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[Jonneh3003]

For those who don't know Rayman Legends was not only originally going to be a Wii U exclusive but it was also going to release during December 2012, the Wii U's launch month (late November in other countries). It was then delayed until February 2013 but of course the game actually released half a year later in August on multiple other platforms.

Let’s say the game committed to its exclusivity and launch window release, would it have made any difference to the Wii U's success? The system already launched with a 2D sidescroller in the way of New Super Mario Bros U, however this was the second NSMB game to launch that year and hardly pushed consumers to buy the system. It did end up selling 5.19 million units in its life time though which is pretty damn good.

Likelyhood is New Super Mario Bros U didn't sell the Wii U, the people who picked up that game were probably going to buy the system anyway for Nintendo games. Rayman Legends however could have appealed to an entirely different demographic. The issue with the Wii U's launch lineup was it offered games that were already available elsewhere like Batman Arkham City and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, outside of Zombi U and Nintendo Land there were very few original experiments.

Rayman Legends obviously did come out on the Wii U but it was also everywhere else, it sold the system for very few people, if anyone. Could things have been different if it launched when it originally said it would?

 

[L Thammy]

The Wii U's problems were bigger than just a few games.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Are you serious? It's Rayman. Of course it wouldn't

 

[EhoaVash]

nope. I remember at the start of wii u, people were complaining why is there so many 2d platformers on this system

 

[harpingon]

No

 

[Phediuk]

No.

Next question please.

 

[Mediking]

It's not good to do a "shoulda, coulda, woulda," in life.....

 

[QuantumBro]

Lol, did the final game even sell over 1 million on all platforms?

Smash 4 on day 1 (or within the first 3 like melee) is the only thing that could've saved it.

 

[Duxxy3]

The problem with the Wii U was not the games. It was everything else.

 

[Cleve]

It wasn't going to be a system seller either way.

 

[L Thammy]

nope. I remember at the start of wii u, people were complaining why is there so many 2d platformers on this system

I remember at the start of Wii U, people were complaining "why does this thing crash all the time", "why is this so slow", "what is the point of the tablet", and I don't think Rayman could do a lot to solve all of that.

 

[DrLazy]

All I know is the game is fucking awesome and two-player levels / challenges with gamepad + controller are amazing. still play it with the wife

 

[fhqwhgads]

Not so much Rayman, but more if Ubisoft actually had some smidge of faith in the Wii U rather than bailing out at the first sign of weakness, the console might've done better.

 

[Phediuk]

"Would [insert game here] have saved the Wii U?"

Answer: no.

 

[God Dayumm]

Launch exclusive Zelda might have saved the Wii U.


But then the NX would have had absolutely nothing

 

[L Thammy]

Not so much Rayman, but more if Ubisoft actually had some smidge of faith in the Wii U rather than bailing out at the first sign of weakness, the console might've done better.

I think launching a new IP (or reviving an ancient one or whatever) on a new console was already a big show of faith. Was there a big western developer that supported the Wii U more than Ubisoft?

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

lol no.

 

[GeeTeeCee]

Not so much Rayman, but more if Ubisoft actually had some smidge of faith in the Wii U rather than bailing out at the first sign of weakness, the console might've done better.

Ubisoft was one of the Wii U's biggest supporters at launch, and it went poorly for them, so I can't really fault them for pulling back somewhat.

 

[Richie]

Rayman Legends
ZombiU
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Sonic Lost World
Devil's Third

Is that all the list of games that were initially exclusives and ended up releasing elsewhere?

 

[alf717]

I think launching a new IP (or reviving an ancient one or whatever) on a new console was already a big show of faith. Was there a big western developer that supported the Wii U more than Ubisoft?

Ubi put a lot more effort into the Wii U than the other third parties. Hope they are on board for the NX.

 

[Guymelef]

Just like Beyond Good and Evil 2 will/would help NX, nothing.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

The thing that would have helped the Wii U would have been releasing a completely different console than the Wii U and handling every single decision around it differently.

 

[QuantumBro]

Rayman Legends
ZombiU
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Sonic Lost World
Devil's Third

Is that all the list of games that were initially exclusives and ended up releasing elsewhere?

Now there's a game that would've saved the WiiU if it had come out earlier.

 

[Cleve]

Not so much Rayman, but more if Ubisoft actually had some smidge of faith in the Wii U rather than bailing out at the first sign of weakness, the console might've done better.

They would have just sunk more money and resources in to a losing battle. UBI went it harder than any other third party and it got them nothing. Zombi U was the most interesting launch game, and it did rather poorly.

 

[L Thammy]

Rayman Legends
ZombiU
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Sonic Lost World
Devil's Third

Is that all the list of games that were initially exclusives and ended up releasing elsewhere?

Unless I'm mistaken, Devil's Third is multiplayer only on PC; the single player game remains Wii U exclusive. Kind of a stretch to include it in this list.

 

[kunonabi]

Probably would have sold more Wii U copies but that's about it. The new release date and neutered difficulty compared to the early builds pretty much put the brakes on me picking it up after being super excited for it when I first played it.

 

[bobbychalkers]

If anything, releasing then would have helped Rayman Legends instead of going head to head with GTAV.

 

[Richie]

Now there's a game that would've saved the WiiU if it had come out earlier.

I now have a morbid curiosity for what that gem would have been like with even less development time.

