Gentlemen, start your torches! I have an argument to make about consoles. The Wii U has taken a lot of flak for being underpowered, for Nintendo staying years behind Microsoft and Sony on online services, and for the touchscreen gamepad being a completely unnecessary gimmick that makes the system either more expensive or less powerful than it could be. These are all fair complaints. However, even with them, the Wii U is the base game system purely based on its library.
When discussing console supremacy, the name of the game is exclusives. Which system has the best exclusives? Which system has the most exclusives? Which system is something besides an affordable gaming PC you can use on your couch? The answer to all of those questions is the Wii U.
The Wii U has a problem with third-party games, just like the Wii before it. However, its first- and second-party selection is fantastic, and it’s full of titles you can only play on the Wii U: Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Pikmin 3, Wind Waker HD, and Super Mario 3D World. I didn’t even include New Super Mario Bros. U or New Super Luigi U, because I found them inferior to their predecessors and because I could leave a traditional Mario game off of this list and it’s still really compelling.
The Wii U doesn’t have much in the way of “next-gen” games, but let’s look at what the next generation has given us so far. The great games are cross-platform, and most can be played on PC. The exclusive games are few and far between, and really underwhelming. The Order: 1886 was incredibly bland and short, and Halo: Master Chief Collection still has broken multiplayer.
What system sellers do the PS4 and Xbox One have? Bloodborne (which Denmark let people purchase with their own blood) is a pretty compelling PS4 exclusive (and I’ll admit seeing that Persona 5 will be on the PS4 as well as the PS3 was what made me get the system), and Sunset Overdrive and Killer Instinct are fun on the Xbox One. All of the really big games are multiplatform, and most of them can be played on the PC. GTA V? Last-gen and (eventually) PC. The Assassin’s Creed series? Most are available last-gen and on PC. Evolve? PC. Destiny? Available on last-gen alongside current-gen. Call of Duty and Battlefield? You don’t even have to ask if they’re on this gen, last-gen, and PC.
You can’t play those games on the Wii U, but most of them you can play on your PC, your PS3, or your Xbox 360. The lost of the big-name names isn’t actually a big loss, but can you play Bayo 2 on anything else? Hyrule Warriors, arguably the best Musou (Dynasty Warriors genre) game yet? The Wonderful 101 (criminally underrated, and a must-play for any Wii U owner)?Anything with a Mario character in it, well, that exclusivity is just obvious.
The Wii U isn’t perfect. The gamepad is clunky and Nintendo is still behind the times on online services. At least one of those problems can be fixed with the Wii U Pro Controller, and playing through some of those Wii U exclusives with the Pro Controller accounts for some of my best gaming experiences of 2014.
Yes, I have a PS4 as well, but most of the games I’ve really liked on it I can just play on the PC. That isn’t the case with the best games on the Wii U.
