TIME Names the Nintendo Switch Its Number One Gadget of 2017

[NightDragon83]

reviniente said:

NightDragon83 said:

Nah.  Nobody outside of diehard Nintendo fans wanted to spend $300 on a Wii HD with a touch screen controller that was barely as powerful as consoles much older and cheaper at the time of release.  And it only got worse for the Wii U after the launch of other next gen consoles the following year, which blew it out of the water in terms of hardware and could be had for a mere $100 more at launch in the PS4's case.

Had the original Wii been more powerful / HD capable out of the gate and sold at the same price the 360 launched at ($299 for base model), it still would've been a massive success with even better 3rd party support.  The Wii U was always a stop-gap console that tried to appeal to everyone but failed on almost every level.

I give you the Switch.

Apples to oranges.

1)  You can't take the Wii U gamepad with you and play every game in your library, both physical and digital, on the go.  The Wii U was also marketed as an extension of the Wii line and even used the same Wiimote + nunchuk controllers, while the Switch offers its own unique controller setup that allows for instant multiplayer at home or on the go.

2)  The Switch is a clear step up from the PS360 generation in terms of horsepower.  Wii U can't run current-gen games like Doom 2016 or Wolfenstein 2, at least not without far more significant reductions in visual fidelity and performance as compared to the Switch (assuming developers can even get the games to run at all), and the Wii U also had piss-poor 3rd party support which consisted mostly of lazy ports whereas 3rd parties are lining up to support the Switch with full fledged versions of their games.