NINTENDO WII U: The Legacy of the Loser | GEEK CRITIQUE

[@Dustin_VG]

This video absorbs quality and likes like the Wii U absorbs dust

[@robertwyatt3912]

This dust absorbs Wii U like the dust likes quality.

[@DARS_04]

I had to clean mine because it started overheating and shutting down

[@patzeek8082]

And fingerprints.

[@NightOoooowl]

And stickers. As a kid I had stickers on the GamePad (these were stickers officially sold by Nintendo so it's not like the GamePad wasn't supposed to have stickers on it), and to this day, parts of the controller are still sticky

[@Blernster]

​@@NightOoooowlgoo gone

[@mario64remix]

"Being a Wii U owner felt kind of like being shipwrecked on an island with a dozen other weirdos." That hit hard! But at least us weirdos had a blast on that island, didn't we? :')

[@Loveistheirwholehapp]

no

[@theruoc147]

To quote Scott the Woz “I’m not a freak, I’m one of the freaks.”

[@pladampa]

💯

[@jennika753]

Remember the Miiverse guy who went around reviewing water?

[@mario64remix]

@@jennika753 Haha yes, although I mostly know him because other KZbinrs etc talked about him. To be honest I rarely visited Miiverse myself.

[@DuoStuff]

I used to bring my Wii U to school, hook the whole thing up (AC adapters and all) and use the Gamepad like a portable screen. I even used to hand people a controller and play multiplayer Smash Bros or Mario, sort of like a proto-Switch. I was like a walking Wii U ad. I was also known as the school's resident (and almost the only) Nintendo nerd. Hearing the "Are you an Xbox guy or a Playstation guy" segment triggered memories of my high school days.

[@BradsGonnaPlay]

As someone who only had a GameCube and Wii (and probably one of the only kids in my town with a favorite N64) from 2002-2013, I was basically ostracized from the gamer crowd. And on the ironic flip-side, I was also a C Tier jock (XC, Wrestling, and Track/Sprinting as opposed to the S tier Football-Winter Training-Baseball kids), so I basically had 10 verrrrry patient friends that entire stretch of time, non-consecutively. Being a Nintendo nerd in school never really paid 😂

[@DuoStuff]

@@BradsGonnaPlay It's funny because I actually was decently popular, partially because I was almost always the student council secretary (so everyone knew me), and partially because I guess people just appreciated that I was genuine about my passions. lol

[@Iinneus]

I did that in college! A lot of my classmates were glued to the screen as I played in a way that I could really recognize as "Oh, you've literally never seen this video game, nor have you seen a console do something like this before". Like, surely all of them have seen someone with a DS or 3DS, glanced over, said "oh yeah looks like a DS game", and understood. But to sit down for lunch and glance over at your friend playing Bayonetta 2 before their next class? That was something else in 2014/15.

[@derekmyers423]

Bet you got a lot of girls huh

[@BradsGonnaPlay]

@@DuoStuff I had a lot of passing friends myself, but there was only a tiny handful of genuine relationships. I blame the Wii exclusively for that. /joke Also full disclosure, I’m not sure why I wrote my original reply in the first place, I think I was still tired and stoned from April 20 lol but I appreciate the response!

[@Brione30]

I just can’t get over the fact that “The Geek Critique” began life as a college newspaper column. Stunning.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

With the same logo and everything!

[@artherfrain6999]

Rip to all the non-WiiU owners, they'll never know how good those discs feel.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

Wii U discs had no right to feel that good

[@SonofMrPeanut]

The real pifall when it came to the Wii U's launch: They completely wasted a year lead. While some enjoyable software, especially eShop exclusive games, were released, Super Mario 3D World didn't arrive until the PS4 & XBO did. Even w/ their strongest period from that game to Splatoon (w/ Super Mario Maker as an encore), they couldn't overcome such a mishandled opening year. This is no disrespect to The Year of Luigi, btw. That was perfection.

[@GameAW1]

That was one of the many issues the Wii U had. It was REALLY mishandled horribly and never given a real chance to succeed, nor played to its strengths (as the homebrew community found out in detail for that one). It felt honestly like Nintendo didn't really have a clear idea on what to do with the console and just did whatever with it. Year of Luigi was absolutely top tier however

[@lukebrady65]

It's not that they wasted a year. Satoru Iwata (RIP) himself said in many interviews that Nintendo was struggling with the transition to HD. They went from 480p Wii to 1080p Wii U. They simply weren't ready for the workload and how much longer it would take to develop high-definition games. It delayed all of their projects significantly. But I agree that it was completely mishandled, and Nintendo should have been better prepared.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@lukebrady65 Not helping matters is that Nintendo was also making games for the 3ds as well. The Switch feels like an all hands on deck situation.

[@DylanYoshi]

Something I feel goes overlooked about the Wii to Wii U transition is that, by the time the Wii U came out, the initial goal of the Wii had already been achieved. At E3 2006, Reggie asked the audience if they knew anyone who had never watched a movie, and then asked them if they knew anyone who had never played a game. He made the Wii's ultimate goal clear: To make gaming mainstream enough that the average person can say they've played a game. The Wii may not have been only reason why this goal was achieved, and it's debatable how big of an impact it actually had. But regardless of that, there was certainly a big shift that happened during the Wii era where more and more people were playing games. By the early 2010's, "Casual" games no longer really meant simple games like Wii Sports or Wii Fit. The hardcore were calling more complex experiences like Call of Duty and Minecraft casual because of how much mass appeal they had. Certainly, there were casual gamers that weren't interested in more complex experiences that didn't come back for the Wii U. But where did they go after the Wii? Some of them stayed casual and moved on to mobile games, but others jumped ship to the Xbox 360 or PS3 and got into those games like Call of Duty. Gaming was gradually becoming normalized. How much we can attribute that to the Wii specifically, I don't know, but one point is clear: The Wii was no longer needed because its goal had already been accomplished. And one of Nintendo's own games really demonstrates this. Fire Emblem Awakening came out internationally just a few months after the Wii U did. While the Wii U was already showing its struggle, Awakening was a massive hit that sold over 2 million copies. In 2012 and 2013, the Wii U totally failed to bring in a large audience for games like Nintendo Land and Wii Sports Club, which would have been huge titles on the Wii. Meanwhile the 3DS got a game from a niche genre in a franchise that had never sold particularly well in the west and it became an instant success. The market had shifted. The hardcore audience was getting even more invested in the hobby to the extent that once obscure franchises could become huge hits, and the casual audience was into what was previously considered hardcore. We've only seen this trend become more prominent as time went on- Nowadays, we have games like Persona and Xenoblade and NieR pulling in insane numbers. Gaming is a HUGE deal compared to what it was when the Wii first launched. And that's just the thing, with gaming starting to get bigger around the time the Wii U came out, there was really no need to appeal to the casual audience that bought the Wii anymore. In their chasing of the Wii's success, they forgot what their purpose in making the Wii successful was in the first place. Back at E3 2006, they made it clear that they wanted to turn non-gamers into gamers. They wanted to introduce people who had never touched a controller to games like Wii Sports so that they could transition into loving games like Zelda and Metroid. And whether the Wii was solely responsible for it or not, the market DID shift in that direction. Making a second Wii was completely unnecessary; the casual market in 2012 was not looking for games that were as entry-level as Wii Sports.

[@Elonyx.studios]

I do think the Wii & DS Combined did so much to pave the way for the casual market. After the wii the audience for games went in one of 2 directions: either the new comers either became more invested into games and started to veer more towards the hard-core or niche titles, or they continued to play casual games in the burgeoning mobile market. Nintendo couldn't retain that casual audience anymore cuz they shifted to the far more convenient, accessible, and cheaper phone games. While the new hard-core crowd moved on to the competing consoles. There really was no one left for the wii U except the die-hard Nintendo fans

[@sonicrunn3r895]

There's a certain part of this where I feel the Switch's crazy success and being able to capture even less hardcore audiences over time to pull more people into gaming was at least partially sowed by the Wii's success. Especially considering with the age, going into the pandemic years where everyone suddenly turned to gaming a lot of people would probably have grown up in the Wii's era and be nostalgic for it.

