I Want To Play My Wii U, But The Developers Are Telling Me Not To

While there are a ton of Wii U doom and gloom articles out there, I have a different reason to complain. As I look at my Wii U and see it gather dust so early in its lifetime, I find it easy to just sit here, blame Nintendo, and move on. However, I like the Wii U. It’s rough and needs some updates, but I see a lot of potential in it. I still see a bright future for the console. Nintendo doesn’t lay down dying, and they haven’t failed us yet (wait what? The Virtual– the what? Never happened).

The main thing that is my plaguing my Wii U experience right now is the developers and their decisions. This isn’t our first rodeo, studios and publishers. The Wii U, while being labeled “next gen” may be highly debatable, is an 8th generation device. We all know by now that video game console systems need video games to lift off. Of course a console is going to look lackluster and unworthy of a consumer’s money if the shelves still look like its launch day. Sales will not pick up until the studios/publishers either take the plunge and support the system or Nintendo does all the work and does the same thing they had to do for the 3DS.

So why am I so up in arms today? Injustice: Gods Among Us. I really enjoyed the game and recently said it has the best story in a fighting game. I wanted to buy that game on the Wii U. I’m not a Monster Hunter fan and the Lego games don’t tickle my fancy, so I’ve been looking at launch titles and empty hopes in my game drawer. When Injustice was about to release, I quickly assumed I was going to get the full product just like the PS3 or 360 version. Turns out I wouldn’t have.

Injustice: Gods Among Us for the Wii U has unconfirmed DLC, no Season Pass, less costumes, and no WB Account access (for extra costumes from the mobile game). Right away, I knew I wasn’t going to have a shiny, new Wii U game this past Tuesday. Why would I spend money on that version of the game if I’m going to get shafted out of features? The Wii U shop supports DLC just fine. In fact, I was playing through the Tyranny of George Washington on my Assassin’s Creed III copy just last week. So what’s the deal here? Why not release Lobo and the upcoming three characters? Why sit there and twiddle your thumbs while rumors that DLC will be skipped on the Wii U version swirl around the internet?

When I went to the store to pick up Injustice, I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told some guy who was looking at both a Wii U and PS3 copy of the game that he wouldn’t get the DLC. He immediately put down the Wii U copy and went off with the PS3 one. It shouldn’t be like this.

First off, I’m a big supporter of the notion that if you’re going to release a game on multiple platforms, they all should have the same content unless it’s a mobile version or literally impossible to do. Second off, doing these things is only going to hurt the system (which is already trying to get out of a rut). Thirdly, if the Wii U catches on fire and begins to sell like mad, the early adopters are going to remember the studios that poorly supported it and then bandwagoned onto its late success.

This isn’t the first game to do this, either. Mass Effect 3 “Special Edition” was another offender with missing DLC and extras. When you see games like Ninja Gaiden 3 and Batman: Arkham City adding new things to the game to show off the Wii U and give consumers another chance to see their product in a good or better light, you have to wonder what’s up here.

Overall, this isn’t so much a Wii U issue that has my jimmies rustled. While the state of the console is in a fragile way, the main point here is that developers need to give it their best effort instead of releasing half-hearted versions of a game that has obvious superiors in a nearby shelf. If you don’t want to have all of the features on the Wii U version, then don’t make it. All that’s going to happen is the publisher will look at the sales and say, “oh my, no more Wii U for us!” It’s a bad business move.

Honestly, I was really hoping to play Injustice on my Wii U. I’m also hoping to play Resident Evil Revelations, Assassin’s Creed IV, and Batman: Arkham Origins on the Wii U. It’s a shame that I have to check and make sure I’m getting a full version before supporting a console I enjoy.

To those who still bought Injustice for the Wii U, good on you. It’s unfortunate that you may not see a lot of the content that the other consoles are getting. At least the base game is good, though. Right?



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