- How do you make one of the most popular consoles
of a generation and then follow it up with a complete flop?
It's no secret that the Wii U
was not so well-received when it came out,
but something incredible happened
five years into the Wii U's sad life cycle:
Nintendo released the Switch,
a device that did as many things right
as the Wii U did wrong.
Looking back on it, there are a few things
that the Wii U clearly missed the mark on.
And what the hell is this?
- Is it unique?
Unifying?
Maybe even utopian?
- This is the Gamepad.
We know that it's a controller
with the beautiful benefit of hindsight,
but when the Wii U launched,
no one knew what the hell this was.
Nintendo made it look like an add-on for the Wii.
Let's watch this exciting first look at the Wii U.
- [Father] Hey, it's time to watch some baseball.
- [Son] Okay.
- We see the Gamepad, which they called the New Controller
throughout the whole thing,
more Gamepad, the Wii Fit board,
the Gamepad.
Here's the problem.
They didn't announce a console!
When Apple debuted the iPhone,
they had a whole series of ads
devoted to showing people how to use the damn thing.
It was one of the first touchscreen phones,
and just seeing how it could fit into
their boring-ass daily lives made people want to buy it.
Even if you knew it was a console and not just an add-on,
why are you gonna buy it?
(electronic buzzing) Digital checkers?
(electronic buzzing) By comparison, let's look at
the announcement trailer for the Switch.
(electronic music)
(bell ringing)
(bells ringing)
In less than 40 seconds, this commercial told us more
than the whole three-minute Wii U reel.
In case you're wondering how this went for Nintendo,
the Wii U sold less than 15 million units from 2012 to 2017.
The Switch sold 16.7 million units in a year.
Of course, marketing will only get you so far.
The best thing a console can do
is launch with a killer line up of games.
The Switch launched with the absolute powerhouse
that is Breath of the Wild,
and the promise of Super Mario Odyssey.
Meanwhile, in 2012, the Wii U launched with
Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land.
Now, here's the thing about
the Wii U's first-party game library: it rules,
and Nintendo is rightfully cannibalizing it
to put all of those perfect games on the Switch,
but at launch?
This is not $300 console-selling material.
This is $300 console-selling material!
I like to know when I buy a $300 console
that I'm about to spend 120 additional dollars on games.
Nintendo talked a big game about third parties on the Wii U,
but it didn't support Unity,
one of the literal biggest engines
for indie games at launch, and that is absurd.
The Switch launched with Unity support,
and while the path hasn't exactly been smooth,
30% of Switch games in 2017
were reportedly developed in Unity,
which brings me to the next lesson.
The Switch isn't just friendly to consumers
because it has so many games
that we can throw money at 'til we die.
It's friendly to developers
because it's in a form factor that makes sense.
The Wii U, that cool second screen, eh?
(dramatic music)
Developers hate her.
On paper, it is so cool that the Wii U Gamepad
could be a second screen
or a different multiplayer experience,
but with such a small install base,
there was close to zero incentive
for developers to make meaningful second screen experiences.
Some games did it really right,
others did it terribly,
and I think most of them just let it lie.
Finally, the last lesson, timing.
What happened after the year after the Wii U launched?
(exciting rock music)
(ethereal music)
Oh no!
So, the Wii U wasn't really competing
with the top-of-the-line home consoles,
but they weren't portable,
and the Wii U kind of could be.
Okay, so what were the other popular
portable gaming devices of 2012?
(electronic music)
Oh, no!
The fact remains that no matter
what you wanted to do with a Wii U,
there was a device that did it better,
unless you wanted those good first-party Nintendo games.
But the Wii U's popularity or lack thereof
proved that good Nintendo games
weren't enough to sell a console.
You need good hardware and a strong library
of first and third-party games to support it.
And that's exactly what the Switch has had
right from the start.
(jaunty swing jazz music)