Comment by Trasmatta
2 days ago
The Switch wouldn't exist if they hadn't first experimented with that form factor with the Wii U. The innovation and risk of the Wii U paid off for them in the long run.
2 days ago
The Switch wouldn't exist if they hadn't first experimented with that form factor with the Wii U. The innovation and risk of the Wii U paid off for them in the long run.
True, but I think they still wanted the U to actually sell better than it did. It was a case of too much innovation too soon, IMO — having an alternating "evolution/revolution" cycle makes a lot of sense.
Every company wants a product to sell better than it did, but it's pretty obvious that the WiiU didn't meet expectations.
It sold 13m units, but the clearest sign of it not doing "as well as expected" is that they discontinued it as soon as possible as they could once the Switch was out.
From my experience both with "gamers" and "non-gamers" - it was too similar in name for the latter and not exciting enough for the former.
Another sign of it not having done well is that they re-released a bunch of Wii U games on Switch - for example, Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8.
...there was also the GBA long before the Wii U. Less buttons but same form factor.
The innovation was a handheld console that works on both the TV and the tablet, the GBA is a much different thing.