After following the newest generation of consoles for a while and not actually seeing a reason to buying one just yet, a thought of buying a Wii U comes creeping into the back of my mind every now and then.

The last Nintendo consoles I owned were a SNES and a Gameboy. As an outsider to the "newer" Nintendo console stuff most of the games looked rehashed, re-skinned or repackaged games I used to play on the old systems anyway so I wasn't all that pumped. Sure, Metroid Prime, Super Mario Galaxy, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Fire Emblem and a few other certainly caught my eye, but mostly nothing special. At the time I didn't play a lot of games with somebody in the same room so the wacky-wavy appeal of the Wii was totally lost one me...

But then, last year, I got married. I married a great girl that also shares my passion for video games. She didn't play many different games, but when she bites into one- oh boy... Now, the prospect of wacky-wavy cute games I can play with my wife sound like an excellent way to spend our free time. And if I get the damn thing in my house, of course I want to play all the other cool single player games I missed too... All of the Wii games as well since its backwards compatible.

So guys, I need your help. Can someone explain to me all the pros and cons of the system level stuff, as well as recommend all the best exclusive games for the Wii and Wii U? How does the backwards compatibility work? Do the Wii games upscale to HD? How does the online shop work and what is available? Is the hard drive big enough? How big are the installs, are they mandatory? I did try and google most of it, but I've been out of the loop on the Nintendo stuff for so long and stuff changes with firmware updates; and I know Nintendo does alot of things very differently than other companies. (friend codes, online stuff, OS stuff, mii space, wii channels and all those other concepts I know nothing about but keep hearing over and over).

Oh, and another thing, I'm not clear on the price and all the peripherals I need for 2 player too... So, the Wii U comes only with the GamePad. So I need to buy 2 Wii U Remotes and 2 Wii U Nunchuks to be able to effectively play 2 player local co op wii and wii U games? (thats a LOT of extra money on top of the price of the console).

Considering how much Wii games I want to play, I was also considering buying a Wii mini first and see how that goes...

I'm going to make a list of games and update it as you suggest along the way.

Thank you very much in advance ^_^

Yeah, you're going to need 2 Wii-motes for any multiplayer Wii games (the "motion-plus" wiimotes are more expensive, but I don't think any games ever required that feature and the normal ones work just fine). The Wii-U will let you use any combination of controller (usually, you might want to check on a game-by-game basis). You're going to want to save a chunk of cash for actual games, since Nintendo games rarely drop in price. You might be able to pick up a second-hand console with a bunch of extra wii-motes on ebay or something, or some third-party wii-motes if you want to risk bad quality for a discount.

There are only a few Wii games available on the store (only 4 if they haven't continued adding them since I checked last), so you'll be picking up physical copies of most of those games. There's a bigger library of NES, SNES and GBA games, if nostalgia tickles your fancy. You may also want to consider avoiding digital purchases altogether, as your account is tied to that specific Wii-U, and if it ever dies you'll have to go through a big hassle with Nintendo support.

As far as exclusives go, basically anything Nintendo put out, plus Bayonetta 2 if you like character action games. I didn't play many "wacky-wavy" games on the Wii, so I can't help you there, other than suggesting Wii Sports, because everyone got something out of that game. Nintendo still does like to rehash, so if you want to get selective, avoid getting both "New Super Mario Bros Wii" and "New Super Mario Bros Wii-U" because they're basically the same game. You could also skip over one of the Mario Galaxies, and you should skip both Wii Zelda's and get Wind Waker HD. The Trauma Center games are visual novels with motion-controlled surgeries, "Second Opinion" has a good co-op mode. Kirby's Epic Yarn is cute, laid-back and has co-op.

In terms of system level stuff, it's just like any of the other consoles, really. It runs nicely (unlike at launch), it updates firmware, and the interface is easy to use. Wii games don't upscale to HD, and they don't work with the Wii-U gamepad. Other Virtual Console games (that's the SNES etc. stuff)

The hard drive is pretty small in both the Premium and Regular Wii-U (You should get the premium version, the regular one is more like a stripped down package so they could put a smaller price tag on it). You can connect an external hard drive, more on that here. You probably won't need a dedicated one unless you plan to get lots of Wii-U games digitally. There's nothing offensively bad about the Wii-U, but there's not a whole lot coming out for it this year (although that's probably not much of a problem in your case).

Backwards compatibility (with Wii) basically works by having you go into "Wii Mode" which emulates the Wii menu and from there you can you launch whatever Wii game is in the system. It's a bit cumbersome and annoying but it works I guess. They released a few Wii games on the eShop that will appear on the Wii U menu and will jump directly into the game. (But you're still actually in Wii mode)

As for upscaling, it will scale to fit your TV but the native resolution is still 480p on Wii games and it looks AWFUL. Some games like Mario Galaxy 2 look fine but stuff like Skyward Sword was unplayable for me.