[@typojoemmxxiv]

Bro got tired of waiting for Scott's retrospective on the Wii U that he made his own

[@porygon-q2619]

One thing I think a lot of people forget is that this WASN'T the Wii U era, it was the Wii U/*3DS* era. Like, sure, the Wii U wasn't the best, but the 3DS was a legitimately great system! It was much easier to be glass half full with the Wii U when there was a great handheld alongside it.

[@HebrewGamer100]

The 3DS would have met a similar fate if not for the steep price cut shortly after its release due to poor initial sales. Selling people the same system they already had with a 3D parlor trick wasn't worth its debut price tag.

[@Yoshinator]

I feel like if you have to spend another 200 bucks to get a decent era, then that just proves how lacking it is. Gamecube and N64 were also slower but I've never heard anyone say "but they also had the Gameboy Color/Advance!"

[@KAYJAYSTUDIOSYT]

@@Yoshinator Agreed. The 3ds may have saved Nintendo DURING the Wii u. But it did not save the Wii u. And that's what counts at the end of the day. The other two managed to keep themselves relatively well without a 2nd device being sold alongside it. Nintendo failed.

[@randomduck8679]

​@@Yoshinator Because portable gaming is often overlooked. And most people didn't spend another 200 for the 3ds. They just didn't buy a Wii U.

[@HebrewGamer100]

@stanbrule9357 It wasn't a major upgrade. Nintendo sold people the same thing twice while adding a 3D gimmick.

[@DrMadd]

The Wii U is a very special console for me because it was my very first taste of the next generation hype cycle. I entered the video game market in the seventh generation and so for a long time the Wii was the pinnacle of what video games could be for me. Then to see this new system with radically new features and a huge visual upgrade was mind blowing. I really thought that tablet/tv gaming could be the future of the industry. I remember seeing the touch pad on the PS4 controller and smugly thinking "Look what they have to do to mimic a fraction of our power". I always remember feeling the underdog sentiment with the Wii U, but the 3DS' failed launch was always fresh in my mind. People had been so quick to dismiss the 3DS before any of the killer apps had even come out, and then when they did it shut up all those silly early critics, as if the only console where kids could buy the new Pokémon game wasn't going to be a huge success. So for the first few years of the Wii U it was just this constant feeling of "Any day now the masses will wake up and see that this system is worth owning. Any day now..." I don't think it really sunk in for me how screwed the Wii U really was until E3 2015 where after the initial Splatoon hype had died down Nintendo fans were ready for the next big game announcements to tide them over for the next year, and then Star Fox Zero of all things was the headlining new game that Nintendo was promoting alongside a mediocre looking Mario sports title and Wii U spin-offs for Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing that completely missed what those audiences were looking for. I know how nice it was to reminisce about the good ol' days of Nintendo fandom being more insular but I do remember in some pockets it got really nasty from 2015-2017. I think that's part of why in the fall of 2015 The Geek Critique quickly became one of my favourite KZbin channels. You always bring so much infectious positivity and reverence to every subject you talk about. It's weird to think that was almost ten years ago now. When I first started watching your stuff I was a teenager with no social life and still a year away from graduating High School, now I'm four years past graduating college with so many friends it's kind of ridiculous, and have a dream job that keeps me so busy that I just don't have the time to keep up with the TGC Discord server anymore (shoutout to them, all lovely people in that community). Josh you've always made my day just a little bit better whenever you upload a new video (the day I'm typing this is the day after my birthday so you really nailed it with the timing this time) so please never stop geekin' or critiquin'.

[@GeekCritique]

Yeah, Star Fox Zero *was* supposed to be the big game for holiday 2015, but it got kicked down another quarter, which is why the Mario Tennis game got rushed out. Like I said in the video, Nintendo had basically spent the previous decade proving "conventional wisdom" wrong over and over again, so it didn't seem especially far-fetched to think they'd do it again.

[@revenile]

Wii U owner here, no regrets on it. Just wanted to say that the rage of Bayonetta 2 being a Wii U exclusive was some of the funniest stuff I ever saw. Like Platinum literally went around to Sony and Microsoft first to try and not have to cancel Bayonetta 2 and both said "No," Only Nintendo was crazy enough to go for it, and they've treated her quite well since, so much so that there's kind of a part of me that hopes they find a way to adopt the IP as a Nintendo second party one. So thank you Nintendo for showing the Umbran Witches and Lumen Sages so much love. I still laugh at the comment some guy said back then about how he was going to punch a dolphin in the 'female area.' Good times.

[@LockeTheCole]

I don't care about Winners or Losers, so long as they are good. The Saturn was amazing, as was the Dreamcast, the Gamecube, AND the Wii-U. I'm glad to have backed all of those 'losers'.

[@Dev_Astral]

The Gamecube is still to this day my absolute favorite console of all time. Something it and only it has ever achieved. It’s hard to explain but the Gamecube just…. Felt different. Everything on it was special for some reason, and most of my favorite games or at least series had their first real breakthrough on that console. Luigi’s Mansion, Smash Bros, Pikmin… God I love that console.

[@V3ntilator]

Xbox only sold 1 million more and were considered a success. Nintendo earned money on Game Cube, so it were at least a success for Nintendo.

[@Dev_Astral]

@@V3ntilator 1 key difference though: Xbox was a monstrous financial loss for Microsoft. Which they were expecting, as their actual goal was to successfully enter the video game market, which they did, not in small part thanks to Halo and Xbox Live, which poised them to be a heavy hitter with the 360. Meanwhile, the Gamecube was the product of one of the, if not the most well established VG company at the time, came after the already less than stellar performance of the N64, and had a lot of expectations unfulfilled. The Gamecube could have been the end of Nintendo in this sector, while the Xbox managed to make MS a force to be reckoned with… granted for barely more than one gen, but still.

[@ThomastheDankEngine8900]

All those consoles are great. On a completely unrelated note the PlayStation 3 is awesome as well lol.

[@Sinistar123]

One thing people forget with the GameCube, Xbox and PS2 generation is that the PS2 was so wildly successful that it totally skewed the scales. And a huge part of its success was the fact that it was a relatively cheap DVD player, lots of people bought the PS2 just for the DVD player. If that was removed I bet things would have been much more equal.

[@EpicGem815]

After a decade, Geek Critique is still one of my favorite channels on all of KZbin. This video brought me back to the days of the Wii U when I was in high school. Hard to believe how much has changed since then.

[@dharkling]

Super Mario Maker would have absolutely made all the difference for the system’s launch. Back in the early 90’s when SNES was king, Nintendo Power published an article asking fans what games we would like to see made. I responded about a game where you could customize your own Mario levels, and call it “Super Mario Maker”. A month later, I had received a response letter that we would need to wait for technology to advance further before that happens, but they liked the idea and the title very much. Had i known they would have run with it, i would have had the letter framed or something. Great video, btw!

[@StarWolf5298]

The thing with the Super Mario 64 to Star Fox Zero comparison is that Nintendo included the stick for SM64's sake, not the other way around. SFZ *WAS* the other way around, the game having to conform to the controls and the game suffered for it.

[@NightOoooowl]

I think the point Josh was making was less about why the controls were the way they were, and more that he personally had a desire to stick with Zero because he had similar difficulties with the N64 as a kid. Definitely a good observation on your end though. It's probably a decent part of the reason SM64 was a massive success while Zero wasn't so beloved.

[@megabyte01]

I didn't think to use the select button to switch the camera perspective. That might help on the arwing levels

[@orangeslash1667]

@@NightOoooowl There's a reason Zero has a training mode.

[@Dr._Zoidberg]

There’s something so timeless about your videos, I think it’s the quality and passion they’re made with tbh, it’s contagious. I always find myself coming back to many of your video series, and I’m sure that this video will be no exception. Congratulations on 10 years mate!

[@Darthlucy1]

I have a little story about my time with the Wii U: So back in late 2015, I was taking vocational class. Every so often we’d have a game day. I would bring my Wii U to class namely for SSB. Fall 2015, I did just that. But then this other kid brought his PS4 and wanted to play Rocket League. Now we had the option to use either a projector that could only do 4:3 but had sound, or a widescreen TV with no sound. We both wanted the projector. I won the projector but most of the kids wanted to play Rocket League while my friend and I were playing SSB. I did feel a bit bitter that everyone was more into car soccer than beating the snot out of Nintendo characters. (Also I love that you pointed out that the Wii was a fad. I’ve had a hard time getting Wii fans to realize this.)

