Reasons to buy a Wii U?

Well, today is my last day at work, and my boss is going to hand me a big bonus wad of cash for seven years of faithful service. I am considering the purchase of a Wii U, but it is complicated by the fact that (a) it's difficult to get online here and (b) it really seems the console is dying.

Can anyone give me some good reasons to buy? I'm genuinely in the middle ground on this issue.

Point A won't be much of an issue. Mariokart is online and that's good fun but other than that I don't think there's anything that really uses it. Obviously there's all the e-shop and virtual console stuff you'd miss out on without online. The only reason I can think of to get a Wii U is that Smash Bros will be out this year. Smash Bros and Mariokart are the only reasons I'm keeping mine.

The good reason for buying is quality 1st party software.

However, that's if you can live on just Nintendo titles and sparse releases of both retail and VC games, then go ahead. There'll be no more 3rd party support and a lot what was released was gimped in some way. I'd try to find one secondhand for around £120 if you can or one of those sub £200 new bundles with games. If I could go back I'd have waited post launch. It wasn't worth €370 and I wouldn't recommend it at its current price to anyone.

Also, you say getting online is difficult, wait until you try getting online with the Wii U. It's definitely the worst device I've ever used regarding wifi.

Then there's the paltry 32GB's. That won't go far if you download games. So then that's another €80 for a decent hard drive. The gamepad battery is crap but you can live with that.

There are some very good games. Though the Wii U is in a bad situation, it has the best games of all the consoles so far.

Here's a brief list:

• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
  
• Mario Kart 8
  
• Super Mario 3D World
  
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
  
• Pikmin 3
  
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Director's Cut)
  
• Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
  
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
  
• Nintendo Land
  
• LEGO City Undercover
  
• ZombiU
  
• The Wonderful 101
  
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
  
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted U
  
• Rayman Legends
  
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
  
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
  

Not a bad list for a dead console. Then there's a few others like on the VC. Zelda: Minish Cap, Earthbound and Metroid Fusion.

Reasons to buy a Wii U:

- You like platformers. (New Super Mario U and Luigi U, Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong, Rayman)

- Virtual console

- Smash Bros. soon.

- You have very little else to spend your money on.

- You don't mind skipping the vast majority of big third party games.

- Mario Kart, Pikmin, Wonderful 101 and ZombiU.

- Zelda, eventually.

- X, eventually.

- Maybe, just maybe, there will be a Metroid game announced at some point.

- Same as above for F Zero.

- Off-tv play.

Reasons not to buy a Wii U:

- You will be missing out on big third party releases.

- Support for the system is dying. Maybe Nintendo's own games don't do it for you. In which case, you'll struggle to build up a library over the next few years.

- Nintendo's own releases are few and far between.

- No news on a new Metroid, F Zero, etc. In fact, beyond this year, there's very little announced for the system.

- It's expensive for what it is (unless you manage to find a really, really good deal online or you don't mind paying over the odds for it)

- No multimedia capabilities. I just updated my PS4 and can now play 3D Blu Rays on it. I still can't play DVDs on my Nintendo system.

- GamePad is useless for most games, except if you want to use off-tv play.

Its going to be down to if you think there is enough games you already want for it and enough coming out that would make it worthwhile really. I personally didnt think there was enough that I was willing to pay for it but when my PS3 died and I had all my games for that to trade in thats kind of how I ended up justifying to myself to buy the console for the couple of games I was interested in.

I haven't bought a Wii-U yet myself, but only because I still have a huge backlog of Wii and retro games, and thateven though I have the money I just can't quite justify it to myself while I don't have a full time job. As soon as I do though I'll be treating myself to a Wii-U.

I don't know that the console is 'dying'. But even if it is Nintendo will obviously be the last developer to give up on it and they're the one that really matters, they are the best developer going for my tastes.

If they never announce another game, 1st or 3rd party, I'd still want a Wii-U for what's already out and already announced. As a Nintendo fan I have to play games like the new Zelda, the Mario platformers, Pikmin 3, Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong, Smash Bros, Yoshi the new Starfox and so on. But of course we know Nintendo will at least release other stuff, not least a some kind of 'sequel' to Xenoblade.

Give me a few good 3rd party games to play inbetween those games like Bayonetta 1 & 2, Batman Arkham City, Zombie-U, Resi Revalations, Monster Hunter, Wonderful 101, Rayman legends, Lego City Undercover, Sonic Racing Transformed and whatever else might come out and I'm good.

That may not be the most impressive 3rd party line up next to your GTAs etc and but what am I going to do, buy a PS4 or Xbox One instead, and not be able to play Mario 3D Land and Zelda? Fuck that.

The only reason for buying is quality 1st party software.

Corrected that.

The library is OK. Coming in at this late stage is probably a good idea; you've a back catalogue of 10 or so good - but not great - games to play through with a bunch on the way in 2015.

