Edit to add: I was at a party a month ago, and the hosts had their Wii available. People were playing then, too. I think maybe WiiU didn't offer what people wanted. At least among my experiences, multiplayer was vital.
As for the Wii U, I think most people my age just moved on to a different step in our lives, we get together less often, and there just isn't the same interest or opportunities available for casual gaming with friends. I don't know what's happening with the younger generations, and what they're doing in university now.
Smash 4 and Nintendo Land are basically perfect party games. But the similar offerings on the Wii are so close to perfect you really don't need to switch up.
The bottom line is that the Wii differentiated itself in a way that people cared about at the time and the Wii U differentiated itself in a way that nobody really cared about. Also, keep in mind that even the Wii U lineup from Nintendo was a bit disappointing. It had Mario games, sure, but nothing that felt like a successor to Super Mario Galaxy. And it's only getting Zelda now that their next console is launching.
I'm not at all convinced the Switch will suffer the same fate. If Nintendo effectively makes the Switch the successor to both the 3DS and the Wii U and merges their home console and portable console products and divisions, the result could end up being pretty unique and desirable. It's already got Zelda, and it will have Mario by the end of the year. Throw in full-console Pokemon, Monster Hunter, and Pikmin games -- many of which would have previously been made only for the 3DS in stripped-down mobile versions -- and I can see it really taking off.
I for one skipped out on the Wii U but have already placed a preorder for the Switch. I primarily play games on my PC and the PS4 and Xbox One feel redundant and underpowered in comparison. The Switch though feels like a much more compelling package for me.
Yes, they're remakes, but so is MarioKart for Switch.
The new Zelda is coming out for Wii U. That's certain.
I have no idea what point you're trying to make.
There were other games, too, but those came after she had made the decision to buy it and none of them would have convinced her to buy it.
It wasn't anything close to a "delusion" to her and many others who simply loved the Wii Sports game.
I didn't know people that played with toys could be "delusional". My daughter just got old enough to discover and dust off the WiiU. She's playing the copy of Kart 8 that my older son abandoned. She's having a blast.
Besides, every totally knows the Genesis does what Nintendon't and the SuperNES, like, sucks to the extreme, dude.
Plus the person making subtle wrist-flicks while sitting on the couch would usually destroy the one standing up playing "for real". Between those two things it killed my enthusiasm for waggle controls pretty quickly. May as well have used buttons.
Best console ever for rail and light-gun shooters, though. Surprised it didn't get more than it did, especially ports of older ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Wii_video...
The following excerpt discusses the creation of the Wii remote/nunchuck:
Iwata: I still remember the first time I saw the pointer demo in one of the conference rooms. From the moment I picked it up, it just felt right. I had handled other pointer devices before, but they are not normally responsive and leave you feeling more frustrated than relaxed. The pointer idea itself was also good, but in this case it was the sense of control, the finish of the product, that was particularly good. I suppose that was the result of the technology brought in by Mr Takeda.
Ashida: Well, it was because the main controller was just a rod. (laughs) It clearly couldn't be used to control existing games. Since Wii is compatible with GameCube games, and we also had the concept of the Virtual Console, we had to make it possible to play games from the NES days, too. On top of that, we also had to consider FPS (first person shooter) games for the overseas market. These factors ultimately gave birth to the idea of combining various controllers to the main controller with an extension connector.
Miyamoto: The idea of connecting controllers spread very quickly, but the Nunchuk, which had such a strong impact when it was announced, was done much later.
Ashida: I first heard about the idea for the Nunchuk from
Takeda-san. He said, “can you try to make something like this?” There were also requests from the development teams for Metroid and other software titles asking for a new kind of controller that uses both hands, that can offer a new type of gameplay. And so, yet again, we started out by moulding another clay model. (laughs)
Takeda: This idea originally came from one of the young developers involved in the project I mentioned earlier, the one aimed at selling packaged peripherals with GameCube games. Iwata: I can still vividly recall the look of anxiety on Mr Ashida's face when he showed me the Nunchuk. What was running through your mind at that time?
