The Wii U, codenamed as Project Cafe, is an eighth generation console system released by Nintendo on November 18, 2012(US and Canada). This console is an upgraded version of the Wii, much like the Nintendo 3DS family is to the normal Nintendo DS family. It was announced at E3 2011 on June 7, 2011. At 13.58 millions sold, the Wii U is Nintendo's lowest-selling home console and lowest-selling eighth-generation console. Because of that, it is discontinued in South Africa, Brazil, Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan, while it is still in production in other parts of the world.

Hardware specs[]

Controllers[]

The Wii U has a new controller with a screen on it. This controller, much like the DS and 3DS, is touch screen. To add on to this, the game can still be played without the TV needed. This new controller also can be used to see a different view of the game. With this new controller, five people can now play a multiplayer game of that sort (four with Wii Remotes and one with the new controller).

The Wii U is backwards compatible with nearly all Wii games as well as GameCube games (unlike the Wii Family Edition and Wii Mini). However, unlike the original Wii models, it cannot play GameCube discs and the Virtual Console was not added.

With the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a GameCube controller adapter was released for use with the game. This adapter is currently only compatible for that game, the controllers will not work with any other game while plugged in through this accessory.

List of Mario-related games[]

Please note that the games in bold are in the Super Mario series.

• New Super Mario Bros. U (2012)
  • New Super Luigi U (2013)
• Nintendo Land (2012)
• Game & Wario (2013)
• Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (2013)
• Super Mario 3D World (2013)
• NES Remix (2013)
• Dr. Luigi (2013, downloadable only)
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
• NES Remix 2 (2014)
• NES Remix Pack (2014)
• Mario Kart 8 (2014)
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U)
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015)
• Mario Party 10 (2015)
• Yoshi's Woolly World (2015)
• Super Mario Maker (2015)
• Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (2015)
• Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge (2016, Wii U)
• Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (2016, Wii U)
• Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016)

Trivia[]

• This is the first Nintendo home console to be bigger than its predecessor.
• This is the second Nintendo home console to be released in North America before Japan, first being the Wii.
• This is the first Nintendo console to primarily use the previous console's controllers as well as new controllers, as all current Wii controllers and accessories have been rebranded.
• This is the first system since the Sega Dreamcast to feature 2 screens without the use of any outside game systems, though the Dreamcast relied on the additional VMU. 
• The Wii U uses much less energy than most devices, at 37kWh/year. It's even less than the Wii's 40kWh/year.

Gallery[]

Logo

The Black Wii U with the GamePad.

The two black and white Wii U Pro Controllers.

Main menu screen

Super Mario 3D World Deluxe Set

References[]