Everyone knows the Wii U was a colossal failure – one that famously led then-president Satoru Iwata to cut his salary in half to save jobs – but there are a lot of misconceptions about why it failed. The consensus is that the Wii U was poorly marketed, had a terrible name that made people believe it was an add-on device for the Wii rather than a next-gen console, and lacking in system-selling games. While all of those problems were certainly a factor, the real problem with the Wii U was that the Wii was already the perfect Nintendo console. Why would anyone want to buy a new one ever again?
The Wii was a cultural phenomenon and a historically successful console. Before the Wii, Nintendo typically sold 20 to 30 million units each console generation. The Wii sold 100 million. You don’t find success like that – especially in the early ‘00s – without reaching an audience outside of the core gaming market.
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It wasn’t just played by gamers, it was played by entire families. Grandparents raced Mario Karts with their grandkids, moms took virtual Zumba classes, and dads pretended Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles was a good game. Every kid I knew had either an Xbox or a PlayStation, but all of them had a Wii.
Nintendo Was A Victim Of Its Own Success
When it came time to sell us a new console, because that’s just how video games work, Nintendo became a victim of its own success. How do you convince people they need a new one when they love the one they have right now? Nintendo decided it needed a big new gimmick, something the successor of the Wii could do that the Wii would never do, so it added a big ugly gamepad and promised us gaming innovations unlike anything we’d ever seen. Unsurprisingly, no one cared. The Wii already did everything they wanted a Nintendo home console to do.
As the Switch 2 rapidly approaches, it’s interesting to think about the Wii U and what it did to Nintendo. As successful as the Wii was, the Switch is on an entirely different level. It’s currently the second most successful console of all time, having sold 146 million units, and is on its way to surpassing the PlayStation 2.
Nintendo’s pivot to a hybrid home/handheld console was unfathomably successful. It managed to recapture the general, all-audiences appeal of the Wii, while also incentivizing people to buy multiple consoles per household. Just like the Wii, it’s exactly the console people want. So where can the Switch 2 go from here?
A Slightly Better Switch
Based on all the leaks circulating around, it seems like the answer is ‘almost nowhere’. Renderings suggest the new Switch will have a better kickstand, magnetic Joy-Con, and upgraded internals, but that seems to be the long and short of it. There’s no Wii U gamepad-style attachment or wacky new gimmick. It’s just an upgraded Switch.
I’ve seen a lot of criticism that the supposed leaks of the Switch 2 aren’t that exciting, but it seems like Nintendo learned the right lesson from the Wii U. People don’t want new gimmicks just for the sake of it, and there’s very little you can do to the Switch to improve it. Instead of jamming in some back-of-the-box feature that would only be used for a few launch titles, Nintendo has wisely decided to keep the Switch 2 simple.
But positioning its next-gen console this way also reveals that, once again, Nintendo is suffering from its own success. Personally, I can’t wait for the Switch 2. The Switch has been falling behind current performance standards for years and I’m excited to get a new Nintendo that can (hopefully) play modern games at a consistent frame rate.
At the same time, I know I’m part of that core gaming audience that’s going to buy the latest and greatest on day one. The vast majority of the 146 million people who bought a Switch are not like me, and that’s going to be a problem for the Switch 2.
A Good Nintendo Console Isn’t Good Enough
Making a better version of the Switch isn’t enough when most people are happy with the Switch they have. It’s got a massive library of amazing games that look good enough for most, and I don’t expect Nintendo will be eager to launch a bunch of Switch 2 exclusives and cut out the massive OG Switch audience within the next few years.
Nintendo’s style of games doesn’t help the problem either. What can a new Mario Kart, Mario Party, or Mario Plays A Random Sport game really do to convince casual players to invest in an upgrade, when the Switch version of those games are already getting the job done? There will be phenomenal Mario and Zelda games on the Switch 2 eventually, but how many exclusives will it take before buying the same console again feels worth it?
The Switch 2 is going to be wildly successful, I have no doubt, but it won’t be anywhere near as successful as the Switch, and I don’t think there’s anything Nintendo can do about that. Its best chance lies in Pokemon, a must-play series for most game lovers, but even a hot new exclusive Pokemon (or several) isn’t going to pull everyone into the next generation. The Switch may just be too good for its own good, and it’s hard to imagine Nintendo ever achieving that level of success again. Then again, that’s what we said about the Wii
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is both a home console and a handheld gaming system in one package, with various versions offering better specs for dedicated enthusiasts.