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Why the Wii U will be the next generation’s top dog

By on September 12, 2012
wiiu

Last week, Josiah wrote an article claiming the PlayStation 4 will reign supreme come the end of the next generation. However, I’m here to explain why that won’t be true.

There’s no argument: the Wii has completely dominated this generation of consoles. Despite a lack in technical horsepower when compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3, the Wii has sold over 96 million units worldwide. The other two competitors have sold 67 million and 64 million, respectively. In fact, Nintendo’s little white box was so widespread that it was almost impossible to just conveniently pick on up in-store for almost two years. It was the piece of tech that everyone had to own.

That bit of information was relevant because its success was attributed to the effectiveness of word of mouth. Your family came over one evening, played Wii Sports for the first time and were instantly able to get a grasp of the game because of the simplicity of motion controls at the time. Gaming had never been more mainstream. Which brings us to our first point…

5. Backwards compatibility with software and hardware

All those games, Wii Remotes and other accessories you currently own will be compatible with the Wii U. And if rumors are to be trusted regarding the PS4 and its distinctively different programming architecture compared to the PS3, then the Wii U will have the upper hand. Nintendo has already confirmed that its new console will still utilize the Wiimote, Nunchuk and Balance Board, plus it still plays Wii games. One of Nintendo’s winning features from the current generation is the Wii’s vast library of games spanning multiple generations available to play at a moment’s notice. Even the PS3 and Xbox 360 have seen complications regarding backwards compatibility, resulting in a surge of HD remakes (which could be a good or a bad thing depending on where you sit).

4. Promising third-party support

There’s no denying that the Wii has some big low points since its launch. One of the more well-spoken downfalls was the plethora of cheap cash-ins publishers dumped onto the system in the hopes of foolin’ Mum and Dad into buying little Jimmy and Lilly some licensed games/mini-game collections. It was an epidemic that everyone was aware of, and one started way too early in the life-cycle of the system.

Things are looking up this time around, though. Ubisoft and EA (among others) have already confirmed a bunch of titles that will be making their way to the Wii U. In fact, many have been announced to release alongside the console, or at least during its launch window. ZombiU, Project P-100, Assassin’s Creed III, Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition, Darksiders II, Bioshock: Infinite and Rayman: Legends (which is now a Wii U exclusive) are just some of the third-party titles baking in the oven. Given the strong assurance by various developers that the Wii U is surprisingly easy to develop for, there’s no doubt that Nintendo fans will see some great experiences only available to them thanks to the myriad of control options.

3. Nintendo is listening again

Admit it – you were shocked and stumped like the rest of us to see that Nintendo was making a much more traditional gamepad available to “hardcore” gamers. The Pro Controller reveal came pretty much out of left field, and is just one of the many legitimate steps Nintendo has made towards enticing traditional gamers back to its products. It came as a surprise because die hard-Nintendo fans have felt as if they were being neglected. Apart from a handful of Nintendo-developed titles (which were mostly crafted with widespread accessibility in mind), gamers looked towards Sony, Microsoft and PCs for their hardcore gaming experiences. Thankfully, it looks like that will change.

Another improvement was ditching the sliders of the Wii U GamePad from last year and replacing them with clickable analogue sticks. Shooters, racers and platformers will all be far more accurate to play. Then there’s the emphasis on online distribution of video games the Big N has been making, with its first prolific effort of New Super Mario Bros. 2 seeing a simultaneous retail and downloadable release. This is just its first big step in embracing the online realm.

