Now might be the best time to get a Wii U.

For anybody holding out and hoping the Wii U would get a price drop by itself, sorry to say that might not be happening anytime soon. With Nintendo announcing recently that the Wii U hardware was finally profitable from a cost versus sales perspective, Nintendo is probably not going to drop the price for a while until hardware gets even cheaper to make. However, for all those people who are like "I will get it when the price drops", take the following into consideration.

The Mario Kart 8 Wii U Deluxe bundle costs $330 and releases May 30th. Besides the expected tablet controller that comes with every Wii U, it comes with the Mario Kart 8 game (valued at $60), a red Mario themed Wii-Plus remote (valued at $40), an official Nintendo Mario Kart Wheel for Wii remote (valued at $15). And lastly, if people get the Mario Kart 8 game or bundle and register it to a Club Nintendo account before July 31st then they'll also get a download code for Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, or New Super Mario Bros U ($60 value).

So, with all the extra stuff included, that brings the price of just the Wii U down to $155 when subtracting the value of the extras from the bundle price. But even if you were to ignore some of that other stuff that may or may not interest you, like say the Wii-Plus remote and the Mario Kart Wheel, just the value of Mario Kart 8 and an extra downloadable game code brings the cost of the Wii U Deluxe down to $210. This is still a considerable amount cheaper than the stand alone price of a Wii U Deluxe.

For those individuals here who said they've been waiting for that $200 Deluxe Wii U, this bundle deal is probably the closest one will get to that figure for some time. So if you are one of those saying they were waiting for the $200 Wii U, and planned on getting Mario Kart 8, and also considering games like Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, or New Super Mario Bros U, then this is a pretty solid deal.

With the extra downloadable game deal lasting until July 31st that gives gamers a decent amount of time to ponder things. Maybe wait to see how Super Smash Bros. U shapes up and also see what Nintendo announces at E3. That is of course if the Mario Kart 8 bundle is still available by then.

I would have considered the Mario Kart bundle if it was $250. They blew it with $330.

I'm still looking for a craigslist Wii.

I think that would be crazy of them to go that cheap, though I figure the console might have had a better shot at $300 minus the Wii-Plus remote and wheel, and still include the downloadable Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, or New Super Mario Bros U deal

it costs them nothing to just throw in games they publish themselves (except as potential future sales), they still have to break even on the hardware, that's why I don't expect a price drop, but to throw in games is probably a better solution

Console is still not cheep. Xbox 360 has better graphics, online and Kinect. Also, its cheaper than Wii U and Xbox 360 has more than 1000 games meanwhile Wii U has no online support, higher price, lack of 3rd party games and has only few exclusive games.

360 is the most useless console on the market. PS3 has more exclusives, free online, bluray and no app paywalls.

yeahh but Xbox doesn't have big exclusives like Mario/Zelda

What if I don't like Mario Kart? I already played Wind Waker and have no interest in Pikman or the new super mario brothers. I think the best time to get a Wii U is when there is actually games I want to play. In the mean time, I can simply buy more games for my PS3 or 360. I mean, they look just as good, and I can use a controller that's not crap.

I think that's better then wasting money on a console that has no guaranteed future at the moment.

The best time to get a WiiU is the same for every other Nintendo console since the SNES: at the end of the generation when it's small core of quality exclusive games is complete and you can get one for cheap without suffering through endless game droughts and the Nintendo executives lies about "no more droughts" and "please understand"

1. Xbox does have big exclusives.

2. Even if it didn't, it'd have multiplats like Dark Souls II that are better than anything on WiiU right now.

you're look at this as a this versus that, I never considered my Nintendo consoles as any kind of go-to priority console, I never factored in getting a Wii U to play games I could play on Xbox 360 or PS3, or X1 or PS4, I got it as a companion console, it has games I want to play and that I can only play on a Wii U, when I finally do commit to getting either an X1 or PS4 I imagine that will be the console I'll devote much of my time playing games on, and gaming with my friends online with, but I'll still want a Wii U for whatever Nintendo offers that interests me

anyhow, for whatever reason people have for getting a Wii U, I hear a lot of talk about if it were only cheaper they'd get it, circumstance may be they already own a Xbox 360 and/or PS3, with it's extensive library of games, any maybe one or both of the other next gen systems, but might have an interest in the Wii U if it were more economical, that's why I brought this deal up just in case those that were on the fence found value in it

Right now Nintendo is no different than the other two.....no must have games to generate interest in consoles. Though if everyone did as you said....Nintendo would cease to exist....which I find an odd sentiment with your avatar and all.

I agree that none of the three are really worth buying yet. PS4 and Xbone are out less than half the time of the WiiU though and have much more incoming though. I'll probably be getting a PS4 by Christmas.

Nintendo wouldn't cease to exist. Just their crappy consoles. That'd be a good thing. I want their awesome games, not their pathetic attempts to beat last gen hardware/account systems/online modes. Ideally on PC.

