Saying that the Nintendo Wii suffered from lack of games is one of those cases where a lie is repeated so many times over that it ends up turning into a believable truth among the gaming community. The system features at least 40 games that deserve to be played for a good amount of hours, and when that amount of titles is diluted in the period of time when the system was out, it is easy to realize that - for the average relatively busy human being - that those 40 to 50 titles summed up equal a little bit too much gaming for that span. The system did suffer from considerable lulls in the release of good titles, failing to create a solid steady flow of incoming software, but the same happened to its main competitors. However, differently from the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii had to rely in either new concepts or small-name franchises, while the other two consoles received a whole bunch of high-profile blockbuster games whose gargantuan production values winded up masking their libraries' shortcomings. Still, Nintendo kept their ears wide open to the complaints, and with the Wii U they are trying to silence those negative voices by making sure the system comes right out of the gate with the best possible line-up, and - initially - it seems that they have succeeded.
While the Wii U's launch line-up is yet to be fully defined, it would be no overstatement to say that no other system ever released by Nintendo has featured a group of games this strong, complete and numerous. The American release of the NES featured a whopping total of 18 games covering a variety of genres from sports and action to puzzle and adventure. The highlights of that excellent group were easily Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and Excite Bike with its flooring endless replay value. But the system also featured other nice companion pieces such as Baseball, Tennis, Golf, Kung-Fu, Ice Climber and Clu Clu Land. The number and general good quality of the titles is simple to explain, considering that at that point the system had already been out in Japan for over two years, something that had given developers plenty of time to master the hardware and what it offered.
When its successor hit the market, it did not feature the numbers, but it trumped the NES in overall quality as its five launch games - Super Mario World, Pilotwings, Sim City, F-Zero and Gradius III - are nothing short of spectacular, already indicating that the Super Nintendo had a glorious journey ahead. The Nintendo 64 also had a good start in terms of quality, but saying that on that day of September gamers' options as to which game to buy were limited would be an awful understatement. All the system had to offer was Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64, perhaps a sign of the difficulty involved with producing a game with that much technology and placing it in an outdated cartridge. Thankfully, for Nintendo 64 gamers, before the end of that year the system would get Mario Kart 64, Wave Race 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Killer Instinct Gold, giving a little more variety to a line-up that would end up being weak: small in numbers and with a select number of gems made by Nintendo and Rare.
The Gamecube would have a far better launch, and a far better line-up at the end of its run. Its release featured 13 games, and almost half of those were worth it of being checked out: Luigi's Mansion, a game whose status has greatly grown through the years; Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, one of the best games of that generation; Super Monkey Ball, a great family-fun option; Wave Race: Blue Storm, one of the system's finest racing titles; Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, perhaps the best radical sports game of all time and NFL 2002. The Wii's launch, on the other hand, aside from the packed-in Wii Sports had one big star in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Gamecube port released before the original game, but a stellar title anyway. Out of the 21 games available at launch, a good amount of them were below average, but a few others ranged from decent to good, like Excite Truck, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Trauma Center and Super Monekyball.
In the handheld department, Nintendo has been consistent in producing very poor line-ups to support their portables, working against the Super Nintendo line-up's indication that good launch games equals a great run. The Gameboy Advance had a very good launch, with games like Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Super Mario Advance and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity standing out among its solid group of seventeen games that included some other nice software. Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS and its successor had absolutely appalling and unappealing line-ups on their first day, with Super Mario 64 DS being the only game worth mentioning on the Nintendo DS and with the Nintendo 3DS lacking any good titles other than the new version of Nintendogs, which featured the shocking turnaround of offering cats in addition to the puppies.
Finally, we arrive on the Nintendo Wii U. Although the system does not have a confirmed list of games that will reach store shelves alongside the console, it is possible to determine which games will come out close or in that date. Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros U are absolute locks to release on November 18th, and the two of them have that seal of quality assurance only Nintendo can provide. Meanwhile, games like Epic Mickey 2, Rayman Legends, Zombi U, LEGO City Undercover, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Darksiders 2, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Call of Duty: Black Ops II will probably be released within at most two months after the console arrives. And if that sounds like a lot of games, that number will be further increased to people who plan to buy the ports of Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham City and the multiplatform highly-expected Assassin's Creed III for the Nintendo system.
