Wii U Was A Better Console For Third-Party Games

Forbes writes:"Last year I played Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on Wii U. I hadn’t liked any of the earlier games in the series but it was new, and in the world of videogames newness is easily confused for worth, creating its own micro-culture of consumer cartographers attempting to divine their way between through the two collapsed poles. Expecting little from Black Flag, and having been preconditioned to expect even less from Nintendo ’s underpowered gimmick console, I was surprised to discover how much the touchscreen controller added to my experience, something I found myself missing while playing this year’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity."

[Concertoine]

It improved some games like Deus Ex, Mass Effect, Watch Dogs, Batman Arkham City, etc, but the problem is the technical performance of the games. If it has bad pop-in and framerate, what good does the gamepad stuff do?

[AKR]

And those issues fall in the laps of the developers; not the system. Look at NFS: Most Wanted U - now THAT is how you do a port, entirely.

[Metallox]

Which it didn't sell enough. Not sure why though, it is literally the best, technically, third party game available on Wii U.

Again, I really don't know why. It sold even worse than other ports that came late, like Mass Effect 3 and Arkham City.

[Concertoine]

@Metallox

Because it was 6 months late. Also have you played Deus Ex? It's the best in my opinion. That game is perfect for the gamepad.

[breakpad]

NO it wasnt ..nintendo with their tactic to sell (cheap for them-expensive for us) underpowered machines , they keep a lot o third IPs behind...take for example Bayonnetta and MonHun...these games could have let us speechless with their presentation if they were released for new gen(having in mind the extremely talented devs behind them ), but no they ve been released for lame WiiU and even worse MH4 for the 3ds (the most underpowered moneygrabbing handheld ever)while Vita was so eager for it(and so powerfull) that was made specifically to host MohHou types of games ...i m happy that Wiiu sales are in downfall they deserve it ..people are not idiots to buy again and again a gimmick machine to play only Mario and Zelda

[mydyingparadiselost]

@ breakpad
You literally have no idea what you're talking about. The specs may not be what the PS4/XOne are but the price isn't in the specs so much as it is the tech in the gamepad. They didn't make cheap for them & expensive for us hardware, they just spread the money across multiple facets of the console. If you want to talk about cost then look at how much you'll spend on Live/+ over the course of those 2 consoles lives.
Also, you just complained about Nintendo's console only having Mario and Zelda, and in the SAME STATEMENT complained about them having games that aren't Mario and Zelda that you want. Just get over it, if you want to play them so bad go buy a WiiU, it's not like they're too ugly to play or anything...

[Benjaminkno]

Rayman on WiiU is still top notch.

I think Nintendo also has the best CoD experience. It's a shame that the community isn't there.

[kwandar]

I'd buy CoD (which I haven't played before) for the Wii U in a heartbeat if they'd put it on the damn Eshop!

I don't want any more disks, it costs Activision a LOT more to deliver through retail channels, yet Activision still hasn't got its act together to deliver through Eshop.

[L0YD]

No it wasn't.

[DigitalRaptor]

For certain games it was, actually: Rayman Legends, Deux Ex, Need For Speed.

But…. that doesn't excuse the fact that having just a few better performing games still means the console is missing out on the vast majority of the great third party multiplatform titles. That's why it will always be my favourite secondary console this gen.

Reggie talks about wanting these third parties on their console, but doesn't follow through with good enough action.

[Summons75]

It's true, if developers and more so publishers weren't so afraid of the gamepad and all the possibilities it can bring to a game third party games could have a lot of potential. There are a bunch of 3rd party games that did do very well. Deus Ex was the definitive edition of the game, NFS Most Wanted was amazing on the WiiU, Rayman Legends was tailor made for the WiiU and as much as I dislike the game Call of Duty had the best Local Multiplayer out of the other versions. But EA though behind the WiiU at first for some reason went anti-nintendo and all the unnecessary WiiU hate the first year and a half pushed devs and publishers away.

[Spikeantestor]

...than the Wonderswan Color.

Just helping you finish your sentence there.

