Which Nintendo comeback was more impressive? (GameCube to Wii vs Wii U to Switch)
- Thread starter LakeOf9
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Knightime_X
Member
N64 -> GameCube
It didnt have that many games, but the games is DID have were amazing.
It didnt have that many games, but the games is DID have were amazing.
apple_of_enlightenment
Member
GC and WiiU were work-in-progress prototypes for their successors.
With GC they thought that accessible different size buttons, primary colors and a small cube was a route to mass market. But the Wii was a far great simplification of accessibility.
The WiiU was called Project Cafe in development, implying it should have been more portable.
With GC they thought that accessible different size buttons, primary colors and a small cube was a route to mass market. But the Wii was a far great simplification of accessibility.
The WiiU was called Project Cafe in development, implying it should have been more portable.
Hyet
Member
Gamecube was called Dolphin in development implying it was intended to be submersible.
deriks
4-Time GIF/Meme God
For the overall, Wii
They didn't really thought to compete with Sony and Microsoft, there's a lot of jokes, graphics are in the stone age... and they won
Switch was for sure everything great either, but I can say the best thing ever for it was the marketing team. Wii U was the worst at it by far, and Switch great even before the announcement. Also production got steady, having two big games in less than a year. I really don't believe the Switch would turn that great if the marketing team didn't make a amazing job with the parties and nice trailers
They didn't really thought to compete with Sony and Microsoft, there's a lot of jokes, graphics are in the stone age... and they won
Switch was for sure everything great either, but I can say the best thing ever for it was the marketing team. Wii U was the worst at it by far, and Switch great even before the announcement. Also production got steady, having two big games in less than a year. I really don't believe the Switch would turn that great if the marketing team didn't make a amazing job with the parties and nice trailers
awwr999999
Member
NES to Super NES is Nintendo's most impressive move.
nkarafo
Member
I have some nostalgia for the Wii launch playing Wii sports and Zelda but that's it. The rest of it felt really lame with only some rare instances of good stuff such as Super Mario Galaxy. Heck, even Zelda game was a Gamecube port. And Skyward Sword was... OK.
The Gamecube and N64 may be less successful but had far superior games, no contest. And i still cringe whenever i think about them trying to cater to the "hardcore" audience later on (remember the hardcore audience?) by releasing trash such as the Red Steel games and Metroid OtherM.
It's the definition of something being a success not because it's good but because it's mainstream and popular.
IMO it's the worst Nintendo system. At least the WiiU or even the Virtual Boy had the decency to not last long. Not to mention the WiiU had better games.
The Gamecube and N64 may be less successful but had far superior games, no contest. And i still cringe whenever i think about them trying to cater to the "hardcore" audience later on (remember the hardcore audience?) by releasing trash such as the Red Steel games and Metroid OtherM.
It's the definition of something being a success not because it's good but because it's mainstream and popular.
IMO it's the worst Nintendo system. At least the WiiU or even the Virtual Boy had the decency to not last long. Not to mention the WiiU had better games.
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awwr999999
Member
Switch doesn't have any legacy Nintendo HW (GB/GBC/GBA/NES/SNES/etc. and lacks wired controller ports.
Nintendo could have added NES/SNES/GBA HW and a single GCC port to the dock to make it a killer system.
Nintendo could have added NES/SNES/GBA HW and a single GCC port to the dock to make it a killer system.
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BlackTron
Member
I personally disagree that they doubled down. The hardware has one gimmick that is similar, letting someone else take over the TV while you keep playing.
But if you were playing a game that used both screens, which is really its main idea, you can't do that. They killed its main idea to make it a success.
Wii U is a Frankenstein DS for your TV that can't be moved anywhere and Switch is a dockable, portable console. They only appear superficially very similar due to the Gamepad, which must stay feet from the console.
I think doubling down would have meant releasing Star Fox Zero and saying no, this is a concept we will figure out how to sell next time. But they buried it.
