Dan & Alex have convinced me to buy a WiiU *gasp*

... but which bundle?

I never thought this day would come.

I've bought every Nintendo console, but everything after the N64 was a "buy at the end of its life cycle for cheap, get some used games, and just goof with it a few hours before mothballing" kind of purchase. I just kind of stopped caring and shifted focus to other things.

However, Dan's joie de vivre with the console, Alex's affection for the silliness of Mario Kart 8, and Bayonetta 2's exclusivity to the platform have broken me way earlier than I expected. I... I feel like it is time to cave and get into this one while it's still current. Bucking my habits, thanks to Ryckert and Navarro... the fiends. :-P

Which current bundle do you duders recommend? There are so many in the stores now, and I frankly haven't played a Nintendo game for more than an hour in over 10 years. I'm not sure where to jump back in, guys and gals.

Besties,

Lazyimp

Mario Kart 8, Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World are the three bundles I would recommend.

Unfortunately there's no Bayo 2 or Wonderful 101 bundles which are the two best games on the system.

Go with the 3D world one because that game is the best game of the bundles. Also since its the newest it will be the easiest one to find.

Yeah. Last I checked, the Wind Waker bundle is not only sold out, but going for crazy prices on eBay unopened.

My opinion, which is probably highly controversial, is maybe check eBay first. I don't ever buy consoles on eBay (except for a Dreamcast a couple years ago), but I bought my Wii U about a year after launch. Got an 8GB white one for like $170, plus a B2G1 free deal at Target for games and I saved a ton, all because someone bought a Wii U early and didn't like it.

But, if you're going for bundles, the 3D World bundle is the only one not jacked up in price on Amazon right now.

My local EB Games still has a whole stack of them.

@corevi: No kidding. Maybe they've got online ones. That'd be worth an upgrade, for me, to get the bigger HDD and the cool gamepad.

OP, go to Corevi's EB Games.

The Wind Waker bundle is solid, especially if you've never played that game before. The two Mario bundled games are also absolutely worth playing, so unless you really don't like kart racers or platformers or something, I think any of the bundles are fine. Whichever bundle you get, I recommend picking up those other games eventually.

You gotta give Nintendo credit, they're aggressively bundling their best games with the console. None of that PS3 bundle bullshit where it's like "Here's a bundled copy of Motorstorm, because fuck it, we don't know what we're doing."

Wind Waker bundle comes with a pretty sweet looking controller so that's the ideal way to go. But the MK8 bundle is going to be much easier to find at the moment.

I would flip a coin for either Super Mario 3D World or Mario Kart 8 bundle and then buy the other game anyway. Here's the other "must have" games for the system :

• Super Smash Bros
• Bayonetta 2
• Donkey Kong Country : Tropical Freeze
• Pikmin 3
• Wind Waker (if you haven't played it before)

I also own New Super Mario Bros U and Hyrule Warriors but those games are... Ok I guess...

It's an excellent system to own alongside one of the others. Releases come at a dripfeed, but at this point there are a bunch of great, exclusive games available. It also looks like 2015 could shape up to be the kind of year for the WiiU 2013 was for the 3DS. I think it's a pretty good time to buy a WiiU, hopefully you'll be happy with your purchase.

I've got the windwaker bundle. I would say that or 3D world would be the best to get. And I'd recommend getting both games either way along with Mario Kart 8.

Yeah, Wii U as a secondary system is a great way to think of that system (like it was for Wii before it, and GC before that...).

Hey all. Just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I ended up getting the Super Mario 3D World bundle and buying a copy of Bayonetta 2, which is just wonderful. Absolutely wonderful and insane game. I'm happy, though I can't believe that I had to buy a USB Ethernet adapter. I would have thought that an Ethernet jack would be standard and included as part of the console itself, but eh. Water under the bridge. :-P

They just expect you to connect through Wifi now.

Get Wonderful 101 or at least the demo. It's made by the same people as Bayonetta and it's pretty cool.

Congrats on the purchase, enjoy!

I'd recommend getting a copy of Mario Kart if you see one at a good price. It's heaps of fun to play either solo or with friends and I often turned to it as a quick filler when I didn't have time to settle down for a long play session but wanted to play something.