Is Wii U holding better than ever?

It seems that rough times are behind the Wii U and it's finally gotten its killer app in Mario Kart 8 that apart from happening to be a quality game, is also a system seller. The Wii U sells so respectably that it even doesn't have to be afraid of Xbox One for the foreseeable future! Apart from gaining the momentum from Mario Kart 8, it also has several high quality new installments in the most important franchises (like new Zelda) and new IPs like Splatoon.

Would you say, now - more than ever - is the best time to get Wii U?

If not, then what holds you back?

I'd say - if anything - then the price. If they slashed it to $250, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Go buy on off Nintendo's site.

I'm feeling the urge to buy one myself thanks to the PS4 having no games.

200$ 32gb deluxe from Nintendo directly,do it.

It really is a nice little console. It would be nice if it were a little more powerful, but it is by far the best next-gen console at this point in time. Nintendo really makes every effort to double down on what makes console gaming great with it.

This Christmas is the best time imo. all the games up front, but yea.. the PS4 is a big dissapointment at the moment, the Wii-U is defintly next on the list.

still crazy playing MK8 on mine

You can get a refurbished 32GB console for that price or less at Nintendo's online store. They're basically new.

Nintendo sells 32GB Black Wii Us for $200 on their website; they come with Nintendo Land, one year of Nintendo Network Premium, as well as a one year warranty. Heavily recommended.

Really not into mine. Maybe when project X releases next year.

I'm not surprised. I predicted this since it first started selling poorly early last year.

The only thing stopping me from buying one is the fact I'm not working currently, and don't have the money. I put some money aside for the Steam Summer Sale, but it wasn't enough to cover a new console.

There is a lot, a lot of misinformation in this post. Specifically pertaining to Nintendo's account system, which, yes, while obtuse, is in no way as nightmarish as you are making it out to be (as well as your complete misunderstanding that getting banned on Miiverse in no way bars you from your eShop purchases; as a matter of fact, Nintendo never bans your eShop account so you can always access your digitally purchased games).

You forgot to mention they are refurbished. A big turn off for most consumers. Even when coming straight from the manufacturer.

I'll get one whenever I can, hopefully soon. There's a lot of games already out for it I want, and lots coming out I want too. So yeah, a really good time to get one.

I'm traveling this summer so since in buying a wii u now. But when I get back home in August im mosy definitely buying the wii u mario kart 8 bundle.

It's getting better alright but from a very, very low starting point. Mario Kart 8 is excellent fun but it's literally the only WiiU game I've bought all year (will get DK some day but burnt out on 2D platformers at the mo, especially with how 2D Mario "3D" World played).

Won't be getting another WiiU game till Christmas it seems. That's... not good.

Lets give it a few weeks to see how well M.K.8 pushes consoles before the victory parade is scheduled.

Refurbished Wii U stock is literally consoles that retailers returned that Nintendo repackaged and is selling directly.

Its looking like a better purchase than the X1, i'll probably pick one up in december.

Project X is now called Xenoblade Chronicles X just so you know.

Yeah, I realized that and was too lazy to edit it. :P

edit:

oh yeah we are both just using the common parlance name of the game. obviously, xenoblade chronicles x is the new title.

I plan on getting one, theres some good nintendo exclusives coming through and it's at a nice price now, Backwards compatibility is a win for me as well, and then theres the little things in life like being able to take my Game with me to the loo:)

I'm glad MS is in last place.

This shows them that they need more games to get people interested in their system and that buying 'timed exclusive DLCs' just isn't enough.

buy refurbished for $200.

help Nintendo out and just fork over the $300. Is $50 more really that big a deal to you?

Nice pretend world you live in

That's not happening

I really want one, but it will be a while before I get one now.

Had to spend £250 this month on my car because the fuel pump went, then I spent £150 car tax....that added onto normal bills has left me with not much.

Also I need a TV before a wii u my very old orion first ever plasma TV is on the brink.