Geometric-Crusher
"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
Wii U was good, it just clashed with other consoles because the human mind doesn't like redundancy. The Wii U was a home console, just like the 360 and PS3; not everyone likes filling their shelves with that many products. The Switch is the Wii U, they are the same, only this time Nintendo made it in handheld form instead of the 4DS.
Geometric-Crusher
"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
Only amateurs say that. In terms of proportions, the GameCube, the Switch, and the Wii U share the same hardware construction philosophy.
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daclynk
Member
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Mownoc
Member
Gamecube to Wii. They needed to take a risk and differentiate themselves to find success in that market again, with both N64 and GC underperforming.
Switch is obviously one of the most successful consoles of all time, but it's not as much a turn around as going from 21m GameCube sales to 100m Wii sales.
Switch is only a bigger comeback if you completely ignore 3DS. Switch was a successor to both their home console and handheld lines and their handhelds have always been successful.
Switch is obviously one of the most successful consoles of all time, but it's not as much a turn around as going from 21m GameCube sales to 100m Wii sales.
Switch is only a bigger comeback if you completely ignore 3DS. Switch was a successor to both their home console and handheld lines and their handhelds have always been successful.
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BlackTron
Member
Translated
"I think all Nintendo consoles are equally poor, but don't know how to say it in the form of empirical proof. Here's a bizarre word salad"
BlackTron
Member
Meh. Wii was an add-on console to many 360/PS3 setups. Human mind doesn't evolve that much in a few years.
It was just a bad product.
Mozza
Member
Sorry, I was suggesting we do not know on the whole how satisfied the Wii's userbase was.
Hyet
Member
Well, thats true but I don't think the Wii expanded audience was loyal in any way to Nintendo, so....
And we're not discussing the Wii→WiiU transition anyway so it's a moot point.
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Robb
Gold Member
Yeah, the gimmick of the WiiU was "asymmetrical gameplay", as Nintendo put it. I remember Reggie talking about that stuff all the time in interviews back then.
Reggie Fils-Aime said:
Reggie Fils-Aime said:
BlackTron
Member
This is a new one to me. Never seen it before. Doesn't mean it's never happened of course
This. The Switch is simply the Wii U concept more fleshed out and perfected.
jzbadblood
Member
Being a Wii-U owner since launch those were the roughest times I've ever seen Nintendo in. It felt like a downward spiral that they weren't pulling out of.
Geometric-Crusher
"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
Wii was sold not only to casual gamers but also to non-gamers, as well as physiotherapy clinics and nursing homes. People who had never even touched an Xbox 360, for example.
BlackTron
Member
So? Yes, this inflated Wii's sales, but its sales exceeded that of PS3 or Xbox 360.
Certainly you don't believe the Wii sold almost exclusively to non-gamers. It's a symbolic achievement to get into nursing homes, but how many units you think that is?
I know I give you shit sometimes for asserting things before your time, but, certainly you aren't so young you don't remember PS3/Wii and 360/Wii households?
Then again, it was 20 years ago, you might have been 5!
Spirit Icana
Member
The Wii and DS era was Nintendo's greatest comeback moment, by far, and paved the way for their success even today. Nintendo was out of the culture zeitgeist in 2005/6 and with the emerging PSP putting the pressure on the DS (that had abandoned the Game Boy branding as it was originally meant as a third pillar), and PlayStation was completely dominate with a rising Xbox competing in that space with Halo event releases and Xbox Live.
This was the moment Nintendo was BACK:
A whole new generation got into Nintendo. Old people found a pathway to reliving youthful days, sharing the moment with grandkids, and the media ate up the total underdog having overcome the PS3 and Xbox 360. There was also the virtual console. Thing was sold out for three years. Momentum did die out earlier than it should've due to lack of compelling software to keep it moving, but it put Nintendo's name back in many household's, reminiscent to the NES of old. The Switch was the true successor to the Wii, launching with a return to roots Zelda and 1-2 Switch, freeform motion controls were reimagined with the included Joy-cons, Nindies became a thing and turned Nintendo's software drought problems into a thing of the past, the miraculous Splatoon that somehow made an impact in Japan on Wii U, now on platform that everyone want's to be in, and all of it housed on a flexible tablet with three modes of play, including the television.
