What kind of loss do you think I would take if I bought a used WiiU plus a copy of Zelda and then turned around and resold both in, say, two months? $50?

Based on my own recent experiences, and if this was in Canadian dollars, you would be spending 200 on the used Wii U and 80 on Zelda. So, in your math, you'd need to sell both for $230 to net a loss of only $50...

Hmm...

I guess it depends on your resale market. Here, I could never find someone to personally sell my Wii U to, so would probably have to expect the ~75 bucks I could get for it from a used retailer. So I'd be looking at a greater loss than 50. Nintendo games are kinda funny in that they don't really lose retail price, which in turn means that you could get a pretty good deal on the game itself I think. That said, in 2 months, who exactly will be looking to buy Zelda on the Wii U? If anything I feel the time is NOW to strike while the iron is hot, but of course that's not the situation here.

Long post, but, in the end, feels pretty local-market dependent. In general, I would expect a greater loss than $50, but curious what others here think.

I would just sell it on eBay. Hard to tell because a lot of them are bundles but it looks like the going rate is ~200 usd for the console. I could get the game for 50 from amazon

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-Wii-U-WUP-101-02-32GB-Console-Bundle-Black-/142295214411?hash=item212174a94b%3Ag%3AqBMAAOSwB-1YtIBs&_trkparms=pageci%253A453a9daa-02cd-11e7-bc76-74dbd180d7fb%257Cparentrq%253Aa62cb0ab15a0a62293a7e773fffffbaf%257Ciid%253A12

New Switch and Zelda from Costco, return everything within 3 months for full price.

There are some pretty great games on the Wii U, just keep it and play those. If you're only interested in Breath of the Wild, buy a Switch.

@justin258: nah, I'm not interested in any of the other games coming to the switch and Ive been bored of Mario for decades and have no interest at all in handhelds. I've actually already played everything on the wiiu that interests me so this would literally just be a quick turn.

Meh, I think I'm going to do it. I think worst case scenario, i lose maybe 80 bucks on this. That's a cheap date.

Where I live in Canada you cant buy Wii U's in stores and you can resell them pretty much what you paid for them. I bought one off of some guy that bought it just to play Xenoblade... which is all I wanted to play it for too... so I got the Wii U plus the game for 275, sold it three weeks later for 250. Could have probably made a lot more off of it but I just wanted it gone.

I'd seriously investigate your local buy/sell websites or facebook groups in your region before going on to Amazon or Ebay. You might be in a situation like I'm in!

I'm buying one again just to play Zelda in a few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes!

*As an aside here I do this with every game I purchase too that I'm on the fence about. The day I bought Horizon Zero Dawn I immediately posted an add for 5 bucks off what I bought it for. Within half a day I had a bunch of interest, I narrowed it down to guys who were cool waiting for a few days until I was done playing, dropped the price a few more bucks and basically got to play Horizon for a whole week for 10 bucks... which is pretty much all I had to pay to play Final Fantasy before that.

kinda douchey, no?

i would consider keeping the wii u too, i mean unless there's absolutely nothing else on the system that will appeal to you. there's at least a dozen good to great games running a pretty wide gamut.

If there's seriously only one game you actually want to play between both systems, you might as well just wait until a good Wii U PC emulator comes out and play BOTW on that.

You're literally talking about trying to binge an 80 hour game and flip a console that isn't even being produced anymore because it wasn't selling. You're not going to really make out well on that deal.

2nd person talking about emulation here. i know it's a dead console but i hope we're at least talking about purchasing the retail game to do so.

For what its worth, I don't actually resort to emulation for anything other than retro games that aren't on the eShop or similar services (usually licensed stuff with no real hope of ever coming back). I'm also a diehard fan of the Wii and the Wii U, and personally feel a bit miffed when people boast that they're bored of Nintendo, but still somehow want to figure out a way to play "X Nintendo Game" because its the current hot shit.

All of that said, its hard to deny the presence and benefits of stuff like Dolphin, which owning the disc makes infinitely easier.

I think you have to ask yourself if there's really nothing on the Switch this year except Zelda that you want to play.

You're going to lose money buying a Wii U and selling it. If you think you might want a Switch in the future, you may as well just buy one and play Zelda now.

Whether you like Nintendo or not, the Switch is going to get a fuck ton of indie.

I'm not going to resort to piracy or returns. I'll pay my fair market value for the console, but the game new and just take my loss on both. It only seems right anyway -- I'm paying to play the game. I was just hoping to get some more input on what people thought that loss would look like.

Anyway, I don't really want to turn this into a debate over the merits of Nintendo, the Wii U or the Switch. I'd just rather pay $50-80 bucks to pay Zelda for a couple months than pay $300+ to own either of those consoles + Zelda on a permanent basis, which is entirely my perogative as a consumer. And hell, maybe Zelda is the greatest game of all time and I change my mind.

I honestly think you'll be much better off investing that money into a switch. There are some great games on Wii U, but Switch is getting some pretty cool stuff coming up that would be worth your while. Also, the switch does have added utility and portability that the Wii U doesn't have. If this were myself, I would spend the extra money on the Switch and Zelda. Also, I would venture a strong guess that the Wii U's games library will come over in some form in the future. So, in short, spend that money on something that will net you the most utility now and in the future. Also, reselling can be a hassle and you already seem pretty sure you'll net a loss so it kinda seems like not a great option for you right now to get a Wii U for one game and then try to sell it when your done.

If you want to go back and experience other great Nintendo games in the near future, I would get a Wii U, I bought one about 6 months ago purely for Zelda and have a great time built up my library over time and have all the must own games on the system pretty much. If you want to invest in the future go for the Switch. For what it's worth as well the Wii U version is by no means terrible like people would have you believe, I've had the odd frame rate drop when I first enter areas with a lot of NPCs but during combat etc...it's been perfect.

Play Bayonetta 2 though. Whatever you do after that, nothing can be as bad of an idea as owning a Wii U and not playing that amazing game

I very much second this. The wii u has enough games in its library at this point that it's well worth getting even without a new zelda. Having a Wii U would also allow you to play virtually every other zelda game as well, so if you're a fan of that franchise there's no reason not to own it; monetary concerns aside.

A friend of mine who runs a the gaming room at various local conventions commented recently that Wii Us, he has a hard time buying, and they keep their value, while Ps3 and even Ps4, hardly move. Anecdotal, but I think it fits.

The Wii U has some great games, and once you get into the mindset where the older graphics don't bother you, there is plenty to appreciate on it.

I really recommend Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, if you enjoy anything in the Persona/SMT vein.

Give it a year or two. The value of the wii u will increase a lot because it is the last disc-based hd home console system that Nintendo will ever create; marking the end of an era for them.