2. Nintendo’s taking the Internet more seriously this time around

Nintendo has always been known as a company that didn’t nosedive into being a part of the online trend. Friend codes, limited means of online communication, a lack of support for the Wii Shop Channel; the Xbox 360 and PS3 did well to surpass the Wii in the online space. However, Nintendo has taken the reins of this online thing and used it to its advantage. Twitter, Facebook and its own Nintendo Direct live broadcasts have all been avenues for Nintendo to talk directly to the fans and control what gets out. Even the 3DS has seen some strong support on its eShop, not to mention the Nintendo Video app that pushes content straight to the user’s 3DS via Spotpass – a service that automatically receives content from the Internet while the system is in sleep mode. Nintendo’s realized that it’s behind with integrated online services on consoles, and this time around, the company’s pulling out all the stops. Which brings me to my final point…

1. Miiverse

The epicenter of Wii U’s user interface, Miiverse is a gaming and social networking platform that blows every other available service out of the water. Right from the moment the system boots, gamers are connected to their friends to see everything they’re playing in conjunction to what games have been played on their own system. Taking advantage of usernames this time, connecting with friends is a much more substantial ordeal that can have real-time effects on the games being played. Players can leave notes for each other in their games to either give a heads up on a difficult boss fight, or seek assistance if they require a specific item. The Wii U is also capable of quickly initiating video chat thanks to the GamePad, or transmitting pictures to one another via it’s touch screen. The system shows a wealth of potential, and given that these features will be available right from launch, there’s no telling what Nintendo may have up its sleeve later on in the generation.

It’s all well and good for me to sit here and preach about the Wii U and how it could dominate the next generation, but what do you think? Will Nintendo rise to the glory of its earlier times, or will it be cast to the way-side thanks to the superior horsepower of the PS4 and Xbox 720? Sound off below, or continue the discussion in our forum.

Having been an avid gamer for twenty-two years now, I've come to appreciate all facets of gaming (music, culture, development, etc). I originally started out with a Sega Master System II, then moved onto a Nintendo 64 and the rest is history. Though my focus is all things Nintendo, I still love having a taste of everything. No one console is perfect, and that's the way I like it.
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  • WhoIsDo

    It’s going to be an intriguing time for Nintendo. I’m not really sold on what they’re doing, but I can say that I’m at least *interested*. Tomorrow’s conference should be interesting…

  • http://twitter.com/ROBO_LEADER Craig H

    Being edited! Damned submit button moving around as I add new lines!

    There are some ups and downs with the new Nintendo console, and it might be made the best selling system of the next console generation on the Wii’s existing userbase alone, but Nintendo is going to have to fight to win me back.

    5. It’s going to be antiquated too quickly.

    According to one report, while the Wii U’s custom Radeon GPU is impressive in comparison to what the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 possess, its CPU is lacking, being slower than the Xbox 360′s. I cannot emphasize enough how big of a deal that will be when the other next generation consoles ship. Ports of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 games to Nintendo’s new console shouldn’t be that much of a problem, but if the Wii U’s CPU isn’t even capable of matching the Xbox’s Xenon, let alone whatever will be powering the next Playstation, I see trouble on the horizon.

    Remember how amazing the Dreamcast was until the Playstation 2 came around?

    4. Killer exclusives.

    Nintendo is usually good at this, so I’m going to ignore the Wii U’s first-party lineup for this point. We all know that the next Mario game is going to blow our minds and that Zelda is going to be more Zelda than any other Zelda, Nintendo might come back to their senses and give Metroid development back to Retro Studios

    • GemmolLewis

      Read what Nintendo annouce tonight they are using a GPGPU so the cpu thing you talk about is fail

      • http://twitter.com/ROBO_LEADER Craig H

        Every modern GPU is capable of that through OpenCL, CUDA or DirectCompute, so I’m not sure how that changes anything.

    • Billy Hann

      I see where you’re coming from, and you do have many valid points, but there are already 2 games I really want for this system. I genuinely want this system on day 1 to play zombiu and rayman legends. Every console I buy it seems like I just want it on launch day so I don’t have to buy it later on for a particular game I want. I am a dedicated ps3 player, its been my primary console for years, but lately I’ve been bored with it. So I can personally justify $349.99 for a wii u (exceptionally low compared to my launch day ps3).people are right when they rant about graphics not being what makes a game. Yes they are important, and they can actually make or break a game. But with great game play, especially from first party games, and HD graphics, There first party titles will be exactly what people have been asking for for years. This time around I believe Nintendo actually has something to offer me in the form of an upgrade and (hopefully) experiences I can’t find on other consoles.

