
Of the many consoles Nintendo has made, it is rare for there to be a failure as catastrophic as the Wii U. It was a genuinely unique and inventive console, but some bizarre marketing, poor branding, and an overall lack of games that really took advantage of the hardware, it was doomed to fail and be replaced in record time.
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PostsThat said, there are still some stellar games on the Wii U, though very few of them remain exclusive to the console. With the console being one of Nintendo's more high-profile failures, did it end up getting that many games at all? Let's find out.
How Many Games Were Made For The Wii U?
CloseWith the Switch as its successor with over 5,000 games, you might hope even a little bit of that came from the Wii U. The console was not backwards compatible with anything from the Wii U however, so the vast majority of its games are brand-new, aside from a bevy of ports. The Wii U pales in comparison, totaling in at somewhere around 800 games with a generous estimation.
What makes this number even smaller is that a very small number of those games were ever released physically. In total, around 200 of those 800 games had a physical release, with the rest lost with the closure of the Wii U's eShop. That means around 75% of the Wii U's entire library was lost with the shutdown of the eShop. Legally, anyway.
When Was The Last Game Released For The Wii U?
After the Wii U's launch in 2012, it was quickly discontinued in 2017 and quickly succeeded by the Switch. Yet despite the console's discontinuation after only five years, a handful of games still found their way to the console. In fact, the Wii U's final game launched over ten years after its initial launch.
The very final game released on the Wii U was a duo of games, Silver Falls: Undertakers and Silver Falls: White Inside Its Umbra. Both of these games were exclusive to North America and released on February 16th, 2023. The Wii U eShop closed just a month later, meaning you had very little time to snatch this piece of Wii U history.
The last game to get a physical release on the console was Shakedown Hawaii on August 20th, 2020.
What Were The Launch Titles For The Wii U?
CloseThe Wii U, despite a rather lackluster library in the grand scheme of things, did launch with quite a hefty number of games. It launched in North America first, though thankfully had less than a month between every major regional release.
- North America - November 18th, 2012
- Europe - November 30th, 2012
- Japan - December 8th, 2012
The console also had a hefty number of games available at release in Europe and North America, though was somewhat lacking in Japan. Despite a stellar line-up of games though, very few were first-party, and even fewer were system-sellers. Many were ports with some extra bells and whistles rather than brand-new games, either.
Launch Titles In North America
Launch Titles In Europe
Launch Titles In Japan
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed 3
Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
FIFA 13
FIFA 13
FIFA 13
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
New Super Mario Bros. U
New Super Mario Bros. U
New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo Land
Nintendo Land
Nintendo Land
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
ZombiU
ZombiU
ZombiU
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Fake Colours
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Ben 10: Omniverse
Ben 10: Omniverse
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Chasing Aurora
Chasing Aurora
Darksiders 2
Darksiders 2
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
ESPN Sports Connection
Sports Connection
Funky Barn
Funky Barn
Game Party Champions
Game Party Champions
Just Dance 4
Just Dance 4
Little Inferno
Little Inferno
Nano Assault Neo
Nano Assault Neo
Rabbids Land
Rabbids Land
Skylanders: Giants
Skylanders: Giants
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Tank! Tank! Tank!
Tank! Tank! Tank!
Transformers Prime - The Game
Transformers Prime - The Game
Trine 2: Director's Cut
Trine 2: Director's Cut
Wipeout 3
Wipeout 3
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
Madden NFL
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition
Puddle
NBA 2K13
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Sing Party
The Wii U came with a massive 34 games at launch in North America, followed closely by Europe with 32. Japan falls quite a bit behind despite launching after the previous two regions with only 11 games, and only one of them, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, new to the region. The overall number of games is quite respectable, though. It's far from the weakest launch for a console even on the low end, though lacked a star game to push units.
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