Nintendo shut down its Wii U eShop in March 2023 and can shut down the console’s on-line performance at this time, April 8. Initially launched in 2012, Nintendo’s Swap predecessor is formally being powered off. Sure, Wii U homeowners can nonetheless play video games offline — and take part within the energetic Wii U modding scene — however Nintendo will lastly be wiping its fingers clear of its worst-selling console ever. (Nintendo bought simply over 13 million Wii U consoles, a minimum of certainly one of which was bought final 12 months.)
For years, the Wii U was largely thought of a large failure. And in numerous methods, it nonetheless is. However as time handed because it was first launched in 2012, it grew to become simpler to see how the console was really a flawed however needed step in Nintendo’s journey towards the Nintendo Swap. In any case, the Wii U’s pill — whereas meant to be performed solely within the dwelling — shouldn’t be so dissimilar from the Swap’s type.
“We had launched the Wii U, following on the heels of the Wii, which had bought 100 million models globally,” former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé stated throughout the GeekWire Summit in Seattle in 2018. “The Wii U didn’t have that very same degree of success. However what we heard from customers is that the proposition of a pill that they might expertise gameplay [with], coupled with the flexibility to play video games on the massive display screen TV, was actually compelling.”
Nintendo’s Wii U pill was its most forward-thinking characteristic, however that was laborious to see due to its technical limitations. The tablet-style controller had the attract of a handheld system that might be performed wherever, however it was restricted solely to the house, shut sufficient to the Wii U console to remain related. This pressure was there from the beginning: At Nintendo’s E3 presentation in 2011, the place it first revealed the Wii U, Nintendo targeted closely on the pill and its second display screen — how you might change off the tv and preserve enjoying in your Wii U pill display screen.
After the presentation, former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata informed London newspaper Night Normal that individuals had been confused: “As a result of we put a lot emphasis on the controller, there seemed to be some misunderstanding.” Individuals thought the pill controller was the console, or that it was a brand new piece of {hardware} for the Wii. Neither was true. The pill was, certainly, only a pill — and Nintendo meant to pair it with its personal, upgraded console referred to as the Wii U. Nevertheless it didn’t seem to be sufficient of a bounce to entice Wii gamers to purchase one other console, solely to obtain one thing that was functionally so comparable — simply with a novel controller.
The Wii U pill was so near being a tool that might be performed on the go, however it in the end wasn’t. The pill related to the stationary console by way of a proprietary wi-fi connection — they communicated straight, and no Wi-Fi connection was needed. However that connection had technical limitations that meant you might solely transfer 30 ft or so away from the console, which made the pill controller really feel very restricted and awkward. (It had fairly poor battery life, too.) A handheld pill ought to have supplied gamers with extra flexibility, however the connectivity points made it tough. If you happen to can’t ever stray removed from the TV, you might as effectively keep plugged into it.
And but, the Wii U pill, regardless of its limitations, turned out to be secretly revolutionary for Nintendo. “With out our experiences on the Wii U, we’d not have the Nintendo Swap by way of what we realized and importantly what we heard from our customers,” Fils-Aimé stated in 2018. “They had been telling us, ‘I need to play with this pill, this gamepad for the Wii U, however as quickly as I get greater than 30 ft away it disconnects.’ So the core idea, one thing that you might take with you wherever anytime.”
GeekWire reported that Fils-Aimé stated the Wii U wasn’t precisely a “beta check” for the Nintendo Swap, however it was a needed step within the timeline of improvements that may result in the event of Nintendo’s future console. In the end, the Nintendo Swap was all the pieces gamers needed the Wii U to be: a very moveable system that might additionally seamlessly hook up with a tv. There was no confusion available; the Swap’s tablet-like controller is the console.
As a result of the Wii U was so important to the event of the Swap, it’s incorrect to jot down the Wii U off as a pure failure. It’s not. Although the console didn’t promote effectively, it had its benefits: It was an enormous win for the backward compatibility of Nintendo video games and native multiplayer — and it served because the stepping stone to certainly one of Nintendo’s finest consoles of all time.