We have one. I have young kids who love the Wii, and I have a few favorite games on there myself (Mario Kart is still f'n awesome). So of course when Wii U is scheduled to come out in November before Christmas, that is the ideal gift for the family.
So I go to great lengths to try and secure one of these things --- I go in like a month before they're even released to 3 or 4 stores to try and preorder the thing, and preorders and even WAIT lists for preorders at Gamestop are all filled. So I'm fucked, right?
First of all - for those who didn't know - getting a Wii back in 2006 when they first came out was damn near impossible. Came out around the same time, really had to get on for Christmas.
So --- I'm expecting the same shit this time. Black Friday rolls around, no stores seem to even have them in their ads. I start to worry that I'm not going to get one for the kids in time for Christmas. My bro-in-law calls me and says that Target has one, but its the shitty 8GB one. I pass. Again, I'm afraid I'm not going to get one.
Then I just happen to go by Target one day in early December right when they're unloading the truck, and they have a whole cart of the black ones (delux) so I immediately plop down my money and buy one. I GOT LUCKY! OMG I GOT ONE!!!!.
Then over the course of the next few weeks, there are Wii U's stacked to the ceiling at various stores, no one is buying this thing, I start to feel like I'm the only person who has it.
Long story short ---- I knew a month ago that this price drop would happen. There is too much inventory, not enough of these things are selling.
For one --- there are like 15 games TOTAL. Now it will play old Wii games, but the offerings for WiiU games are a bit limited.
Now - the gamepad thing is actually pretty cool. You can play WiiU games completely on it without even needing the TV. So it becomes a handheld system with really nice hi-res graphics.
Anyway - long long story short - my kids love the thing, they play it all the time. We only have two games for it right now, but they love Nintendo Land (that game that comes with it). I haven't spent much time on it myself.
If you are a hardcore gamer, I probably wouldn't get one just yet. There just aren't the games to really support that. There are some T-M level titles already, and the graphics are HD 1080i, better than the Wii, but I'm not completely sold on the thing yet.
I only fear this is going to be a disaster for Nintendo and next year they'll already have a BETTER replacement for it (think Windows ME) and I'll have invested all this money into it.
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