To buy, or not to buy?

I was very close to purchasing a Wii U for myself, i've always been a nintendo fan. I also like to have every console, and wii u would complete my next gen trifecta. My question is; is the Wii U worth it? I would really appreciate it if some people weighed in here; i've always been a very independent gamer, regardless of outside opinions, i go with my gut. However, i've never really heard so much crap about a console before, and so far, it seems like a lot of hype surrounding this next gen console is negative....

I would wait

Nintendo is on the verge of it's largest loss when it fails to meet expectations in March. To date they've only sold about 550,000 consoles this year, they said they'd sell 9 million. There's no way they make the numbers that will be needed to keep investors happy.

What will happen in March is that they'll have to be even more aggressive with the price and software going forward.

If you haven't picked one up at this point there's no "must have" title that made you want one. What you're doing by picking one up now is buying one for the highest possible price with nothing that really grabs you.

@Jaysonguy: what about super mario 3D land? sky walkers? Wind waker? Rayman legends? pikmin 3? I mean, those games are "musts" for many nintendorks, amirite?

Yes but we're talking what's a must have for you.

It's not like you saw any of the hardware or software and said "I have t have this" if you did you wouldn't be asking if it's the right choice for you. Instead you're asking if it's worth it.

People are going to point out that there's software coming down the road and that's true, the thing is do you give Nintendo money now so you can wait for that title that grabs you?

We don't know what Nintendo will do at this point. Failing sales has made them change the consoles offered already. Think about that for a second, the Wii U wasn't even available for a year before they abandoned one of their console models. With their lackluster effort this year who knows what we'll see happen next year.

A lot of people who bought it at launch went through the longest period of time in the history of gaming with absolutely no games, literally. So people plunked down for a console and had no games to play and then see that the Wii U they bought is either discontinued or much lower in price and comes with special hardware or software. I'm sure a lot of Wii U owners would have a mulligan on that one.

I think your best bet is to wait and see how all this plays out. You want to be happy with your purchase, why spend top dollar to hope that Nintendo comes out with the software you want but also never comes out with the hardware you think is better?

What the real Jayson is saying is that Nintendo's already dropped the price from the top dollar price of 350, released some truly compelling software, and overall built a gaming ecosystem that's, at least for the next few months, a better package than the competition. The launch woes of every new system is now a thing of the past, and there isn't a better time than now to buy a Wii U. Long live Nintendo!

I would get one, I actually bought one a few days ago when Toys R us had the Skylanders bundle for $260. Really enjoying the system it has some amazing games to play, right now I've been playing NSMB U but will soon be playing Mario 3D World. Not to mention the other great games like Pikmin 3, Windwaker HD, Lego City, Wonderful 101 and many more. Also I firmly believe given what we've seen that Nintendo will have the strongest line up in 2014 out of the big 3.

There's so many great games, I actually don't have time to play them all!

i agree 100% jaysonguy.

Xbox One and PS4 have much more crap being said about them. No matter who says bad things about Nintendo, Nintendo is always a safe bet. History shows us that. The thing about a Wii U is, once you play it you realize what its all about and you get hooked. To not get a Wii U and miss Smash Bros, X, Mario Kart 8 and Zelda and so much more is just silly.

@gamerguy1415: Super Mario 3D World not Land.

@Master_Of_Fools: lol

Waiting until March, or just before, may actually be a good idea. Now, I would say that the Wii-U is worth picking up now. However, if you haven't bought one yet, and don't feel a need to get one now, then I'd agree with jasonguy that Nintendo may be offering even better promotions/deals after the holidays. And should Nintendo not drop their price or anything, you don't lose anything.

If you're still unsure now then wait till 2014 as jaysonguy has pointed out. :)

your choice wil-u its good game but dont have suport and technology

I just picked up a wii u and I'm happy. There's only so many shooters, action, killing games before you want something.... More fun. So with 3d world and nsmb, Luigi, and good games coming up, I said why wait. Not to mention two of the highest rated games of the season. I don't see a major price drop or hardware improvement coming real quick. So if you have a backlog, you may want to play through those, but I don't think you'll be upset getting the wii u now.

Really it comes down to what you want to play. At this point you probably know that 3rd party support will suck just like it did for the N64, Gamecube, and Wii. But if you like Mario, Pikmin, Zelda, etc. and you're fine with that, then go ahead.

They've released some decent holiday bundle packs. The NSMBU +NSLU pack actually caught my eye. I honestly think the WiiU should've launched with NSMBU bundled instead of that silly Nintendoland. Would've been a callback to the NES coming with SMB or the SNES with SMW. Why the hell did companies stop bundling consoles with games at launch?

When I go to purchase a console, I don't care about hardware specs, Facebooking while I Skype or watching TV. I have things that do that already. I want to play games. I saw Super Mario 3D World along with a couple other titles that came out this year and of course Earthbound finally on VC. I do sort of feel $300 is steep, but I may pick one up after Christmas because I'll get Christmas/birthday money. I've got plenty to keep me busy with my 3DS, PC, PS3 and heck after the VGX announcement I felt like playing DKCR again on my Wii.

It's odd that I hear all this talk about "hardware" with the next gen and little talk of games. When a friend of mine was saying he wanted an Xbox One, I asked him "what game do you want for it?" He stumbled for a moment like he was thinking "well I guess I'll get Battlefield 4" which isn't even an exclusive. I honestly don't get that.