Digital Foundry - Bring on the Wii U ports to Switch

Last Gen I was a huge xbox 360 / PC gamer who missed out on a lot of good games from the PS3 and the Wii U. Luckliy this gen, MS made so many mistakes that I jumped ship and head on over to the PS4 were I was able to play PS3 great titles such as Last of US, and the Uncharted series, but sadly I haven't played any of Wii U classics or Wii classics.

Fast forward to today, I'm able to game xb1 classics with my pc (which hasn't been many since most the MS line up are nothing but flops, but I love Forza Horizon), play the best looking consoles exclusives on the PS4 and now being a switch owner, I want to experience the classics that Nintendo has pushed out over the years. I really hope that Nintendo bring a lot of their WIi U and Wii classics to the switch.

I fucking agree

As long as new Switch games are not affected, which they are not so far, I don't care if the entire Wii U lineup is ported over wholesale as is to the Switch.

It's mostly a cash grab by publishers. I doubt many are going to use the proceeds to create new content for the Switch. The platform is still too risky.

Publishers here being Nintendo, who will definitely not be supporting the Switch, yes.

selling like hot cakes in japan even with hardware constraints. why not.

I keep forgetting that Nintendo was the only publisher who actually saw game sales on the Wii U...

Bring it on especially, MARIO MAKER!!!

It's not even like a big thing to do really, the list of essential Wii U titles isn't that big.

Pretty much. I may not have liked the Wii U much, but there was some quality games on the console. If bringing these over to the Switch doesn't significantly slow down their ability to release new content, then go for it! I got a hold of a Switch on Amazon again yesterday and cancelled (again). If they can bring some more games over (ports or new), its something I'll have to buy (hopefully bundled).

I'm on board. I skipped the Wii U, and am planning on getting a Switch this fall.

a good idea for those who never got a wii u. some great games on the system. very few of them made any major use of the dual screen aspect of the wiiu so porting them wouldnt require massive changes.

DF also talks about issues with porting mario maker but i was thinking couldnt they use the joycons pointing ability to replace the touch screen when playing ti docked? i thought i saw demos of a joycon being used like the wiimote pointer (for world of goo maybe).

Honestly, I'm not even mad. They should encourage the developers that were on board with the WiiU to get a healthy return on their investment by porting to Switch. I was one of those ~15M WiiU owners and I will be the first to tell you that there were not enough of us to honestly bitch about Nintendo and its third parties figuring out a way to make it as redundant as humanly possible.

I was thinking that too. The Wiimotes weren't half bad as point-and-click interface, and presumably the joycon's at least as good

That's great!

I would love to play Smash, Super Mario 3D world, and Mario Maker on the Switch. I never got a WiiU or a chance to play any of those games.

Mainly because WiiU never went down in price at all.

Please do. I'm happy with Switch being a Nintendo 1st party and port machine, as long as the games are good. I can already tell you I'll be getting Rayman Legends and Skyrim when they hit Switch. Maybe Minecraft and Shovel Knight if they get physical releases. I'd like Smash, Mario Maker, and DKC Tropical Freeze on Switch. Other ports from 3rd party devs would be great (cough cough Dark Souls).

I think its a great idea, especially since not many people had a Wii U and got a chance to play those games.

Gta v would be nice

@daredevils2k: Completely agree. Wii U ports to Switch are a great idea. Made a whole video discussing it. lots of Switch owners, would not have had the Wii U and it would be a shame to miss out on those gems :)

EXACTLY!!

It's pretty common for new consoles to lean on ports and remasters for the first year or so. The PS4 for instance was awash with remakes and remaster.

Personally I never owned a WiiU so to get to play Mario Maker, Mario 3D world etc would be great!

Xenoblade Chronicles X on the switch would be the dream

I find it funny that haters claim MS never has any new I.P.s but Sony and Nintendo put out lots of remakes, remasters, or Ports!

They should port all Wii U games to Switch. Like now. Why wait, do it! It can't be much work for them and it will make the Switch library look much better.

Yeah, but they aren't putting out ONLY remakes, remasters and ports, but new games as well. MS puts out nothing, pretty much.

And they still release more new IPs than MS. Wow, that was hard to understand, right?

Awesome. I skipped wiiu and have a switch. Bring it on.

I'd buy Xenoblade Chronicles X, Mario 3D World and Bayonetta 1-2 again at least.

I think the Switch should definitely get Wii U ports, and this is pretty much the rarest time where I think ports do actually matter.

NO, that does not mean the Switch isn't going to be getting original games. Honestly if you're one of those people that talk down the Switch as being only a port hub then you're an idiot. It's only been around for a few months now.

So few people got to experience the excellent games that were on the Wii U, and so I don't see why it should be a complaint if for many people these titles will be as good as brand new.

The Wii U was a failure. It's a sunk ship, and it does not mean all its games must go down and suffer with it too. Some of the best games of last gen came out on the system and they must be kept afloat.