      • http://twitter.com/ROBO_LEADER Craig H

        Nintendo IS offering you something that you can’t find on other
        consoles. With the exception of the online support, most of what I wrote
        was about what people other than Nintendo will be bringing to the
        system later on in its life. Once the other new consoles enter the
        market, things like the Wii U’s processing power and storage space will
        become the “lowest common denominator”, somewhat like the Wii is now.
        Too big of a gap between it and its competitors and history will begin
        to repeat itself.

        Super Meat Boy was originally going to be a
        WiiWare title, however, due to Nintendo’s requirement that WiiWare games
        must be no larger than 43 megabytes in size (a restriction likely
        created due to the Wii’s internal storage of only 512 megabytes) support
        for the platform was dropped. Going back to game patches and DLC, I’m
        not kidding when I say that if a title like Battlefield 3 were ported to
        the platform, the updates and _CURRENTLY RELEASED_ DLC alone would take
        up 8.47 Gb, exceeding the storage capacity of the base model Wii U.

        Nintendo
        will no doubt offer you an experience you can’t get anywhere else, the
        problem is that within 2 years it might just be too cost and time
        prohibitive for most other developers to rework their multi-platform
        titles for the Wii U’s constraints.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mark.lockett.925 Mark Lockett

    Nintendo are in with a good chance to dominate again. There will always be a few doubters who will go with different machines. Which is fine, as long as they stop beating up Nintendo for not doing exactly what a few obsessives tell them to do. It’s just a choice, make it and stop bitching.

    Ninty’s own exclusives will likely, as always, beat their rivals into the ground, it’s just the way things are. Add to this easy ports from the 360, many of which will be “legacy” or proven sellers and some will be newer games. Don’t think the 360 is just going to disappear, both MS and Sony have seen the massive success of the PS2, even after the launch of the PS3. On the games front alone, Nintendo are looking in a very good position so far.

    As for the “next gen”, well we will have to see if Nintendo got it right when it said Sony and MS cannot leap so far ahead as to make the Wii U obsolete.

    I have high hopes for Wiiverse, when Nintendo commit to something, more often than not, they get it right.

    On the whole, I would agree that Nintendo are in a pretty good position right now.

  • Vicente Diaz

    Current gen gaming is at an all time low and Wii U adds nothing to change it. Current gen graphics have no wow factor and the Wii U will suffer with this. Wii sold like hot cakes because it was accesible, but that bullet has already been shot long time ago and everyone has it now.

    I’m as hardcore gamer as it can be, but I’m not interested in the Wii U. Games are current gen “me too” nobody cares much anymore, and wow they are going to have online gaming, welcome to XXI century! they’ve got a lot of support of current gen software already available on 7 year old consoles, amazing, and they have a real gamepad this time, what a feature!!

    I can tell you, the day we see next-gen Halo or Uncharted, WIi U will have a real problem. They will look outdated but this time they won’t have the advantage on move controllers that helped Wii U to survive.

    I understand Nintendo, it’s great to sell 3-4 year old hardware for a benefit at today’s prices, but that trick won’t work this time, there’s nothing on the Wii U that tells me it will do well, and it looks like it will be the next-gen gamecube, an underpowered console in the middle of nowhere that adds nothing against the Sony and MS behemoths.

  • Giant Sloar

    Personally, I’d like to think that the Wii U will reign supreme, if only because it’s the only next-gen console that can do anything better than the PC.

  • Rik

    As someone who doesn’t own a Wii, but has been considering getting one, it’s hard to see why I should pay an extra $200 to lose GameCube support and gain little else in the process.

    Maybe once this console has had some time to get a bit more established…

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