[@ventilo334]

You could have used the widescreen TV with the GamePad's sound.

[@Freezer94]

The world's second biggest Star Fox Zero enjoyer just here to thank you for spreading more positivity about it.

[@AD3Supa]

Count me as number 3. I think the only big names who liked it other than now Geek Critique was The Completionist. I really loved Star Fox Zero and it's cool to see someone else actually say the same thing.

[@AppleGreenmusic]

As someone who's been trying for years to convince people that SFZ had at the very least nuances to it that nobody ever wants to give it credit for, I'm so happy to see you both appreciate the game at least as much as I do.

[@GeekCritique]

There are DOZENS of us!

[@hahasamian8010]

I don't even have a Wii U, but the game was announced during my early days online and while I was playing the older Star Fox games I so badly wanted to give this one a shot. Years later I would buy a copy, get the game onto my computer, and strap a phone to my Gamecube controller just so I could finally experience this. For as clunky as the setup was, I actually really loved this game. (I have a weird upload on my channel about this setup as well.) A few years later, I would get a Steam Deck, and the game plays like a dream on there by holding down the previously unused L button for the scope view. Man, this was all they had to do...! So all this to say, even as someone who never owned a Wii U, there's something magical about Star Fox Zero and it'll always hold a place in my heart. With that in mind though, if you haven't... PLAY SIN AND PUNISHMENT 2 AND KID ICARUS UPRISING THEY ARE AMAZING AAAAAA

[@AppleGreenmusic]

@@hahasamian8010 Treasure Chad's rise up

[@PixelPikmin]

I loved the Wii U. Could be nostalgia speaking, but the fact that Pikmin 3 is my favorite game of all time says volumes

[@Magic_Ice]

Pikmin 3 is my 10th favorite game ever and it really shows that the Wii U had do many great games, it just took a needed a different way to deliver them to people for them to appreciate it.

[@PixelPikmin]

@@Magic_Ice Well said. I hope games like Wind Waker HD, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and especially Yoshi’s Woolly World get ported to switch. Woolly World would look so good on switch🤩

[@Magic_Ice]

@@PixelPikmin I was thinking about that when watching this video! It’s honestly crazy to me they didn’t port Woolly World and Wind Waker/Twilight Princess to Switch it makes so much sense. Xenoblade Chronicles X makes more sense since Monolith Soft said the game would be very expensive to port so I’m hoping for an expanded remaster on the next system. Maybe then it would be powerful enough to handle Black Tar blasting 24/7.

[@PixelPikmin]

@@Magic_Ice I could see Xenoblade Chronicles X on whatever Nintendos next console is. The fact we had to have so many downloads just to run it on Wii U makes me think it wouldn’t run the best on the current switch. As for Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Woolly World, those definitely need to come to switch in the near future, especially since we probably won’t be getting another Zelda or Yoshi game anytime soon

[@-xodus5505]

Seriously, why do people never talk about Xenoblade X. It's arguably the best and biggest game on the system and has never been ported

[@GeekCritique]

I never played it! My wife has it though. The soundtrack is fantastic!

[@pilotmemes]

I just started it, I know I'm late, but yet it is arguably the most gorgeous world on the system (along with Breath of the Wild) and really showed what the Wii U was capable of.

[@ZMYaro]

I think you are essentially correct that Nintendo overestimated how inclined a “non-gamer” would be to remain loyal Nintendo customers after the Wii, but I think an important part of that was the 2008 recession. When money got tight, more casual fans were more likely to see video games and consoles as a large expense they could cut from their budgets. Years later, when the Switch came out, we saw more of those casual fans seemed willing to buy a Nintendo console again.

[@hajilee4539]

I can't believe it, an hour of Geek Critique not long after the Metroid Revisited series? We are eating good! I remember when I first got my Wii U. Me and my sister were given "mad money" from our grandparents, and despite the Nintendo Switch literally just having launched, we both settled on a Wii U. I remember the family driving around looking at EB Games and local stores desperately trying to find a Wii U, only to be frustrated with the influx of Nintendo Switches. One clerk actually audibly laughed when we told him we wanted a Wii U. It took a while, but we found it in the end. And boy am I glad we did. Because it was the end of the console's lifespan, we didn't have to deal with any of the infamous game droughts, and prices were dirt cheap. I remember getting Splatoon 1 with the Inkling Boy and Girl amiibos for fifteen dollars. Still one of the best deals I've ever found, and I never would have played Splatoon if it wasn't. Same goes for Mario Maker, Breath of the Wild, and Nintendo Land. Stupid kid me never would have tried these games in different conditions. But because there was such a limited library to choose from, I was almost forced to give new things a try. Because my Mom was very particular about my screen time at that age, I remember passing the time in loopholes like the built-in apps. I have so many fond memories watching Nintendo Minute on the eShop and drawing on Miiverse. Even more obscure things like tying a Wii remote to the Pro Controller to play Splatoon Balloon Battle with Motion controls make me a little teary-eyed just thinking about. I know the console is a failure sales wise, but damn it if it didn't make me the happiest kid alive. Congratulations on ten years TGC, I can't express how much I appreciate you and your content :)

[@GeekCritique]

And thank you for a fantastic comment. :) You really did get a Wii U at the perfect time, and in the perfect conditions. I'm glad you got so much out of it!

[@TheSmatislav]

Congrats on 10 years of critiqueing. Here's to the next 10 (and hopefully a lot more)!

[@GeekCritique]

Thank you!

[@jacobmonks3722]

6:40 Xenoblade music plays. Neuron Activated.

[@ItsRetroPlanet]

One of the best interpretations of the Wii u's history I've seen since. People like you are the reason why I continue with my channel, despite being so small and possibly not being seen for such a long, long time. Thanks for this video, and thanks for the memories! Can't wait for another 10 years and even more! 1:01:06

[@johnlucas1543]

Extra comment. No Pikmin 3 mention. BOO! Bayonetta being adopted into the Nintendo family was *MWAH* ! Chef's Kiss. I LOVE that the others hated it. Bayonetta 2 EXCLUSIVE to Wii U. Nobody else would fund it but Nintendo. So Nintendo said we're gonna make Bayonetta a franchise player. We're gonna make a star outta that girl. We have adopted her, gaming industry. Bayonetta is another one of the Nintendo "Princesses". Right at home with Pauline, Peach, Daisy, Toadette, Rosalina, Zelda, Samus Aran, Dixie Kong, Candy Kong, Krystal, Isabelle, Inkling Girl, The Squid Sisters-Callie & Marie, Octoling Girl, Off The Hook-Pearl & Marina, Deep Cut-Shiver & Frye. We have adopted that girl & the others will just have to get used to it. I especially love seeing both Nintendo & Sega on the box & in the game showing the old school alliance. You know, that *Old School Revolution* by Jacob Drake from 2006. Once Rivals now Allies keeping GAMING as it once was & should always be.

[@TMSonic1228]

I don't know how you constantly do it but every single video you put out grabs me and pulls me in. I've watched plenty of videos about the wii u, but without a doubt, you always find the right notes, the right script, the right music to fit the tone of the video, and the right presentation with narration to engross me into it. One of your best videos GC. Please never stop.

[@KotBox]

I feel we've been watching the WiiU legacy unfold stronger than ever recently. The amount of videos and discussion I see about it just keeps expanding. And most of them have the same message. That yes, we realize the WiiU was a fumble, but what it did manage to pull off was incredible. And now with mods, hacks, and projects like Pretendo, it gets to live on with a warm legacy instead of a harsh one! Great video as always man. Congrats on 10 years

[@SonofMrPeanut]

It should be fully understood that to Nintendo, Star Fox Zero was the epitome of what they viewed the Wii U as being: Two screens interacting. The HD visuals on the TV were to invite players in, and the SD gamepad screen was the primary player experience. Every design choice with that title leaned on everything they thought the Wii U should be. The fact the Switch cut out those parts and left in most of the things people liked about the system speaks volumes about its reception (this coming from someone who still enjoyed it).

[@Lupucillo]

I've loved the Wii U since Day 1. Played it non-stop, and played Xenoblade Chronicles X with friends all the way up until the last day Wii U was online. And I continue to play it, non-stop, because it's just fun. And that's what I want in my games at the end of the day. Fun.

