inward making sure that their 1st party games/sells are optimized, and it's been that way since the N64. Their philosophy has been to let 3rd parties to work on their own island with Nintendo platforms, which is really different to Sony and Microsoft's approach and rubs most 3rd parties the wrong way. A lot of 3rd parties need hand holding, extra support/money, and attention when releasing either exclusives or multiplats because there's a lot to lose without the support of hardware sales behind their games. I believe Nintendo's approach to 3rd parties HAS to change in order to be successful (console wise).

[Jay70sgamer]

@fonger08 ...what would you call a successful console....last time I checked every Nintendo console has turned a profit and the wiiu will most likely turn a profit at the end of the cycle since it's making a profit off every wii u sold from now until the end of console cycle...keep this in mind nintendo does not have to sell the most consoles or end up in first to be successful ...just saying .....being successful in business is profiting not who sold the most .....true gamers know this...I could care less who sells the most as long as all consoles puts out great software

[Dunban67]

The Wii I is not being sold at a profit - see Iwatas statement about this in the Investors notes or Investors Q and A in their last fiscal year end report
It still cost more to make a Wii u than they can sell them for

[Jay70sgamer]

I read it and it states for the wii u ...they stated that they have to manufacture more wii u's to meet their goal of 3.6 million for the fiscal year and that they have to sell the remainder wii u 's stock and manufacture more wii u to meet that goal and that manufacturing costs are down for them to make a profit on every wii u sold .....the wii u was sold at a loss when it first came out but with one game bought it was a profit ....Reggie stated that ...he also stated the wii u when it first came out sold at a small loss...

[ABizzel1]

1. If it's coming from PS4 / XBO and being ported down to Wii U, then the answer is clearly hardware.

2. If it's coming from PS360 to Wii U then again the answer is hardware. The Wii U has a more powerful GPU, but the PS360 games are more PCU bound than anything coding for them is completely different than coding for a Wii U version.

3. If it's coming out on PS360 + PS4 & XBO, then there's no excuse about hardware, and it all boils down to if the developer can make money off porting their game to the Wii U, and based on most 3rd party sales the answer is no. Few games have had launch parity on Wii U, but the results are generally still the same.

[Cyb3r]

Nintendo should give up on Wii U at this stage

[MSBAUSTX]

Because it is putselling XB1 and has sold 10 million more software copies as XB1 and hasnt even released all of its heavy hitters yet? Not to mention the millions of people that invested time and money in to the Wii U would get burned if they did decide to abandon it.

Come on man. There is a dreamcast symbol on the photo for this article and it is interesting to not that Sega is not int he hardware race anymore because they abandoned too many systems in a short amount of time. It alienated their fanbase and caused them to fail.

Worst thin Nintendo could do almost two years in is abandon it. Especially when it starting to sell the best it has since its launch.

[darthv72]

Whoa now...sega didnt abandon any of their platforms prior to the dreamcast. And even that was a tough decision to make.

And many who bought the DC after its demise have said that they wished they got one sooner if it meant keeping sega in the game.

They could not compete with the hype that surrounded the PS2 but dont for one moment think sega abandoned the master system, genesis (& add-ons) or the saturn. All of those platforms have a long and varied library of games under their belts.

[Concertoine]

@darth

The Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn all had short lifespans with especially poor support outside of Japan.

They might have a few good games, but Sega themselves put those two expensive add ons on the market with poor support and they quickly moved on. The failure of those products doomed the DC, even though they really did a lot right with the DC. Id argue no console since has had a launch line up that good.

[ABizzel1]

@MSBAUSTX

Wii U is outselling XBO overall, but XBO and the Wii U have been neck and neck for the longest, and this is one of those few times where the 2nd tier and 3rd Tier regions matter since Nintendo is in 100 countries and the XBO was only in 13 countries and they were still neck and neck.

