Gamespot: The Wii U Is An Essential Purchase

Gamespot posted their year two review for the Wii U (similar to the year one review they posted for PS4 a few days ago), and they're fully on board, claiming that in spite of issues with the hardware, this is the best next gen system on the market with the best games available:

The rest of the industry appears to have made up its mind, with hardly any major established publishers showing faith in the system. You cannot blame them for this. In an age where Nintendo needed to be more proactive than ever with third-party relations, the Wii U represents the company at its most stranded from the rest of the industry.

But Nintendo is fighting back, possessed by that longstanding and essential rule of business: keep your customers happy. And it does this so capably, creating some of the finest Nintendo games in years. In fact, not just the best versions of its garlanded franchises, not just an answer to critics, but outright some of the best games you'll play in years. Just enough, in fact, to make the console an essential purchase.

Let's be honest: The Wii U, when compared to the phenomenal success of the original Wii, is a disastrous console. But that won't be its legacy. When it finally goes gentle into that good night, people will look back on it the same way they speak about the Dreamcast; a strange few years filled with the best games of a generation. Does that really sound like something you should miss out on?

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This is not a console you should own as your primary and only games playing machine, not unless you have very limited time/taste in games. That said, it is still one you should own at all costs- it has the kind of games library that yes, Gamespot is right, will be remembered for years to come, and its ultimate legacy will be much better and richer than that of the Wii itself.

It's the only essential console at the moment.

I agree completely. this Mario Kart has been the best since N64 ... DK's are great... Mario 3d world not quite as good as galaxy, but its 4 player and good in its own right!

Smash looks damn amazing.... LESS THAN 2 WEEKS TO GO!

Yet I'm still not buying one and I still don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Wrong, its a plattform for mario lovers.

I got Wii U at launch 2012, it has been doing exactly as I wanted it to do.

Sorry Nintendo, not sorry.

Yeah... still not interested.

I seriously wish more people would give this console a chance, it has GREAT games! OK, not all of them are great [Sonic Boom] but I mean Wii U is a great secondary console. Normal cows and lemmings should give it a chance, stop going into it with a pessimistic attitude but to give it a full hearted chance. We don't need more dummies like SolidLiar, a truly sad individual, to blind fully bash a good and decent system.

What console would you buy? Just curious about this.

Pikmin 3, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 are all Mario games! You sure showed em.

I just bought an Xbox One and I own a PS4. So everything but a Wii U.

Incoming 10 score for smash? :P

did someone say the review embargo ends Wednesday? review tmrow? :)

So as a PC player, you would consider systems that play essentially the same games, but poorer, worth a purchase, but not one that complements the PC lineup with a unique set of exclusive titles that are higher rated than anything on either of the other two consoles?

So that are the primary games of the WiiU? I dont think so.

In Bayonettas case even the majority of the sheep agrees with me and let it flop.

What the majority do is irrelevant, as proven by the shovel s*it from ubisoft you are all buying in droves...

While we are at it, lets praise justin beiber... because he sells so damn well!

Not surprised. It's the only "next-gen" console with several exclusive games worth owning and playing.

Tomorrow morning at 11am. Really, don't hold your breath for a 10/10 (and Gamespot might delay the review to test the online environment).

You're shifting goalposts now. You said it's a system for Mario lovers. I just pointed out some excellent games on the system that don't have anything to do with Mario. Sales performance or your perceived notion of them being 'primary' games is irrelevant.

Would buy

Too expensive.

If you don't want to purchase a Wii U, then you must not like the best platformers, the best party games, the best fighting games, the best racing games, the best puzzle games, or the best action games. They must hate free online too, and if that is the case then power to you. I enjoy those games so I think the Wii U is a wonderful purchase. The virtual console and backwards compatibility is just adding on to the already awesome library of the Wii U.

Bleh. No.

And thats exactly what it is. Nintendo/Mario fans are the majority who are buying the console. I dont know how you can dispute this.

But almost nobody buys those games and even less people buy the WiiU for them. My statement was not that the WiiU has no worthile games without mario in them, but that the WiiU is not worth buying if you dont love mario games.

I own a Wii-U and I even know it's not a must own console....

The Wii U has arrived!

You guys are reading too deep into my post. Im not saying quality = sales but that the WiiU is not worthwhile if you dont love mario games, its that simple.