I am not a Mario Kart Fan, but I enjoy the Wii U. Shame the free e-games they offered with MK8, I owned all the good ones.

I just wish Nintendo would update their DD policies (DD games horribly tied to hardware instead of account; users can't use same account on multiple machines) because as it stands I refuse to buy DD games on their console. I own two Wii Us, but I can't even use my Nintendo ID on both of them due to Nintendo. They should have learned their lesson with the Gamecube and definitely the Wii, so their policies are still way behind the times and their e-policies are preventing thousands of users like me from supporting their DD games, some even won't buy the console.

I will support physical copies on their machines though and buy their hardware...but their backwards e-policies are certainly not competitive or helping move more units.

Exclusive wise , yes ... but you forget a vital thing... Its the best only IF someone is into Nintendo franchises like mario / mario kart and smash for now. If not , Wii U is a letdown considering it missing major multis which in the end of the day every single gamer ( or vastly majority ) will end up "wasting" way more hours on multis than system exclusives.

Wii U getting a momentum and why not , we dont want them to go away. But to go that far and say the best next-ge console at this point while missing major "next-gen" multis... Only Nintendo fans can say that.

Besides Bayo 2, still nothing on the Wii U interests me. And lol at people praising the WiiU atm and bashing the proper next gen consoles completely forgetting the fact its one year longer on the market and it still has shitty 3rd party support and online...

Wooot what did i miss, WiiU got a killer app !!? oh it is just Mario kart... meh *going back playing Ps4*

"Proper next gen consoles." Lol at you.

Not like Sony or Microsoft are any better.

Sure you can buy all the digital content you want for the PSP, PSVita, and PS3, but once new hardware hits then where did all of that Digital Content go?

Can you play Bastion on The Xbox One like you could on the Xbox 360? Nope, not even a Download. What happens when Sony and Microsoft decide to pull the stores down? We already saw Marvel vs Capcom and Turtle's in Time go away from the stores. What happens when ALL of the Digital games go away?

Not saying Nintendo's Digital Front is the best in the world, but I'm saying they're not much better.

What is holding me back...

1. Shit online service.

2. Old outdated tech.

3. Tablet controller that is expensive to replace.

4. Shit storage.

5. Shit game selection.

6. Shit third party support.

7. No time another console other than the PS4 when I get it.

8. Price.

what I'm saying is a new TV is higher on my priorities than a secondary console

@aroxx_ab: That's not possible, the PS4 has no games.

You are bringing up points that I've brought up in the past with regards to future networks. I was the one that reported when Xbox Live went down for the original Xbox 1 in SW with a thread and I postulated about the future of XBLA, Wii, and PSN. My point is I'm well aware of that so hear me out.

The problem with your reasoning is that you are applying the shakey future of network DD titles to only Xbone and PS4, but that logic applies to Wii U. That negates a specific console and really just shows why we should avoid buying DD titles on all consoles...which I ALREADY DO. The only DD titles I do buy on consoles are DD only titles (and on sale cheap since I can't resell DD games if I end up hating them).

HOWEVER, that doesn't change the fact that Xbox and Playstation digital ecosystems are 1000x better than Nintendo's for various reasons. They are all flawed sure, if that's your point and you want to hear it, but Nintendo's e-choices are the absolute worst of the big three by a HUGE margin.

When my second Wii U can't play my e-titles I own, when my various Wii's had the same problem, when I can't use my Nintendo Network ID on my second WiI U...it's horrible.

I would hope Nintendo's Network would be competitive like Steam, PSN, Origin, XBL, Blizzard, etc where I can't be online at the same time, but I can still be on multiple machines if need be.

I'm off to work out but essentially your point was that the other choices aren't any better, but they currently far better. As far as the shakey DD future, I agree and I've always agreed. DD on consoles is temporary measure, BUT while they are in effect Nintendo's the worst choice to buy DD titles until they FIX their absurd e-polices of tethering content to a specific machine and limiting our Nintendo accounts to one machine. I'm not alone, I've spoken to hundreds of users online and in real life and it's a shame Nintendo's reluctant to fix the polices. What I read from you seems more of a justification to support them, but I can't agree.