But the XBO has been outselling the Wii U by a large margin since the end of August. 2:1 the last week of August, 3:1 the first week of September, 4:1 the second week of September, and back down to 2:1 for the 3rd week of September. So at this point it's inevitable that the XBO is going to catch as pass the Wii U. In those 4 weeks the XBO has cut the Wii U's lead down by 300k console (so 2.1m is now 1.8m, and the holiday sales should cut that lead even further).

Nintendo needs to do something or they're be in last place for sure by the end of 2015.

I completely agree with you they shouldn't give up, and honestly they can turn this around for the better. I don't see them moving pass 50million in sales, but they could hit the 40's if they actually try.

Amiibo and Pokemon could be huge for them, their first parties need to hit the console with full force, their 3rd party deals with games like Pokken Tournament are the kind of 3rd party support they need, and if they price the console right all generation then that 40+ million goal is achievable. If they don't try harder then they're looking at 20m - 30m, and another GameCube.

[Aussiebeachbabe]

Maybe you forgot the reason wii u is outselling the xb1 is because it was out 11 months earlier.

[darthv72]

@concertoine the 32x had a lesser amount of titles released for it than they would have liked but they were still releasing games after the saturn launched.

By no means does that imply they abandoned it. And the sega CD had lots of games for it. 142 domestic releases (and counting thanks to indie support) now that doesnt sound like an abandoned system to me.

Sega had supported each one of their systems up to, during, and shortly after the release of the followup platforms. Even the saturn was getting late releases when the dreamcast launched.

Now where people get the misconception of support could be from the declining sales of those platforms when compared to the PS1 at the same time. Yes the PS1 was a break away hit but that didnt mean that all of a sudden there were no more games released for segas systems. If memory serves...they were supporting 6 platforms at the same time before dreamcast even launched.

Genesis, sega cd, 32x, 32x cd, saturn, gamegear and even master system (in other parts of the world) and due to spreading themselve thing financially....dreamcast was their last effort to turn things around.

So i still stand behind the notion that "abandon" is not the right term to use in regards to segas previous systems. the dreamcast was abandoned but each other system got 4-5 good years of support when that was considered the average.

it wasnt until the PS came out that longer cycles were considered the norm. 6, 7 even 8 years before the release of a new system.

[Metallox]

Dude, but some people here like it :(

[TheTimeDoctor]

its because the Wii u is only slightly better than the ps3/360. Nintendo is arrogant and believe people will buy systems on based on gimmicks. the Wii u pro controller should also be able to be used as the main controller for everything. the gamepad is a joke and the Wii remotes suck. pro controller is pretty sweet though.

[MSBAUSTX]

Um the pro controller can be used for just about everything now including eshop, gamepad is awesome because of off TV play, and the Wii out sold all last gen systems with gimicky controls and far inferior power. So i do not see any of your points as valid.

PS the 3DS is far inferior compared to the Vita. I dont feel I need to bring up the sales numbers on those.

[InTheLab]

Bring up the Vita all you want and it won't change the fact that without a significant price cut and several different types of models with major bundles, the 3ds was failing. And Nintendo is the market leader in handhelds so it was a lock for them to succeed after the price cut.

As for the wii winning last gen, all last gen did for Nintendo was to further ruin relationships with developers and hardcore gamers. So yeah they beat the other two at half the price but that only made them arrogant in their decisions with the WiiU.

[TheTimeDoctor]

sales have nothing to do with quality. can you turn on the Wii u with the pro controller? is it possible to completely not use the gamepad? does every game fully support the pro controller? the answer to all 3 is no. bringing up the 3ds is useless in a Wii u gimp article. so it is your points that are indeed garbage.

[JacketsNest101]

Um, the answer to all of those questions, TimeDoctor, is yes. I can decide to turn off the gamepad display and not use it. My pro controller can turn on the console, that's what the power button is for. No, not every game supports the Pro Controller, but most do. And the ones that don't have good reason for it. Games like ZombiU and Lego City Undercover are built around the gamepad, but the majority of the games available on the console are very playable with the pro controller.

[Nevers0ft]

@TheTimeDoctor I'm with JacketsNest101 on this one, you're wrong on all three counts.

