1. Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear is, for all intents and purposes, the apex of eastern games development. Led by the infamous Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear was yet again originally a Nintendo franchise, as difficult as that is to believe. Of course, while the NES games were no doubt successes during their time, they did not reach the heights achieved by Metal Gear Solid and it sequels when it debuted on the original PlayStation and PS2. Metal Gear is one of those franchises that manages to raise the bar with each new entry, and rarely fails to disappoint in doing so. The MGS games are known for several factors, some of which are their over-the-top, bonkers storylines that require you to interpret binary code in the matrix to fully understand, action-heavy set pieces and cutscenes that dazzle the eye, and some fantastic stealth-based gameplay to round out the package.
The problem with MGS, as far as Nintendo is concerned, is twofold. For starters, Metal Gear Solid is about as non-family friendly as you can imagine. Secondly, the graphics are usually pretty awe-inspiring (see Guns of the Patriots and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes). As already discussed, Nintendo consoles have lacked that graphical punch in the past, though they’ve never been awful– just simply not on-par with stronger competitor machines. With Wii U, however, Nintendo has leveled the playing field, at least for now anyway. What this means is, theoretically, Metal Gear Solid can, from a logistical and processing standpoint, happen on a Nintendo system now. Though Kojima has not said anything about Ground Zeroes making a Wii U appearance, it wouldn’t seem too far out of the question. After all, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes did appear on GameCube, and we just recently got Snake Eater 3DS.
I think gamers would take great comfort in knowing that a big name like Kojima was embracing Nintendo and Wii U. Now that Metal Gear is possible again on a Nintendo system, and with Nintendo pushing this whole campaign of “we have ‘real’ games, too” one has to think the timing is right. Better yet, though, I just want to fire up my Wii U and see my friends huddled around a Metal Gear Solid, Foxhound icon in the Miiverse. That way I would know, on the other side of the country, some of my best friends would be hearing, on their Wii U, the words: Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKEEEEEE!
And that’s our Top Ten! What do you think? Itching to play a proper Final Fantasy or Metal Gear on Wii U or are there other games that you’re more intrigued by? Let us know in the comments’ section below!
What about the Conduit? I know it had problems but, it could have a good chance to be alot better graphically and story-line wise if it was on Wii U or if the title was purchased by Nintendo and messed with by Retro
I think the Conduit is a solid series, however, I wanted to focus on franchises that hadn’t really made an appearance on a Nintendo console ever, or at least for quite some time. Since Conduit was just last generation, I avoided it. It’s a great game, though!
One game I wish I could’ve fit on there was the Souls series (Demon’s/Dark Souls). Now that’s a fantastic franchise that I think would really fit in line with Nintendo’s new focus on the “hardcore”. Talk about a game that is truly hardcore…
Another writer here shares my love of Shenmue!!! I would love to see a Yakuza title on Wii U as well. Better yet… Nintendo should team up with Yu Suzuki and Sega to finally release Shenmue III on Wii U. This could also accompany HD re-releases of the first two games on Wii U with the ability to continue your save file. The possibilities… I’m almost crying.
A fellow Yu Suzuki loyalist! There are far too many people who don’t know about Shenmue! I’m in the process of constructing an article idea for why I think Shenmue III belongs on Wii U. In the meantime, though, I agree whole heartedly with everything you said. I assume Sega is preparing a Shenmue HD release, however, as they’ve been slowly releasing their biggest titles on XBLA and PSN (Jet Grind Radio, Sonic Adventure, Virtual On, Daytona, etc.). So, I suspect Shenmue is coming. My hope is it’s released on the eShop.
So many issues with Borderlands would be fixed if all of the menu stuff was on the gamepad! It would seriously improve the game sooooo much.
I would absolutely LOVE to see the Persona series come to Wii U. Persona 4 is my all-time favorite rpg ever. Persona 5 for Wii U?
Third party games — I want them all. The Wii missed out on almost all good-quality 3rd party games. If Microsoft and Sony gamers gets something from third party companies, why not Nintendo gamers? There was no problem on NES, and there definately wasn’t any major problems with third party support on Super NES (N64 and Gamecube were largely ignored).
It’s a shame that people moved away from Nintendo, but hopefully, we Nintendo console owners, especially those has just a Nintendo console, can be equally as excited and happy as the rest of the gaming world.
Speaking of “world”, I’d love to see more come out of Japan. I’m not talking about your everyday action game or rpg. There’s far more, and they’re holding back so much, it’s not even funny. Nevermind the excuse about their games being “culturally different”…if games like Harvest Moon, 999, Phoenix Wright, and Persona can make it over (with pretty much all Japanese references intact), why not more?
Niche titles have grown into popular fan favorites in past generations. I wish there were more (I’d love to have the Densha de Go/Railfan series in English).