[@crimsonECH1DNA]

Mario Maker really was a revelation, something which despite the sequel coming out on Switch and I believe technically selling better still didn't quite hit that same viral spark as the first one did. That game perfectly coincided with the Miiverse which I think helped the word of mouth for the game. Same with Splatoon.

[@kylespevak6781]

"The name Wii U confused customers because they thought it was part of the Wii lineage" Meanwhile, Playstation 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series. It's almost like establishing brand identity with a name consumers already trusted and loved

[@LostKawaii]

Sometimes I am kinda shocked, how similar our "console career" has been 😂 I went from the Genesis to the N64, to the Gamecube, the Xbox 360 and then the Wii U. And I Loved them all ❤

[@tibbs3165]

I think another reason the Wii U failed is because Nintendo lost touch with the way people consume gaming now. This was the era of Nintendo basically forcing KZbin content creators to not feature their games or else they would take the profit. If any console could have benefited from that extra level of exposure, it's the Wii U. You can have the best system ever but if no one is aware of it, it doesn't matter.

[@adrianpadin1840]

NEW GEEK CRITIQUE. My day is made

[@Khalith]

The gamepad dragged itself across a wasteland with one arm in agony so the switch could run.

[@dr6559]

Wii U was my first console where I started following online news about games. It was surreal, seeing all the doom posting about Nintendo, but I didn’t care. I loved Mario Kart, Tropical Freeze, Rayman, Mario Maker and 3d World, and Smash on it. It was a time where I could play basically anything I wanted as I didn’t lack time for them, but I really don’t miss the era much. They’re in a better spot now, and they have done things I can’t see them ever doing back then. Excellent work as usual Josh.

[@bookishdelight]

... Lord, Josh, you're about to make me _actually finally play Star Fox Zero._ Like, I'm legit about to dig out my Wii U from the closet and rip off the the world's most painful band-aid of betrayal I've ever felt as a ride-or-die fan of Platinum. I hope you're happy. 😂

[@GeekCritique]

I told my wife that I'd inspired some people to give it a try, and she said, "I hope they can join you in your grand delusion."

[@drmariomariomd6733]

The 3DS is part of why I didn’t get a Wii U. There were the struggles on both console's parts, but it never shook the “do you want the portable one or the HD one” image from the New Super Mario 2/U launch season. Isometric Mario? Zelda remakes? Donkey Kong? What about the new Smash Bros? The handheld one or the HD one? If they hadn’t botched the Virtual Console and lost Rayman I would have been way more likely, but once bitten twice shy. By the time Splatoon and Mario Maker were out the damage was done.

[@alexsanders37]

This helped make so much sense of the weird phenomenon I'd experienced in recent months. I was riding the wave of nostalgia for the Gamecube anticipating we weren't far away from the Wii nostalgia, but I felt people were already preemptively jumping to Wii U nostalgia. You put it perfectly when you said nostalgia is measured in distance, not time. To this day, people still LOVE the Wii. I think for many people, the Wii WAS video games. Maybe more importanrly, for many non-gamers, the Wii was NOT "video games" in their minds, which is why they felt like they could engage with and enjoy them. They don't look back at the Wii as a generation of gaming or even as a gimmick. They look at it as a moment in entertainment with friends and family that they still connect over today. I dusted off my Wii to play some classics with my family (who never played video games before and haven't since) and while I was shocked at how much worse the graphics looked than I remembered, everyone else just jumped right in as if no time had passed. The Wii may never experience that wave like other Nintendo consoles had because it had a lifespan so completely different from all of those other consoles.

[@NinjaWeedle]

Star Fox Zero blew my mind as a kid. The 3D audio from the gamepad was something i had never seen before, and somehow the dual screen gameplay never bothered me. It feels like a proper space adventure.

[@matthewwonks2534]

This video is so incredibly relatable. It's almost 1:1 version of what I did: Post the NES, it went Genesis, N64, Dreamcast, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, and Switch. (Excluding handhelds...although the Game Gear was my first handheld choice.) In any case, the game or app I played the most on the Wii U was the Internet browser, which says a lot. It was not an irredeemable purchase, I have some great memories...but man was it lacking compared to all other consoles I had that came before it.

[@cookiestar3069]

Lots of great insights. You’re a stellar storyteller, and have only gotten better with time. Congratulations on 10 years! Here’s to many more. This video brought back lots of memories. I more or less stopped gaming during the seventh generation. Wii U was my first home console since GameCube and PS2. It felt like I was getting back in touch with my roots. I bought it long after it was already considered a failure. And I loved it. From the cozy gamepad feel to the god-tier menu themes to the sizable library of genuine classics. So. Many. Gems. I was there day 1 with Splatoon and I’ll never forget it. Like you touched upon, being a Nintendo fan during that era seemed special. The company treated its fans better and you felt like you were part of this niche club brought together by your love of this boutique game maker.

[@cookiestar3069]

I keep coming back to this video-it’s one of your best!

[@Furluge]

3:35 - (Note: Still watching the whole video here.) Crazy tangent. My main gaming PC? I put it together in 2012. Really only ever upgraded the graphics card in it and put in more storage. The processor, ram, motherboard, all the same. I highlight this because it really highlights to me how much the tech has slowed after the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox. PCs aren't quite the same but if you look at a game from 1990 and 1993 they look WORLDS different. In 1993 my PC had 66Mhz, had a 256 color super VGA graphcis card. By 1998 to seriously game you wanted something like 200Mhz and a voodoo 3d graphics accelerator card using glide and Windows 98. And in 2001 You needed 1.6 Ghz processor with a nvidia geoforce 3 using the direct3d standard. You would carefully have to read any game's requirements on the box before buying it because they changed so fast and your PC would be outdated in 2 years. Now I haven't looked at system requirements in over 10 years, everything usually runs fine, and it's a surprise whenever a game is demanding enough for me to require new hardware. Said gaming PC built in 2012 is starting to show it's age now, but I'm finding I'm more likely to play PC games on a handheld like a Steam Deck. And in parallel, in console generations they used to be such massive leaps forward. Atari 2600, to NES/SMS, Genesis/SNES, N64/Playstation/Saturn, PS2/Dreamcast/Gamecube/Xbox, each one of those were a massive leap forward. Even the Xbox 360 and PS3 were big leaps forward in what could be done but it was the first time a console generation was less unique. When they came out they were big leaps in processing compared to what my PC could do, sure, but they were quickly outpaced by a gaming PC. Even then the PS3 was at least trying something unique with it's architecture even if it didn't pan out. But the following two console generators the PS4/Xbox One and PS5/Xbox Series X have just unashamedly marketed themselves as just a budget PC gaming box. Where as in the past the hardware was a unique custom built beast, now we know exactly who makes it, what goes into it, and what the equivalent PC hardware is. And while I have a Switch I haven't even felt a need to buy those last two console generations I mentioned. They don't offer me anything better than the completely open platform my PC does.

[@SonofMrPeanut]

Wii U gamepad is still my all-time favorite universal remote. The fact I could navigate my Cable menus & play DVR w/ it blew my mind then, and all w/o even having to turn on the console.

[@pilotmemes]

If anything it was a universal remote that wouldn't get lost in the couch cushions.

[@SonofMrPeanut]

One point of excitement for Wii U owners in early 2013: The January Wii U Direct. Not only does this feel like the moment the "Direct" started to become what we know it as today (E3 2013 would solidify it), but it was an oasis of hope in that dry spell. The aforementioned 30 cent NES games, Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Wind Waker HD and the announcements of what would be named Yoshi's Wooly World, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (then just "The Shin Megami Tensei-Fire Emblem Crossover Game") and Xenoblade Chronicles X. This, along w/ E3 announcements, were what fans would cling to.

[@GeekCritique]

Yeah, it's just that most of them were the better part of a year away! I remember a lot of Wii U owners being so desperate for new things to play that Lego City Undercover was a hot topic for a while. Those 30 cent VC games really were a godsend at the time!

