When Nintendo announced that their long awaited new console, the Nintendo Switch, would be released in March next year, I had mixed feelings! Part of me was transformed back into that 10-year-old kid who received a NES for Christmas and the utter joy of playing arcade quality games such as Super Mario 3 at home still resonates with me now. Another part of me was worried! Nintendo’s last effort at changing the gaming landscape was not exactly a success. In fact, only weeks after announcing the plans to release the new console, Nintendo also said that 4th November would see the last ever Wii U console roll off the production lines. But why did the Wii U flop so bad? Here is my non-scientific look at the three main reasons why the Wii U failed to reach the dizzy heights of previous consoles. Have Nintendo learnt anything from their mistakes?

Controller Crazy – When the Wii was first released, the world went mad. Nintendo had found a way that a 4-year-old child and a 95-year-old granny could pick up a controller and it just worked. It was genius and made gaming become something the whole family could do together. Add in amazingly playable games such as Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and it is easy to see why the Wii sold an amazing 101 million units and game sales rocketed.

Things were not so rosy with the Wii U though! Whereas the Wii was simple, the Wii U was anything but. The Wii U has a gamepad, in some games you needed to use a Wii remote and in some cases both. There is also the Pro-controller, however only one Pro-controller can be used at once. This was a cue to fight over who got the preferred pro-controller. So we moved from the Wii’s sense of utopia to an induced sense of controller rage.

Games – I think Nintendo are one of the best creators of video games ever! When Donkey Kong was released in the 80’s, it blew me away. So simple yet so challenging. It’s a trait that Nintendo would continue for many years. The one lacking feature though was 3rd party support. Nintendo goes for a quality first approach and while this has to be admired, they are missing out on our unquenchable thirst for new things.

We get bored easily and rather than wait 6 months for a blockbuster title, we are now more likely to play numerous titles for a shorter amount of time than we are to fall in love with a game and play it non-stop. The lack of continued support from the major software houses didn’t directly kill the Wii U but it definitely stabbed it in the back a few times!

I got the power! – Or rather I don’t! Nintendo with both the Wii and the Wii U released machines that when compared to the specs of the competitors were pretty poor. With the Wii, the innovative controller not only saved them but heralded a golden age for the Wii. Unfortunately, although Nintendo tried to innovate with the U, they created a home/portable hybrid which didn’t do either role particularly well.

Final Verdict – Hit or Miss?

I fear that Nintendo are making the same mistake with Switch as they did with the U. It’s another mash up between a home entertainment system and a portable gaming device. The problem with that vision is that most of us already have in our pockets an entertainment centre in the form of our mobiles. Will the portable element of the Switch compete with a latest smartphone? We will have to wait and see, but I doubt it. On a positive note, I’m really looking forward to playing the next generation of Mario, I can’t wait to try the new Zelda game and I know I will devote hours to these games when they are released. I may be wrong but I see the future of Nintendo as being a software house, concentrating on what they do best – creating awesome games!