Most Underappreciated Console

[Guest]

What do you think is the best games console that totally bombed?

The big two are probably the GameCube and Dreamcast, but I want to posit the Wii U as the most underappreciated console of all time.

It really was a victim of bad branding and timing. Casual players thought it was just another peripheral for the Wii, and capital G gamers thought it was underpowered when the PS4 and Xbox One were just on the horizon. But it was powerful enough to keep up with the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the end of their lifespans, had a lot of great first-party games and actually had a lot of cross-platform support in the beginning as well. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was definitely best on Wii U because the big map on the gamepad screen made sailing way better. But when it became obvious the console wasn't selling, third party support started dropping off so a lot of games that were released on Wii U didn't get all of the DLC that other consoles got (I'm still mad that I never got to play as Martian Manhunter in Injustice), and then later games didn't get released on Wii U at all until even Nintendo stopped supporting it.

But if you compare it to the Switch, a lot of the Switch's best games early on were just re-releases of Wii U games so you can't say the games on Wii U weren't great. And the Wii U actually has that old hardiness that Nintendo systems used to be known for. While the Switch has joycon drift and feels like a fragile bit of tech that would shatter if you dropped it, the Wii U is beefy, sturdy and could probably survive an attack by wild boars. The gamepad is also incredibly comfortable to hold. The Switch is actually the first Nintendo system post-SNES that I found uncomfortable, and actually had to buy a grip case to prevent my hands from cramping.

The touch screen was also used a lot more on Wii U than it is on Switch, because the Switch has to account for people playing in docked mode. But the Wii U didn't have that limitation. Even if you were playing on your TV you still had the gamepad in hand, and you could also play a lot of games exclusively on the gamepad like a handheld (albeit only within wireless range range of the console, but the Switch's battery life is so short I would hardly consider it a true portable either. I never play it handheld unless I'm within range of a plugin). So games like Scribblenauts could take full advantage of the touch screen and stylus. It was like having a Wii, a DS and an Xbox 360 mashed together into one system.

Lastly, the Wii U was fully compatible with all Wii games, including the full Virtual Console. Compared to needing a subscription to play the few classic games Nintendo releases on Switch, the VC was amazing and is sorely missed.

[dotmidi]

I feel like the Wii U pulled off its traits better than the switch, I kinda wish the switch had a similar mechanism where you can have the tv-screen and then the screen on the gamepad. That feature was a lot of fun for games, like one of the Mario Parties where you can play as Bowser and trick the other players   
plus it still made couch multiplayer a deal which I really appreciate. As much as I love online games there is so much that comes out of just simply playing with a friend beside you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qw65L1kulM

When I was younger, my friend would bring their Wii U to school even. And we would just play games only with the gamepad screen    (A bit confusing) Haha, they would literally just hook up the console to an outlet and we would only have the gamepad and a few controllers. Albeit, I think that's definitley an experience that will be kept with me forever.

I agree its the most underappreciated though, barely do i hear word about the wii u even though there were so many iconic games!

also, I feel like the N64 overshadows GameCube so much. GameCube was THE perfect console to me personally. Not even out of nostalgia reasons, it just had the best games and the best controller.

[Guest]

GameCube was THE perfect console to me personally. Not even out of nostalgia reasons, it just had the best games and the best controller.

GameCube is my favourite console of all time. There were so many games that you couldn't play anywhere else like Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Resident Evil, Pikmin... I can't fathom why so many people at the time didn't like it. PS2 and Xbox had their own good games, but there's really no comparison in my mind.

The gamepad is so comfortable, and there's no mistaking the buttons with their unique shapes. I still get the Square and Circle buttons mixed up on PlayStation, and it's impossible to switch between modern Nintendo controllers and Xbox without mixing up A/B and X/Y.

[SilkSkull]

What do you think is the best games console that totally bombed?

The big two are probably the GameCube and Dreamcast, but I want to posit the Wii U as the most underappreciated console of all time.

It really was a victim of bad branding and timing. Casual players thought it was just another peripheral for the Wii, and capital G gamers thought it was underpowered when the PS4 and Xbox One were just on the horizon. But it was powerful enough to keep up with the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the end of their lifespans, had a lot of great first-party games and actually had a lot of cross-platform support in the beginning as well. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was definitely best on Wii U because the big map on the gamepad screen made sailing way better. But when it became obvious the console wasn't selling, third party support started dropping off so a lot of games that were released on Wii U didn't get all of the DLC that other consoles got (I'm still mad that I never got to play as Martian Manhunter in Injustice), and then later games didn't get released on Wii U at all until even Nintendo stopped supporting it.