Unless I'm mistaken, Devil's Third is multiplayer only on PC; the single player game remains Wii U exclusive. Kind of a stretch to include it in this list.

True-ché. I included it because I reckon it's the multiplayer portion that was going to entice anyone into the game. With that available elsewhere, doubt anyone was going to bite on the Wii U version for just the campaign (which got the brunt of the bad reviews IIRC)

 

[Mutanthands]

Not so much Rayman, but more if Ubisoft actually had some smidge of faith in the Wii U rather than bailing out at the first sign of weakness, the console might've done better.

Ubisoft gave the Wii U more support than most. Continued port support would not have made much difference at all.

They were one of the last to jump off of the sinking ship.

 

[jblank83]

Let’s say the game committed to its exclusivity and launch window release, would it have made any difference to the Wii U's success?

Looking at sales of Rayman Legends on platforms other than Wii U, I'd have to say "no".

 

[Sandfox]

I probably would have bought the game if they didn't delay it, but I it wouldn't have done all that much differently.

 

[Zombine]

The thing that would have helped the Wii U is not calling it the Wii U, ditching the game pad and selling it at a loss while having a good launch window which would have included flagship titles. They needed to get the install base up to make 3rd party publishers happy, and work on acquiring exclusive games and deals. This didn't work out for them.

 

[spyroflame0487]

No. It may have sold pretty well, but in the absolute best case scenario, it would have shown devs and companies that having exclusives on a Nintendo console would sell well. And that seems fairly unlikely even if it did retain the exclusive deal.

I'd be extremely curious to see how their "proto-Amiibos" would have worked, since they teased them long before the amiibo announcement, and even before Rumble.

With the runaway success that amiibos have been for Nintendo, it would have been really interesting to see the landscape change if a third party had jumped on the "toys to life" series first.
I wonder if there's any hope for a Rayman/Rabbid amiibo sometime in the future.

 

[Jonneh3003]

No. It may have sold pretty well, but in the absolute best case scenario, it would have shown devs and companies that having exclusives on a Nintendo console would sell well.

I'd be extremely curious to see how their "proto-Amiibos" would have worked, since they teased them long before the amiibo announcement, and even before Rumble.

I wonder if there's any hope for a Rayman/Rabbid amiibo sometime in the future.

I assume these got taken out to make the content in line with the other version, the original leaked trailer was all kinds of awesome.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

I assume these got taken out to make the content in line with the other version, the original leaked trailer was all kinds of awesome.

Was that ever even "in" to begin with? IIRC it was just a proof of concept thing, not actual planned functionality for any specific game.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Was that ever even "in" to begin with? IIRC it was just a proof of concept thing, not actual planned functionality for any specific game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSlccZt5O2o

It was meant for internal use but I don't see why they would cut the ideas other than for parity with other versions. Everything else in the trailer made it in.

 

[Daingurse]

Nope, it wouldn't have helped at all. It was simply brutal coming from one of the few 3rd parties that have supported Nintendo through the years.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

It being released in December and staying exclusive would have helped the game I think. Not the Wii U. It missed the holidays and pissed off Wii U owners maybe didn't buy it due to the loss of exclusivity that lead to the delay.

 

[Mr-Joker]

The reasons why the Wii U bombed in sales was due to;

-Being overpriced compare to competition.
-Confusing marketing.
-Tepid launch titles.
-Released at a time when the PS4 and Xbone were on the horizon.
-Lack of third party support outside of ports of last gen games.
-The pad failing to resonate with the market.
-The causal market had moved on to tablets and smartphone.
-Kids that played Wii games had grown up and moved on to Sony and Microsoft system.

Furthermore Rayman was not a system seller and was never going to help the Wii U in sales despite selling the most on the Wii U.

 

[Jonneh3003]

The reasons why the Wii U bombed in sales was due to;

-Being overpriced compare to competition.
-Confusing marketing.
-Tepid launch titles.
-Released at a time when the PS4 and Xbone were on the horizon.
-Lack of third party support outside of ports of last gen games.
-The pad failing to resonate with the market.
-The causal market had moved on to tablets and smartphone.
-Kids that played Wii games had grown up and moved on to Sony and Microsoft system.

Furthermore Rayman was not a system seller and was never going to help the Wii U in sales despite selling the most on the Wii U.

I was not aware of that. I don't think the game would have saved the Wii U by any means but I think it would have helped the launch.

 

[Goldenroad]

Rayman is pretty far from being a system seller. Hell, I've owned that game on Steam for over two years now and haven't played it yet.

 

[dragonyeuw]

No, it merely would have been more prominent as a wii U standalone release for those who had purchased the system in the launch window, due to a post- xmas software draught. *Maybe* it sells a few Wii U's for rabid Rayman fans, but hardly enough to move the sales needle. And of course, Ubi decides to release it in September 2013 when much bigger titles like GTAV were coming out, and people were looking towards the then next-gen ps4 and xb1. So it wound up an afterthought.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Rayman is pretty far from being a system seller. Hell, I've owned that game on Steam for over two years now and haven't played it yet.

 

[Goldenroad]

Steam Sales dude.

 

[10k]

As much as I love it, no. Even if Zelda launched with Wii U I don't think it would have pushed the Wii U past 20M units LTD.

It's problems were to numerous:

1) poor marketing and separation from the Wii
2) poor online infrastructure and OS
3) no consistent software lineup
4) no third party support
5) not enough games taking advantage of the gamepad