With the release of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 these past two weeks, gamers have had a nonstop roller coaster of excitement between the new consoles. Wii U owners are likely to feel out of place due to all that attention.

Wii U owners have had a hard time fighting against a low number of game releases and owning a system already weaker than its competitors. Wii U owners seem to have a pretty grim next generation experience compared to those who are Xbox or PlayStation owners on the outside. 

The Wii U released last year and faced mostly confusion from the gaming market and audiences. The system has not sold as well as Nintendo would have liked, and most people who see the system ask themselves: “What is this?” 

As a day 1 Wii U owner, I had in fact asked myself that same question after a month of owning it. I was not asking this after purchasing the product, but I asked it because I did not know what to play. At the time of release, many games were just ports, and some of these ports were released the year before. There were some exclusives; however, none of them really grasped the attention for gamers long enough, with the exception of “New Super Mario Bros. U.” But most of us Wii U owners had to wait months before we got another game. 

The fact is, Wii U owners do have a lot to look forward to. This winter alone “Super Mario 3D World” comes out as well as the previous release of the remake of “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.” Now to non-Nintendo players, these two games just sound to be the typical releases off any Nintendo system; however, the Wii U has a good selection of third-party games as well, which is not normal for a Nintendo console.

This year alone Wii U owners will be participating in the releases of big games like “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” “Rayman Legends” and others. Other third-party games include the “Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut” as well as “The Wonderful 101.” That list of games alone will bring hours of entertainment to Wii U owners, and even some other consoles’ owners as well, including next generation owners. 

The future of Wii U games seems to carry an abundance of exciting releases as well. “Beyonetta 2” (a Wii U exclusive), “Mariokart 8,” “Super Smash Brothers” for Wii U, as well a brand new “Legend of Zelda” game currently in development. 

Now that the most important subject has been addressed, the games, the other question for Wii U owners is what about everything else? One of the many concerns about the Wii U is its graphical capabilities.

Now the Wii U is not as powerful as the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One; however, the games on the console still look gorgeous. The Wii U is a powerful system despite the fact it does not carry the same power as its current generational rivals. Now while the graphical capabilities of games are still important, I am not saying that the look of games are not. Many gamers are divided on the issue if graphics matter, and even though games really do not depend on the best graphics to be the best game, the look can change everything. If the game is ugly, that can take away the playability of the game heavily, no matter what system it is on. The Wii U though still produced games that are breathtaking. Examples can just be found in the the graphical style of “Pikmin 3” and in the current trailer for “Mario Kart 8” or “Beyonetta 2.” 

What about social aspects? Online play? Other features? Well, Wii U has it all. In its Mii-verse alone Wii U owners can communicate with each other on the topic of the console, the company and even go to a separate page on the system and talk about individual games. If you choose to, by turning on notifications on the console and on games, it is almost impossible to not be a part of some sort of conversation when turning on the system. Compared to next generation consoles I felt like I was still just playing by myself and I never felt like the sociability these consoles are pushing ever actually came through.

Online play for all Nintendo products are free and, through my experience, online play is never an issue. Compared to Xbox Live or PlayStation Network, Wii U online’s only difference is the amount of players. However, playing online feels like how one would play on any other console, and after playing online with next generation consoles, there really is no difference.

As for other features, the Wii U still carries YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and downloadable content just like every other console.

But the one thing the Wii U has that the other consoles do not carry is the second screen. Xbox One can incorporate tablets, and the PlayStation 4 can incorporate the Vita, yet for Wii U one does not need to purchase any side product to have a second screen. The second screen itself is a great addition to the console, allowing for bigger maps, more options and just overall the ability to be more involved with the game.

Despite having new consoles overshadowing the Wii U, owners and interest buyers need not worry. The Wii U will be able to hold a fight on its own, and with the amount of exciting games coming out gamers should be seeing the Wii U standing strong next to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.