Saving the Wii U: A Loving Letter to Nintendo

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Nintendo: Y U No Luv Me?

Hi there Nintendo, it’s your old friend Brian. Now I know that you’re a little sour with me because I haven’t gotten a Wii U yet, but don’t worry: I don’t intend on breaking my streak of owning every Nintendo console since the N64. Why haven’t I gotten it yet, you ask? Well, my old friend, allow me to explain.

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Sing along, I KNOW you know the words

As with most gamers, one of my biggest issues with the Wii U is the lack of games for it. Now I’m not talking about 3rd party games, because, and I mean no disrespect, when I buy a Nintendo console, I’m not really there for the 3rd party games. I buy Nintendo for your amazing exclusives; I buy for Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Samus, and Fox. However, my dear friend, you haven’t been giving me what I’ve been looking for. Some of my best memories from my childhood revolve around the N64 and the Gamecube. The number of hours that I have spent playing your first party games like Star Fox 64 and Mario Golf are mind blowing to say the least. It saddens me that, in recent years, there have been less and less of these console games that make Nintendo great.

Now, I’m going to drop a few numbers on you:

  • It has been over 10 years since the last Mario Golf console game (Toadstool Tour in 2003).

  • Its been nearly 9 years since the last Mario Tennis found its way to a Nintendo console (Mario Power Tennis in 2004).

  • Star Fox hasn’t had his own console game in 8 years (Star Fox Assault in 2005).

  • There hasn’t been a Pokemon Stadium on consoles in 13 years (Pokemon Stadium 2 in 2000; I refuse to acknowledge Pokemon Battle Revolution because it just wasn’t the same).

  • Ness hasn’t had a new console game since Earthbound (1995).

  • 1080 was a huge hit on the N64 and had a solid sequel on the GameCube and then was never heard from again (1998 and 2003, respectively)

  • The last time Captain Falcon got to race for glory was 10 years ago in F-Zero GX (2003)

  • There were also those one-hit wonders that deserve revisiting: Donkey Kong 64 (1999, and yes I’m aware there have been more DK games since then, but none that aren’t side scrolling), Diddy Kong Racing (1997; to me, also as good as Mario Kart 64), and Pokemon Snap (1999; seriously, that game was amazing).


Now I know what you’re probably saying to yourself: “Brian, we released a bunch of these on the 3DS!” As a 3DS owner, I thank you Nintendo, I really do, but you got to give the Wii U some love too! I hate to say it, but you’re losing this console race to 2 systems THAT HAVEN’T BEEN RELEASED YET. Let that sink in for a second.

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Chill out, Peppy…

Now I will say that, all though it has been a year since the Wii U launched, you have been making some moves in luring people into buying the console. Pikmin 3 was a huge hit, and moved 22,000 Wii U’s off the shelf in Japan the week of its release. Wonderful 101 has also been getting solid reviews, providing a unique brawler for the system. With Super Mario 3D World, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and Super Smash Bros. Wii U (a.k.a. the game that will make me buy the Wii U) on the horizon, the Wii U will make some waves, but will it be enough?

 

So Nintendo, please take my advice and revive these old, neglected series, or better yet, CREATE NEW ONES. You know you’re getting desperate for new characters when you add the Wii Fit Trainer to the roster for Super Smash Brothers, right? I love you Nintendo, and I will never forget the great times I’ve had playing your games, but I want those good times to last. So please, from the bottom of my heart: get your shit together and step up your game. I’m counting on you.

Love,

Brian