@thegreatgeneral: And I disagree with that statement. A Wii U is still a great purchase if you don't like Mario games, as the great number of non Mario awesome games on it demonstrates. As I said, sales, in this case, are irrelevant.

It has too much going against it, price and just not enough support by developers.

Or maybe Nintendo's collection of childish ips doesn't appeal?

Cool. Get your shit set up, and add me. Just freedomfreak.

Can't play Forza, Halo, Infamous, Killzone, Driveclub (yes I like the game despite the horrible frustration I have with the insane AI), Sunset Overdive or a lot of upcoming PS4/Xbox One games on the PC so I don't really see what you're getting at. The Wii U's lineup doesn't compliment the PC lineup if you do not like Nintendo games or have never been a huge fan of Nintendo characters. I'm not big into action games, I'm not nostalgic for Nintendo characters nor get into fighting games, and I'm not a big fan of the arcade/action racers like Mario Kart or Wipeout which have weapons and stuff in addition to racing. Thus there isn't much of anything on the WiiU right now that I would want to play.

Also a lot of multiplats are meant to be played on a console, so I just buy them there instead of on the PC where you not only have to deal with any bugs the game made have, but usually a lot of PC exclusive port issues because devs just don't do a good enough job. I bought Assassin's Creed 4, Shadow of Mordor, and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare on my PS4 instead of my PC. I have no problem buying a console game on a consoles instead of fighting a PC port. I'm not such a die hard PC fanboy that I need the technically superior version, especially when it's clearly a game built for a console in a living room environment.

@Blabadon: Once it finishes setting up (so by this time next week), add me. Same as PSN and XBL.

The Wii U really is a breath of fresh air, and it only seems to be getting better. It will end up being Nintendo's best console if this pace holds for a few more years.

@Wasdie: Fair enough, I will not argue opinions.

Answer me this charizard. Would you have bought a WiiU if you would know that NO 2D mario, 3D mario, mario kart, smash or whatever mario spinoff nintendo produces releases on the WiiU? Would you buy the console alone for the games you listed?

I argue that the majorty that did buy or will buy the console is because of mario games.

Im not even insulting the WiiU with that statement. The xbone got bought for halo, forza and gears on day 1. The PS4 got bought for Uncharted, GT, GOW and so on, on day 1. People know what they can expect from a console manufacturer.

You shouldn't buy it if you dont like Nintendo 1st party either,.

Well if you're into the same old ninty rehashes then yes it's a much have.

But most people are bored with the classic Ninty IP's and sales reflect this sentiment.

And don't delude yourself, it's not because the competition was weak, that Wii U's library is spectacular, it's nothing special (except for 1 game, Bayo 2) and especially when you take into consideration that Wii u is already 2 years old.

No console is "essential" right now.

The PS4 and XBone have dick for games and Nintendo mostly just pumps out Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda and their spinoffs (Super Smash Brothers) over and over.

That's because GameSpot knows what the **** is up.

@Suppaman100: 'old ninty rehashes'

This statement is ignorant on multiple levels

'People are bored of these games'

Completely incorrect, as the 3DS proves. People are not bored of Nintendo's games, they just don't want to pay $300 to play them.

Mmmm...no. WiiU still lacks third party support. One would miss on 80% of multiplats on WiiU. And Nintendo exclusives are just annual iterations of the previous instalments. If Nintendo fans take off their pink glasses, they will see that Nintendo offerings are just like Assissin Creed and Cod based in Mario universe. They rarely offer something fresh. This is the reason why WiiU sales are still kinda low after two years.

It is a good system, but as you said, definitely not a primary unless you absolutely love Nintendo games

@jhonMalcovich: Nintendo's franchises are annual? What the ****? I have never seen a more ignorant statement on this board, and that is fucking saying something.

Well, it does have Bayonetta 2.

What was GOTY last year?

@thegreatgeneral: First off, Smash is not a Mario spin off any more than it is a Kirby or Metroid spin off.

Secondly, yes, because you make the mistake of conflating Nintendo's first party with Mario. What about Smash? What about Zelda? What about Metroid? What about Star Fox?

Don't get mad. I am not an expert in Nintendo games. But they always release every year something that has Mario or Zelda in its title, and they usually piggybacking on exploiting their universe.

No one is going to buy this thing unless they give it a big price drop. Considering you can get an Xbone for around $250 on BF at Walmart when you account for the gift card and MCC there's no way it will sell at it's current price. Make it $150 or $199 with a game and some people might buy it.