Battle of the 8th gen losers: Wii U vs Vita vs Xbox One

[Wman1996]

These metrics are usually tough. Xbox One almost seems out of place here because it got far more games than Wii U and Vita, sold far more units than either and did bring in a ton of revenue.
I got a Wii U back in 2014 when Mario Kart 8 came out, a Vita in 2021, and an Xbox One X earlier in 2024.
When we look at the Wii U prior to the launch of Switch (or even shortly into Switch's life), its exclusives are better. Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (well it technically has a 3DS version with a lot of similarities) and some others. Now if you include Xbox One console exclusives that still exist or existed in 2017, I get why you might pick Xbox One. But now, Halo 5, Rare Replay and Forza Motorsport 5 are the only non-Kinect first-party exclusives that I think are still trapped on Xbox One and on Series via backwards compatibility.
But when all is said and done, I have to say Xbox One for its massive library and features. Since I'm not a modder, there's not exactly a lot to play on Wii U or Vita nowadays that can't be played on Switch, PS4/PS5, or Windows. At least Xbox One still has Game Pass and a huge library even if Series X/S or PC seem like the better choice.
At this rate, you'd be better getting a standard Wii to play GameCube and Wii games than getting a Wii U. Save up for a Switch or the upcoming Switch 2 if you really want to play Nintendo games past the Wii generation.