When to buy the Wii U?

Nody

So having played Mario Kart 8 at my sister's place over the weekend I'm sold twice over and need my own Wii U which I've been neglecting to buy for far to long.

Now I don't really care about the new console (owned original Xbox only, PC Master race) so I'm not overly concerned about waiting to find out if it has backwards compatibility etc. but the question is when is the best time to pick one up from a price perspective (as I need to sneak it in to the family budget as sneakily as possible!)?

CiDeRmAn

Smyth's have a good deal on the basic model, with Mario Kart 8 for €199.99
Probably the best deal I've seen.
Taking the game into account you're getting the console for only €150!

http://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/video-games-tablets/c-743/nintendo-wii-u/p-9853/wii-u-console-white-8gb/

You might want to buy a good sized USB hdd drive for it too, as it comes with feck all storage
Here's an Argos 500gb drive that'll serve your needs

http://www.argos.ie/ProductDisplayTRK019?partNumber=1339361

Still all comes in at less than 250

Star Lord

I got one of the 2TB Seagate BackupPlus portable HDDs for mine for around 80 Eurons, nice and small and works with a Y cable.

Well_H0ly_God

Wait until after E3 first of all.

Nintendo might drop the price. And if you're really lucky, they might actually sell it minus the gamepad which would probably let it go for 99 quid!!!

Happy days.

Star Lord

Well_H0ly_God wrote: »

...they might actually sell it minus the gamepad...

That'll never happen, it's the main feature of the console, and would render any games that use it unplayable.

Well_H0ly_God

Star Lord wrote: »

That'll never happen, it's the main feature of the console, and would render any games that use it unplayable.

It's a shame.

How many games is the gamepad imperative to play?

I think it was the biggest gripe with the Wii U for many - the gamepad just increased the systems price. If they could of got rid of it and threw in two controllers instead it would sell a tonne more I'd imagine.

Mr E

I was listening to Nintendo Voice Chat (IGN Podcast) in the car last night and they predicted a new (lower cost) version of the Wii U with a cheaper smaller game pad. The gamepad doesn't need to be that big because it is under utilised, and that is probably the main component that is keeping the cost up.

Well_H0ly_God

Mr E wrote: »

I was listening to Nintendo Voice Chat (IGN Podcast) in the car last night and they predicted a new (lower cost) version of the Wii U with a cheaper smaller game pad. The gamepad doesn't need to be that big because it is under utilised, and that is probably the main component that is keeping the cost up.

This is the best thing Nintendo could do at this point. If they got rid of the gamepad or at least made it an optional add-on of some description they could, in theory, prolong the life of the Wii U by a few years. If the price dropped to 99 quid, I can see it doubling in sales numbers at the very minimum. As far as I know, they patched out it's importance as a necessity to use the system little by little and as of right now I believe it's only used to change settings? Am I right in that? They could patch that out overnight making it entirely useless. The controllers can do almost everything now including browsing the eShop.

Second, they need to roll out the online infrastructure DeNA are working on ASAP in that a system update must hold your apps in one unifying account system. This can be done overnight too. It's draconian, particularly seeing how far advanced the other console companies are, to think that games you purchase are linked to your Wii U and not your account accessible from anywhere in the world ala Valve's Steam or EA's Origin. They need to get rid of the region lock fiasco.

Third, the Virtual Console has not reached it's full potential. Now I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't licensing nightmares along the way but Nintendo could be doing so much more. They're drip feeding products onto it when they should be setting out their stall given their current situation. The full NES, SNES, Gameboys, N64, GC and Wii libraries should be available on it and it should of been available yesterday. The same with the 3DS catalogue - their handheld has a better library than the Wii U. The full 3DS library should be put on Wii U.

Star Lord

There's no way to 'patch it out' of the games that depend on it. It's also great for multiplayer games, where you can have what they call "asynchronous" gameplay (which is best shown in some of the NintendoLand games) or a separate screen for each player, which works great in games like Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart, instead of split-screen gaming.

With regard to the virtual console games, Nintendo takes those very seriously, and rather than slapping them into a shoddy emulator type program, they optimise each game themselves (even the games that weren't originally Nintendo games!) so that they deliver the best possible experience. So that all takes time. Dumping the back catalogue from multiple consoles is not an option when it's handled this way.

Well_H0ly_God

Star Lord wrote: »

There's no way to 'patch it out' of the games that depend on it. It's also great for multiplayer games, where you can have what they call "asynchronous" gameplay (which is best shown in some of the NintendoLand games) or a separate screen for each player, which works great in games like Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart, instead of split-screen gaming.

With regard to the virtual console games, Nintendo takes those very seriously, and rather than slapping them into a shoddy emulator type program, they optimise each game themselves (even the games that weren't originally Nintendo games!) so that they deliver the best possible experience. So that all takes time. Dumping the back catalogue from multiple consoles is not an option when it's handled this way.

I can understand how some might believe the gamepad is part of the experience but the only philosophy I have is the colour of money.

The optimisation of prior games doesn't seem to be working either. According to Reddit, Paper Mario: A Thousand Year Door suffers from some serious lag and brightness issues sadly. There's countless threads over there along the lines of "Why can't Nintendo properly emulate their own games?" with answers along the lines of "Because Nintendo".

