Wii U

[Gravedigger]

Being a Zelda nut since I was a wee lad I've always purchased a Nintendo system when the first Zelda has come out for that system. Albeit an HD remake of Wind Waker, I decided with the $50 price cut that I would take the plunge and get the system last Friday. I've spent almost a week with it and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.

Leading up to my purchase I felt bad buying the Wii U, thinking that I'd be disappointed. There's an internet hatred for the system, saying that it doesn't have the titles, it doesn't have the hardware that'll compete with the PS4 and XBone. I did my research before buying the system via reviews, youtube videos, and just overall discussion about the pluses and minuses of it all.

The absolute best pro for this system is something that no other system has for the price point that Nintendo is putting out there. The Gamepad's ability to switch between TV and Gamepad with the press of a button. This is a fabulous perk to this system.

Sony is trying to implement it with the PS4 and Vita coming up but in all honesty, it's too rich a price for the ability. I'll take a $300 price point over a $600 ($400 for the PS4, $200 for the Vita) price point any day of the week. The Vita is it's own system, granted, but what are the games you'd happily throw down for? Plus, the ability for the Vita being a second screen is limited and will be for awhile.

With the WiiU you can do this with every single Wii U game out there. Here's a list, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-TV_Play. The fact that my fiance can watch whatever show she wants and I can lay on the couch or in the bedroom and still play Zelda, Pikmin 3 or NSMBU. It's just such a nice thing to have, and all you have to take with you is the console when you want to travel which is slightly bigger than the Wii was. Set it up in a nearby room and you're ready to game on the gamepad.

I think they need to make a better Gamepad though. It's a little clunky with alot of extra space you know it could live without. It needs better battery life, this isn't a negotiation, the fact you can buy a third party Nyko battery pack that doubles the life of the device at the expense of a weightier gamepad is unacceptable. You're just allowing third party to make money on something you should be making money on. The fact that Nintendo made a promise that the Wii U can support 2 Gamepads at a time and they don't sell the Gamepad by itself says to me they're making a new gamepad. I'm just hoping that it's smaller, better battery life and maybe a better screen. Nintendo has never splurged on their hardware, but I think that besides games that are out now or coming out this winter you've gotta put something into it.

I'm not a Nintendo fanboy, I just grew up with them, I don't want to see them go down in flames even though it'd be better for my wallet if they just third partied all their titles. I still have my PS3 and Xbox 360, and now my WiiU that plays all my old Wii games. I will get an XBone or PS4 next Spring/Summer for their titles that the Wii U won't carry. I love this system compared to my old Wii, I hate the nunchuk controller gimmick that was prevelant with the Wii and I've always much more preferred a controller. Nintendo will go the way of the dinosaur eventually, even faster if they don't start putting money into their hardware and third party support, but for right now I'm really enjoying my WiiU and it's place amongst my other game systems. Flame away.