Saw a brand new Wii Mini bundled with Mario Kart going for $100 at Best Buy, they're like $50 used on Amazon. What're you trying to do, barter Pogs for it?

It is the best console out at a decent price, why wouldn't you buy it?

I got me some killer pogs.

While the MK8 bundle is a decent deal, its not good enough for me. I can only play Mario bros, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Zelda, and Brawl/Melee(take your pick) for so long. When it drops under $200 I'll think about it.

I love Pogs :)

what did you say?

now is the best time to sell your wiiu?

yeah, good idea.

It's too expensive :/

price should be 200 us dollars/euros - 32 GB console, and comes with free game, or else PEOPLE WON´T BUY(like it flop right now)

Agreed. It has better games than PS4 and Xbox noOne.

LOL. With how badly the WIi-U is selling? With how weak the hardware is, and to not even have internal storage? They should have been at that $250 MSRP price a LONG time ago, if not lower.

That being said, if they held out this long, it makes sense to not cut the price right before their best selling game. They will wait and see what momentum Mario Kart gives to console sales, and then act accordingly. (inevitably, this bundle will be a short-term boost - then Wii-U will go back to it's dismal levels).

Completely disagree about it being the best time to buy a Wii-U. The best time will be after a price cut, or when Nintendo decides to get serious about their holiday bundles to match the PS3/360 holiday bundles.

The best time to get a Wii U will be in a year when Toys R Us has them on clearance for $90.

Well if you guys aren't going to buy one perhaps you should find a different hobby as you don't seem to really be into gaming.

Lol. Liking the WiiU isn't the standard for liking gaming.

Agreed, but liking the console with the best games should be. As it is though, most of the fanboys here continue to be brand loyal to systems with no games.

PS4 is sucking because there's very little to play on it right now. We get a bunch of indies that are so/so, and a better version of FFXIV, and a Infamous game with the least amount of content of all three games in the series.

Still not a great deal. I'd be interested if the bundle was $250. As it is, it's overpriced.

Yeah... not gonna happen.

The WiiU has had one quality game this year, Donkey Kong. It's getting a second one, Mario Kart, this month. It'll be waiting until Christmas for a third one. The 360, PS3, XONE, and PS4 are all doing better than that.

Indies, ports and filler titles aren't better than the Wii U library at this point.

Agreed.

Yet even without them, this year WiiU loses to Dark Souls II and Stick of Truth (360 and PS3), Titanfall (360 and XONE), Trials Fusion (XONE and PS4) Infamous , Final Fantasy (both PS4), etc. All 4 other consoles currently have more good games than WiiU this year.

Why would anyone buy such a dead 8th gen console when even 7th gen ones are better supported? Unless you want to pretend multiplats don't count?

I agree PS4 and XONE aren't worth getting right now either, but at least they have a **** ton of games incoming. They are only half a year old and starting to ramp up (Halo, Drive Club, Ass Creed, Batman, Dragon Age, Destiny, Shadow Of Mordor, Watchdogs[is there still a WiiU version of this?], Wolfenstein, Sleeping Dogs, etc all to come this year). While WiiU is a year and a half old and waiting for it's second good game in in 2014? Come on, there's a reason gamers aren't buying it.

The irony is strong with this one. It takes an incredible amount of loyalty and fanboy blindness to be supporting of what is going on at Nintendo right now. Maybe it isn't so much "loyalty" to other platforms, as it is calling a spade a spade. I would have loved nothing more than to buy another Nintendo system, but Nintendo has made it as unappealing a possible for me to do so up to this point.

There is literally no games for MONTHS at a time on Wii-U... almost no multiplats at this point, The Wii-U is unusable as an every day system. It is only worthy of being boxed in a closet, only to be brought out for a few weeks when Nintendo gets off their lazy asses and releases a half decent game. 1 exclusive every 3 or 4 months... and even the 1st party exclusives seem to be getting less and less ambitious (i.e. rehashing the same games, Donkey Kong looked old as fv%@).

I do think that definitely Mario Kart 8 is the most appealing exclusive of the year for me, but that's it...don't care about Smash Bros. Not interested in Wii-U as a system. A few exclusives spaced months apart aren't going to get me to buy one, no matter how good those exclusive are - and frankly the Nintendo exclusives aren't even that good anymore. They are almost universally; lazy.

The only thing that could save it is if Nintendo comes out guns blazing with their E3 Nintendo Direct. Show me Metroid (a good one, not Other M). Show me Zelda. Show me Fire Emblem vs Shin Megami. Give me a couple of other surprises that are not expected. Bayonetta was a nice start, but I need more, much more. I have no doubt that Sony and Microsoft are going to be revealing a ridiculous amount of stuff, so if Nintendo just does the predictable it's adding another nail to the coffin (actually I think the coffin is already nailed shut, it's just shoveling more dirt onto it... or more like planting flowers around the already covered over gravesite).