[RosweeSon]

Yeah that or they've realised not every needs fantastic graphics to appreciate a truly world class game, Nintendo make them time and time again and with inferior hardware, who cares the gsmes are still much better than anything else offered anywhere else, Nintendo don't do gimmicks they just use their innitiative and have the brains to make a product from scratch and not need to borrow anything or everything from the competition, nintendo gimicky? Yeah that d-pad analogue stick, rumble Pak, touch screen, motion controls, yeah none of that'll ever catch on... Pffft. Microsoft wouldn't know innovation if it took a dump through its letterbox, xbox live? Ripped off from sega, Kinect basically an eye toy from the ps2 era, those are gimmicks KINECT snd crap people don't even wont, your controller on whatever console it may be that you use would look very different and boring if nintendo were not involved.

[TheTimeDoctor]

I love what Nintendo used to be. in my opinion, touch screens and motion controls are useless in gaming. Nintendo has been using "innovation" as a crutch instead of creating capable hardware.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I would rather buy a "Gimmick" that gives my games even more options and conveniences, than be the type of arrogant elitist that dismisses an obviously superior controller as a Gimmick because they can't adapt to something new due to it not being the same size/shape as what they're traditionally used to.

The game pad isn't a joke.
The same cannot be said of your opinion.

[TheTimeDoctor]

instead of attacking my stance, why not tell my why the gamepad is so great?

[Concertoine]

"An obviously superior controller"

I've grown up using very different controllers, so i never felt uncomfortable adapting to any certain one. That being said the gamepad is ergonomically fine, but i fail to see what makes it "obviously superior". Its potential to immerse the player is remarkable, the only problem is not a lot of games make use of it. Thats like saying the dreamcast controller is the best because of the handful of games that make good use of the VMU

[MSBAUSTX]

Um actually yes I turn the system on a lot with the pro controller actually. It has a power button for the Wii U built right in to it. The point about the 3ds is not garbage because you said it is stupid to make something under powered and gimicky and expect it to sell. The 3DS is exactly that and sells better than any other portable device and most consoles.

I notice you didnt want to touch the facts I stated about the wii. You know that underpowered system that sold over 100 million units. Nintendo just tried the same thing with the Wii U thats all. Also there are tons of games that can be played with the pro controller only or give you the option to use it instead of the game pad.

All third party games I know of except Deus Ex are pro compatible. Also mario kart 8, LOZ Wind waker HD, Mario 3D world, New Mario Bros Wii U, both Call of Duty games can use the pro controller solely, Mass Effect 3, And Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 will just to name a few.

The fact you dont know this leads me to believe you not only dont own a U but you have no idea what it actually is or how it works but you are more than willing to bash it. Get your facts straight about it before you start farting out of your mouth about it.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

So let me get this straight; you're asking me to explain my stance, and call my opinion an attack, when you yourself led into the conversation with a post that attacks the controller as nothing me than a joke/gimmick, then proceed to provide no solid, reasonable explanation as to why you feel that way?
There's a saying in some circles: don't expect of others, what you are not willing to do yourself.
Provide a reasonable opinion that can be debated with logic, and you'll be more likely to get one in return.
Start and end with an unreasonable attack, however, and you have no right to complain about a response of the same kind.

[RosweeSon]

Poor development, I'm sorry but nintendo show time and time again it's not about being top end and the best graphics ever as long as the game works and let's face it Nintendo ones are fantastic, there should be no excuses for poor ports and just shody development, 3rd parties wonder why they don't sell on Nintendo systems yet release sub par games and delay things no end (hello Ubisoft rayman/watchdogs) and then wonder why people won't buy 3rd party games on Nintendo systems, how about put a bit of effort into the gsmes they make and don't just bash it out and bodge job it to market. Good things come to those who wait and im always happy to have a game delayed for the right reasons ie more time to tweak and perfect but just so it can be released on other formats first when it was originally a wii u exclusive, yeah that sort of stuff always endears U.S. consumers to go and support a company? No it's makes me say Jog on and I'll get your games once they've been reduced or 2nd hand, will check out black flag assassins creed at some point but happy to wait for the new ones to launch and get last year's on the cheap or half price! It'll be a long time before I buy an Ubisoft game again on day 1.

