If you happen to follow what the sales analysts say, the Wii outperformed the Wii U by millions. The GamePad was just not as exciting as everyone had hoped it would be, leading even Nintendo to be disappointed in the product.
Fast forward to the present, and we have the Nintendo Switch, which is already outperforming expected sales. This might end up being their highest selling console if things proceed this way. And enhancing old Wii U games for the Switch seems to be a great selling point as well. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Pokken Tournament Deluxe were enhanced for the Switch with great new features, and the fans are apparently going wild.
Based on this success, Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime revealed to Waypoint in an interview that there's more to come:
Given the install base of Wii U, there was some fantastic content that consumers did not get to play. So that creates certainly a business opportunity. On the other hand, one of the things that we've discussed internally is, there really needs to be an additional element to that game to make it fresh, and to further compel the consumer to buy in.
I think the best example of that is Pokken Tournament Deluxe. Additional fighters, that gives the fan a reason to buy into it. Same is true with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, providing a mode that the consumers wanted in terms of a better battle mode, that was then included in that game. And so, I think the way we will continue to evaluate this is: yes, do we have opportunities with great games that maybe were not played as broadly on the Wii U, but then what's the plus alpha that's going to make it really compelling for the consumer?
There is no indication of exactly which games will be enhanced, so it will be interesting to see which titles are coming next and whether fans are truly enjoying the new experience. Also to watch will be whether they only focus now on remastering old Wii games or if any new exclusive titles are coming our way. Would be nice to see a new IP for the Switch that may actually convince me to try a Nintendo out.
