(Update) The difference between the Wii U and Switch libraries after 10 months on the market.

[GhaudePhaede010]

Miyamotoo said:

GhaudePhaede010 said:
Wii U had a great launch line up. Assassins Creed, CoD (which was amazing due to off tv multiplayer), Ninja Gaiden, Batman, Zombii U. Basically, it had pretty good western third party support as well as Nintendo Land (which I love very much) and New Super Mario Bros.. I think people want to poke holes in Wii U launch because the console was a failure when in reality, the console was a failure for reasons other than the launch line up.

This is not to say I am unhappy with Switch's offerings. I am just pointing out that the narrative that Nintendo needs certain titles to reach mainstream success (or success in general) is a narrative that should be ending any day now. Switch and Wii U had great games in their first six months. The difference was mostly in the types of games. Hell, while people can say, "Switch launched with Zelda and Wii U did not" I can say two things: 1) Zelda is not THAT big of a franchise and 2) The Switch Zelda is on Wii U as well (I bought it for Wii U) and is not exactly an exclusive anyway.

I think the narrative is being forced. The reasons why Wii U failed had a lot more to do with marketing and a lack of fundamental understanding of the direction the console should have gone (wanting all the major third party support but forgetting that the product was too different to truly garner said support) than the games that came out in the first six months.

Sure there was an overpriced Mass Effect on Wii U... don't most people call Ultra Street Fighter II overpriced on Switch? The same issues largely persist. The biggest differences are, as I previously stated, brand recognition, marketing, and identity. Nintendo has a clear plan and they are executing that plan to perfection.

Wii U lineup was missing key point for Nintendo line up, it was missing system seller game, game because people buying console, Wii U didnt had that, and at end, on launch and later in 1st year, Wii U was bought only buy hardcore Nintendo fans. What Wii U had on launch: multiplatform games that were available on much more affordable PS3/Xbox360, ZombiU hardcore horror game that had early bad reviews, NSMBU that's basically almost just NSMB in HD and Nintendo Land good party game but not system seller game alone. Wii U at launch or near launch needed Mario Maker, or Splatoon, or Mario Kart 8, or Zelda BotW, or SM3DW, it needed early game thats strong and great game for which will people want to buy Wii U, while in reality Wii U got 1st strong and big game (SM3DW) hole year after launch when Wii U was already considered for failure. Not to mention fact that Wii U in 1st year huge drouths where had months without any release, so yes, launch and 1st year Wii U lineup is one of key reasons why Wii U failed.

Why do you thinkg Nintendo launched Switch with Zelda BotW, why they released MK8D only 2 month after Switch launch, or Splatoon2 3 months after MK8D, and now they having one bigger/stronger game per month!? Because they learned their lesson after Wii U, they know that they need strong system seller games from start and steady flow of games if they want successful console. Switch and Wii U 1st 6 months lineup are night and day difference, Wii U did have stronger multiplatform games but didn't had anything that could come even close to Zelda BotW, MK8D and Splatoon 2 and thats much important for Nintendo console, and those games are one of reasons why Switch is selling like crazy. Zelda maybe wasn't so big before (again it was huge on N64 and quite big on Wii), but Zelda BotW is huge, it will be probably best selling Zelda game ever.

So no, narative defintly isnt forced, launch and 1st year Wii U lineup is one of key reasons why Wii U failed. Other key reasons are terrible marketing and branding, and point that Wii U concept was bad and forced.

Yes, Nintendo is done great job with Switch marketing and branding, has also great hybrid concept, those all things on which Wii U failed, but you cant really ignoring Switch 1st 6 months with Zelda BotW, MK8D and Splatoon 2 that are all huge system seller games and try to compare that with Wii U, Wii U didnt had nothing similar basicly in hole 1st year.

1) The narrative is rather forced. You have sideswiped the narrative of this topic by trying to make the conversation about two very good titles. I said that overall, Switch is not in a better position with their software than Wii U after 6 months and there should be little denying that. The games you listed are games that I do not own on Switch because they are on Wii U (well, I do not like Splatoon's control options). But my personal life aside, there is almost nothing of note from third party developers like there was on Wii U. Mass Effect, two Assassin's Creed titles, two CoD titles, Tekken, and a lot more. The Switch still has some catching up to do. Now, this is not to say Switch is a barren wasteland when it comes to games because that would be a lie. However, looking at Wii U in its first year or even six months, you could argue there was a more diverse and healthy lineup of games compared to Switch.

2) You know what Switch is lacking that most people said would also be important to early success? Multimedia options. Wii U had them, 3DS had them, Wii had them... every other console has them right now. Switch does not. This could be seen by most of the casual gaming community as a massive strike against the console and yet, people are still buying one. You see, if Switch did not sell well, people would point to a lack of multimedia features as a reason why (and they, like you with your position that the game library for Switch is superior, would be incorrect). You can force the narrative any way you would like no matter how the console pans out. The reason why Switch is doing so well despite the lack of great third party support and no multimedia functionality is the opposite reason Wii U failed despite having all the multimedia functionality and mostly every third party titles it could muster: MARKETING! People know what Switch is. People thought Wii U was a controller add-on for Wii that was 250 to 300 USD. That killed them. The one major difference in this generation for Nintendo thus far is not games, it is marketing. Smash, Mario Kart, Zelda all sold well on Wii U despite the poor sales of the console. Those games are going to sell no matter what. But those games are not going to move Wii U consoles (not significantly and especially not Zelda). What moves consoles, especially early on, is communication. Nintendo nailed communication this time and failed with Wii U.

3) We can make up a bunch of hindsight reasons why Wii U failed or why Switch is succeeding but that does not make those reasons true. Wii U coming out with Tekken and CoD and Assassin's Creed and Zombii U and a host of other titles cannot be mistaken as Nintendo have a bad or even subpar first six months of Wii U. That is a lie. Before the Wii U released, the consensus was that Nintendo nailed the launch in terms of games for the console. Your revision is simply forced and incorrect.