Wii U was Nintendo's was Nintendo's most dangerous console, putting the company in the red for the first time, but Nintendo's relevance was still strong with its legacy, and IP's were still running strong on YouTube, apparel, and the 3DS was unchallenged by the PS Vita. Amiibo figures were selling out, and NES mini's and that like were strong. I still remember back in Jan 2017 arguing with people that thought Splatoon was going to be the new premier Nintendo IP. Nah, Zelda was still beloved in our culture, it missed out on Wii U (kinda), and it was coming back big with Breath of the Wild being inspired by the original NES hit:
This was the moment Nintendo was BACK:
A whole new generation got into Nintendo. Old people found a pathway to reliving youthful days, sharing the moment with grandkids, and the media ate up the total underdog having overcome the PS3 and Xbox 360. There was also the virtual console. Thing was sold out for three years. Momentum did die out earlier than it should've due to lack of compelling software to keep it moving, but it put Nintendo's name back in many household's, reminiscent to the NES of old. The Switch was the true successor to the Wii, launching with a return to roots Zelda and 1-2 Switch, freeform motion controls were reimagined with the included Joy-cons, Nindies became a thing and turned Nintendo's software drought problems into a thing of the past, the miraculous Splatoon that somehow made an impact in Japan on Wii U, now on platform that everyone want's to be in, and all of it housed on a flexible tablet with three modes of play, including the television.
Wii U was Nintendo's was Nintendo's most dangerous console, putting the company in the red for the first time, but Nintendo's relevance was still strong with its legacy, and IP's were still running strong on YouTube, apparel, and the 3DS was unchallenged by the PS Vita. Amiibo figures were selling out, and NES mini's and that like were strong. I still remember back in Jan 2017 arguing with people that thought Splatoon was going to be the new premier Nintendo IP. Nah, Zelda was still beloved in our culture, it missed out on Wii U (kinda), and it was coming back big with Breath of the Wild being inspired by the original NES hit:
rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Yeah. Immersion was very downgraded.
Doctor Hades
Member
Kind of weird but I thought the Wii to Wii U, was a comeback, at least in the sense that the system offered a tangible upgrade to the visuals, being the first Nintendo 'HD' console as well as ditching the motion controls for a less annoying second screen gimmick. I was sick to death of motion controls half way through the Wii's life and always disappointed with the visuals as they showed no advance over the 480i/480p GameCube. The Wii U was a good system in retrospect, just poorly marketed by Nintendo.
But if you mean sales figures only then I would say that the Wii was the more impressive comeback, particularly because it got my then-60 odd years old parents buying and playing games regularly; mostly Wii Sports but my mum also had the Wii Balance board and enjoyed using that. The Wii was certainly more capable of attracting the casuals to gaming than the Switch in my opinion as my parents have had no interest in any of the Nintendo consoles after the Wii.
But if you mean sales figures only then I would say that the Wii was the more impressive comeback, particularly because it got my then-60 odd years old parents buying and playing games regularly; mostly Wii Sports but my mum also had the Wii Balance board and enjoyed using that. The Wii was certainly more capable of attracting the casuals to gaming than the Switch in my opinion as my parents have had no interest in any of the Nintendo consoles after the Wii.
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Angry_Megalodon
Member
Wii U to Switch and should not be even close.
The Wii argument is a fallacious one. Wii targeted a completely different demographic outside videogames. It was very successful at first, but that audience was not there for the long run. Wii took Nintendo out of the tech race so in my book that could never be a success, it was a capitulation. Wii U was the reality check after the Wii delusion.
