For the past three years, Ubisoft has been keeping the Wii alive. The streak ends this month, with Ubisoft announcing that Last Dance 2020 will be the last to be released on the console.
13 Years of Motion Controls
The Nintendo Wii had a good run. Since launching in 2006, Nintendo sold millions of games through the console. At the time of release, Nintendo Wii was the forerunner in motion controls. Nintendo's innovation made motion controls in video games a thing, with Sony and Xbox soon introducing their own take.
The Wii's motion controls revolutionized video game dancing. Before then, Dance Dance Revolution required dance pads with large buttons for people to dance on. With the Wii, developers were allowed to give players a wider array of dance moves. It allowed players to dance with their whole bodies, not only with their feet.
That's why Ubisoft released the first Just Dance game on the Wii system. Just Dance, named after Lady Gaga's song, made families and friends dance in their living room floors. For a full decade, Just Dance would keep returning to the Wii every single year.
Just Dance 2020, which also launched for the Switch, PS4, and XBOX One on Nov. 5, will be the last game in the series in the Wii. Just Dance 2021 will no longer be calling the Wii its home.
Dancing and Exercise
The Nintendo Wii was officially discontinued in 2013. Still, six years after production ceased, Ubisoft continued releasing Just Dance on the console. However, there's a good (and touching) reason why Just Dance continued to sell on the Nintendo Wii even when other publishers have stopped bothering.
Primarily, Just Dance continued selling on the console because there's a demand for it. Ubisoft was on record saying that many children and their families continued playing Just Dance on the Wii, and they're just happy to meet that demand.
This shows that in spite of discontinuations, consoles could continue living on as long as there are people playing them. Just consider classic consoles being re-released, like the PSOne, Family Computer, and even the Sega Genesis. If there's demand, there will be sales.
Another reason why Just Dance continued finding its way to the Wii is its presence in children's hospitals. The game is still being used to rehabilitate persons with movement impairments, and also as a light form of exercise.
Ubisoft themselves have been donating Wii consoles bundled with the game to children's hospitals. It's a way for Ubisoft to contribute to the community, bringing smiles to their faces and giving them a fun experience. Ubisoft said that they "donated consoles and Just Dance games over the years to children's hospitals where they use the game with patients to help with movement, exercise, rehabilitation and just for fun, bringing a smile to their faces."
With new technology starting to make the Wii obsolete, Ubisoft will now focus on creating games for new consoles. The Nintendo Switch, for example, has state-of-the-art motion controls that surpass the Wii's by a mile.
About Just Dance 2020
Just Dance 2020 will have the same fun, energetic experience that the series is known for. In this entry, songs from popular artists will be available for players to dance to. Dance to the tune of Billie Eilish's Bad Guy, Ariana Grande's 7 Rings, Lil Nas' Old Town Road, and many more. Choose from a collection of over 500 songs via Just Dance Unlimited. On Nov. 22, coinciding with the release of Frozen 2 in cinemas, its feature song Into the Unknown will also be coming to Just Dance 2020.
