Nintendo Wii U [CHAT III] | Club U | Come on in, the water is lovely

Make them integral parts of the game, get complaints about locking content behind physical DLC. Make them do nothing, get complaints that they aren't used enough.

Personally I think they've walked a pretty good line with them. I like the ones I have which I mainly bought as models, but its fun to get the occasional little bonus without worrying about what content I have missed in other games. Breath of the Wild was maybe my favourite use of them for spawning in helpful chests of items or weapons. Nothing game breaking and nothing to complain about missing, but a fun bonus - much like using the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker.

OrangeRKN wrote:Make them integral parts of the game, get complaints about locking content behind physical DLC. Make them do nothing, get complaints that they aren't used enough.

Personally I think they've walked a pretty good line with them. I like the ones I have which I mainly bought as models, but its fun to get the occasional little bonus without worrying about what content I have missed in other games. Breath of the Wild was maybe my favourite use of them for spawning in helpful chests of items or weapons. Nothing game breaking and nothing to complain about missing, but a fun bonus - much like using the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker.

Thats how Ive treated them mostly, cool figures to have on my shelf and occasionally use in a game. Hard to shake the nagging feeling that there is more they could do with them though.

Dug my Wii U out of storage in preparation for giving it to my nephews for christmas. It was only ever a Mario Maker machine for me so I don't have many games for it.

Set it up and bought a few games off the eShop: Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64. Probably won't be getting any actual Wii U games unless I can find something used on the cheap.

Any recommendations for games on the eShop that would be a good fit for someone young and completely new to games? I'm thinking maybe a Kirby game? Aren't those typically pretty easy and beginner friendly?

Yeah Kirby is a good shout. Yoshi's Woolly World is similar too. Surprised you aren't going to immediately train them on mario maker kaizo levels though

OrangeMKN wrote:Yeah Kirby is a good shout. Yoshi's Woolly World is similar too. Surprised you aren't going to immediately train them on mario maker kaizo levels though

Well, it's my Wii U and comes with my profile so all of that comes included. I only ever made one kaizo level myself though (in SMM1 at least). Just a shame Nintendo shut down the servers for SMM1 the Bookmark website and no new levels can be uploaded.
Can you still download anything that's already been uploaded if you have the code for it?

I'll tell you what though: gonna be getting some good, classic gaming time in with Super Mario Galaxy 2 until the moment I have to pack it all up.

OldSoulCyborg wrote:Dug my Wii U out of storage...

.

OldSoulCyborg wrote:...in preparation for giving it to my nephews for christmas...

.

. It's sad that you're moving on your U but also great that your nephews are going to get to enjoy using it, OSC!

OldSoulCyborg wrote:...Any recommendations for games on the eShop that would be a good fit for someone young and completely new to games?...

Nintendo Land could be worth checking out. Some of the games are brilliant in multiplayer mode; I played Mario Chase with my two elder nephews (they were around 7 and 10 at the time) and we were all laughing so much - it's a simple game but a lot of fun.

I'd also recommend Wii Party and Wii Play Motion for the original Wii console; I don't think you can download them but you'll probably find them very cheaply second-hand. They're contain plenty of interesting and easy-to-play multiplayer titles.

Nintendo has just updated their "top ten" of best-selling (Nintendo published) Wii U games up to the end of September 2021:

Mario Kart 8 - 8.46 million
Super Mario 3D World - 5.88 million
New Super Mario Bros. U - 5.81 million
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - 5.38 million
Nintendo Land - 5.20 million
Splatoon - 4.95 million
Super Mario Maker - 4.02 million
New Super Luigi U - 3.07 million
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 2.35 million
Mario Party 10 - 2.26 million

I have eight of these; I never picked up New Super Luigi U or Mario Party 10. Do any of you folk have a few of these best-sellers? Maybe you still play them?

OldSoulCyborg wrote:Dug my Wii U out of storage in preparation for giving it to my nephews for christmas. It was only ever a Mario Maker machine for me so I don't have many games for it.

Set it up and bought a few games off the eShop: Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64. Probably won't be getting any actual Wii U games unless I can find something used on the cheap.

Any recommendations for games on the eShop that would be a good fit for someone young and completely new to games? I'm thinking maybe a Kirby game? Aren't those typically pretty easy and beginner friendly?

How'd you manage that? They deactivated the ability to add funds on the eshop
Kirby's a shout, see if you can get Yoshi's Woolly World too, that's basically a kirby game

VlaSoul wrote:How'd you manage that? They deactivated the ability to add funds on the eshop...

You can add funds via the Switch - as long as you have linked up your consoles to share the same Nintendo Account. They then share the same balance; my 3DS, Wii U and Switch are linked in this way.

jawa_ wrote:Nintendo has just updated their "top ten" of best-selling (Nintendo published) Wii U games up to the end of September 2021:

Mario Kart 8 - 8.46 million
Super Mario 3D World - 5.88 million
New Super Mario Bros. U - 5.81 million
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - 5.38 million
Nintendo Land - 5.20 million
Splatoon - 4.95 million
Super Mario Maker - 4.02 million
New Super Luigi U - 3.07 million
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 2.35 million
Mario Party 10 - 2.26 million

I have eight of these; I never picked up New Super Luigi U or Mario Party 10. Do any of you folk have a few of these best-sellers? Maybe you still play them?