Obviously, there is a key difference between the launch line-ups of all the systems mentioned and the Wii U's: the games we will be playing in two months have yet to be judged. Producing games for a new system is also awfully tricky, especially when such a system has such a distinct control scheme, and those hardships with hardware could be reflected on the final quality of the products. Besides, Scribblenauts Unlimited could, like the original, crumble under the weight of its ambition; Epic Mickey 2 could not fix the repetitive gameplay that harmed its predecessor; Rayman Legends could be broken by poorly implemented controls, since it relies so much on the touch-screen; Zombi U could turn out to be shallow and uninspired, instead of the fresh deadly zombie experience we are all expecting; Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed could be too busy being a safe Mario Kart clone to take advantage of being the first racing game to use the new control scheme; LEGO City Undercover might not be as wide-open and big as we think; Darksiders 2 might flop and Call of Duty: Black Ops II could fail to amaze as the programmers fail to nail a shooting game using the additional screen for assistance.
However, if developers are able to pull everything together, this could be a launch to remember.
I really want Banjo-Threeie on the Wii U. I wouldn't even mind a Banjo-Tooie HD remake (or even Banjo-Kazooie) while we wait for them to make Banjo-Threeie. I just want to have that experience again without having to go and buy an Xbox 360 and play it on the Arcade. Great blog!
There are many complaints about the Wii U launch line up going around that I can't quite comprehend, cause it really looks like a great one to me. The only downside is that many of the 3rd party games coming to the Wii U are games already released on different platforms. Though nevertheless, the Wii U will have a great selection of games. What's simply important is that Nintendo needs to get 3rd party titles the same day they are released on all other platforms in the future, especially when the next generation of Play Station and Xbox are out.
This launch is DEFINITLY a bigger step up from 3DS, not only that people seem to notice this is the first time in YEARS Nintendo launched a system with a Mario game, which IS one of the major complaints people have and HERE YOU GO.
Im am VERY pleased with the Launch titles, there are like 5 or more games i want, and thats saying something compared to the 2 games i bought at the 3DS's launch
@hotdiddykong THe 3DS launch was awful. Personally, I found nothing of interest in its line-up, which made me only buy the system a few months later.
It's interesting to see the Wii U's line up contrasted with Nintendo's other launches. Really makes you appreciate how much effort they're putting into it this time around.
I suppose I'm an eternal optimist, but I'm already sold on Rayman Legends, Lego City Undercover and The Wonderful 101, not to mention the first party Nintendo offerings. I was in the minority with the Wii, savouring it's catalogue all along, and I'm prepared to do the same with the Wii U. The optimist in me is saying more people will follow suit this generation.
I think I want Rayman Legends on the Wii U just so I can play it on the tablet's screen.
@JustPlainLucas Given how awesome Rayman Origins was, I think Rayman Legends is assured to be at least fasntastic.
Most in this launch are multiplatform arnt they? except Mario, Zombi U and Mickey 2.
I would think its a disadvantage when most gamers can get one of those other titles on their current platform. Instead of buying a whole new machine.
The Wii U will have a successful launch regardless but the line up doesnt seem that amazing to me is what Im saying. But its usually like this for launches imo .
You know, Wii really does have just as many genuine AAA games as 360 and PS3, it's just that 360 and PS3 were much better at marketing average games as AAA titles. The heavy marketing for so many games on the 360 and PS3 gives the idea that those consoles have more "big" games, and that "big games" automatically means "great games."I'm not saying that 360 and PS3 don't have great games, they have their share, but Wii gets flak for having an "empty library" which simply isn't true. All three of the current consoles are about on the same level in terms of number of quality titles. It's just that the Wii was different, and introduced a different audience, and because the games didn't have the same look as the ones with the immense marketing campaigns towards the "hardcore" people perceived the Wii as "that other console."
That first paragraph is so true it's painful. Anyway, the Wii U launch line-up is excellent. A good portion of the games listed are guaranteed to succeed, unless something seriously goes wrong.
