History of video games/Platforms/Wii U

History thumb|upright=1.5|A model Wii U at E3 2011. Development The Wii U was proceeded by the very successful Nintendo Wii. One gamepad prototype was essentially a screen with two wiimotes attached to it.Kersey Ben Nintendo details the history and prototypes of the Wii U https://www.theverge.com/2012/12/7/3739626/nintendo-wii-u-history-prototypes The Verge 13 November 2020 en 7 December 2012 Concerns were raised over potential forced child labor in the production of Wii U systems in 2012.Phillips Tom Nintendo investigating Wii U manufacturer Foxconn for using illegal child labour https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-18-nintendo-investigating-wii-u-manufacturer-foxconn-for-using-illegal-child-labour 30 December 2021 Eurogamer 18 October 2012 en Nintendo President Satoru Iwata sketched the idea for Amiibo while riding a bullet train (Shinkansen) to Tokyo in the later part of 2013.Inside Nintendo's Plan to Stay Alive for the Next 125 Years https://time.com/3749061/nintendo-mobile-gaming/ Time 19 November 2020Iwata Came Up With Amiibo on a Train in Late 2013 https://gamnesia.com/iwata-came-up-with-amiibo-on-a-train-in-late-2013/ Gamnesia 19 November 2020 19 March 2015 Launch thumb|The Wii U logotype. I actually am baffled by it, I don’t think it’s going to be a big success. Nolan K. Bushnell New York Times article, 2012Wingfield Nick Nintendo Confronts a Changed Video Game World (Published 2012) https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/technology/nintendos-wii-u-takes-aim-at-a-changed-video-game-world.html The New York Times 12 November 2020 24 November 2012 Pricing The typical MSRP of games raised to $59.99, up from $49.99 for Wii games.McElroy Griffin Wii U games will cost $59.99 https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/13/3328300/wii-u-games-price 20 October 2020 The Verge 13 September 2012 en At launch in 2012 the 8GB Basic Wii U cost $299.99 and the 32GB Deluxe Wii U cost $349.99. Stagnation By January 2013 the Wii U had notably poor market performance in the United States, having only sold between 50,000 and 59,000 consoles.Orland Kyle Wii U has historically bad January, sells about 50,000 units in US https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/02/wii-u-has-historically-bad-january-sells-about-50000-units-in-us/ 24 February 2021 Ars Technica 15 February 2013 en-usMatthews Matt At 57K sold, Wii U's January performance is historically abysmal https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186741/At_57K_sold_Wii_Us_January_performance_is_historically_abysmal.php 24 February 2021 www.gamasutra.com en Nintendo reported much lower sales of the Wii U then expected in 2014, leading to financial worries.Pfanner Eric Flat Sales of Wii U Put Nintendo in the Hot Seat (Published 2014) https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/technology/flat-sales-of-wii-u-put-nintendo-in-hot-seat.html The New York Times 12 November 2020 29 January 2014 In 2015, Nintendo Amiibo sales were very high.Byford Sam Nintendo is selling millions of $12.99 plastic figurines https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/15/7554873/nintendo-amiibo-sales The Verge 19 November 2020 en 15 January 2015 In 2015, Nintendo withdrew from the Brazilian market.Good Owen S. Nintendo ends console and game distribution in Brazil, citing high taxes https://www.polygon.com/2015/1/10/7524759/nintendo-brazil-wii-u-3ds-tariffs-taxes 26 October 2020 Polygon 10 January 2015 en Legacy Production of the Wii U ended in January of 2017.Wii U Production Ends Worldwide https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wii-u-production-ends-worldwide/1100-6447419 GameSpot 13 November 2020Nintendo Switch overtakes the Wii U https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42885803 BBC News 13 November 2020 31 January 2018 13.56 million Wii U consoles and 103.21 million Wii U games were sold over the course of the system.IR Information : Sales Data - Dedicated Video Game Sales Units https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/ Nintendo Co., Ltd. 26 October 2020 en The Wii U was succeeded by the Nintendo Switch, and eventually many Wii U exclusives were ported to that console. In 2020 some sought out older Wii U consoles due to shortages of the Nintendo Switch during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.Why You Should Buy A Wii U If You Can’t Get A Nintendo Switch https://screenrant.com/nintendo-switch-sold-out-wii-u-worth-2020/ ScreenRant 13 November 2020 1 April 2020 Technology Compute The Wii U is powered by a three core 32-bit IBM Power-PC 750 CPU clocked at 1.243125 gigahertz and produced on a 45 nanometer SOI process.Technical Specifications