I started this blog around 5 years ago with the sole purpose of talking about the games i was playing but it really began to click when i started talking about the Wii U. The Wii U was, if you still don't know, a follow up console to the Wii. Not a controller for it. Not a slightly better version. Nope, it was its own new HD console. The fact that i need to write this in 2018 sums up how badly Nintendo screwed up the Wii U's marketing but.... we will get into that.
So i decided to chronicle my own personal experiences of being a Wii U owner from Day one to today, one year at a time! I'm not going to just list off the games that came out, to be honest there are tons of ways of finding that information, but more my own experiences with the console, games and Nintendo in general at that time.
Without further a do, lets talk about its Launch and why i bought the console
Pre-Launch Excitement
The single gaming question i got asked the most in 2012 was "Why are you excited for the Wii U?" and its a fairly simple but context sensitive answer for me to give. I LOVED the Gamecube, i missed out on the N64 so it was my first 3D Nintendo console, the first time i got to play Mario Kart, Mario Party, The Legend Of Zelda, Etc and that really stuck with me. All through school, college and University these games were constants when it came to Local multiplayer, along with 3rd party titles such as Timesplitters 2 and NBA Street 2. But when it came to the Wii.... i couldn't be less interested. We had one in the home at the time (Who Didn't) but by this time i had moved onto the Xbox 360 and found the Wiimote gimmicky and uncomfortable to use when sat on my bed in my small bedroom which is where i typically did the majority of my gaming. Although great games like Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4 were all fun experiences, i just couldn't get over those motion controls.
Fast forward through my college and University years to 2011. All through Uni my friends and i played our Gamecube games pretty much non stop, so when we graduated and all decided to live together there was nothing we wanted more than NEW versions of these games. Then.... it happened... Nintendo Announced the WII U. It was going to be in HD, Its controller had 2 sticks and triggers, you could play it just on its screen and Nintendo was pushing back towards "The Hardcore".
We were HYPED. We used to watch all the Nintendo Directs live together and then discuss the possibilities afterwards for hours and we all had just one wish for it - Would the Wii U be the only console we really need for the upcoming generation? With hindsight this sounds ridiculous but you have to understand, we had all just graduated, we were skint and we all had a shared love of Nintendo games. If we could play Call of Duty and Smash Bros on the same system then why would we NEED a PS4? Sure it also has great first party titles but we genuinely hoped the Nintendo titles would more than satisfy our gaming needs.
E3 2012
E3 2012 was a crazy time. This was one of the first times that i actually had the free time to stay up and watch every bit of content that came from the show. Live streams, reaction videos, everything got consumed! So going into this show my Wii U Hype levels were vast. Nintendo decided to begin its change towards pre recorded shows with a pre show video hosted by the Late Mr. Iwata. In this video Iwata explained Nintendo's philosophy for the Wii U gamepad. They also announced that the gamepad would have clickable sticks instead of the previously shown circle pads, the NFC Reader which at the time we had no clue of its application but ultimately became the Amiibo reader, also the Wii U pro controller was show for the first time which we all went crazy for and knew we all wanted ASAP.
The highlight for me personally was the over the top example video skit they showed the Wii U in action starring the Non Descriptive action figure, showing Zombi U and the Miiverse application for the time. It was very silly but i loved it. It showed the potential for the Wii U to connect players in a way that frankly Nintendo had never been know for. The video was also clearly aimed at the 12+ viewers with its very weird gags and humour. Overall it is still a very interesting watch and at the time i was thought it was great and very professional. Something i did not expect from Nintendo after being out of the loop for so long.
Now onto the main show.... and this... wasn't quite as well received in our house. The Nintendo All Access Showcase felt like it was aimed more towards the general gaming world and as such it didn't quite answer as many questions we had on a software side of things for launch. The presentation opens with Mr. Miyamoto showing off the eagerly anticipated Pikmin 3, i personally wasn't that excited for it as i hadn't played the previous games but my mate Pete was losing his mind over it, it's pretty much the reason he bought a Wii U at launch. Alot of the launch titles were show at this event. New Super Mario Bros U, Mass Effect 3, Batman: Arkham City, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge, Scribblenaits: Unlimited, amongst many more were shown as well as the thankfully cancelled travesty Aliens: Colonial Marines.
For me personally the show focused far too much time on Wii sequels such as Wii Fit U, Just Dance 4 and Miiverse. I love Miiverse but Nintendo really needed to come out swinging with reasons to buy a Wii U for its future releases. In terms of Nintendo Titles New Super Mario Bros U, NintendoLand and Pikmin 3 were really the ones showcased for any real length of time and Famously Nintendo failed in the usual "One last Thing" announcement at the end of the show by simply ending on NintendoLand. Now again, thats a good game but its not going to persuade the average gamer to buy a console.
They also showed the game cases! Now this may not seem that important but for me as someone who likes to display his collection the blue cases and uniformed spines look fantastic. They really stand out compared to other consoles and from a marketing stand point it is arguably the best decision Nintendo made!
Launch and Christmas
Following e3 there was one more presentation basically detailing launch info such as price and launch games but theres really no need for me to go into vast detail about that. All we needed to know was that the Premium edition was the version we all wanted to get and in the end we all did. I preordered the premium set with Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros U, Pete preordered the European Exclusive Zombi U bundle and Daemon... picked his up a little after, i think before Xmas but i don't really remember! I watched alot of the IGN NVC coverage at the time and i maintained my hype throughout.
I've told the story of my running down the road to get my Wii U before so i wont repeat myself here but we all decided to do the same thing - we put it away for Xmas. Yes, the console we were all excited for became our Xmas presents. The main reason was money, we had to justify it to ourselves or the people buying us the consoles (I bought my own for the record) but for me personally there was actually another reason. My GF (who i had only just started dating at the time) and i were bonding over our shared forgotten love of Nintendo. She decided to get a 3DS XL for Xmas and so i thought it would be cool if i did the same with the Wii U so we could open our new console together on Xmas day and spend our time off hanging and playing games together! That is exactly what we did!
Playing the Wii U for the first time was an incredible experience, its hard now to explain how amazing it was to see Mario in HD. I hadn't played NSMB Wii or 2 so U felt unique and refreshing to me. The open world being one big world like Super Mario World was also a nostalgic touch that i loved and i must of spent 5 hours of that day playing that game, trying to get all the coins and secrets. Nintendo Land was also a surprising hit for me too. The Donkey Kong game became the Hi Score challenge between my friends and i, with us using miiverse to screenshot scores and send to each other which was really cool!
Before the year was out i went out and bought Sonic and Sega Racing Transformed which at the time was by far my favourite kart racing game since Double Dash. Its cool 5 player mode on Wii U and online play added to stellar and at the time unique racing experience. Being a SEGA fan helped too with the fan service the game had.
So overall 2012 ended with me enjoying my Wii U and the 3 games that i had for it. Pikmin 3 got delayed to 2013 so Pete ended it a little more sad than i did but he still had fun with what he had, Dae the same and as such the future looked very bright for our one system plan!
I hope you've enjoyed this lengthy look into my Wii U adventure and it will continue with 2013 which was either good or devasting depending on who you ask!
What were your Wii U experiences in 2012? please put in the comments below :D
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