They should spend less time "optimising" games and more time emulating earlier versions. They were fine the way they were and the manpower that must be taken up for this tediousness must be gawking...

They should probably give Playtonic Games a call and get them on board as a first party developer. Have Yooka-Laylee as a new IP exclusive to Wii U. Promote these new characters by putting them into Smash Bros and Mario Kart too. Then give Hideo Kojima a call and give him a studio to fill with his own people.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
£££££££££££££££££££££££
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Banjo

Yooka Laylee doens't need Ninty money right now, and pushing the WiiU ahead of other platforms might be seen as reneging on their Kickstarter promises. Of course, they don't have to actually take the Kickstarter money if Ninty are willing to sweeten the pot a little...

Can you play Mariokart full screen on the Controller in multiplayer? I've only played locally 4 player, and it mirrors the telly... And if I'm winning my daughter will sometimes tap the screen to switch it to map/horn view and / or switch it to Motion controls. She's only 3 and she's already learned to Grief...

I think the best way to ditch the Gamepad entirely from the WiiU Package would be (bear with me on this) to sort out the issues with running 2 Gamepads simultaneously - this was a rumoured in-progress feature for a couple of years leading up to Bayonetta, don't know if it's been forgotten or definitively quashed... but if it could be done it opens to the door to selling the Gamepad separately in a benign way that doesn't scream "COST SAVING MEASURE!". And then you can drop it from the Box (but you'd still need the Pro controller or a WiiMote in the box). The only games I can think of that wouldn't function at all without the Gamepad are ZombiU and Nintendoland. And sure, if you could sync your New 3DS up and use it as a surrogate...

Star Lord

Well_H0ly_God wrote: »

The optimisation of prior games doesn't seem to be working either. According to Reddit, Paper Mario: A Thousand Year Door suffers from some serious lag and brightness issues sadly. There's countless threads over there along the lines of "Why can't Nintendo properly emulate their own games?" with answers along the lines of "Because Nintendo".

The GameCube game? Where are people having lag/brightness issues with that?

Banjo wrote: »

Can you play Mariokart full screen on the Controller in multiplayer? I've only played locally 4 player, and it mirrors the telly... And if I'm winning my daughter will sometimes tap the screen to switch it to map/horn view and / or switch it to Motion controls. She's only 3 and she's already learned to Grief...

I've only played it in 2 player, where you can have one person on each screen. Similarly with Hyrule Warriors and even Zen Pinball 2.

CiDeRmAn

Well_H0ly_God wrote: »

I can understand how some might believe the gamepad is part of the experience but the only philosophy I have is the colour of money.

The optimisation of prior games doesn't seem to be working either. According to Reddit, Paper Mario: A Thousand Year Door suffers from some serious lag and brightness issues sadly. There's countless threads over there along the lines of "Why can't Nintendo properly emulate their own games?" with answers along the lines of "Because Nintendo".

They should spend less time "optimising" games and more time emulating earlier versions. They were fine the way they were and the manpower that must be taken up for this tediousness must be gawking...

They should probably give Playtonic Games a call and get them on board as a first party developer. Have Yooka-Laylee as a new IP exclusive to Wii U. Promote these new characters by putting them into Smash Bros and Mario Kart too. Then give Hideo Kojima a call and give him a studio to fill with his own people.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
£££££££££££££££££££££££
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I think you are turning this into a "what should Nintendo do" thread when the OP was asking is it a good time to get into WiiU and where to get a good deal.
But a lot of your posts seem to lean on that quoted topic, no offence

Nollog

I was going to say "whenever there's a good deal on". But waiting until after e3 is a good point.

Uno my Uno.

Mr E wrote: »

I was listening to Nintendo Voice Chat (IGN Podcast) in the car last night and they predicted a new (lower cost) version of the Wii U with a cheaper smaller game pad. The gamepad doesn't need to be that big because it is under utilised, and that is probably the main component that is keeping the cost up.

I'm hoping to get a Wii U in the Autumn, Hopefully there will be a price drop before then. the Control Pad is a major sellign point for me as I have shared TV woes, as understanding as My Lady is, watching me play Mario Kart is not her idea of a good night in. So hopefully for me if they do reconfigure or redesign the Wii U the original pad will continue to be available for a while at least.

Nody

Ok; I'm back for more advice

I've got two second hand black 32GB versions lined up.

180 EUR - Zelda limited edition version
160 EUR - Standard with Super Mario 3D world & Super Mario Bros U

Obviously buying it for Nintendo games in the first place so all three games are in the "Want to own" category; any advice or recommendation for which to go for?

Banjo

Neither Wind Waker nor Super Mario 3D are ever likely to be cheap. Mario 3D World is definitely easier to pick up. SMB-U can be had quite cheaply though.
So really, what this comes down to is : How much is a Zelda-themed Gamepad worth to you? Because you're paying roughly €25-35 euro for one after you've bought all 3 games, depending on your degree of cannyness and hagglability.

CiDeRmAn

I go for the 160 option and buy MK8 while you are at it.
If you are feeling Richie rich then buy Super Smash Bros as well.