Wii U had third parties in the first year, but it suffered from the exact same problem as the gamecube—very few people wanted to play those games on the Wii U.
No one was saying “Hey look! It’s the same game as PS3, but I get to have prompts to take my eyes off the TV screen to look down at this gamepad thing. I love obtrusive features!”
It was literally the opposite direction of the Wii philosophy which offered games a simpler and more intuitive interface. The Wii U made the experience more complex than it had to be. That’s why games like Resident Evil 4 could not only outsell the original release, but it usurped the PS2 as the definitive way to play. That wasn’t happening with games like Monster Hunter 3 or Mass Effect on Wii U. Even what was supposed to be the Wii U’s Mario Kart 8, is mainly known as Switch games, the portability feature of the Switch made it a FAR more desirable game because now you could take the game and play a 12 player multiplayer game, and everyone got their own screen. Today, few people think of Mario Kart 8 as a Wii U game.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