[ReturnToSanity]

GPU and CPU are inferior to that of the 7th gen which would effect the Gameplay greatly. Imagine if they tried to put Farcry or Unity on the Wii U. This article is a joke. I like Nintendo, but they did this too themselves, always trying to veer away from what the norm is. Same thing with GameCube, developers were frustrated that they had to compress everything into that small disc.
And let's not forget that during the 7th gen Nintendo turned their back on their core fanbase.

[kwandar]

In fairness I think you far underestimate the WiiU's capabilities. In terms of raw power PS4 and X1 definitely win. In terms of "throughput" while they win, the difference is just not that dramatic, and the Wii U clearly beats 7th generation. Show me where you are getting the nonsense that it doesn't.

And lets not forget that during the 7th generation, when you claim they turned their back on gamers, they got people like myself IN THE DOOR. I'd be PC exclusively if not for the Wii ... which eventually brought me to the PS3.

[ReturnToSanity]

Funny because Nintendo was quoted "casual gamers are not loyal". Meaning Nintendo admits that was their fanbase aim even with the Wii U and it didn't work out. Now they are trying to reach back to their core gamers. Remember the AAA games for Wii U launch? I don't. (oh wait, Zelda WW HD lol).
Nintendo is a mess and they just lost 2nd place to Xbox One even after having a year advantage.
They flag videos promoting 1st party Gameplay, and region lock. Nintendo is in fact garbage this 8th gen.

[kwandar]

Funnier still ... I can't find that quote coming out of Nintendo. Close ... but you missed the word "as". So while casual are not AS loyal that doesn't mean they are completely disloyal. Get your FACTS STRAIGHT.

You previously said the Wii U couldn't keep up with 7th generation and I called you out on it and you again FAILED to back up your statement with FACTS.

All you manage to do is run off at the mouth, and look like a fool. You're just a troll.

[mamotte]

And yet, one of the best residen evil experiences (RE: Make) is on GC. And Far Cry 3 is better than 4.

[G20WLY]

Well, that's the hateful attitude of a fanboy. Why bring up the past? What difference does last gen make to this one?

A logical/fair mind would acknowledge the positives as well, like the fact that several amazing exclusives have launched on Wii U in the last few weeks alone, which is more than can be said for the other two systems, regardless of their specs or potential.

[ReesesPuffs]

They put Far Cry 4 on the PS3 and 360 which has 1/4th the ram of the Wii U and ridiculously weak CPU's and GPU's by today's standards so it's safe to say it would be alright. Unity doesn't run well on anything so that's not exactly a great example.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

You must have missed the news that Nintendo is both considering getting rid of Region Lock, and is ALLOWING people to use their games for Let's Plays and things like that now.

No, wait.
You didn't miss it.
You just don't do any damned research, because being a HATER is so much easier!

[ZainreFang]

The Wii U Gamepad does improve third party games. It also improves old games like Wind Waker HD. The Gamepad functionality of WWHD made WWHD a completely superior version to the original.

There are so many third party games that could benefit from the Wii U Gamepad, but as this article says, it's just about making bigger explosions and graphics. That is modern video game innovation. Gamers just want to blow things up in an open world.

[Spotie]

Wait, so we're counting how it did multiplats that had been out for months better?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I like the enthusiasm, but here's the cold, hard, facts...

Until third parties do the following, their multiplats will NEVER see big sales on the Wii U, and thus will never be considered "the best place for third party multiplats".

- Achieve launch date parity for all versions.

- Include every last bit of extra content that isn't meant to be console-specific DLC based around characters that can't appear on other consoles.

- Promise, and abide by said promise, to show the same level of work towards optimizing the game for the system as they would for the other two.

- Show the same level of advertisement effort for the Wii U version as for any other version.

- Get into talks with Nintendo to produce DLC content that makes use of Nintendo's characters, to pull in Nintendo gamers so that they actually want to have the games.
It's a new install base you're trying to form; you need to use a new hook to pull in players that aren't used to your games and that have a lot of distrust over how you've been treating them these past few generations, in your efforts to get back at Nintendo for the early years.
Gamers shouldn't have to suffer for your grudge.
If you want more cash, put it to rest.

- Make sure that the games being offered, aren't ports of years-old games that people have already bought and played before on the other two systems.