[MasterCornholio]

It really depends on what your looking at.

If the Wii U version performs worse than tns PS3, 360 or has less content then it's gimp. If it performs worse than the Xbox One or PS4 then the blame is firmly on the hardware.

In my opinion content should be the same but performance should be in between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One version.

[Paprika]

Goodness me, are we in the year 2014? Thought articles like this were like.... 2013!

Nintendo wiiu is great. A worthy console to own alongside an x1 or ps4, or all three! Keyword, exclusives.

[InTheLab]

Figured this guy would blame developers and completely ignore the fact that Nintendo is at least partially responsible for this mess. They went out and made a console with their games in mind instead of speaking with developers who now have to go out of their way to create content for a console that cannot sell mature content.

As for the poor sales of these ports, if Wonderful 101 and eventually Bayo2 can't sell, why would any publisher continue to support the WiiU when it's own mature games don't sell? 101 bombed and that's on Nintendo. If Bayo fails to sell at least 700k, that's on Nintendo. If the devils third comes out and does Conduit numbers, that's on Nintendo.

Sooner or later, you people will blame Nintendo. It might not be this gen, but when Nintendo buries their head in the sand next gen with their next console, hopefully we won't be having these same 3 gen old conversations and long time Nintendo fans will finally have had enough.

Cartridges instead of CDs. Tiny proprietary CDs instead of the industry standard. The motion control mandate that scared off the core. A touch screen gimmick that not even Nintendo knows what to do with.

Why does Nintendo receive poor ports? Nintendo is why.

[Metallox]

"Nintendo is at least partially responsible for this mess"

Absolutely. In fact, they are have the biggest responsability in here, but even then you have the silly publishers that make horrendous ports with almost no advantage even over last gen.

No one knows how to make justice to the console.

[tlougotg]

I love how most dont mention the fact that power wise Wiiu is only slightly better than a ps3/xbox and isnt really comparable to ps4/xbone. Its a combination of the hardware deficiency and therefore making it harder to port on Wiiu and also of course the fact that devs might not put their 100% into it bcus Wiiu owners love to complain about no 3rd party support but then when the game comes out they dont buy anyway, so why invest so much time and effort. Nintendo with their archaic bs thinking are to blame for all this, no one else.

[Errefus]

Lets see:
Crappy ports (Take features out etc)
No DLC: (No DLC no buy)
Delays.(not releasing games at the same time as other multiplats)
No ads at all (Splinter Cell was never advertised on any of the Ubi ads, they only advertised the other consoles but not wii u)

[TheTimeDoctor]

Nintendo should dump the hardware business, and become a 3rd party developer.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Translation : "Nintendo should do the one thing that would guarantee the death of every single franchise they own."

Gamers like you don't care about Nintendo's franchises.
You would never prioritize Mario over the next Destiny, Uncharted, Halo, Madden, Forza, etc etc, and because of that, Nintendo would never make enough money off of you to continue making games.
You're basically just saying "please die, Nintendo! You're not good enough for me!"
And that's just plain sad.

[randomass171]

Basically this. The Nintendo games on other hardware argument is very short sighted in my opinion because quality child friendly content is not common place on those consoles and their success is even less common. Child friendly games sell well on Nintendo so their software will do best on their hardware.

[mysteryraz11]

It just weak accept it nintendo fanboys, blame nintendo for brjng lazy and arrogant and giving you a console barely stronger then last gen consoles

[eaise]

Because otherwise Nintendo would have a monopoly on the video game industry. They have, by far, the best 1st party titles so if the Wii U got all the 3rd party games it would be the only system selling. Third parties don't want that because Microsoft and Sony will pay for timed exclusives or DLC but Nintendp won't. Third parties want to be paid for timed exclusives so theu need Sony and Microsoft

[Sidewinder-]

"(crossing my finger for another F-Zero by Sega)"

Huh?

