Will the Wii U stay Afloat?

It’s been a year since the release of the Wii U, and as the first of Nintendo’s consoles to support high-definition graphics, the Wii U has already been established as a landmark in family gaming (because, let’s face it, Nintendo does it better than anybody else, especially when Mario Kart is on the cards), and features a dynamic system of gaming – utilising the big screen and a tablet – that is wholly unique, as was its predecessor’s.[divider]

The traditional money-making-guarantee games have already been churned out, such as Wii U Fit and Wii Party U, and though they’re predictable, they’re also immensely addictive and we can’t argue the need for this repetitive release of games, because there is certainly demand for them, but greater than this, they ignite our imagination with a vision of the potential dimensional advancement that future party games of the Wii U will demonstrate. Party games are simply made for Nintendo consoles so it’s promising to see them sticking to their laurels on this one. My eye, specifically, in on the next Super Smash Bros. Brawl set for release sometime in 2014, as a contender for the title of Best-Selling Wii U Game for that year (it’s also a party favourite of my school friends and mine, as we spend hours amusing ourselves, taking pictures of Pikachu in ridiculous knock-out poses).

However, this is make-it or break-it time for Nintendo. All this time, they’ve been dancing alone in the eighth generation console disco, but Microsoft and Sony’s new, shiny giants are about to come over the horizon and, to be honest, it will be hit and miss as to whether the Wii U can avoid being squished under their monstrous feet. While we have seen glimpses of the Wii U’s unique graphical potential with 2011’s E3 Legend of Zelda gameplay demos, we’ve yet to have it handed to us as a physical disk, and the only high-def games we have seen, such as Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, still look more pleasing on the PS4 and arguably on the PS3 (but you might like to formulate your own opinion by watching the IGN’s comparison video yourself here). Even the critics at GameRankings and Metacritic rarely rate the Wii U’s version of a game as being more impressive than that of its counterparts on rival consoles.

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This isn’t to say games such as Mass Effect 3 and Resident Evil: Revelations are terrible on the Wii U, but if they cannot be better, if they cannot present a definitively unique and worthwhile experience of that game, it’s pointless. And since the figures tells us this, unfortunately, is the case, it’s a waste of effort for Nintendo to port these big franchises, because the majority of their players (who have probably always been loyal to either Microsoft or Sony) will already be opting to buy a PS4 or an Xbox One this winter, which they can also use as an all-purpose living room box, to continue collecting achievements or trophies and connect with their friends.

There is room for debate here, however, because many might argue that it is not Nintendo’s intention to compete with Microsoft and Sony, that it has its own style and criteria and caters for a different audience, and sometimes the same audience, that buys two or even three consoles, knowing there is a time for a Wii U and a time for an Xbox. It’s true, many families own both – the Xbox or PlayStation, or what I would call the more single-player-orientated console, and the Wii U, the multi-player-orientated console. Despite being the least powerful of the consoles, it has still made its way into our lives and homes and has obtained its own comfortable niche market, which is exactly why I hope Nintendo will not greedily bombard their list of games with the standard, ‘popular’ selection of franchises, while foregoing their own gems.

At the very end of the Wii’s age, we RPG fans could hardly keep our pants on because Nintendo seemed to have delegated every day as Christmas when The Last Story (directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, previously producer of the Final Fantasy series), Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora’s Tower hit the shelves. These epics boasted the best graphics we had ever seen on the Wii, they were story-based, rich in flavour, environments and characters – and let’s not forget Okami, which so aptly utilised the controller’s abilities for the celestial brush techniques that you could only ever assert its brilliance if it was experienced on a Wii. It was these revolutionary single-player games which secured the Wii as a truly memorable addition to the gaming legacy, a giant in its own right; none of the titles just listed (save for Okami, which briefly appeared on the PS2) were ported to other consoles, they were specifically designed, and produced, to adhere to the Wii controller’s unique capabilities, and this made them fantastic.

If Nintendo wishes to retain its young audience and tempt their older customers to dig out their wallets and fling money their way, they need look no further. Their controller, as was the Wii’s controller, is the key to success. Port games designed for it and you’ve got yourself an immediate winner; bring out another Kororinpa, double whammy. But we are in luck! Those RPGs we adored on the old console may just be receiving their reincarnation in Child of Light, a mysterious game due for release in 2014, and if that’s too far in the future, Super Mario 3D World comes to stores on the 29th of this month, riding on the success of the 3DS’s Super Mario 3D Land, but bigger and better. With hopefully more of these along the way, we’ll all be anticipating that the Wii U utilises its Download Software application, following suit with Sony’s Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X (this is one thing we really, really want them to copy), re-releasing our beloved RPGs in re-mastered forms.

The fan base for the Wii U is there, but I say we’ve yet to see its true potential as a contender unlocked. As for whether I, personally, am convinced enough to open my wallet – I’ll be bringing Nintendo and Microsoft home with me this Christmas.

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