The Nintendo Wii U will go down as one of the company's biggest missteps alongside the Virtual Boy. Both were gimmicky consoles that tried to bite off more than they could chew. While the Virtual Boy is regarded as one of the worst consoles ever made, the Wii U wasn't really a bad console, much less one with poor quality games.
No, the Wii U was a very competent piece of hardware with a pretty decent lineup of games. The problem was never the console or the first party titles that it was getting, it was how poorly marketed it was and how no one really knew what the Wii U was when it launched.
People went as far as thinking the Wii U was an accessory for the Wii, and they were right to think that way given that Nintendo not only deficiently marketed their new system, but they also decided to name it Wii U, just like their previous console: the Nintendo Wii—making people believe that the U was alluding to the new controller/screen.
Nintendo of America CEO, Reggie Fils-Aimé, briefly commented on this during an interview with
The Star, in which he compared the success of the Nintendo Switch to the failure that was the Wii U.
"
What we’ve been able to do with Nintendo Switch is a number of very important things. First, we’ve been incredibly clear with the positioning of the product. Why should you purchase this device? Well, it’s because you can play this great content, anywhere, anytime with anyone", said Fils-Aimé. This is absolutely true given that the console's reveal trailer was pretty straight forward and knew exactly what to tell their audience. It is very unlikely that after watching the trailer for the Switch someone wouldn't have got the message. He then added: "
Tell me what the Wii U proposition was in 10 words or less. We weren’t as incredibly clear”.
Luckily Nintendo got the message and didn't make the same mistake with the Nintendo Switch, which has become one of the fastest selling consoles for the company. The Switch has exceeded all expectations by selling over 17 million consoles in one year,which is more than the Wii U could sell in 5 years since it launched, and will probably keep doing well once
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases—a title known for being a console-seller.