[@MACZ2021]

10 entire years of TGC?! I hope we get another 10 years for sure. Keep up the excellent work, Josh! I feel like if I were to describe my feelings towards my experience with the Wii U, it would be similar to this video for sure. As an early adopter of the Wii U, getting to see people come back years later to back up the good aspects of the console is always cool to see and for me, it wasn't just the games for it or being a life long Nintendo fan, but the Internet browser on the Wii U is HANDS DOWN my favorite Internet browser on any console/handheld that has a browser on it. Being able to open up to 6 tabs at once, playing videos on KZbin on your TV while browsing the Internet on another tab, looking up info for games from the home menu (the one that opened when you hit the home button to be specific) without having to close whatever game you're playing, taking all of that into consideration on top of being able to browse social media, it was fantastic. I remember managing to clock in over 1000 hours on the Internet browser alone just from browsing Facebook on the gamepad during the summer of 2014. I'll never forget the time I had with my Wii U, and I'll always view it as one of my best purchases even in light of the downsides and flaws of it cause I know for a fact that I got my money's worth.

[@anonony9081]

I liked the wii u a lot. It was objectively better for games like mario makers and having maps and menus available at all times really was useful

[@maxwassermann3171]

Has it been 10 years already? Just wanted to say I really appreciate your videos. They are always a joy to watch.

[@hamburgerlover9825]

The combination of Miiverse and a failing console ended up making for one of the most special moments in any video game community. In 2014 it felt like everyone that played Nintendo was the same type of geek. We all freaked out about Earthbound coming to Virtual Console because we all respected the history. Mario Maker, in my opinion, is one of the finest moments of Nintendo's history. It's absolutely because it brings me back to a bygone era of gaming KZbin, but there really was something magic to the Nintendo community. There weren't that many Wii U users so you would honestly see the same people on Miiverse show up. If you posted something on a Mario Maker level it would almost definitely end up in Let's Play. The fact that there were so few Nintendo fans made it feel like my role as a Nintendo fan was that much more important.

[@dreammarethings960]

I want to say this because I don't see it often talking about it: I appreciate the amount of time you spent on the subtitles, I guess some of the text was from the script itself since the audio and text have different words but even then, the time it takes to make subtitles for youtube sometimes isn't worth and I really appreciate you went and ran to that feature, it helps so much for people that don't have english as their main language. Thank you.

[@GeekCritique]

No prob! I didn't know until now that KZbin let you import your script as a text file to help it make subtitles. I plan to refine my scripts to take advantage of it, and I'll go back and add them for earlier videos, too!

[@MoonlinerPictures]

You and Scott the Woz going head to head on Wii U vids, it's wild. My two comfort-watch kings! Whoever wins, we wins.

[@aridifolia]

I never had a Wii growing up. Even tho when I was adopted at eight years old, our family did get a GameCube to share as our family activity. But only my brother and I ended up continuing to love and play games, and since time is were tough for us around the time of the Wii's launch, we never got a Wii. However as an adult at the time of the Wii U's launch, I dove in hard and got every mainline Nintendo game and quite a few indie and virtual console games as they released. But I was the same as Josh, none of my friends who even had a Wii ever bothered to get a Wii U, and I became the friend people would come over to hangout with if they ever wanted to play a Nintendo game. Only one of my friends ended up getting a Wii U, and that was because the Wii U and 3DS's eshops were closing down. It still hurts since I've ended up rebuying Switch ports at an increased price since most of them include either all the previously released DLC and in some cases added even more content, however I think I'll always look more fondly on my memories of the Wii U moreso than the Switch. I loved the vid as it definitely captures the spirit of what it was like as a Wii U fan in a generation that was really dear to me.

[@GeekCritique]

Thank you, I"m glad it brought you back!

[@MatthewSmart]

It was both an easy and hard time for me to be a Nintendo fan back then. I was the only person that I knew that owned a Wii U, and this was at a time when I was insecure about everything other than my sense of humor. So I mainly got my gaming news and entertainment on the internet, and you were right on the money when you said how tightknit the Nintendo community was, being so small but so dedicated to the little console that could. I can't say I didn't have a good time when I did play my Wii U. I played a number of good games, and learning what would come next was always exciting. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in particular is my favorite 2D platformer of all time. I spent a good amount of time on Miiverse, and it's definitely fun to look back on all the silly posts I and many others made. And I played a good handful of fun indie games on there, and it was how I first played through and beat Shovel Knight, a crown jewel of a title. But as the years went on, I couldn't lie to myself. The game droughts were miserable, most big games in the latter half of the system's life felt lacking and limited, and it became more and more clear that the Gamepad, while novel, only hurt more than gave with how cumbersome it was to swap between two screens so far apart. It was like the opposite of the GameCube, with that console's library feeling extremely experimental, where as the Wii U felt extremely safe. But I still kept hope alive within the communities that I'd follow and the confidence that their next idea would be a slam dunk. Nowadays, I feel no reason to turn on my Wii U other than to play Wii games through HDMI and record native footage of GameCube titles since those work like a dream when you mod it. But with its best games readily available and better on Switch and the heavy hitters that would follow, the Wii U isn't something I look back on all too fondly. It was a flash in the pan, but I did have my fun with it while it lasted, and if anything, its failure helped make the Switch as good as it is. There was certainly charm in the console, for sure, and I'm glad it was part of my gaming memories, but it feels much better to be at the place we're at now with both Nintendo and my own personal growth.

[@Kcalien]

Nintendo sold us a prototype. I bought two of them.

[@bebopknux5857]

Wild how the 3ds existed and it flailed around half of the time only to produce a banger and then spend the next time building baggage. I was a kid so most of the best evaded me but the smash section hit home, because once I heard there was no smash run, *why would I ever want a Wii u version?*

[@blakeskit]

Got one holiday 2013. Got one on the side of the road 2 years ago

[@e102gamma]

same

[@SuperSonic68]

There is one aspect of the Wii U that most people, even the hardcore Nintendo faithful, don't think about when it comes to that console specifically: The MODDING potential. The Wii U is one of the most BEASTLY emulator machines out there. NES, SNES, GB, N64, VirtualBoy, GBA, Gamecube, Wii (obviously) and DS. But it doesn't stop there! Thanks to RetroArch, we can also play Atari, Commodore 64, Genesis, GameGear, Neo Geo, PS1, the list goes on. The Wii U will live on as a homebrew powerhouse for enthusiasts to tinker with for years to come.

[@johnlucas1543]

Don't feel bad, Geek Critique. You have excellent taste in consoles. In the *4th Gen* , you almost couldn't go wrong. *Sega Genesis* or *Super Nintendo,* they were both golden. in the *5th Gen* , you may have picked the market loser but the credibility winner in the *Nintendo 64.* In the *6th Gen* , you picked right TWICE with the heavenly *Sega Dreamcast* & later the legendary *Nintendo Gamecube.* In the *7th Gen* , your taste paid off well with the naysayer-busting *Nintendo Wii.* You WON in this Gaming Revolution! I savored that entire era of Nintendo killing the minds of those who dismissed them as "kiddie" "casual" "passé". Both DS & Wii doing everything the Sony & Microsoft & PC industry said you shouldn't do...and WINNING with it! YES! I LOVED Wii Play showing up all of the HD powerhouses on the monthly NPD charts. Nintendo defied them ALL! Hahaha. In the *early 8th Gen* , you STILL picked right with *Nintendo Wii U* because the Revolution wasn't finished yet. And in the *late 8th Gen* , you were vindicated again when *Nintendo Switch* took over the world on the back of Wii U games. Everything largely ignored on the Wii U years prior got new visibility & new life on Switch. Mario Kart 8 being the best beneficiary with its combined total of over 69 million units! Symbolic to the competition, right? Almost like Nintendo telling the rest of the industry to GET F...well, you know. 9th Gen doesn't start until Nintendo says so, Sony & Microsoft. With "Switch 2" you will be picking right AGAIN. Some things are just ahead of their time. In hindsight, yesterday's losers often end up history's winners. An industry ran by Nintendo & Sega is what's best for business. TRUE game companies running a game business is how it should be.