Ashida: Well, I thought it wouldn't fit well with the streamlined designs of the console and controller. At first, I also considered a design similar to that of the remote. But since it was so obvious that the right and left hands are used differently, I realized that making the designs similar would just make it harder to control. When I asked for Mr Takeda's advice, he reassured me that it was fine for them to be different since they would be used separately.
Ikeda: we used to call the Wii Remote the Core Controller, or alternatively the Core Unit, because peripherals were attached to its extension connecter.
Miyamoto: Oh, that's right, we called it the Core, didn't we? But the term Core Unit doesn't sound very accessible, even though that's what we were aiming for all along! (laughs) It was Mr Iwata who insisted that the main controller be called a remote, wasn't it?
Iwata: Yes, that was something that I was unusually stubborn about. The TV remote is something always sits within reach and is picked up and used by everyone all the time. Since I wanted the controller to be used in the same way, and since it ended up looking like one in the end, I strongly believed that it should be called a remote. And also because one of the most fundamental questions behind Wii's development was why some people use the TV remote all the time, but hesitate to pick up a game controller. So I really insisted that it be called a remote.
Ikeda: In the early stages of development we ran into a number of problems that we hadn't anticipated, like the fact that the controller would react to fluorescent light, for example. Creating a mechanism that prevents the controller from responding to fluorescent light and sunlight may not sound overly difficult, but it still caused us a good deal of trouble.
Iwata: So, that's how the specifications of the Wii controller were decided. However, it wasn't until the Tokyo Game Show last year that it was unveiled to the general public. I was up on stage at that event, and I still vividly remember the silence that followed the video that introduced the controller. It felt like time was standing still... It was as though the audience didn't know how to react. Given that you'd all worked so hard on the controller, what did you think of that reaction?
Miyamoto: Like Mr Takeda, I too was very much on edge. I was certain that they wouldn't understand Wii unless they actually tried it out for themselves, and so I was unsure how convincing the presentation alone would be. Everyone was clapping, but I couldn't help but wonder whether our message had gotten across, or whether people thought it was too unconventional. However, looking at the other unveilings at the Tokyo Game Show that day, I was very much relieved by the fact that Nintendo was the only one doing something new. Everyone else seemed to be just polishing up something that everyone had already seen before.
Ashida, when asked about reax from developers: For the most part, their feedback was very positive, which was a great relief. Needless to say, there were a few cries of dissent, but most people were left with a favourable impression.
Ikeda: I was often left in charge of explaining the controller's functions, but it was only when they actually got their hands on the controller that their faces would light up. Seeing this, I really felt as though we'd scored a hit. And then, immediately after they had a go on Wii, they started coming up with ideas. Right there and then they were already discussing what they could do and how they could do it! I was amazed by the speed of this.
Iwata: Producers are more likely to pick up the controller and start thinking about its limitations. Creators, on the other hand, are more likely to look at what is possible, come up with ideas and ask a lot of questions. They'll go home with smiles on their faces, won't they?
Iwata: In bringing Wii to the world, we've filled up countless boxes with mock-ups, prototypes, trial software, and so on. But I truly feel that none of our efforts were wasted. These concepts came and went at a remarkable pace, until we came across those special technologies that solved all of our problems at once. Nowadays, nobody has any doubts about the "d-pad with two main buttons" interface. But twenty years ago many people wondered whether such a controller could really be used to play games. So, if we continue to do what we know has to be done, our controller, which now appears quite unusual, may very well become the new standard. As someone who has made it their life’s work to make innovative products, I feel very lucky to have had the chance to witness this story from beginning to end. Everyone, thank you very much.
Japanese companies are sometimes portrayed as being too conservative. However, I have found that there is a creative/innovative streak in certain firms that can lead to truly innovative products that push the engineering and creative envelopes, open up new markets, and force everyone to realize new possibilities. That's what happened with the Wii. Its success, however, was not duplicated with the WiiU.
1. https://web.archive.org/web/20100612175931/http://wii.ninten...
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPK3WxUH8Qg