Wii U: Your next rare collectible

The Wii U has had a troubled existence. The struggle of the Wii U is well known in the gaming world. In spite of the great library of exclusives it boasts, it has had trouble in the general sales department. While this is a shame and something Nintendo laments, there is a silver lining for the consumers. In the end, Wii U will become one of the best collectors items in gaming. Just like how the GameCube has grown in collectors value, the Wii U will do so. Only better. The Wii U will end up in a better collectors situation because of the fewer consoles available overall.

If anything you could compare it to something along the lines of Sega Saturn. Sold around as many units, had tons of great first party exclusives, and both have the same potential to be collectors items. And its already showing on Wii U. Pikmin 3 is already selling from $70 to $100 new and sealed. Will Pikmin 3 become the Panzer Dragoon Saga of the Wii U era? Only time will tell.

Wii U is already on the radar of scalpers. Sadly they are only thinking of the short term gains. It makes sense for their game though. Amiibo, GameCube Adapter and the like are all great short term gains. But the real money will be made years down the road, when your Wii U collection is worth thousands. Even 3rd party games are going up in value due to being hard to find. Yes, that NBA 2K game might be worth less than the cost of a sandwich on the twins, but the value on Wii U is only going up.

So open up your wallet and buy everything you can with the Wii U name. Adapters, controllers, games, peripherals... As long as its first party peripherals. Believe it or not, being last isn't the worst thing in the world, if you are willing to be patient and willing to look beyond the first party.

In the end, Wii U won't be considered a success. It won't be the hundred million unit seller that its predecessor was. When all is said and done, how many units a console sells isn't a issue for the average gamer. But it does matter to a collector. And as a collector, you should realize that there is gold in them thar hills, Them Wii U hills are lined with gold. It would be wise to grab that pickaxe and dig in before it becomes too hard to find.

It's pretty much like that with all things Nintendo. I'm always on the lookout for off-the-beaten-path Nintendo games. Even the popular ones become rare sooner or later.

@Bigboi500: I won't be shocked if the gamepad itself becomes a big collectors item. Years down the road it will only go up in value because it isn't readily available like a pro controller. The only place you can buy them are from 3rd party merchants or from Nintendo themselves. In the end I won't be shocked if you can sell the gamepad for more than the console. Its why I boxed up my WWHD bundle as soon as possible.

The reason amiibos and gamecube adapters were going for so much is Nintendon't understand supply and demand, so scalpers gather what little there is and sell them while nobody can get it from a retail store. As for the the games, the nba you showed off is pretty much retail price since they are giving free shipping... The wii u games will probably not be as expensive as the wii u dies, desirable games on gamecube go usually for full retail right now and gamecube isnt considered the flop wii u is. You really cant compair wii u titles to really old console's games, the market was so stuffed with random games it made the rare gems cost more and it was the beginning of an era, while the wii u does not have that distinction. All and all wii u will probably follow the path more of the virtual boy than the nes...

@bunchanumbers: why would people get just the control pad?

@lord_magikarp: Please refrain from posting on my articles. I find them offensive and often meaning to incite a ill response. I don't want to start flagging your posts.

I wouldnt call my posts off topic... Tell me what offends you and I will try my best to correct it

I dont know about the wii U, I dont think the library of great games will be big enough in the end to compare with the gamecube. But who knows only time will tell.

I game on my wwHD pad, I was scared maybe the gold print would fade or wear but it has not changed one bit. How much does a plain white gamepad cost by itself?

wwhd probs wont go as much as the original ww as it is a remake I think. The gamepads go for about 200$ since they really only come with the consoles and they have a bunch of hardware in them

@lord_magikarp: I'm not specifically talking about the digital ww game, its the wwhd gamepad that collectors will want the most of course I would expect the pad to come with the original system it came with but wwhd is not preinstalled on these consoles so might not really matter.

wwhd is by far much better than the original.

ya the ww gamepad is like 250$ I think, anything special edition nintendo puts out is usually rare and more expensive.