[@ahatt96]

Seeing this video pop up in my recommendations was like being struck with memories that I didn't know I had. It's kind of funny how few people really talk about the Wii U now that the Switch has been out for so long, topped off with the U's poor reputation, but I always like how you bring a unique perspective to the table. I have an odd relation to the Wii U. It's somewhat special to me because it was the first console I bought with my own money when it was still fairly new (around mid 2015 I think), but it was also at the time I was really in my retro phase where I didn't care much about anything beyond the Gamecube. As a result, I didn't really play it all that much and I didn't get many games for it, but the ones I did get, I enjoyed well enough. It sadly would become forgotten and gather dust and I never had the desire to play it again; although I kind of feel the same way about gaming in general. Your comments about the legacy of failed consoles was somewhat bittersweet, albeit for personal reasons. You also made a comment about how things have been getting stale and I've felt that way for a bit, but I've been feeling that way toward the start of the Switch. I suppose it's just a side effect of getting older, but gaming doesn't bring me much joy (and sadly I can't think of anything that does) and for me, the legacy of the Wii U will probably be the last time I had a strong love and investment for gaming. My thoughts aside, congrats on the ten years. It's crazy how fast that time seems to have gone, but I've enjoyed what you've brought to the table with your videos.

[@theterribleclaw4285]

The Wii U was part of my childhood I was 6 at the end of the Wii era so when the Wii U came out and we got one for Christmas in 2013 I was excited and the Games we got were awesome Nintendo Land, Super Mario 3D World and New Super Luigi U great Games to start with and those weren't the last Games we got, we also had Twilight Princess HD, Wind Waker HD, Mario Kart 8, Yoshi's Wooly World, Smash 4, Mario Party 10, Captain Toad, Mario Maker and Breath of the Wild so ya we did have a good handful of Games to play and their still fun to play to this day.

[@MattCrossMedia]

Happy 10th anniversary Josh, always admired your ability to capture every possible feeling of a game or console's zeitgeist, personal and beyond. As a Wii U owner at launch, I felt like I lived my whole high school career watching this vid, especially that sentiment about the comraderie of Wii U owners. I was the designated "Smash 4 on TV" guy for my group of friends, and despite carrying so much hardware crap in my bag for it, it felt great being that go to source of big screen multiplayer enjoyment for my friends. This is TGC firing on all cylinders. Here's to more, king.

[@GeekCritique]

I know just what you mean. The one time anybody in high school *did* like the GameCube was when I brought it for Melee!

[@TheCartoonGamer8000]

Fantastic stuff. I remember how angry I got at the Rayman Legends delay, and to be perfectly honest, I’m still a bit mad. What an era to have lived through, and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about it.

[@GeekCritique]

When even the dev team is openly protesting, you know you goofed!

[@gaylorevidence8074]

I love how your videos are constructed. I love how you always put the time period/era into perspective first. I love the thesis you end videos with, and how fairly you look at things that are sometimes maligned.

[@QuasiTheChemist]

It’s kinda funny, I remember holiday 2013 being one of the most exciting Christmas seasons I ever had. I was in 4th grade, and I was OBSESSED with the idea of getting the Wii U on the 25th. I saw the commercial for 3D World that everyone says was incredible (with the Hissocrat theme), this new Sonic game with him running up walls, this Zelda game, I was ready. I made it known. I was so sure, I left a message on my Wii to remind myself to transfer my data. The next day I got an Xbox 360. I’m still definitely grateful for that, because of it I experienced Sonic Adventure and genesis games and a bunch of others I never likely woulda tried; but I even remember my sister and my dad saying the Wii U was a failure, and they were NOWHERE NEAR as into games as I was!

[@GeekCritique]

Oh man, that's wild! Makes me wonder what would've happened if I'd gotten a PlayStation instead of a Saturn when *I* was in 4th grade. The employees at the game store tried to convince my mom not to get the Saturn! But she knew I wanted the one with Sonic.

[@QuasiTheChemist]

@@GeekCritique Your question near the end about whether or not Mario Maker would’ve saved the console had it come out at launch or near the beginning kinda blew my mind, I hadn’t considered that before. As someone who was in school at the time, I definitely think that it would’ve been a huge turbo booster for the console…but I also remember one of the big reasons why it felt like a phenomenon at the time. Stuff like KZbin. I feel like the time the game actually did release was ripe for it, people really were making a lot of content about it, all the different crazy levels and reactions and challenges. Then Nintendo invited content creators like TheCompletionist and MattPat to play it and made a video, plus the return of the Nintendo Championships… I don’t think things were ready for that around the time of the Wii U’s launch, so I’m not sure if it would’ve popped off the same way. Would have definitely been a better choice than Mario U to be sure though.

[@kylespevak6781]

I love whenever people discuss previous consoles launches and say "there wasn't much in the first year." Yeah, every time

[@ade1174]

I spent 1000 hours on Super Mario Maker. Thanks for the memories, Wii U.

[@karls91]

My friend. I just stumbled upon your channel and your story telling is beautiful. Thank you..just thank you.

[@jameswallace8898]

Yes! A geek critique on the WiiU! I've always wanted to know what it was like to have one in it's "prime!"

[@PedroMatos482]

You either defended it like your life was on the line or you forgot you had one

[@ericp631]

Long droughts with nothing happening until finally something released, in the first half of it's life it was usually a banger(those are the games that got a second chance on the switch and 3ds), in the final couple years it was usually the games that always show up on worst games Nintendo ever published lists

[@J.Wick.]

The East Tennessean? Small world lol. Go Bucs! Class of 2005. Love the channel, and greetings from Knoxville.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

my friend owned a Wii U early on, & yeah it was such a fun time, going to his house or him visiting mine, hooking up with Wii U & playing Wonderful 101, just curbstomping the Octo-Valley in Splatoon with the Kraken Amiibo, or Smash U, or awkwardly trying to co-op Star Fox Zero because I'm not good at Gyro aiming also the fact that the Wii U was compatible with the Homebrew Channel's "totally legal ROMs us SouthAmerican kids would get legally on a legitimate Thumb drive" really helped since we could hook it to the Big HD TV instead! is an HD Wii that doesn't need a Soldering mod!

[@Artista_Frustrado]

it doesn't change the fact that it was a poorly marketed reflection of the Wii's era obsession with chasing Fads, but it was a fun time, especially with the cringe ads honestly, If I could change one thing about the Wii U... it would have been using the Wii Mini's design as the Console's basis instead, and making the gamepad Matte Black

[@DeformedLunchbox]

This is a beautiful video. Dare I say I got emotional. I wish you mentioned Pikmin 3 a bit though. It was kind of Nintendo's first "AAA" release for WiiU that following August 2013. Still, love your channel and videos! Keep it up!

[@LI2UEvan]

I can’t thank you enough, Josh. Found your videos back in 2015 and been a huge fan ever since. I used to listen to your videos on my commutes to and from work and during some of my lowest lows, your videos always cheered me up. Here’s to another 10 years !!! 🎉

[@SdudyoyO]

Great video as usual! Happy Ten years to this show, and I hope to see it continue for at least another decade or so! But, I'd like to comment about my own retrospective with the console--I'll start out by posting an immature and optimistic comment I wrote out on a now defunct Wii U related website: "This is why I don't understand doomsday articles this early in a consoles life span, The Wii u barely has any games worth buying yet, but as soon as it does then the sales will skyrocket, I like the Wii u, Now I just wish I had more money to buy more game's, Man I want Lego City, Think about it if Monster hunter can make the sale's raise this much what will happen when Super smash bros Wii u, Pikmin 3, Mario kart U, Yoshi's yarn, 3d Mario game, Zelda Wind waker HD, Zelda HD, possible Metroid game, possible Gamecube games coming to the VC, The VC being fully released with GBA games, What ever Retro is working on, Game and Wario looks fun I doubt it will be a console seller, And many other unannounced game's are released all the "Is the Wii u doomed?!" Articles will be gone." _-Me, 2012_ For me, the Wii U and 3DS era, was my introduction to an online community of like-minded fans of the console. I had been on the internet for many years at the time, but hadn't gained the courage to open up about my opinions until about 2011, I was a silent observer, watching KZbin or reading comments without posting my own. The Wii U was the first console I purchased with my own allowance, when I got my first job, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze was what I spent every cent of my first paycheck on. I'd grown up with the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast, then the Gamecube and later the Wii -- But the Wii U was the first game console that wasn't a hand-me down, it wasn't something my parents bought for my older sister that I was given permission to play as well--It was my console, I _felt like I had a personal stake in it._ Like, I needed to prove the naysayers wrong, _it would be a success, no matter what._ I remember making the childish comment before the PS4 and Xbox One were announced, that "Graphics couldn't get any better than the Wii U anyway, and so the Wii U gamepad will be the future of gaming." I remember dreaming of what the next Zelda, the next Mario, the next Metroid would look and play like with the Gamepad. The idea of using the Gamepad to scan in a hypothetical Prime 4, was something that REALLY excited me--Like, obviously Metroid Prime 4 would come to the Wii U, right? Some of my favorite memories of ANY video game, come from playing Nintendo Land with a group of friends, that same friend group that will never be reunited again. Mario Kart 8 was, and still is my favorite game in the series. Star Fox Zero was an immediate favorite of mine. Pikmin 3 is one of my favorite video games ever made. I could go on about all the individual games that I love from this console, but I think my favorite memories are the community of online friends I made because of the Wii U--Once the doom and gloom set in, and the whispers of the "NX" started to crop up, we kinda just stopped talking and moved on from our years of discussions--But, I love to look back at this console, and think of all the great memories I have with it--But I'd also like to say, since I never had a PS3 or Xbox of any sort at this point, those Wii U ports of games that most had already gotten, were my first opportunities to get into what was then "Modern Gaming", and I gotta admit: I had a lot of fun with Assassin's Creed III until I never picked up another game in the franchise. Ramyan Origins was already one of my favorite games to play with a couple of my siblings, and once we completed everything that game had to offer, we couldn't wait to play Legends. The delay was disappointing, even then I had to ask: "Why delay the Switch version, just release the other versions later!" I don't regret buying a Wii U, this was the first console I got to play Super Metroid on afterall. The hype around its rumors up to its announcement is still the most excited I've ever been for a game console. I would just pick up the Gamepad to hold it, and boot it up just to look at the main menu. All this to say, it's a very special console for me--And, I'm glad to see someone else who loves it as much, if not more than me!

