As we approach Nov. 18, the launch date of Nintendo’s new Wii U, it would seem appropriate to look back on the life of the Wii as it becomes the first seventh-generation console to be replaced. The reality is, despite its initial success, the Wii was a failed console from nearly the beginning.

The thing that made the Wii unique is the same thing that ultimately did it in as a viable gaming option: gimmicky controllers.

The controls of the Wii made the game designers both at Nintendo and third-party companies obligated to use the motion-control. While this was fine for games built from the ground up to take advantage of the Wii’s technology, it hamstrung any sort of multi-platform ports. Why would I buy “Call of Duty” for the Wii and be forced into a strange control scheme when I can just play the “unadulterated version” on PS3 or Xbox 360?

This situation led many developers to ignore the Wii. The hole they left was filled with tons of cheap games with no quality control. Game like “Deca Sports” and “Carnival Games” were poorly disguised “Wii Sports” clones or collections of mini-games that suffered from quick development times.

Nintendo’s own blockbuster franchises, the Zelda series, the Mario series and the Metroid series were also stymied by a sense of obligation to utilize the controls in a novel fashion. While the games were not poor quality games, they will always be remembered as the “weak sisters” in their respective franchise lines.

I am not an elitist gaming snob. Graphics and processor power are meaningless to me. Although the Wii was an underpowered system compared to its Sony and Microsoft counterparts, this is not what made the system a failure. Ultimately, Nintendo put the need to innovate ahead of the practicality of making fun games.