Wii U 8GB vs 32GB?

Adiaga 2 · 09-11-2014 10:31AM #1

Hi,
Smyths have the 8GB Wii U for €220(including Super Mario Bros U) at the moment. It's around €300 for the 32GB version. My main question is, is it worth paying the extra for 32GB version? Is the internal storage volume the only difference between the 2 versions? I'm looking at getting the Wii U for a 5 year old. I don't envisage downloading a lot of big games but would like to load it up with all the free stuff(if any??), - Nintendo apps, etc. Will 8GB be used up fairly quickly? Could I increase the storage seamlessly with a regular 32GB usb stick for example?

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

CiDeRmAn · 09-11-2014 12:48PM

Check the package for sensor bar, Wii mote or other things included.
It may not be a great deal after all.
That said, if you have those things around as a result of owning a Wii 220 is pretty good, trade a few bits in and reduce that price even further.
As for integration of supplementary memory via sticks or hdds, probably best to just Google for the answer.

abbir · 09-11-2014 01:56PM

They don't recommend using USB memory sticks. You can expand the memory fine with a hard drive.

CiDeRmAn · 09-11-2014 02:56PM

Tbh 32gb is fairly pitiful itself, a couple of digital purchases of full titles and it's chockablock.
You'll pick up a decent external drive for bugger all now, store everything on it.

COYVB · 10-11-2014 12:39AM

abbir wrote: »

They don't recommend using USB memory sticks. You can expand the memory fine with a hard drive.

Been using a 32gb stick on one of my wii us for 2 years now without a bother

Star Lord · 10-11-2014 09:03AM

Memory sticks, being limited with their reads and writes, will burn out much faster when playing games from them, as the games are designed to constantly stream information from a disk or hard disk.

If your card burns out, your saves and games are just gone...

Adiaga 2 · 10-11-2014 10:59AM

Thanks guys. Yeah I see nintendo recommends not to use usb stick for the reasons you mentioned. I have an old 500GB external HDD with it's own PSU which I could use if needed. We also have a Wii so have the controllers and sensor bar.

Still undecided though on the 8GB or 32GB model.

Retr0gamer · 10-11-2014 11:27AM

Star Lord wrote: »

Memory sticks, being limited with their reads and writes, will burn out much faster when playing games from them, as the games are designed to constantly stream information from a disk or hard disk.

If your card burns out, your saves and games are just gone...

Modern SD drives and sticks are far better for this. Also it's not reading that deteriorates flash memory but writing to it so playing games from a stick is fine.

Nollog · 10-11-2014 02:32PM

I'd get the 8GB one now since the Premium offer is ending this Christmas, https://p.nintendo.net

Unless you want black, because either way 8 and 32 isn't much of a difference.
With updates I'm pretty sure you can't download much more than a handful of VC games to a 8GB model without a hard drive, and it wouldn't take much to fill the 20-something GB of the black one.
P. much just use a hard drive or usb stick.
Nintendo don't recommend a usb stick because they'll die eventually, in a hundred million years just like an SSD.
If you want to keep it tidy, I'd get a 2.5 inch hard drive with a Y-usb cable. This is what I have, with several full game downloads, a fair few VC and a fair amount of the digital-only games on a 250 or 150 GB drive, I can't remember, just remember that all that hasn't made a dent in it, but would never fit on the internal storage.

CiDeRmAn · 10-11-2014 03:03PM

I have one of those hdds running happily for years on my Wii for... . stuff we can't talk about...

Star Lord · 10-11-2014 04:16PM

/\/ollog wrote: »

If you want to keep it tidy, I'd get a 2.5 inch hard drive with a Y-usb cable.

Not all 2.5 HDDs work with a Y cable either, mine doesn't.

Nollog · 12-11-2014 06:57PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I have one of those hdds running happily for years on my Wii for... . stuff we can't talk about...

Canabalised mine for the wii u

Star Lord wrote: »

Not all 2.5 HDDs work with a Y cable either, mine doesn't.

That's strange, USB should be Universal, did you try a different y cable?
I've tried branded ones, and ones I've made myself from kits, I've got about 6 usb drives running around.

C14N · 20-11-2014 08:55PM

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

Hi,
Smyths have the 8GB Wii U for €220(including Super Mario Bros U) at the moment. It's around €300 for the 32GB version. My main question is, is it worth paying the extra for 32GB version? Is the internal storage volume the only difference between the 2 versions? I'm looking at getting the Wii U for a 5 year old. I don't envisage downloading a lot of big games but would like to load it up with all the free stuff(if any??), - Nintendo apps, etc. Will 8GB be used up fairly quickly? Could I increase the storage seamlessly with a regular 32GB usb stick for example?

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

The 32GB model also comes with

A sensor bar (for Wii remotes)
A charging cradle for the touch pad and
A stand for the console.

However, all of these can be found for peanuts online (should be about €5-10 each on eBay or Amazon).

Given the pitiful storage difference, I opted to go for the basic model. HDDs are dirt cheap these days, 24GB is not worth even a fraction of the price difference.

kildarecommuter · 08-12-2014 05:42PM

Know absolutely nothing about Wii U Xbox etc,
Junior age 7 wants Xbox or Wii and his mammy is worried that games for Xbox are more violent so thinking Wii
The 8gb version is about €100 cheaper than 32 gb so wondering which is worth getting
I reckon on just getting him a few mario games and maybe the sports game ( so I can maybe play too)
What would folks recommend I've asked staff in Smyths but answers seem very vague
Many thanks

sweetie · 09-12-2014 05:10PM

kildarecommuter wrote: »

Know absolutely nothing about Wii U Xbox etc,
Junior age 7 wants Xbox or Wii and his mammy is worried that games for Xbox are more violent so thinking Wii
The 8gb version is about €100 cheaper than 32 gb so wondering which is worth getting
I reckon on just getting him a few mario games and maybe the sports game ( so I can maybe play too)
What would folks recommend I've asked staff in Smyths but answers seem very vague
Many thanks

Amazon may have some deals for the wii u basic including wii mote and sensor or adverts.ie and that's plenty storage wise with a cheap usb key as said above. Recommended games for a 7 yr old is Super Mario 3d world, Lego City undercover, Mario Kart. Rayman legends, super mario bros wii u are probably too difficult for that age as is Donkey Kong. All the old classic Mario games are available on the eshop to be played on the gamepad or tv and keep an eye on adverts for Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 and other cheap games that are worth getting. Nintendo Informer website and metacritic are helpful in that regard.

kildarecommuter · 09-12-2014 06:22PM

So I should be ok getting the white 8Gb Wii U basic package plus buying a few games?

makehimanoffer · 02-01-2015 12:14AM

The 8gb wii u is definitely your best bet right now to be honest. They can use the gamepad for most things anyways, and argos have deals on the normal Wii Motion Plus Controllers.

Also, one of the main perks of the 32gb wii u (nintendo premium) expires on the 3rd of January(it was 10% cashback on all store purchases). And essentially the 8gb one plus some SD cards and maybe an external hardrive will do the job.

if it's mostly disc games you're buying it's no hassle anyways

Wii U 8GB vs 32GB?

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