[@kylespevak6781]

5:58 I mean, the whole system gimmick is the gamepad. Why wouldn't markwting show that, especially when it's a port of an existing game? They're literally showing you what the experience on the console with a unique controller would be like

[@chillmccool]

The Wii U will always have a soft spot for me, rose-tinted goggles on or not. So many fond memories, introducing me and carrying me through video games until middle school when the Switch came out. The Switch is truly the bridge between childhood and adulthood, which is crazy for me to think about it now as a college student now. The Wii U walked so the Switch could run... but the Wii U walked with style, even if it tripped some along the way.

[@mariowalker9048]

Same for the 7th generation for me. I was in 4th grade when the 360 came out and a senior in high school when the ps4 came out.

[@pixelatedshinobi2945]

It's super surreal seeing TGC cover things I was there to experience in childhood. I remember being in middle school and hearing Splatoon being all the rage, I remember seeing those Wii U commercials on tv, I remember going over to a friend's house specifically to get a little time with Mario Maker. It was a really unique time that does feel rather nostalgic (especially since I was at the era where I was just starting to develop online consciousness)

[@GeekCritique]

Hey, it's surreal to *me* how much footage from the earliest days of TGC I was able to use in this episode! That Nintendo Land footage of me and Kalin came from the Let's Play days!

[@pixelatedshinobi2945]

@@GeekCritique Happy 10th! And to many more prosperous years of geekin & critiquin!

[@FletcherReedsRandomness]

The Wii U was the first system I ever bought myself. I remember taking piano lessons for months so my parents would fork over enough money for me to buy the system. I bought the Deluxe bundle that came with New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U in February 2014, and I remember being fairly satisfied at the time. Most of the games I played on the Wii U were the Mario-adjacent titles (which admittedly made up two-thirds of the first-party games on the console), and they were mostly really fun. Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Maker, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U were all great. Mario Party 10 and the Mario & Sonic games were not. I also played Star Fox Zero for a total of one hour and haven’t touched it since (though I’m willing to give it another chance sometime). I have good memories with the Wii U’s games I played, but the combination of my GamePad’s left stick drifting and most of the good games having been given definitive editions on the Switch means that I don’t ever really want to touch the Wii U again. I had started following Nintendo news around then, but I don’t think I was really aware of how badly Nintendo was doing at the time because I only really cared about the games. I didn’t really care about Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, or most Nintendo franchises other than Mario back then, so I felt satisfied with my time. Of course now I’m much more well-versed in gaming and can see just how poor the Wii U’s library is in terms of variety, especially when the Switch has variety in spades. My point is that I enjoyed my time with the Wii U, but I don’t ever want to go back to it. Edit: Crap I forgot about Sonic. I got into Sonic in my early high school years (I’m pretty sure I’m the only Sonic fan who didn’t grow up with him), and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed quickly became one of my favorite racing games of all time, right up there with Mario Kart 8. I also really liked Sonic Lost World, though my opinion on that game has gone down a bit since then as its flaws became much more noticeable to me. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric was an abomination, but I already knew that when I tried it out, and it was every bit as terrible as I wanted it to be.

[@GeekCritique]

Yeah, I know I'll get to Lost World eventually, so there wasn't much point in bringing up Sonic here. But Sega sure signed that exclusivity deal at the worst possible time!

[@Spectacular66]

I've been a lifelong Nintendo fan since the tender age of 4. Owned every single console from the SNES onwards. I was excited for the Wii's release back in 2006. I was 16 at the time. Never expected it to really blow up like it did, but eventually, it felt like it was lacking a little. I missed using a standard game controller with its many face buttons and the large variety of games I used to peruse on the GameCube. I was hoping the Wii U would fix that but the way it was handled was lackluster at most. The Switch brings us back to a point of time where there was a little bit of everything. My game library is larger than the one I had on my GameCube.

[@GeekCritique]

Yeah... aside from the PC (which is cheating), I've never had as many games on one system as I do on Switch.

[@annietheshadow5952]

i literally started watching this video thinking i was gonna waste like 10 mins and watch the rest later, but here i am at the end. great job as always

[@Derpmander1982]

same 😅

[@samusismyhero]

I wish you mentioned Xenoblade X. Along with the Wii U being experimental, It was basically the predecessor to Breath of the Wild. It was so...strange, honestly it felt like Nintendo and Monolith had basically created an MMORPG. Man I miss the charm and weirdness the Wii U/3DS era brought that was somewhat toned down with the Switch.

[@Abykitty06]

This video just proves why you are, and have always been, from the first video I saw from your channel, my absolute favorite content creator, the way you write things, the passion of the narrations, the perfect bg music choices, everything is, and always has been fantastic. I'm so happy we have gotten 10 years of this, and I hope that it keeps going with the passion and love i keep coming back for. I swear that the second I turn 18 and get my own debit card, I'll join your patreon and go beyond the usual like and great video comment, because I adore this content, and despite not being able to suport it, I just wanted to say thanks for everything.

[@GeekCritique]

You're very welcome, and thank you for the kind words.

[@Furluge]

Wonderful video. It's always a treat to see a new video from you. They're always so well put together. Crazy to think how much time has passed. I'm very happy the Switch has done so well. I have had this idea kicking around my head for a video essay that how much hubris Nintendo has can be measured in how weird their primary controller is. (I collect controller's these days.) A console's controller has to play a real jack of all trades role. Everyone has different tastes and not every title is going to be a hit with every consumer and you need a controller that is going to work well for all of those different tastes. It's subtle, but it the N64, Gamecube, Wii, and WiiU there is a distinct pushing from Nintendo toward certain games with every generation. It's one thing to have a capability and to offer it to developers to use when the title will benefit from it, but it's another thing to actively make it difficult to release titles outside that window. The N64 controller, for all the good it does is clearly designed for Mario 64. The c-buttons are real miss especially with a minor change in size and layout they could have doubled as more comfortable standard button inputs. Something that so many games ended up having to use them for instead of controller the camera because two buttons is really not enough for modern games. The Gamecube controller does the same thing with it's weighted button layout. It's good for lot of things, but it's not as versatile as the diamond layout Nintendo pioneered with the SNES that everyone has been copying since. And the Wii could have fixed this problem, it could have included the classic controller in every box but at the time Nintendo actively discouraged it's use an wanted to relegate it's usage to only the virtual console up until they relented in 2009 with the Classic Controller Pro. And then of course you had bombs like Metroid Other M where they pushed that WiiMote use hell or high water. And of course the WiiU had the Gamepad, which at least had a standard layout but because of the screen and NFC they really did seem to shoehorn in it's use in non-helpful ways to try to justify it. So with the Switch what did we see? A return to the primary controller using an equidistant diamond button layout with equal weighting to all the buttons. Four shoulder buttons. Gyro, NFC, and it's the same functionality in the joycons, in portable or docked, and in with the Pro controller. It's gimmick is that it's portable but it never forces you to do that. The Switch is just as comfortable to play on your couch as it is away from home. The console plays all of Nintendo's unique library of titles but it's also very comfortable play other developer's titles too. If you can think of a game genre you're liable to find a good title on the Switch. If the only device you had to play video games was a Nintendo Switch you're likely to be able to just play the Switch. That's not something I've been able to say about a Nintendo console since I've owned a SNES. (Also as a side note, the Nintendo is also very liberal with allowing third party controllers as well, so if I decide I want a specialized controller it's easy to do. When I was playing Mario 35 I was playing with my Super Famicom controllers using a BlissBox adapter.)

