With Nintendo hopefully gearing up to release the follow-up to the Switch, it’s important that the mistakes of the disastrous Wii U are avoided.
The Switch is among Nintendo’s most successful products to date and is second best-selling home console after the PlayStation 2. However, with the hybrid platform going on six years in early 2023, its age is beginning to show, especially compared to the next-gen systems released by Sony and Microsoft. However, the last time the Kyoto-based developer followed up on a massively popular console, fans were left with the Wii U. Hopefully, Nintendo learned the right lessons from the Switch’s predecessor and can avoid another misfire.
The Wii U was released in 2012 and remains one of Nintendo’s biggest failures. The console contained some good ideas, but average consumers were confused by the name, assuming it was a slightly spruced-up Wii. Dedicated fans were disappointed by the console’s meager library, which lacked new entries in beloved franchises. This time, the odds are in Nintendo’s favor as it now has a blueprint of what not to do.
A Console’s Name Is Everything
The first mistake Nintendo made with the Wii U was the name. During the Wii’s lifespan, the innovative motion controls made sure it had a place in most households, contributing to the console’s huge sales numbers. Nintendo did little to inform those outside of the hardcore gaming audience that this was something new. Most average consumers chose to ignore the Wii U since their current device was working just fine for Wii Sports.
As evidenced by the Switch’s sales, this audience is vitally important to a console’s success. Nintendo needs to ensure the same customers who bought multiple Switches for their family members know that this release is something brand new. The simplest way to do this is for Nintendo to just name their next console the Switch 2. This retains the Switch name to maintain its current momentum but notifies those less informed that their current Switch is obsolete. However, Nintendo also needs to make sure the hardcore audience is adopting their new console. To do that, it needs games.
Nintendo Should Repeat the Switch’s Release Strategy
The Wii U library was missing unique entries for most of Nintendo’s classic franchises. There was no new single-player Mario on par with the Galaxy subseries, and Metroid was missing completely. It also did not receive a new mainline Zelda until Breath of the Wild was released alongside the Switch at the end of the console’s life. Nintendo seemed to recognize this mistake and launched the aforementioned Zelda title and Super Mario Odyssey within the inaugural year of the Switch.
Nintendo would be wise to repeat this strategy with the Switch 2. Since Super Mario Odyssey was released almost six years ago, that team is hopefully nearing completion of its follow-up, which could be ready for the next console launch. The long-in-development Metroid Prime 4, which has been MIA for years, could also hopefully re-reveal itself as a dual-platform title for the Switch and its successor like Breath of the Wild. These two titles alone could anchor the Switch 2’s first year, with the publisher repeating the Switch’s strategy of releasing ports to fill in the gaps.
Plenty of Games Could See New Life on the Switch 2
The few worthwhile games that were released for the Wii U were re-released over time for the Switch. While this leaves fewer games that could receive new life on a Switch 2, there are still plenty of games that Nintendo could revisit to pad up the console’s launch. The GameCube had a library of some of Nintendo’s best entries to its franchises, and these are getting more difficult to come by. These games are just modern enough that they still hold up but are just old enough to be inaccessible for most gamers.
Nintendo could start with the last great titles stuck on the Wii U: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. These already had HD remasters, so porting them would require much less work than most titles. Nintendo could also remaster what many consider to be the best Fire Emblem game, Path of Radiance, which is currently only playable on the GameCube and fetches an exorbitant price on the second-hand market. Finally, Nintendo could also answer fans’ wishes and re-visit the F-Zero franchise by releasing an HD version of F-Zero GX. This would give the Switch’s successor an incredibly diverse library to entice hardcore gamers within its first year.
There was plenty to like about the Wii U, which is why many of its games have found new life on the Switch. That doesn’t change the fact that the console was a financial disappointment, causing Nintendo to pivot for the release of the Switch. Nintendo needs to make sure that its audience knows exactly what its product is and that it has enough software to entertain fans. Hopefully, Nintendo uses the lessons it learned the hard way as it heads into the next generation.