@2Chalupas: Pretty soon I'll own all three current gen consoles and PC. No blind loyalty here. It seems like some of you guys are hard-wired from System Wars to be overly concerned about sales. To the normal gamer, the games are what's important, not the company line.

The fact remains that the Wii U has the most amount of quality games right now. Nintendo systems have always lacked third party, and outside of the Wii they've mostly sold less than the competition. The only reason a true gamer wouldn't get a Wii U is a) they don't like Nintendo games b) they're brand loyal to other companies.

This man gets it.

One of my best gaming purchases ever was $99 Gamecube that I scooped up when it was being discontinued. I got most or all of the games I wanted for cheap.

One of my worst gaming purchases ever, was a $249 Wii. I fell victim to the fad.

With how 2010-2012 went for Wii, there was no way I was going to repeat that mistake on Wii-U unless Nintendo showed me something. They showed me... exactly nothing. And that was when they actually faked having 3rd party support, now that they have little or no 3rd party support... I think I will just wait for it to be discontinued.

Lol @ the "true gamer" comments. I have ZERO "next gen" consoles, because as of yet, they aren't worth it to me and I have far too many games still to play on my PS3/360/PC. (as well as the Vita and 3DS that I literally just bought this Christmas). I guess I'm not a true gamer because I don't own a failing console.

Last time around, Nintendo Wii was the 1st console I bought. Yet it BY FAR received the least amount of play time. Again, this has nothing at all to do with brand loyalty - and more to do with what Nintendo is doing. While if I'm doing a top 10 list of exclusives to date, the Wii-U wins for sure. The system seems to be by far in the most dire straights as far as it's future going forward (total lack of 3rd party). It's pure insanity to argue otherwise.

Nobody said anything about sales. Nobody cares about sales. We talked about games. My favourite console of last gen was the 360, the third place loser in sales.

That's a lie, not a fact. WiiU gets 5 month game droughts while even last gen systems from 2005 get amazing titles like Dark Souls II.

Or c) they play more than 3 or 4 games a year

@locopatho: "nobody said anything about sales" yet 2chalupas keeps talking about Wii U being "dead". And Dark Souls isn't on ANY current gen consoles. I don't know why you keep bringing up last gen consoles when the discussion is about current gen consoles.

Truth!!! I'll be doing that this gen.

Wish I did it with GC and Wii. Pick up the console on the cheap, and the half dozen games that interest me plus a few quirky games (Odama, Chibi Robo, etc.).

It's dead in games too. 1 good game in 5 months...? Come on.

The discussion is about the WiiU. The fact that it is being easily beaten by the games a 2005 console is getting is depressingly relevant.

If Wii U is dead in games, PS4 and Xbox One are stillborn.

Think you are the one mentioning sales. I don't care about sales, other than how it effects 3rd parties. When I say "dead", I mean dead in the sense that almost no 3rd party is supporting it right now, save for some occasional Activision shovelware game. (see the post that guy started about Wii-U only having 7 retail releases up to this point in the year... that's just rediculous)

When I go to Amazon, and look at the future PS4 or XB1 games sorted by release date. I have 3+ pages of pre-orders. That will probably be like 4+ or 5+ pages after E3.

When I go to Wii-U, Mario Kart 8 is the 9th game listed on the 1st page. 1 of them is Watch-Dogs which may or may not come out. Bayonetta and Smash are at the top of the list with unknown release dates, and the rest are shovelware. Mario Kart is the only truly compelling game the Wii-U has for the ENTIRE YEAR for me, so add that to the 3 or 4 games previously (Mario 3D world, New Super Mario U/Luigi, Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3, Windwaker HD,... that's about it).

Again, I would love it if Nintendo kicked ass at E3 and revealed Metroid, Zelda, F-Zero, Starfox, NEW IP!!!, etc. I will just believe it when I see it.

Except they have each gotten several great games this year that I (and you for that matter) already listed, instead of one in 5 months. Keep riding the fanboy train I guess, and pretend that 3 games a year is "the best system". *goes back to Dark Souls II*

For those games and at that price? Ha, nope. Maybe if it was $50-$100 cheaper and came with a game I actually wanted, I'd think about it.

-Still no price drop

-Still no X release

-Still no LoZ Wii-U info

-Still no Bayonetta 2 release

= no purchase from me

I support all the systems. I own two current gen systems. You talk trash about a system. You call me a fanboy. The irony is very strong in this convo.

I bought one about 2 weeks ago and I like it. I'm going to pre-order Mario Kart soon. My local gamestop said if I don't, I might not get a copy for awhile because nintendo likes to ship less copies here. Which that much is true. It happens with quite a few games. Sometimes I have to go a state over just to a get a game.