Wii Were Tricked: Nintendo’s Successful Switch Experiment

Stay with me here. I did not wholly enjoy my time with the Wii U. It did a couple of solid things, but overall, it was just not good. The Wii U Gamepad felt like a toy and the games largely left a lot to be desired. The Wii U is objectively Nintendo’s worst console. But in the context of the Switch and its future? it’s arguably their most important.

When I look back at this console, I remember how muddy the marketing was around it. No one could figure out if it was a mid-gen refresh or a new experience entirely. Even while showing off the Gamepad, which turned out to be the thing we should have all paid attention to. 

WII WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING

You know what the Wii U was? A global beta test for the Switch. I’m convinced Nintendo wasn’t going to release the Switch until they could see if they could pull off a screen and controller combination in a way that made sense.

And they did a great job of hiding that. We got a new Mario, Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8, Splatoon even debuted on the Wii U, and oddly enough, Wind Waker HD (really, Nintendo?). When you look at the quality of first-party games, you’d think this was an elite-level console. But there’s next to no third-party support; Nintendo was basically flying solo on this one. Even the new Zelda game they released came so far at the end, that it was a Switch launch title. 

The big problem here, though, is no one really could tell it was a brand-new console. None of the marketing hammered home that this was something new. It just felt like Nintendo added a tablet to its already existing Wii. On top of that, the Wii U Gamepad had some of the worst battery life on a controller I’ve ever seen. That could obviously be owed to running a touchscreen on it when no one had before.  

The bait and switch worked

I have my issues with this console, but what I can’t deny is that Nintendo’s strategy worked. They essentially punted Gen 8 to test out what they wanted to do. Besides, they’ve never been particularly concerned with “winning” a console generation, at least not publicly. 

And I’m not mad at the move. The Switch has proven to be one of the greatest consoles ever because Nintendo took this swing. What they learned from the Wii U was clearly translated to it and we got better games because of that decision.

The Wii U has a complicated legacy as a standalone console. But in the greater context of Nintendo’s constant striving for innovation and new gameplay experiences, it’s an important step in their history. Whenever we get a look at the Switch 2, you can be sure the impact of the Wii U will continue to be felt.