I have 9 of them. Never picked up Mario Party

jawa_ wrote:

VlaSoul wrote:How'd you manage that? They deactivated the ability to add funds on the eshop...

You can add funds via the Switch - as long as you have linked up your consoles to share the same Nintendo Account. They then share the same balance; my 3DS, Wii U and Switch are linked in this way.

Really? I had no idea, that's really helpful man, thanks.

Happy 9th birthday, Wii U!

Yes, the Wii U is nine today! The system launched in the UK/Europe on 30 November 2012, having arrived in the US on 18 November. It seems incredible that nine years have passed... and six since we used the third birthday logo shared above .

Infamously I had the wrong Wii U console pack sent to me on launch day and I had to get it replaced, delaying my entry into the world of Wii U by four days. I got the ZombiU console pack that came with the game and a Pro Controller. I loved the system from the off, particularly enjoying the Miiverse and web browsing functionality. After a while Club U was setup here in GR, with many (dozensofus.gif) folk joining to share their love for the system. Even though we didn't have any gaems to play! .

What are your fondest memories of using the console? What games did you pick up in the early years?

The reveal of the machine was an absolute disaster, so badly handled and zero compelling reason to actually get one but I had gamed on every Nintendo console up to that point and I kept an open mind. Late 2012, early 2013 I was sick to death of the same ol gooseberry fool on Xbox at the time, shooter and racer and shooter and blech, then the disastrous Xbox One reveal happened and I wanted nothing to do with that hot mess, so that Christmas I picked up a Wii U. I loved it right from the off, it was a breath of fresh air, I forgot just how good Nintendos output was and how different their games were to what everyone else was doing. The lack of support didnt bother me, I was there for Nintendo games and there was enough of them to keep me busy, I didnt have 100 hours a week of gaming time anymore anyway so there was always something new on Wii U.

All in all its a criminally underappreciated machine, its not perfect, far from it but it hosted some of the greatest games of the generation and the greatest game I ever played was on that console. It was weird and underpowered and the controller looked childish but none of that mattered, it was a great machine to play games on. Mine is still hooked up to the telly but it hasnt been switched on in a long time. I keep wanting to go back to it but my gaming time is so limited these days I dont get the chance to go down memory lane but I will some day.

I still have mine hooked up, so who's to say my fondest memory is not still to come.....

In all honestly, i'm struggling to think of any particularly fond memories during my ownership. I bought mine is 2014 when they did a budle with Mario Kart 8 (lol) and a free DLC title. The draw of Wind Waker HD was what pushed me over the edge.

I also enjoyed that Affordable Spaceship game, which i played an hour of with my wife. Obviously she had had enough of gaming for a lifetime by that point, but i thought it was offering some truly novel multiplayer gaming.

I suppose my enduring thought with the Wii U is basically that it's a Switch but better for my use case (I dont play games in the park / on roofs etc). The upshot of this was having some truly novel game experiences where the Game Pad and the TV could be displaying two entirely different things. Also i can play it handheld without my fingers going to sleep (/context)

Look forward to playing Captain Toad on it this Xmas, and enjoying the non-compromised controls.

Rax wrote:...It was weird and underpowered and the controller looked childish but none of that mattered, it was a great machine to play games on...

I love your assessment, Rax! It was a bit clunky but it worked and there really was a decent range of great games for it.

Rax wrote:...Mine is still hooked up to the telly but it hasnt been switched on in a long time. I keep wanting to go back to it but my gaming time is so limited these days I dont get the chance to go down memory lane but I will some day.

Great to hear that your U is still ready fir action. Alas, I recently un-hooked mine from the TV a due to a lack of room (dang PS5! ) but I am thinking about setting it up again; maybe in the new year.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:I still have mine hooked up, so who's to say my fondest memory is not still to come.....

Now that's a positive thought, kaz!

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:...i can play it handheld without my fingers going to sleep...

Yeah, despite the Gamepad being chunky it sure is light and, more importantly, comfortable. I do like the Switch but - for me - with some games it isn't that comfortable for longer periods of time.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:...Look forward to playing Captain Toad on it this Xmas...

Spending Christmas treasure trackin' with Toad on the U? Truly a wondrous scene!

Yep, I'm really looking forward to a combination of this and Miles Moralis on PS5.

only Balan Wonderland could make it more magical.....

The WiiU lived in the living room of the houseshare I used to live in, it was the party console of choice - it got so much use for Mario Kart and Mario Chase and a decent amount of Rugby Sevens in Mario and Sonic at the Rio Olympics. We would play it in the evenings after work, or before going out on a Friday or Saturday, or even just on the weekends if any of us were around. My personal highlights otherwise were Splatoon and Devil's Third online - the latter for a very short lived but wonderful weekend after release!

OrangeRKN wrote:...Mario Chase...

A wonderful example of a game that could only really work on the Wii U. The asynchronous gameplay was just brilliant... it was a simple game but me and my nephews laughed so much playing it .

OrangeRKN wrote:...and Devil's Third online - the latter for a very short lived but wonderful weekend after release!

Devil's Third! What a crazy game; clunky, silly but lots of fun. I didn't play much if it but I recall watching a streamer play it for something like 12 hours for charity... marvellous! And still a console exclusive for the U .

ZombiU is another example of asynchronous multiplayer that only works on the WiiU - they removed it from the later multiplatform release. But yeah, I'd say there is a good argument for Nintedoland being the WiiU's best exclusive just off the back of Mario Chase!