Switch was the right move, a console for gamers. However, it also came at a cost, cannibalizing Nintendo 3DS and definitely leaving the home console race. As things stand right now, Switch is a long term success formula and they should stick to it.
The Wii argument is a fallacious one. Wii targeted a completely different demographic outside videogames. It was very successful at first, but that audience was not there for the long run. Wii took Nintendo out of the tech race so in my book that could never be a success, it was a capitulation. Wii U was the reality check after the Wii delusion.
Switch was the right move, a console for gamers. However, it also came at a cost, cannibalizing Nintendo 3DS and definitely leaving the home console race. As things stand right now, Switch is a long term success formula and they should stick to it.
spookyfish
Gold Member
Wii U was the Switch crawling before it could run. The Switch is what Nintendo (and I) always wanted -- integrate the handheld with the console.
Although I do miss the 3DS. I hope ModRetro does one.
p_xavier
Authorized Fister
I think Virtual Boy emulation on Switch will be a precursor to 3DS being available on NSO.
rm082e
Gold Member
The Switch was surprising because I couldn't picture them pulling off the concept prior to the announcement video. The rumors floating around in 2016 just gave me a very shakey impression. I was worried that system would be a dud like the Wii U was (sales).
Once I saw that announcement video, I felt a lot better about the console. It looked really slick. Clearly they got it right.
But after that video, I was guessing they would maybe sell 50-60 million lifetime. I thought it would run out of gimmicks really fast, and people would be left with an underpowered machine that was boring once the novelty wore off. Approaching the 150 million units sold milestone is just nuts. I slow clap for tgeir success.
I don't buy Nintendo products because it's not my thing. I also roll my eyes at their hyper-letigous approach to business. But all things considered, I'm glad they're doing so well and I hope they remain a juggernaut in the gaming space for a long time.
Once I saw that announcement video, I felt a lot better about the console. It looked really slick. Clearly they got it right.
But after that video, I was guessing they would maybe sell 50-60 million lifetime. I thought it would run out of gimmicks really fast, and people would be left with an underpowered machine that was boring once the novelty wore off. Approaching the 150 million units sold milestone is just nuts. I slow clap for tgeir success.
I don't buy Nintendo products because it's not my thing. I also roll my eyes at their hyper-letigous approach to business. But all things considered, I'm glad they're doing so well and I hope they remain a juggernaut in the gaming space for a long time.
KungFucius
King Snowflake
This included handhelds as separate systems for most years until the switch. Switch captured both of those markets and grew them. This success seems to have continued with the Switch 2.That's not even a contest. GC was a moderate success, WiiU was an absolute trainwreck that put the entire company in the red.
I am wondering how much of the GC era was driven by GBA success. 2004 was the weakest year for them in over a decade.
Robb
Gold Member
BlackTron
Member
This thread is about comebacks.
BlackTron
Member
That was an issue, but the #1 issue was failing to differentiate the American market from the Japanese one and taking that into account IMO.
Yes they will go with purple box as the main/marketing color, tech demo Luigi and chibi Link to get the system off the ground, what's the problem?
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
GameCube to Wii. Nintendo was in a very poor financial situation and Iwata's inspiration from the Blue Ocean Strategy book changed the way the company looked at the business.
The Wii was a turning point for Nintendo and a truly amazing console.
The Wii was a turning point for Nintendo and a truly amazing console.
Unfortunatecookie
Member
Fantastic point. It's often overlooked just how much hardware Nintendo was selling during that gen.
xanaum
Member
For me it was N64 to the Nintendo GameCube jump. The GameCube back then was straight-up fire, and it had the legendary Resident Evil remake, which was basically visual pornography for gamers at the time. Honestly, that was peak Nintendo for me.
And seriously, thank you Gabe Newell for bringing this thing back. Please make a purple ValveCube.
And seriously, thank you Gabe Newell for bringing this thing back. Please make a purple ValveCube.
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