Only once these things are done, will they have a chance at selling their multiplats in big numbers on the Wii U.

And if they can't do that this gen, then they can kiss their profit chances on Nintendo's next console "bye bye", too, because there just won't be any trust left to sell off of, no matter how powerful the next one turns out to be.

[BigDuo]

While you bring up good points, quite frankly, it doesn't really matter often if a third party game comes out on time with all the DLC and is a good quality port. The Nintendo audience generally does not buy the same kind of games that Sony and Microsoft fans do.

It's why Bayonetta 2 sell well despite being a different kind of game that Nintendo It had good marketing which included a TV ad, downloadable demo, critical acclaim and was presented at numerous industry events and through Nintendo's Directs. There were no other big games out in October for Wii U, yet Wii U owners choose to ignore buying it and instead waited to spend their money on Smash Bros. It's why games like Devil's Third will also likely bomb at retail regardless of the marketing and quality of the game.

It's why GameCube's third party software didn't do as well as PS2 and some of Xbox's software despite GameCube being more powerful than PS2 and having architecture that made it easier to develop for. It's not just about issues of lack of hardware power, architectural parity and third party games coming out on time.

Nintendo is no longer a direct competitor to Sony and Microsoft. Since the Wii, Nintendo began to radically differentiate its hardware from Sony and Microsoft's. If People think Nintendo will try to , then they will be sorely mistaken come the next generation. Nintendo's willing to continue to walk its own path despite risking being put into a corner of the market due to its own attempt to provide a different console experience. Unfortunately, there's no magic solution to Nintendo's fundamental problems that present an uphill battle for the company.

Much of what the industry is doing makes business sense. That is what Miyamoto said ,and he is correct. It may be boring and not appealing to Nintendo's beliefs, goals and values as a platform holder, but trying to be different can either lead to major success (like with the DS and Wii) or commercial failure (like with the Wii U).

[kwandar]

I buy the same type of games the PS4 and X1 audience buy - good games. Simple. That is why I likely won't be buying Watchdogs, given the ratings.

Bayonetta 2 is without question doing 500,000 units, and there areonly 7MM consoles. It is a fact that 7% for a mature title is "good" sell through.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

"The Nintendo audience generally does not buy the same kind of games that Sony and Microsoft fans do."

A point that, while it has a grain of truth to it, ignores the fact that Nintendo owners generally also own a secondary system for other games that don't come to the system.
Games that third parties make, and make BETTER, on these other systems.

At some point, we need to stop putting so much blame on Nintendo gamers for not purchasing many of these third party games, when the fact of the matter is that no effort was made on the part of most of these third parties to convince this entirely new install base that their multiplats were worth buying.
They did little to nothing to differentiate them or to make them more appealing on this brand new system, nor did many of them go out on a limb to create a new IP that could have more easily captured the attention of a brand new install base.

There's been too much trust lost between them and third parties over the past two or three generations of home consoles for their multiplats to sell, in the way they are being offered, in the here and now.
So much so, that it's kind of unfair to expect them to support these same third parties, when the offerings in the here and now, by these same third parties, are, in 99% of cases, inferior to the different versions of these same third party games on other systems.

This lost trust, in turn, has spread to affect the few good exclusives that the system is getting from reliable third parties, like the aforementioned Devil's Third.
If it fails, it's because gamers have lost any faith that a third party game can be done right on a Nintendo system.
This isn't completely true, as the exclusives are generally of higher quality than the multiplats on Wii U, but that's the general belief.

To be brief; bad ports have ruined the Wii U's reputation much more than people realize, and not all of that reputation is deserved.
It's a worthwhile system to get, especially if you are looking at the exclusives rather than the multiplats, and if you do not own a Wii U, then the third party exclusives, unlike the multiplats on the system, should be enough of a reason to at least look into one, as many of them are high enough in quality to contend with a AAA multiplat on another system.

Oh, and by the way?
The Wii U is no longer a commercial failure; it's making Nintendo profits again. NET profits.

[DoggyBiscuit]

I feel that the gamepad works great with games that relied a lot on the map Like GTA5 for example they times where I have to constantly pause the game just see what on the map, 3rd party see the gamepad as a gimmick not for what it really is