Why the WII-U is now my 'go to' console.

[MajorTom_Coming_Home]

Recently, I was laid off from my job as a 'Testing / Data Analyst' with the local school board due to the position being eliminated and was transferred to a new job with the same hourly salary that (LOL) may or not involve a school bus. Because of this , I have a few hours in the afternoon to kill because I work a split shift and decided to take up semi-modern gaming after a hiatus. There isn't enough time to make it worth going home and coming back. After experimenting, I decided the Wii-U was ideal even though it is a generation old. For anyone interested, here is why:

Since playing the same console at home and work is what I now do, the switch is ideal on paper. I plan to get one at some point. However, the version of the console I would get costs $300 and many of the best games are $50-$60. Yeah, I could swing it but it is a big outlay, especially if I want more than a few games. It is much cheaper to be a generation back, and great games to play on them I have never tried. I love a good bang for my dollar and always try to get it.

This leaves the 360, PS3 and WII-U as my one generation console and I own all three at this point. I set up a computer monitor for gaming in an unused corner at work. Since I only play while off duty and off the clock it is no problem, the big boss walks by all the time. This means all three if these systems are an option.

And then it comes to brass tacks. I only play solo or very occasionally split screen, and there is no wi-fi at work anyway so I am always one player and never connected. Online play is out the picture, and I also only play a few hours per day so I'd rather focus on one console and game at a time.

The last sentence is why I am building my Wii-U collection and giving it the bulk of play time. The PS3 and 360 have many good games, but while the Wii-U has a smaller library it has great quality games representing genres I enjoy and is even backwards compatible. The games themselves, especially the first party ones, are well crafted and don't make you lose time to bad design. Eye Candy is nice, but I own and play the 2600 and Odyssey 2 for goodness sakes . Most importantly, the good first party and third party games seem to go for $20 and under used while the console with gamepad is $100 instead of $300 for the switch and I just bought a second Wii-U as a spare (plus it had the box and games I was going to get anyway). A lot of the Wii-U games are on the switch but double or triple the cost while not being much different. I am capable of installing custom firmware pirating the hell out of the Wii-U library, but instead I decided it would be nice to do things the old fashion way for a change and actually have everything mostly legit (there are the e-shop games to consider). I'm going through Breath of the Wild now, and Bayonetta 2 as well as Mario Kart for Wii-U are on the agenda.

Sorry, Long rambling. The bottom line to me is instead of $300 for just a console (one that I do admittedly like quite a bit), I'm getting a console as well as a lot of games - many of them are the same at a fraction of the cost. Woo-Hoo!

[DrLitch]

The WiiU is an awesome console. I sold my original Wii since the Wii U can play the titles. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, indeed.... Wii games look a little rough on a 1080p screen, lots of jaggies and little to no anti aliasing. Nonetheless perfectly playable and the waggle controls work. Nintendo did so much right with the Wii U their biggest mistake was that gamepad and the calling the console the Wii U. That capital U did a tremendous amount damage.

Glad you playing with it. Some great games on this system and compatability with the original Wii is another boon. Two great systems rolled into one.

[Voor]

Or you could sell all of your systems and games and have more than enough for your Switch. Who needs all 3 anyway? Lol—just had to throw that out there.

I’m hoping Santa brings me a Switch.

[zetax]

I need to pick-up another Wii U console now that prices seem to have bottomed-out. Very under-rated...this (or last) generation's Saturn. Great games cheap(ish), get 'em while you can...

[Retro STrife]

Yeah, I'm with you - I bought a Wii U about a year ago and I'm glad I did. I was itching for a Switch, just to play Breath of the Wild. Instead, I got a Wii U with Breath of the Wild, plus like 15-20 other games. I paid less for that than I would have paid for the Switch set-up. And it scratched my itch, since there isn't anything else on the Switch that I'm really dying to play right now.

But, while I'm glad I bought one, I can't say I've played it all that much. I played Zelda for awhile, I played a couple games with my wife, and that's about it. The other 15 or so games have gone untouched, and the PS4 remains my primary console. But I would rather do that with the Wii U, than to have spent $500 on a Switch and games/accessories and not use it.

[Herschie]

Yeah, I'm with you - I bought a Wii U about a year ago and I'm glad I did. I was itching for a Switch, just to play Breath of the Wild. Instead, I got a Wii U with Breath of the Wild, plus like 15-20 other games. I paid less for that than I would have paid for the Switch set-up. And it scratched my itch, since there isn't anything else on the Switch that I'm really dying to play right now.

But, while I'm glad I bought one, I can't say I've played it all that much. I played Zelda for awhile, I played a couple games with my wife, and that's about it. The other 15 or so games have gone untouched, and the PS4 remains my primary console. But I would rather do that with the Wii U, than to have spent $500 on a Switch and games/accessories and not use it.

I hear you. Actually, my Switch is one of my least-played consoles. Just not a whole lot out on it that I'm dying to play. Believe it or not, I have my Wii U hooked up to a CRT, even though it's more than capable of stunning HD.

Hey, old habits die hard!

[Voor]

I guess when you get old enough, the past seems more interesting (nostalgia) than the present, in terms of entertainment. I’ve been debating a Switch for months, but there’s 4 games total I’m interested in.

But I have quite a few SNES games I want to revisit. Lol.

[Atariboy]

Believe it or not, I have my Wii U hooked up to a CRT, even though it's more than capable of stunning HD.

Hey, old habits die hard!

How's that work out for you?

I've had mine hooked up via component to my Trinitron before and it seemed like the overscan was pretty bad with a lot of stuff cut off the sides of the screen in true Wii U games like Mario Kart 8 (Wii games and Wii U Virtual Console games were unaffected).

[MajorTom_Coming_Home]

Or you could sell all of your systems and games and have more than enough for your Switch. Who needs all 3 anyway? Lol—just had to throw that out there.

I’m hoping Santa brings me a Switch.

Honestly, I like the Idea that while I could afford to get a switch and whatever games I want to go along with it, the Wii-U is a great bang for the buck. Being able to play it both as a handheld and a regular console is a compelling feature, but there is a lot of games available for both consoles and the Wii-U versions are much less expensive to acquire. I'm perfectly content to be lagging a generation behind when it comes to my game console, and with the Wii-U vs Switch it seems more like a half generation behind when it comes to the games themselves. From my point of view, it is almost like the Wii-U is a less expensive version of the switch that is not portable.

[MajorTom_Coming_Home]

Yeah, I'm with you - I bought a Wii U about a year ago and I'm glad I did. I was itching for a Switch, just to play Breath of the Wild. Instead, I got a Wii U with Breath of the Wild, plus like 15-20 other games. I paid less for that than I would have paid for the Switch set-up. And it scratched my itch, since there isn't anything else on the Switch that I'm really dying to play right now.

But, while I'm glad I bought one, I can't say I've played it all that much. I played Zelda for awhile, I played a couple games with my wife, and that's about it. The other 15 or so games have gone untouched, and the PS4 remains my primary console. But I would rather do that with the Wii U, than to have spent $500 on a Switch and games/accessories and not use it.

That is exactly what my logic was, and I am in the process of building my Wii-U library. In my case it's my PS3 and Xbox 360 that are being neglected. Breath of the Wild is keeping me away from Uncharted 3 and Red Deed Redemption.