 The Wii U is a financial failure. It has moved just 12.8 million units according to their most recent earnings report and only 800,000 units are scheduled to be in production for the current fiscal year. While a handful of games have moved more than 3 million units, they are all poultry sales in comparison to consoles and games in years gone past. The only true success story would probably be Splatoon, which is a brand new IP released exclusively on the Wii U. The story is written for the Wii U. Many are disappointed, and now it's not even getting an exclusive Zelda game for the first time in Nintendo's history. I've often been called a Nintendo apologist over the years. Despite being openly critical of bad marketing, terrible decisions, and broken promises, I still found myself finding good things to say about Nintendo, especially in regards to the Wii U. The reason I was able to do this is because the Wii U is my favorite Nintendo home console ever released. Believe me when I say this that I never thought anything could unseat the Super Nintendo, but Wii U found a way for me. I started talking about this by prefacing all of the negativity around the Wii U, or well, part of it, as there is much more that can be said, because it's very easy to focus on the negatives. There's a lot of them. Increasingly, I seem to be finding out that I am rather unique in terms of my breed among fellow gaming friends. I actually play video games for the games, rather than for brand loyalty. The Wii U could be for NES's duct tape together and still have a fair shot at being my favorite system if it contained enough content that I really enjoyed. Now, my favorite game of all time is still Secret of Mana. However you pronounce it, released on the Super Nintendo. However, no other console generation in my entire 29 years of life have I ever been so consistently entertained with nearly every major release. From new Super Mario Bros U and Zombie U to Pikmin 3 and Star Fox Zero, I have simply been floored with pure fun. I'm going to give you three huge raisins that I really feel the Wii U is at the top of the mountain. For me, remember, this is just me, my opinion. So one of those reasons is that I feel it is an indie game heaven. The Wii U is Nintendo's best console ever for indie games. Now, there is no such thing as being able to compete with mobile phones and PCs for having the most robust library of indie games, but I'm simply talking about my favorite home console. While all of the current generation of hardware from the three major platform holders all have some really nice exclusive indie titles, I consistently find myself coming back to the Wii U for my favorite indie experiences, be it Toki Tori 2 or affordable space adventures, maybe even Shovel Knight. The list of indie games I really enjoy playing on the Wii U is truly astounding. I consider indie games to be the new AA or B tier of video games in the industry and while consoles like the NES and SNES also bolster an impressive library of such titles, the overall high quality of the releases and the number of them that I actually enjoy is far larger on the Wii U than on any other home console platform I have ever played, whether it be Nintendo or any other system. The next reason is that I feel that the system has a concise but impressively fun group of timed and or exclusive AAA games. Whether you love or hate a game is entirely subjective, so instead of breaking down every single reason I love each game in the Wii U library, I'll also list off every game I absolutely adore that is exclusive or was exclusive at some point for the system. Let's get started. All right so we have new Super Mario Bros. U, Zombie U, Bayonetta 2, The Wind Waker HD, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Twilight Princess HD, Donkey Kong Country, Tropical Freeze, Lego City Undercover, Yoshi's Woolly World, Star Fox Zero, Maiden of Blackwater, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Hyrule Warriors, The Wonderful 101, Pockin Tournament, Sonic Lost World, Pikmin 3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and The Wonderful 101. And yes I absolutely loved all of these titles. That's 23 semi-exclusive or entirely exclusive games I loved more than any other home console I have played in Nintendo's history. And the last reason I really love the Wii U and why it is my favorite generation of Nintendo home consoles is that I love the gamepad. I know the gamepad is arguably the system's biggest downfall. It's expensive, doesn't have an overly impressive screen, the battery life is bad, it's big, and for the most part 90% of the games can work just as fine, if not better for many, without the gamepad. Yet I find myself consistently preferring the gamepad in nearly any situation. I love having maps, items, and information readily available at a quick glance rather than going into a submenu. It's just faster. I love being able to hit a button and magically play most of my Wii U library off TV when it's time for my kids to catch their favorite shows. And yes I even make extensive use of the TV remote functionality, probably the only person in the world that does while gaming. Really I use it exclusively for volume and or input control when I'm playing my games and I need to switch back and forth from watching TV with my kids or me playing games on the big screen. Most importantly I have some rather big hands and I find I actually prefer the button layout and the comfort level of the pad over say the pro controller which has a really impressive battery life or my other favorite controller of all time the Xbox One controller. In all of this I am not blind to the well-deserved criticism of the Wii U. It just hasn't really impacted my own personal experience. I often turn to PC for my multi-platform desires leaving home consoles to me as a more exclusive oriented platform. While I have many fond memories of the Super Nintendo reality is that I like the gamepad more and I love far more games in the Wii U than I ever did for my second favorite home console from Nintendo. So call me crazy and I may stand alone but the Wii U is my favorite Nintendo home console ever released.