If you're against that idea then maybe you just have bias against Nintendo in general and it brings you joy to complain about every little thing.

Bring them on. I own a Wii U and I didn't pick up most of the games I wanted for it due to having so many other games to play.

Switch is basically a better designed Wii U, so it makes sense to port some of the better Wii U exclusives to the Switch to get a 2nd life. Bayonetta 2 deserves a port.

I'll say bring them, there is nothing wrong with having more games. And I doubt that this will affect any new games, since Nintendo has developers that work on these type of porting projects. Same goes for 3rd party developers.

There is also the part that the Wii U was really a failure and didn't meet the expectations Nintendo was hoping for, meaning that there are many great games that gamers missed out on, so this is a great chance for them to play them if they are released on the Switch.

This guy!

I still kinda want Wii U for Wii b/c, I still have Xenoblade to play and finish, but yeah, would love more Wii U ports.

I love how DF is saying Switch is home to 60fps gaming on consoles lawl.

Just Nintendo trying to make some quick cash on Wii U games that may not have sold very well on the Wii U. They just do a little remastering and release them on the Switch like they are a new games. Fanboys who never got a Wii U and didn't care about these games prior, now suddenly want them for their Switch. Sorry, I don't want to play Wii U games I played on my Wii U, remastered to play on my Switch. I want brand new games on the Switch. I'd never buy MK8 or Splatoon remastered for the Switch. Games like Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Mario+ Rabbid: Kingdom Battle are games I'd get for the Switch. These remasters aren't hard for Nintendo to convert quickly and it fills the void of new exclusive IP's for the Switch. It will make Nintendo more money. This is why they are doing it.

Zelda, Mario, Splatoon, MK, Metroid, Kirby, Pokemon, Pikmin etc... aren't new IP's. Most of the new IP's for the Switch (ARMs, Snipper Clips, 1-2 Switch, Fast RMX, etc..) aren't anything special.

Microsoft has brought out new IP's like Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves, CupHead, Ori and the Blind Forest, Max and the Curse of Brotherhood, Recore, etc.. Their problem is they aren't bringing out enough quickly. They blew it with Scalebound. Sony rely on a lot of 3rd party exclusive to increase their library. Microsoft and Nintendo don't have a lot of that, but they should.

Sure, that would make sense, what with a lot of people considering the Switch to be a Wii U "relaunch" or "Wii U done right" anyway. Might as well go the full way.

• Splatoon is not a remaster
• You don't have to buy them if you don't want them
• Of course they are doing it to make more money, what business does things for any reason but to make money?

Splatoon 2 is pretty much the same game as the original Splatoon, with just more levels, characters, weapons, etc.... The only real significant difference is they now have local multiplayer. This is basically because the Switch is portable.

True, I won't be buying them. I'll only be getting the new IP games and real sequels.

It's not just about the money though. They are trying to increase their library as well using older games from the Wii U. Not much difference then Microsoft bringing XBox 360 games to the XB1. Increasing the XB1 library will older game. Only different is you don't have to rebuy the XBox 360 games if you own them. I own Splatoon and MK8 for my Wii U. You think I'm rebuying them for the Switch?

This is not the case. You are literally being disingenuous and inaccurate. I have the damn game, I know the differences. It is far more different than the original game than one CoD is to the next.

For ten years, Nintendo did backwards compatibility and full digital continuity, without making any noise about it- and no one gave a shit. Why should they keep straddling their systems with it now?

Will help Switchs momentum though. Wii U was a disaster sales wise when Switch looks promising. There are people with a Switch that dont own a Wii U as we speak. It makes way more sense for all those games to have a port on Switch if you ask me, way more than ports for games on other platforms like PS4 or X1.

Then again the more games in Switchs library the better since it lacks multis even if they are ports.

Yeah,, ok. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqEZ1tHXPDQ

Don't stop believing.

Oh, man! An 8 minute video based on a one mode time limited gameplay demo available at a public showing making a comparison with the original game! That totally is somethign I will rely on more than my own judgement, which is based on my actually owning the game and playing it extensively and knowing what the differences are with the original game

Amen

Nice for those who didn't own a Wii U, I own basically every worthwhile exclusive the console had and there were some pretty great games for it.

Resident Evil Revalations 3 or something. Port 1&2 then 3

So this is the beginning of a new video game trend: releasing games from an unsuccessful console to a successful console?

I wouldn't buy any...

Exactly, and that what I'm trying to get into charizard1605 head. lol!! For gamers who already own a Wii U, these remassters and sequels aren't going to offer anything substantial to make us want to rebuy the games for the Switch. Yes, they were great games, no doubt, but not going to replay them on the Switch. At least the Wii U online service wasn't through a phone app.

Ugh. As long as Nintendo keeps this mindset, I don't want a Switch. Well, I guess it's money saved for me.