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I bought my Wii U on launch day a little over a year ago, and it hasn’t gotten as much use as I’d originally hoped it would. Recently, though, I’ve been playing my dusty ol’ Wii U more than my shiny new PlayStation 4.
The Wii U is struggling to stay afloat in the deep waters that are the next (now current) generation of consoles. Nintendo, as usual, has little to no third-party support, and consumers can’t justify buying a Wii U for $299 when they can get a PlayStation 4 for just $100 more or an Xbox One for $200 more.
If I were running Nintendo, I would be trying like hell to get third-party support from big companies like EA and Activision. Mario and Zelda cannot sustain the Wii U, especially when system sellers like Super Smash Bros. are also coming to the 3DS. No one is going to buy a Wii U for Super Smash Bros. if they can get it on the 3DS, which is much cheaper.
Why not bring in some new IPs? Sony and Microsoft do this all the time, but Nintendo seems to rely on characters that have been around for decades. We all adore Donkey Kong, Mario, and Link, but why not bring in someone new? Or, they could just fulfill my dream of playing a third-person shooter featuring Mario and company.
Super Mario 3D World gave me some hope that Nintendo can still create amazing games for its home consoles. There aren’t many system-selling games on the Wii U. In fact, I think 3D World is the only system-selling game currently on the Wii U, but most people who want Mario games bought the Wii U a long time ago.
If Nintendo doesn’t step it up and release some system sellers and get strong third-party support from big developers, their console will fall off the map and be forgotten forever, and that’s a shame.
What do you think Nintendo should do now? Should they work hard to try to make the Wii U work, or should they just give up? Let me know what you think in the comments below.