Wii U - Year Two Conclusion

More applause.

The second year of the Wii U picked up a lot of the slack from the admittedly embarrassing first. The extreme backlash of people stating the Wii U has no games has finally subsided. I will point out that these people never admit they're wrong, they simply pretend they never made the statements in the first place and look for something else to complain about. Good riddance.

A bit more third-party support made a big difference, although there was also a lot of the expected shovelware. The Virtual Console is still squeezing out titles at the same pace, but with the influx of original games, it's less irritating. I actually have a backlog of Wii U things now!

And amiibo? Don't even get me started. So much annoyance in being on top of release and pre-order information, yet still missing out. Please catch up with the demand, Nintendo. It especially baffles me in that you are not the first to go this route. The trail has already been blazed.

Favorite games of the year?

Retail:

eShop (not including Virtual Console):

Backlog:

It's great that I still have games to get around to, and 2015's lineup looks pretty good so far. It's crazy to think that it's already Year 3 of the Wii U. With the increasingly short lifespans of consoles, the next step for Nintendo is right around the corner, and they've been saying as much during interviews. Hopefully the coming year will be just as awesome.

I'm also hoping this blog will still be active then, too.

Wii U - Year One Conclusion

Relieved applause.

The first year of the Wii U was admittedly a slow one. It really didn't pick up much steam until many months after its release. This was a negative in many ways (marketing, sales, media/public impression, etc.). However, at the end of its first year (well, a little bit past a year), it's really made leaps and bounds forwards.

Looking at my Wii U library, I feel pretty good about the investment. Seeing what's on the horizon makes me feel even better. I understand getting a year's head start against your competitors, Nintendo.  But if it's going to take nearly a year to reach a decent launch, then what's the point? You have so much ground to make up. As stated before, the uninformed public is extremely impressionable, and will parrot back what mainstream media tells them. Hopefully this new marketing push will get you back into the spotlight (notwithstanding, of course, the current eShop/Pokemon Bank/Miiverse/etc. debacle). Though at the end of the day, I do trust you, Nintendo.

Favorite games of the year?

Retail:

eShop (not including Virtual Console):

That was hard. I initially planned to narrow down my top five retail games, but I couldn't manage. There are still some I really want to put on this list, but I have to draw a limit. Every game I've bought has been a thoroughly researched decision. And I really enjoy almost all of them. Sure, I've made a mistake here and there (I'm looking at you, Sonic Lost World, you piece of crap), but no one is perfect. I've really enjoyed this year on Wii U, even if it did take a while to get moving. Hopefully the coming year will still be awesome, but perhaps a little better overall.

I'm also hoping this blog will still be active then, too.