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Illusion on 08 July 2021
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curl-6 said:
Illusion said:

The gameplay styles were quite different between the Gamecube and Wii.  That said, you are right that the hardware was similar.  It is interesting how back then we were never given games like Mario Kart: Double Dash 2, Super Mario Sunshine 2, Wind Waker 2, etc on the Wii.  There was the Twilight Princess re-release but other than this, Nintendo still made the effort to create completely novel experiences and take risks with their main IP instead of building their sequels off of existing assets with relatively minor changes and minimal creative innovation.  Honestly, I don't think that we ever would have accepted it as gamers back then.

I don't think there's anything lazy or creatively inadequate about games like Splatoon 2 or Mario Maker 2 or Smash Ultimate, they're just iterative sequels the likes of which have been a part of the industry forever, including from Nintendo. On the Wii, Mario Kart was an iterative sequel, as was Smash Bros Brawl, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Mario Galaxy 2, etc.

We can certainly have a difference of opinion here.  The Wii wasn't Nintendo at their creatively strongest either, but I have to say that things have gotten worse during the Switch.  The Switch and the Wii are the only two Nintendo home consoles that I have not owned since I started gaming.  I owned a Wii U and with Smash, Splatoon, BotW, Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 I honestly see no reason to upgrade for the sequels that are on the Switch (let's exclude the fact that the servers and support for the Wii U is gone which essentially forces you to upgrade).  Apart from a new console and some more technical and graphical polish, what is really present in these sequels that I cannot have experienced on the Wii U?  The content differences that are there don't seem to add up to more than what you would expect to find in a few good DLC packs in my view.  Nintendo games already looked great at 720p and with the more animated style of Nintendo games, I do not see 1080p as a big selling feature. 

I will admit that Mario Odyssey is quite tempting and is the one title that I almost want to buy the Switch for, but Splatoon 2, Smash Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Delux have very little appeal to me because I cannot see anything that is new or really changes how these games are played.  It feels more like a renewal license to continue having support for the games I purchased on the Wii U.  Switch releases like NSMBU and SM3DW only reinforce my opinion here.  Buying Smash Ultimate just to play as Banjo or the inklings just isn't worth the upgrade in my view.  Honestly, the Cloud Strife DLC that the Wii U got was a bigger deal to me than playing as those characters.  The one thing that might get me to eventually buy a Switch would be a new Metroid Prime that really rocks, but that still seems like a long ways away.

This is just my opinion and I am fine if it is an unpopular one.  Don't get me wrong, I am still a huge Nintendo fan and I want the Switch to be successful. That being said, I feel that my future in gaming lies in the past which is why I am designing an adapter that allows me to insert a raspberry Pi into and N64 cartridge slot and use my 64 as a unified platform for retro gaming for games on consoles for the PS1 and earlier.  Buying these games used are getting outrageous, but at least with this you own something physical that does not require constant ongoing support and you can legitimately play your personal backups.  My Wii U now is basically unplayable without support or online and it has some intermittent stability issues booting up that makes me nervous to even turn it on so I can't even play all the Retro eShop and Wii Virtual Console games that I bought on it.

Last edited by Illusion - on 08 July 2021