But if you compare it to the Switch, a lot of the Switch's best games early on were just re-releases of Wii U games so you can't say the games on Wii U weren't great. And the Wii U actually has that old hardiness that Nintendo systems used to be known for. While the Switch has joycon drift and feels like a fragile bit of tech that would shatter if you dropped it, the Wii U is beefy, sturdy and could probably survive an attack by wild boars. The gamepad is also incredibly comfortable to hold. The Switch is actually the first Nintendo system post-SNES that I found uncomfortable, and actually had to buy a grip case to prevent my hands from cramping.

The touch screen was also used a lot more on Wii U than it is on Switch, because the Switch has to account for people playing in docked mode. But the Wii U didn't have that limitation. Even if you were playing on your TV you still had the gamepad in hand, and you could also play a lot of games exclusively on the gamepad like a handheld (albeit only within wireless range range of the console, but the Switch's battery life is so short I would hardly consider it a true portable either. I never play it handheld unless I'm within range of a plugin). So games like Scribblenauts could take full advantage of the touch screen and stylus. It was like having a Wii, a DS and an Xbox 360 mashed together into one system.

Lastly, the Wii U was fully compatible with all Wii games, including the full Virtual Console. Compared to needing a subscription to play the few classic games Nintendo releases on Switch, the VC was amazing and is sorely missed.

Thank you. The Wii U was my jam and I feel like it was overhated. I completely understand the flaws with it but man the game selection and power it managed while being a lower end console was crazy to me. Also I think I put my Wii U through more than any other console and that thing still works (granted I rarely use it). Another point that was amazing to me was that it had the Wii emulator built it which also gave it GC games.

[Gans]

The best console to be barely recognised must be the PC Engine / TurboGrafix 16. I love it for so many great soundtracks. Technically it's also the interesting time of switching from sequenced music (MIDI or the C64 for example) to pre-recorded full songs (like an MP3 file), affected by the swtich from cartridges to CD discs allowing more data to be stored, which the PC Engine with accessories could use both. Surprising how fast the japanese composers picked up the new possiblities right from the beginning to make gigantic orchestra like arrangements!

[lime360]

i think ps vita is the most underrated console ever.

i originally wanted to have a ps vita for my birthday, but instead i got a ps4... but hey, you can play ps4 games from ps vita through remote play!

in my opinion, ps vita is a fresh take on psp, and with a nice camera!

[Guest]

i think ps vita is the most underrated console ever.

i originally wanted to have a ps vita for my birthday, but instead i got a ps4... but hey, you can play ps4 games from ps vita through remote play!

in my opinion, ps vita is a fresh take on psp, and with a nice camera!

In my opinion, the Vita was the last true portable handheld. The Switch and Steam Deck are nice, but just way too big. The Vita was the perfect balance between screen size and actually fitting inside your pocket.

My Vita is basically a portable PS1 and PS2. It was great for handheld ports, but none of the original games really stood out to me.

[almostcorporeal]

i think ps vita is the most underrated console ever.

i originally wanted to have a ps vita for my birthday, but instead i got a ps4... but hey, you can play ps4 games from ps vita through remote play!

in my opinion, ps vita is a fresh take on psp, and with a nice camera!

I absolutely adored the PS Vita and I still have mine [although it is unfortunately dead forever as my roommate left a full cup of water on our coffee table overnight and one of the cats knocked it over directly onto my Vita, may she rest in peace. I intend to get a new one here soon that matches my pink glitter case better (: ]

Honestly I feel like Sony marketed the Vita completely wrong, gave it next to no real meaningful support, and because of that its game library ended up kinda suffering. Also if you ask Sony now instead of recognizing any of that, they'll just tell you that mobile gaming was too popular [which is why they say they won't ever make another handheld console] ;;

Personally the kinds of games that DID make it onto the Vita are my ideal types of games [stuff like otomes, Persona ports and P4G, Zero Escape, older handheld ports, Freedom Wars, etc] so it's super up my alley. It's really easy for me to hold too which is great because I'm disabled so being able to hold and use my handhelds for a long time is important to me. I even prefer using my Vita to remote play P5R off my roommate's PS4 far more than just sitting in front of the TV and using the PS4 controller, probably because I'm nearsighted and hate wearing glasses so I can physically adjust how far the screen is depending on if I need to read or not much better than just, say, leaning forward in my seat toward my TV. I liked it's additional functionality outside of games too. It has a dedicated browser unlike the Switch, all the social functionality that comes with Playstation consoles like friends, trophies, group voice and text messaging, an app to store and manage all the photos which I like the UI for better than the Switch's, a built in music player, and when it was still an "active" console you could have apps specifically for stuff like Skype, Twitter, Netflix, etc. [Which to my knowledge Switch only has Hulu and YouTube]