https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Wii-U/Hardware-Features/Specifications/Specifications-664742.html 8 November 2020Wii U CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed; not the end of the world, but not great either - ExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/142002-wii-u-cpu-and-gpu-clock-speeds-revealed-not-the-end-of-the-world-but-not-great-either www.extremetech.com 8 November 2020 This is complemented by an AMD Radeon GPU clocked at 549.999755 megahertz, which is similar to the AMD RV770 GPU series (HD 4000) and built on a 40 nanometer process supporting up to 1080p output.Leadbetter Richard Wii U graphics power finally revealed https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-wii-u-graphics-power-finally-revealed Eurogamer 8 November 2020 en 5 February 2013 The GPU has 320 stream processors, 16 texture mapping units, and eight render output units. Both processors have access to 4 gigabytes of shared DDR3-1600 RAM with up to 12.8 gigabytes a second of bandwidth. Though the hardware was underpowered for its time, careful consideration to memory hierarchy and interrelation between components eased many performance bottlenecks.Wii U avoids RAM bottleneck, says Nano Assault dev https://www.vg247.com/2012/11/05/wii-u-avoids-ram-bottleneck-says-nano-assault-dev/ 4 March 2021 VG247 5 November 2012 The basic Wii U has eight gigabytes of solid state storage, and the premium Wii U has 32 gigabytes of solid state storage. Just as the Wii was often said to be twice as powerful as the GameCube, the Wii U is said to be roughly thrice as powerful as the Wii. Some also compare the power of the Wii U to that of the Xbox 360. While not necessarily true, these can be useful generalizations. Console Hardware As the wireless gamepad is a critical part of the Wii U, the system sports a relatively feature rich radio suite. The Wii U supports 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi b/g/n.Nintendo Support: Compatible Wireless Modes and Wireless Security Types https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/498/~/compatible-wireless-modes-and-wireless-security-types en-americas-support.nintendo.com 8 November 2020 The Wii U has an additional Wi-Fi N controller to Miracast to the GamePad. The Wii U has an optical disk reader which uses 25 gigabyte capacity disks with rounded edges and has read speeds of up to 22 megabytes a second.Shimpi Anand Lal Nintendo Wii U Teardown https://www.anandtech.com/show/6465/nintendo-wii-u-teardown www.anandtech.com 8 November 2020Take a very, very close look at the round-edged Wii U proprietary discs https://www.engadget.com/2012-11-12-nintendo-wii-u-proprietary-disc.html Engadget 8 November 2020 en These are essentially non-standard Blu-Ray disks, and as with previous disc based Nintendo consoles, the drive is incapable of reading standard Blu Ray and DVD media to avoid patent issues.Sin Gloria Nintendo Wii U: No DVD or Blu-ray player? No problem. https://www.zdnet.com/article/nintendo-wii-u-no-dvd-or-blu-ray-player-no-problem/ 4 March 2021 ZDNet en The Wii U has four USB ports, one of which can be used with an external storage drive or thumb drive for extra space. The Wii U can use SDHC cards up to 32 gigabytes of cpacity. GamePad The GamePad has a 6.2" LCD with a resolution of 854 by 480 pixels and a resistive touch screen that does not support multi-touch.Pierce David Nintendo Wii U review https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/18/3658130/nintendo-wii-u-review The Verge 8 November 2020 en 18 November 2012Nintendo Wii U Review https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/nintendo-wii-u PCMAG 8 November 2020 en The GamePad has an NFC radio built in to use Amiibo.Stein Scott Wii U review: A fun system for kids, but you should probably wait for the Switch https://www.cnet.com/reviews/nintendo-wii-u-review/2/ CNET 8 November 2020 en The GamePad has an IR remote to control television sets. The Wii U could technically support two gamepads, though this was not pursued in practice.Doolan Liam Reggie Explains Why The Nintendo Wii U Didn't Utilise Dual GamePad Support https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/07/reggie-explains-why-the-nintendo-wii-u-didnt-utilise-dual-gamepad-support 9 July 2022 Nintendo Life 9 July 2022Reggie talks about why Nintendo never used two GamePads with Wii U https://nintendoeverything.com/reggie-talks-about-why-nintendo-never-used-two-gamepads-with-wii-u/ 9 July 2022 Nintendo Everything 8 July 2022 enReggie explains why the Wii U never got dual GamePad play https://gonintendo.com/contents/6213-reggie-explains-why-the-wii-u-never-got-dual-gamepad-play 9 July 2022 GoNintendo 8 July 2022 en Other accessories The Wii U can use a USB keyboard, though this feature was not