[@WhiteVelvet40]

You produce the best Retrospective Videos out of any other Video Game KZbinr I watch. Just like the Wii U, Gamecube, and Dreamcast before it, popularity is not indicative of quality. Your writing is second to none. I hope I'll be able to enjoy your videos for another decade or two.

[@xeroniris]

I almost didn't bother with the Wii U, but the nanosecond I saw the mario maker trailer I was in. No regrets, I ended up loving the back catalogue of games and despite having 4 switches, and 2 xboxes in our household, the Wii U still gets a lot of use with me and the kids.

[@GameAW1]

For what its worth, nowadays the Wii U is having something of a second life thanks to its homebrew scene. Fans have found that the Wii's Luigi has quite a LOT of neat tools and abilities at its disposal that Nintendo and the third parties never really capitalized on or probably didn't even know what to do with and we're seeing it proving to be one of the best consoles out there for that sort of thing, especially for retro gaming. For example, because it has a Wii mode and backwards compatibility, people are able to play Gamecube games perfectly on it. Why is this important? Because every single mainline Nintendo console's games (up to the Wii U itself of course) can be played on your Wii U. And that's JUST looking at the Nintendo ones. Even the Switch doesn't have that and it makes the only competition for the Wii U in that department being the Steam Deck, and even then it manages to beat the deck in a couple areas. Honestly the Wii U is thriving in a much smaller environment far better now than it ever has in the larger environment when Nintendo was working with it and its capabilities are only now being realized by those willing to look at it and give it a chance.

[@MistareFusion]

Somehow I missed this one, just like I missed the Wii U era until 2018 when a coworker couldn’t wait to be rid of it and all the games he had acquired for it. I’ve since really loved those games and the maligned system they came out on, but I never really had a full insight into what it was like to be there at the time. Thanks for this wistful, melancholy look back.

[@waifu_png_pl6854]

this is why TGC is my favorite channel on youtube, making me intensely invested in a console i never even owned. sure i watched plenty of console retrospectives in the past, including those about the wii u, but none of them ever grabbed me like this. the "i was there" factor of this channel is just so captivating to me and ive never seen it done quite like this. youtubers sometimes put those in as extras but here it serves as the backbone of the video and i love it. whether its my favorite spiky blue rat or consoles i never got to argue about myself its always the best

[@flameguy21]

Your experience with the gamecube to wii was pretty much my experience with the wii u to switch. I barely knew anyone with a wii u but then literally everyone I knew had a switch. Seeing people enjoying games I enjoyed years prior made me feel vindicated in enjoying my Wii U. It was pretty weird to see it happen, but good weird.

[@mariowalker9048]

Same here. I was 16 when the wii u came out so I was considered too old for Nintendo at that point but I never let that stop me from buying their games. With that said being a Nintendo fan in the early-mid 2010s was rough if you were paying attention to gaming news at the time especially on KZbin. The switch shows Nintendo can still be relevant in the gaming industry and pop culture. It's now about to ps2 sales number which is mind blowing from a company that was said to go the Sega route just 8 years ago.

[@gundambassexe31]

It was definitely a pattern akin to the GameCube . An under appreciated yet lacking quality and drive .

[@MystiaLore]

I was watching the Mario Mania highlight at SomeCallMeJohnny's channel and during the N64 part of the video, I was like "Man, I miss TheGeekCritique, haven't heard of him for a while." Later video end, Ok check new videos from follows. Not even watched the first second and I have to comment because the timing is so damn perfect =D

[@Ruckus707]

Very happy to have this to sit down to on a Sunday, the Wii U is a console that I think deserves way more love than it got, while also having some very valid hate levied against it, so I’m excited to see what your take on it all is

[@OSW]

Life Goal: have someone in your corner like how Josh is in "uncool Nintendo"'s corner 💚

[@GeekCritique]

WCW was another foundational step in my history of backing the loser! :D

[@Roshuwah]

These videos always manage to make you well up at the end lol. Also it's so dope that you were doing this in a school newspaper!

[@travilopolis]

Happy 10th anniversary! Gotta say that whenever you upload I tend to watch it a few times, you make such great stuff and are currently my #1 inspiration for my own creativity. Keep up the awesome work!

[@darthgamer9861]

The Wii U still holds a special place in my heart, though I got it a few years in around the time Mario Kart 8 came out. I lost a tom of time to 8, Pikmin 3, Splatoon 1, and Windwaker HD. I still turn it on and get that sense of bittersweet reverence. Keep Geekin! I’ve been watching you since 2015!

[@princephantom1294]

I’ll never regret purchasing a Wii U. That console and the 3ds was my comfort during one of the worst times of my life. I always held firm that the marketing and design were the issues, not the games, and the switch has vindicated that belief.

[@Bobblebog]

The Wii U is such an interesting case for me because, for all intensive purposes, I SHOULD'VE been the perfect candidate to own one. I grew up with the 8th generation of consoles, and yet, I played more with the 7th. My parent's got me a Wii instead of a Wii U, and I ended up growing up with the 7th generation instead. I could connect with the older kids a lot more because I played what they did. The Virtual Console as well made me very fond of older games, which led me to discover classics that I would've never cared about otherwise. I wonder what my childhood would've been like if my parents got me a Wii U instead.

[@GeekCritique]

Probably not *that* different, considering the Wii U had all the same stuff as the Wii. You just would've had to wait longer on load screens. :V

[@jonny4036]

Wii U is underrated. It had access to so many games. A lot of the best selling games ie Mario Kart 8 released originally on Wii U. You could play games from the Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafx, and others as well as almost all previous Nintendo Consoles, Gameboy, GBC, GBA, DS, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii. The eshop was amazing. Today the Wii U is even cooler because its hacked. The Wii U is my only console on my gaming desk that is within reach to push the power button on it. It may have flopped and may not have sold well but it was amazing. It also gave Nintendo the idea for Switch except for having the controls and screen separate from the the console they just merged the idea into a single device that you could dock and remove the controllers.

[@AeroAnimationsInc]

Dude the Star Fox Adventures Dark Ice Mines Night music anytime you start reminiscing about the days when we were behind but tightly knit as a fandom hits SO hard for me. I LOVED SFAdv and having replayed it I still love it. It's forever tarnished as "the game that should have been Dinosaur Planet", "Babies first Zelda", or simply "not a real Star Fox game" but damn it all it's one of my all time favorites.

[@justsomejojo]

The Wii U is the console that taught me to actually pay attention to gaming media. I grew up on the Gamecube, so that's the home console I have all my nostalgia for (I still own one too), but it took years for me to realize the Gamecube had been a failure. In my eyes, it had been their best console yet, with tons of games I still love, but I also never knew the discourse. That stayed true all the way to the Wii U, a console I only got for one game - Xenoblade Chronicles X. Not only did that game greatly disappoint me with its lackluster story because I didn't know it had shifted focus to be mostly about the open world exploration - no, I also was completely unaware the console had been all but abandoned. I *hated* that darn piece of junk for a good while. The only reason my opinion of the console slowly changed for the marginally better is because the HD ports of the Zelda series on it finally got me into Zelda and because Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is a genuinely good game with a controller. But even then, playing it in 2024, from a hardware point of view, I still dislike it. The gamepad hurts my hands, the W-Lan was spotty and weak all the way to the end despite being next to my router, the controller only charges when the console is actually ON and worst of all, gamepad, console and controller all require completely different cables none of which are easily available. That whole console is a travesty.