[namEuser]

I'll tell ya why the gamepad is not a joke...i can play my WiiU in my car, can u play any of ur consoles in ur car...wait, thats right u gonna need a tv for that lol all i really need is a 120v power supply, u would need a tv-cables etc...i happen to like the controller, but i can go either way. My WiiU games shit all over my Xbox One games in the quality department...so why should i ask for a new system from Nintendo...im confused lol

[tinkypop]

Comes down to money.
Cost vs gain.
If the gain is more than cost. Will start to see better ports and more 3nd party games.
Now the cost is more than the gain so we get the ruff end of the deal.
In my eye 3nd party need to take a risk and start to build a base to go from.
3nd party sale well on others bec of the years of groundwork and base all ready in place.
Nintendo are 7 years behind everyone in hd.
15 years plus in having the right footing for 3nd party to build from.
Nintendo have a lot work to do before we see the best of both worlds.
The groundwork in place now for Nintendo to catch up in hd gaming.
Maybe build some bridges ASAP

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Here's the thing, though; the gains will never get to the point of outweighing the costs, even if Nintendo's next system is a powerhouse, if the third parties have not built up any brand trust between themselves and Nintendo's gamers.
To do that, they need to eat some cost in the here and now, by either bringing every last bit of extra content they create for their multiplat games to their Wii U versions, or by creating new games designed specifically to cater to the tastes of the core base of older gamers on the system.

In other words, the quality of the third party multiplat offerings must rise to an acceptable standard level, and stay that way long-term, before they will begin to see any substantial gains from their costs.

[N4g_null]

There simply is too much money to be milked from sony and ms for big publishers to even work with nintendo.

I mean really destiny, watch dogs and any thing else hyped is going to get you 5 million sells regardless of the quality of the actual game play. Why should nintendo promote this type of behavior? Why put all this power in a console so no one can afford it. Then watch as you console is basically shatupon. I mean look at ms the xbone is an ok machine yet it is throughly being crushed by the ps4 simply off of specs most gamers don't understand. I see numbers like 40% and above thrown around for the ps4 yet i don't see 40% more effects or resolution.

Yet isn't it the fact that gamers truly believe they are getting a steal with the ps4 because they believe it so powerful and so cheap. They are a wholesale tech outfit now. Even though nintendo makes less powerful equipment their games just have better game play and variety.

Constantly saying nintendo sucks when many clearly can turn a wiiu and see it doesn't just means you are uninformed. Seriously are the gamers above addicted to commercial ads or something? They want all this power for free not knowing the ps4 is mediocre just like the wiiu. If you want real power go pc, oh but you can't afford that. Let's go dump on the wiiu and make ourselves look like fools.

You guys would also have a point if you actually had games I wanted to play but you don't. It's just a bunch of kids buying stuff because of hype and then coming to the internet to rage atnintendo when they need to be focused on trying to fix their own platform.

I feel the pain of anyone without a wiiu right now. I'm sure gaming is quite a miserable experience without it. Which is why you are here talking junk about nintendo. Sony is way to popular for you to rag on so you choose nintendo. Yet where are these games that justify your rage?

Then we have the sega supporters lol. Wow you guys live in another place. Sega is pretty much dead.

[benji101]

The wii u is powerful enough it has a storage space issue for game installs. Third parties have built their design principles around installs. Nintendo games on wii u have no install.

That is it.
The cpu the gpu have never been the issue. The issue is the 32gb harddrive.

[eyeofcore]

When next Nintendo's handheld and console arrives, these publishers will wonder why their games are not selling and it will be because they didn't support previous devices from Nintendo to create audience for their games...

Its about reputation of your company from support of a platform to quality of products... Hey, I won't stop them from shooting themself at the foot...

[theizzzeee]

Some of you may want to check these out.
http://hdwarriors.com/gener... Anyone who can make an 81 MB game look so good does good stuff.

Here is some other links to check.
http://hdwarriors.com/forum...
http://hdwarriors.com/forum...