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I only buy Retail games for Nintendo products (my DS, 3DS, Wii, and Wii U) after buying digital Wii titles and having a bad experience.

Until Nintendo changes the way they treat consumer's DD games, I won't support Nintendo's DD games.

If Nintendo changed the above, I would consider buying DD again as I do on PC/PSN/XBL, but only at reduced rates. I NEVER buy DD games at full price, EVER for any platform. I only buy DD when there is no physical option, and only when the DD title is on sale.

tl;dr

1. I don't buy DD games for Nintendo products until they change their e-policies
2. I will buy DD games from Nintendo after but at reduced/discounted prices.

All physical games for my Wii U in the near future. As long as Nintendo tethers accounts to hardware, I'm not going to spend a single dime on their digital offerings. I swear, if Nintendo put accounts to the cloud and reversed their DD e-polices, I would chuck gold bullion their way on cheaper DD titles. I spend over $100 on Wii E-titles back when the Wii was brand new 2006-2007 before I realized how backwards Nintendo was with e-policies. People buying used Wii's and getting some other person's games? Stupid. Yes, you can contact Nintendo and work with them over the phone/shipping, but it's so ridiculous and anti-consumer it's not worth the effort when I can just as easily do what potentially millions of others are doing and skip buying Nintendo E-titles. I've never seen a company self-sabotage their own prospective profits before as Nintendo has done with its digital policies. It's like they're doing everything in their power to not make money.

The Wii U just turned a corner. Not saying its going to do great, but its going to do hell of a lot better than it has.

At this time, its the only system I'm thinking of buying. Ps4 and Xbone are worthless until mid 2015.

Fair enough, but I hate for you to miss out on some Digital only games which I can see that you already have a policy set for that.

I love Nintendo so I hate having to explain this gaping hole I discovered in their polices, but I do hope they fix this. There are a few select Wii U DD titles that may not come to other machines (PC, PS360, PS4/Xbone) that I have some passing interest in. If they do a $1 DD sale a few years from now (like Sony recently did on PSN), I might bite the bullet.

I will continue to buy Wii U physical games of course. I also would support a physical collection of DD titles on disc if they chose to ever release such a collection.

Oh I see the hole and I've actually experienced to blunt end of that hole. Wii stopped reading discs so I got a new Wii and well I already knew going in that the two Wiis will have different Digital Titles.

Good news was I didn't rebuy any of the games on each Wii so when WiiU came out I just combined the two Purchases and now have them on one system.

None of this stops me from buying these games just like the inevitable closure of PSN and Xbox Live doesn't stop me from downloading games on those systems.

If you were holding out on a Wii U until the end of this year, you'll have a solid selection of games to choose from.

I felt that one more first party "Megaton" released this year would have sold it for me. Inevitably I will buy one to get my Nintendo fix. For now I'm waiting it out.

Of the three consoles, I think Nintendo's library is the most robust thus far.

And I want Metroid dammit.

Having a Wii U sounds more appealing each month. I hope the console succeeds. I like Nintendo they just really need to step up their network game.

I will get a wii U eventually. I just don't feel it is cheap enough yet.

Enjoy my Wii U very much. Still despise Nintendo's business.

From the start, it was obvious this would happen. The wiiu will be destined for GC level of sales, and Nintendo made money off of the GC so that isn't that terrible. Just like the GC, the WiiU is an in-between console.

Nintendo is also very wealthy and will always be developing software to try and boost the console, just like they did with the 3DS.

And Mario Kart 8 might end up the only Nintendo game I never get for the system.

I completely love the Wii U though it's already spawned two of the best games I've ever played in my entire life with Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze being the best platformer I've ever experienced and Pikmin 3 being the best installment of my all time favourite franchise.