Well, today is my last day at work, and my boss is going to hand me a big bonus wad of cash for seven years of faithful service. I am considering the purchase of a Wii U, but it is complicated by the fact that (a) it's difficult to get online here and (b) it really seems the console is dying.

 

Can anyone give me some good reasons to buy? I'm genuinely in the middle ground on this issue.

The console isn't dying. Nintendo's showing at E3 cemented that, despite what people were thinking.

Corrected that.

 

The library is OK. Coming in at this late stage is probably a good idea; you've a back catalogue of 10 or so good - but not great - games to play through with a bunch on the way in 2015.

Seriously? The Wii U library from Nintendo is phenomenal.

- Off-tv play.

Off-TV play is loved by fanboys as it justifies their purchase. Off-TV play just isn't the killer feature they make it out to be; I suppose it's an OK feature, better to have it than not. Maybe it is great if you like to play games on a small, washed out display but having spent the best part of £300 on a console and game I bet you'd like to play them in HD with vibrant colour and deep sound.

Off-TV play is loved by fanboys as it justifies their purchase. Off-TV play just isn't the killer feature they make it out to be; I suppose it's an OK feature, better to have it than not. Maybe it is great if you like to play games on a small, washed out display but having spent the best part of £300 on a console and game I bet you'd like to play them in HD with vibrant colour and deep sound.

It's a good alternative for some games. For example, being able to still play a game whilst watching Match of the Day is cool. Although, I don't use the off-tv much because I need a bigger screen to look at. Using the small screen for Arkham City was a nightmare. It was difficult to navigate between buildings and to make out certain details.

I actually reversed the off-tv play. I ended up watching Match of the Day on a smaller screen, my laptop screen, and kept playing on the telly. Worked about a billion times better.

Off-TV play is loved by fanboys as it justifies their purchase. Off-TV play just isn't the killer feature they make it out to be; I suppose it's an OK feature, better to have it than not. Maybe it is great if you like to play games on a small, washed out display but having spent the best part of £300 on a console and game I bet you'd like to play them in HD with vibrant colour and deep sound.

Ill be honest. Outside of Monster Hunter and Wonderful 101 I've probably played games more with off TV play than on the TV. I know I play all my VC games with off TV play and I certainly played a lot of Mario Kart, 3D World, NSMBU and all of DKCR:TF with off TV play and I don't even have the issue of fighting for the TV set.

Off-TV play is loved by fanboys as it justifies their purchase. Off-TV play just isn't the killer feature they make it out to be; I suppose it's an OK feature, better to have it than not. Maybe it is great if you like to play games on a small, washed out display but having spent the best part of £300 on a console and game I bet you'd like to play them in HD with vibrant colour and deep sound.

Off-tv play is great if you live with someone else and have a limited amount of televisions. Many of my friends switch to it when their partners want to watch crap on TV.

- No multimedia capabilities. I just updated my PS4 and can now play 3D Blu Rays on it. I still can't play DVDs on my Nintendo system.

I didn't even know that. That is ridiculous. Ooooohhhh Nintendo

Anyway, you gave a good summary. I'd wait for a really nice offer.

I paid 160€ (which I said was the price for which I'd jump in) for a Wii U and I kinda regret that...Played Tropical Freeze for a while but now the console is already gather dust between my PS3 and PS4 which are used every day

Waiting for Smash...

I didn't even know that. That is ridiculous. Ooooohhhh Nintendo

 

Anyway, you gave a good summary. I'd wait for a really nice offer.

 

I paid 160€ (which I said was the price for which I'd jump in) for a Wii U and I kinda regret that...Played Tropical Freeze for a while but now the console is already gather dust between my PS3 and PS4 which are used every day

 

Waiting for Smash...

To be fair, it's not like it has no capabilities. It runs Netflix, Lovefilm etc.

Seriously? The Wii U library from Nintendo is phenomenal.

My 2 cents, but I wouldn't say it is. All big games are very derivative, there's nothing Nintendo have made for it yet that feels particularly new and exciting. Everything feels like something I've played before. Are some games great? Sure, but I wouldn't say the library is phenomenal.

Just playing Destiny beta the other day, it felt like a new kind of experience to me because of the scope, online interaction and general MMO elements combined with an FPS. Even if the individual elements aren't all new, the combining of them results in something significantly fresher than I've yet experience from Nintendo on Wii U.

Well at the moment the best reason of all is Mario Kart 8:

There are some great older titles to catch up on too...

Nintendo Land

NSMBU

Zombi U

Monster Hunter 3

Lego City Undercover

Pikmin 3

The Wonderful 101

Super Mario 3D World

DKC Tropical Freeze

All exclusive to Wii U, and all awesome.

And coming up we have...