And I'd hope the remake is better than the original :p

I think you're right, bunchanumbers. It's funny because a lot of people were speculating if this would be Nintendo's Dreamcast back at launch, but I think the Saturn comparison is more accurate because it has lasted longer and isn't the death knell for Nintendo as a console manufacturer

Wii U could become a cult classic System, Nintendo's Sega Saturn or at least matching the 13 million of the Sega Master System? Still people could end up liking the system more in 20 years. A Nintendo Curiosity System

I think it is riding the line between a total failure like virtual boy where there are few making it more valuable or nostalgic success like nes or even gamecube where the games are more expensive due to that nostalgic value. Maybe it will change with new titles, but im not sure they have enough stand out first party titles like with gamecube or nes yet. To be a real collectable, I think it needs to be in the extremes

Yep, I'm collecting all first party game titles and as much WiiU stuff as I can. The games are getting expensive.

Wii U, Wii or SNES, Nintendo games always hold value. In the case of third party games on the Wii U, I think it will be hit or miss. Not a lot of options are available but even so, most third party games (new) seem to be going down in price rather than up and actually, some of these games can't even be given away. Buy the more obscure first party games if a future profit is in mind.

When everything hits the bargain bin, then you buy :p

Honestly, I don't like the console. I'm keeping it until it's not supported but it likely won't be something I come back to for years. Unless Zelda is AMAZING or some incredible gems are made for it.

Quite a few went down, but some have gone up. Need For Speed Most Wanted U, NBA2K13, and Black Ops 2 have been holding steady. The real collectors value won't be shown until maybe 10 years down the road, but there will be gems even among the 3rd party games.

As a retro collector, I don't really think anything modern will become "rare" per se, but the high demand will drive up prices as more and more people start realizing the wiiU is a great console.

Glad I picked up Pikmin 3 at release, I don't do digital

I dont know if the 3rd party will be as collectible since it is multiplatform, most of the old expensive ones were more rare and exclusives I believe

I almost feel like someone should make a thread discussing the problems Nintendo is having with scalpers. Like it's seriously gotten crazy, and I don't know if it has always been like this and I just never noticed before, but it seems like this is something that started happening within the past year or so.

Its been going on since ebay really took off. Console launches were packed with scalpers and resellers taking off with units to sell at a profit. Its just that preordering has taken off so much that its come to epidemic proportions.

Nintendo is having a problem with scalpers? Pray tell.

@Solaryellow: amiibos, gamecube adapters, and anything special edition

How is Nintendo having a problem? The goods produced by this company are being sold which is the goal of the company.

Being sold to scalpers because they dont make enough product to meet the demand...

@lord_magikarp:

Nintendo doesn't care who buys the products as long as someone does. The only ones having a concern about the aftermarket would be the buyer and to a lesser extent the "scalper" as you put it. Welcome to the free market where people can buy as they wish and sell as they wish.

You asked "Nintendo is having a problem with scalpers? Pray tell.", I gave you the answer... I dont disagree its the buyers problem...

Did you know? You can get a mod to remove his creepy stalker sig if it bothers you. I know I wouldn't like someone doing that to me.

Seriously. This obsession has been going on for months. I am afraid that one day I'll turn the wrong corner and I'll end up bludgeoned to death, skinned and in his closet.

Although you gave an answer, it isn't logical in the sense of suggesting Nintendo has a problem. When those few thousand gold Mario Amiibos were sold out asap, Nintendo didn't give a damn who bought them nor why. Scalpers are consumers who spend money and at the end of the day any business wants to sell their product and service. Nintendo doesn't have any problems with selling amiibo, adapters or anything short of regular software releases and consoles.

I'm sorry did I misquote you? (btw thats pretty dark...)

It doesn't matter if you misquoted him or not because it's up to the owner of the comment to decide if you can use his words in your sig.

Unless he owns a patent on the english language, I beg to differ. I can cite his name if that is his problem with it