available at launch.USB keyboard support https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Support/Wii-U/Game-Updates/Monster-Hunter-3-Ultimate/USB-keyboard-support/USB-keyboard-support-738278.html Nintendo of Europe GmbH 11 December 2020Nintendo Support: Does the Wii U Console Work With Keyboards? https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1432/~/does-the-wii-u-console-work-with-keyboards%3F en-americas-support.nintendo.com 11 December 2020 Software The Wii U runs its own specialized operating system.Wii U Operating System https://nintendotoday.com/wii-u-operating-system/ NintendoToday 13 November 2020 17 May 2012 Third Party Support Some third party developers, such as Team Ninja, noted the relative ease of development for the system, comparing it to consoles from the previous generation, such as the Xbox 360.Souppouris Aaron Team Ninja: Wii U is 'very easy to develop for' https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/1/2763225/nintendo-wii-u-easy-to-develop-for-team-ninja 20 October 2020 The Verge 1 February 2012 en Other third party developers, such as Bethesda, noted that Nintendo did not approach them early enough for them to offer viable support for the Wii U.Rose Mike Bethesda: It's too late for third-party support on Wii U https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/199456/Bethesda_Its_too_late_for_thirdparty_support_on_Wii_U.php 20 October 2020 www.gamasutra.com en Manuals In the beginning, Wii U games had paper manuals, with Wii U games shifting to digital manuals around 2014.Totilo Stephen Nintendo Is Slowly Reinventing The Video Game Instruction Manual https://kotaku.com/nintendo-is-slowly-reinventing-the-video-game-instructi-1515814941 20 October 2020 Kotaku February 5th, 2014 en-usTotilo Stephen Even Nintendo Seems To Be Abandoning Game Instruction Manuals https://kotaku.com/even-nintendo-seems-to-be-abandoning-game-instruction-m-1793260316 20 October 2020 Kotaku March 14th, 2017 en-us Special Editions Special editions and versions of the console. Starlight Gaming Station - Kiosk for hospital use.Announcing the Starlight Nintendo Switch Gaming Station! https://www.starlight.org/stories/announcing-the-starlight-nintendo-switch-gaming-station/ www.starlight.org 29 December 2020 en Notable Games 2012 New Super Mario Bros. U Nintendo Land Rabbids Land ZombiU 2013 thumb|upright=2|The Wonderful 101 at the 2013 Comic Con International 2013 was promoted by Nintendo as the Year of Luigi as the 30th anniversary of his first appearance. Wii Fit U Wii Party U Wii Sports Club Dr. Luigi New Super Luigi U Game & Wario Super Mario 3D World The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Pikmin 3 The Wonderful 101 Sonic Lost World The Wii U version of this game featured exclusive DLC featuring crossovers with the Zelda and Yoshi game franchises.Diaz Ana Let us not forget Sonic the Hedgehog’s weird Zelda: Skyward Sword crossover https://www.polygon.com/22580065/legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword-sonic-the-hedgehog-lost-world-wii-u-dlc-crossover 14 January 2022 Polygon 16 July 2021Farokhmanesh Megan Sonic: Lost World gets free The Legend of Zelda DLC stage March 27 https://www.polygon.com/2014/3/26/5550670/sonic-lost-world-gets-free-the-legend-of-zelda-dlc-stage-march-27 14 January 2022 Polygon 26 March 2014 Read more about Sonic Lost World on Wikipedia. 2014 Mario Kart 8 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Hyrule Warriors Bayonetta 2 Meme Run Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric The Letter 2015 thumb|The Satoru Iwata memorial at the Nintendo World Store in 2015 thumb|StarFox Zero at E3 2015 Splatoon - The first game in the innovative Splatoon series Xenoblade Chronicles X Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival Mario Party 10 Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Affordable Space Adventures Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Super Mario Maker Yoshi's Woolly World 2016 thumb|Breath of the Wild at E3 2016 Star Fox Zero Star Fox Guard Paper Mario: Color Splash The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Pokkén Tournament 2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Gallery Nintendo Wii U Wii U Controllers Technology External Resources Wii U Espresso (microprocessor) Wii U system software Wii U Archived version of the official website in 2012 Archived version of the official website in 2013 Archived version of the official website in 2014 Archived version of the official website in 2015 Archived version of the official website in 2016 Archived version of the official website in 2017 Archived version of the official website in 2018 Video Game Console Library - Wii U page. 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