Hyrule Warriors

Bayonetta 2

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker

Splatoon

Yoshi's Wooly World

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem

Xenoblade Chronicles X

And last but not least, Zelda:

It's a slow moving process (very slow ) but right now you're looking at 10 quality exclusives to check out, and at least another 10 by the end of next year.

So yeah, there should be many reasons for anyone who enjoys gaming to buy a Wii U.

: peace:

I didn't even know that. That is ridiculous. Ooooohhhh Nintendo

 

Anyway, you gave a good summary. I'd wait for a really nice offer.

 

I paid 160€ (which I said was the price for which I'd jump in) for a Wii U and I kinda regret that...Played Tropical Freeze for a while but now the console is already gather dust between my PS3 and PS4 which are used every day

 

Waiting for Smash...

Wow, that sounds like a great price! Was it preowned? Premium or basic?

Tbh @Iun, I'm gonna stick myself in the cynics camp - I don't know if it's that much worth getting one unless it's at a great price. Isn't it going to generally cost more to get, like, anything there too? What are you wanting and/or expecting from the WiiU or an alternative?

I think all it comes down to is do you want to splash the cash on a console just to play Nintendo exclusives, both retail and stuff like VC and e-Shop? If all you're bothered about are Nintendo's offerings then the console is for you. At the end of the day it's the only console where you are going to get to play these games.

My 2 cents, but I wouldn't say it is. All big games are very derivative, there's nothing Nintendo have made for it yet that feels particularly new and exciting. Everything feels like something I've played before. Are some games great? Sure, but I wouldn't say the library is phenomenal.

 

Just playing Destiny beta the other day, it felt like a new kind of experience to me because of the scope, online interaction and general MMO elements combined with an FPS. Even if the individual elements aren't all new, the combining of them results in something significantly fresher than I've yet experience from Nintendo on Wii U.

How ironic. I feel the exact same way about the "amazing" games on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Almost as if gaming is stagnating and heading to a crash.

You can feel what you like, but without actually owning or having properly experienced those games/betas, we can probably guess why you're saying it.

To be fair, it's not like it has no capabilities. It runs Netflix, Lovefilm etc.

But I don't want to pay for a subscription just because I'd like to watch movies that I already own on DVD.

Wow, that sounds like a great price! Was it preowned? Premium or basic?

Brand new Premium with Nintendoland (shit game, btw :p ). It was an offer at Gamestop. I traded in my old Wii and three games and I got the WiiU for 160€.

You can feel what you like, but without actually owning or having properly experienced those games/betas, we can probably guess why you're saying it.

I have properly experienced them, thank you very much. You don't have to own the console to spend extended time with it.

Stop trying to find excuses in order to put down my opinion just because it differs from yours. And let's stop crapping up this thread.

Off-TV play is loved by fanboys as it justifies their purchase. Off-TV play just isn't the killer feature they make it out to be; I suppose it's an OK feature, better to have it than not. Maybe it is great if you like to play games on a small, washed out display but having spent the best part of £300 on a console and game I bet you'd like to play them in HD with vibrant colour and deep sound.

What an idiotic thing to say... You don't use it so only fanboys justify it...

I use off tv play all the time. I think VC games look better on it, and I love playing various games while I watch football, or my gfriend is watching the tele, or in bed...

If you like Nintendo games then the Wii u is more than worth it, it has some of the best versions of its games!

I've found off-tv play to be immensely useful. In fact it was a strong contributing factor to me buying the console, because I recently moved in with my girlfriend and figured that being able to play something while she was sat watching rubbish TV would keep us both sane!

So far the game I've enjoyed most is Pikmin 3, even as someone who only played a little of the first one I loved it. 3DWorld was ok and Mario Kart is great if you're gonna play it in multiplayer as always but a bit dull after a while solo. Other than those I've spent most of my time playing VC games (Advance Wars got played to death, and now I'm playing Super Metroid for the first time). Again with VC, offscreen play is great. Its just like having a giant GBA.

Most of all though really the reason I bought the Wii U was because I got a good deal on it and I didn't see the price going down any more before the big one: Smash Bros. To me, thats the defining reason to own it. If you're not that bothered about Smash, you'll probably survive without, in all honesty.

I am enjoying the Wii U though. I don't yet own a PS4/XB1, but I probably will before too long. Playing with twin sticks on the gamepad is making me yearn for a proper FPS to take advantage of it. Metroid Prime would be perfect.

I have properly experienced them, thank you very much. You don't have to own the console to spend extended time with it.

 

Stop trying to find excuses in order to put down my opinion just because it differs from yours. And let's stop crapping up this thread.

Well that's fine.

So what was the online PSN/XBL handle you used to play Destiny? It would say in your profile that you played it. It was online and invite only by the way, so don't expect a game store to have been running it.

I only ask because I never saw you make any comment about it, like, at all in the Destiny thread. Given how vocal you are I would have expected you to at least say something about it.