It's sad how now that the Wii U seems like it's "on it's way out," we have media talking about how good it is. It seems that Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon, and Super Mario Maker have finally made people realize the Wii U actually exists, and that it's actually a solid piece of hardware. The truth is that the Wii U was solid before those titles even came out, and no matter what critics say, the Wii U had an arguably better launch than most video game machines. A lot of the quality launch games that the media had convinced everyone to disregard are now being sought after because that same media has changed its tune. It wasn't that the Wii U didn't have third-party support; it did, it's just that somehow Nintendo pissed-off big media, which led to big media then brainwashing the masses that third parties were leaving. This made a few big third parties leave, and when they did, other big ones got spooked and (without little reason) followed suit. Nintendo was just going through a rough patch (as every hardware does), but big names saw it as an easy out to develop more for other machines because the Wii U actually takes effort to develop for. Despite this, some developers pushed on and continued to produce works of art and innovation. It's a shame, though, that not much during this time was even noticed. What's more unfortunate, though, is how the media is trying to usher in a new generation with the NX, even though the Wii U is still very relevant to the current generation. Though some hate to admit the fact, when Nintendo made the Wii U, they made it so that it would perform similarly to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and it does. Nintendo themselves are very careful with this fact. They don't really speak too much of the Wii U and its capabilities, but the machine is capable of far more than the media leads everyone to believe. This is demonstrated best by Xenoblade Chronicles X, of course, which makes great use of a plethora of effects which Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have used to define the eight-generation of video games.

At least one developer has gone on record to confirm that the Wii U is capable of the technique of tesselation that is used in Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games, and another went more into detail about how the machine does more when more is thrown at it. Blur effects are also fully-utilized in Wii U games, as demonstrated by Xenoblade Chronicles X, Ninja Gaiden 3 - Razor's Edge, and Super Mario 3D World (among others). The Wii U's CPU is a point of concern among some, but it works together with the GPU and other parts of the machine to punch above its weight, ultimately proving it as an eighth-generation competitor. One popular (yet flawed) case against the Wii U as an eight-generation competitor is some of the new games. If they're not already on the Wii U, then chances are they can be run on it. Not all, but many of the games used against the Wii U when it comes to third-party support, could be made for the Wii U. Case in point, Mortal Kombat X. It's so funny to hear and see those who know little about the game's engine say that the Wii U couldn't handle it. Do they know that the game is running on a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3 (which the Wii U supports)? Do they know that Unreal Engine 3 is last-gen (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)? Even if Mortal Kombat X were being powered by the Unreal Engine 4 (as is often mistaken), it wouldn't matter because the Wii U supports that engine, as well. Despite this and that whatever said by Epic Games at whatever event, the Wii U supports Unreal Engine 4, and the proof is in the two games that support it (Red Goddess and Bloodstained). Again, though it may not support every title on the Unreal Engine 4, it still supports it. Another engine nayayers claimed the Wii U could not handle was the CryEngine. Sega's Sonic Boom uses it, and it's the same version used in Xbox exclusive Ryse and the big-budget multiplatform title Evolve...