The online shop (e-Shop) is pretty much like any other any store on a video game system. You can buy and download Wii U games, demos, and classic VC titles. Recently they also started offering Wii games but there isn't a lot to choose from.

The hard drive should be fine if you get the 32 GB version. If it's not the Wii U supports external drives so you could use one of those if need be. Nintendo does a really good job at compressing Wii U games to have really low file sizes usually.

There are no mandatory installs.

Yeah, you'll probably need to get some Wiimotes to play multiplayer. If they're Wii U games you can also use the Pro Controller thing.

I'll touch on pricing a bit for the console itself. There's a few bundles here and there for the Wii U. One thing to note is that the 8 GB version is discontinued so buying those would be leftover or used. The most common bundle that goes on sale is the Super Mario 3D World bundle that tends to be priced at $250 to $260 seemingly weekly over at eBay. Another option is to buy a refurbished unit directly from Nintendo that goes for $200 and includes everything that a brand new package would contain. For the most part, people who bought refurbs have stated they look either pristine or there's a minor scratch/scuff that's barely noticeable.

For accessories, Nintendo has Wii motes and other accessories (Refurbished and new) that can be cheaper than retail. Just recently, they have also started selling some refurbished games (Currently only Mario Kart 8 with a Wii Remote Plus and Wheel, Super Mario 3D World, and New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Luigi U).

I am currently looking at and considerign getting a Wii U but need some help on what games to get for it. Never owned a Wii so figured ill look for some of those games to get too.

Right now my list consists of: Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Wind Waker HD. Been thinking if there are some other games i might have missed.

Hoping someone here have some suggestions for decent Wii/Wii U games i might have missed.

@sloktor: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Super Smash Bros, and Mario Kart 8 are all winners. Just keep in mind that Wii U games are basically all still at least $50 - the thing's a real investment.

I know the wii U is widely considered to be a failure, but I just picked one up this weekend after being in the same position as you, and I'm really happy about it. I picked up the Splatoon bundle, Super Mario 3D world, Smash, MK8, Ninja Gaiden 3 (it was like, 5 bucks, why not), and got Fire Emblem on the virtual console. At this point I feel like I've got too many games to play, and I haven't even really scratched the wii catalogue (which I never had, since my last nintendo was an n64). Also, I'm looking forward to a bunch of staple releases over the next year with the new Zelda, Star Fox, and Fire emblem games on the horizon.

Everyone is pretty negative on the wii u, but if your perspective is someone who hasn't had a nintendo system for generations, I think it's pretty fucking awesome. I even thought the gamepad was another gimmick, but I'm finding I actually really like it, especially for Splatoon. I will say the thumbsticks seem really shitty coming from other systems, I hope I get used to them. I'm also waiting on my pro controller to ship, which I've heard is pretty nice.

I say go for it dude.

@bh_whatwasit: Question - why are people surprised to be paying $50 for games on the WiiU? Isn't that pretty standard pricing for new games on all platforms?

I Just picked up a Wii U after trading in like 30 games most of them were Wii games came with New Mario Bros U and I picked up Bayonetta 1&2 so far i have been enjoying it, just have to wait for the pro controller to arrive so i can start Bayonetta.

@bwheeeler: Thanks for the tip, here they still sell bundles with Mario Kart 8 and a Wii U. So ill get that and 3D World to start, but ill be sure to check Donkey Kong aswell.

The wii u is actually overall the primary console in my household at this point, even taking into account the ps4.

Game wise, coming in at this stage there is a lot of legitimately awesome games to play.

I have Mario kart 8, 3D world, Pikmin 3, Smash Bros, Monster Hunter, and Splatoon. From my point of view there is enough in that list alone to justify the purchase but also things like,

Hyrule warriors, (which I didn't feel ok putting in the list of awesome games, but is good dumb fun. My girlfriend and I played through it as couch coop and it was a blast.)

And all the stuff I want to but haven't played like:

Bayonetta 2 (and remastered 1, don't forget)

Wonderful 101

New super Mario U

Zombie U

Captain toad

Donkey Kong tropical freeze

That's not to mention all the wii games you can go back and play, both galaxy games are legitimately wonderfull, the entire pikmin series (also wonderful), metroid prime, etc etc etc.

There is also the virtual console which included extensive support of all nintendo stuff from NES, SNES GB, GBA and increasing amounts of Wii, N64 and DS games.

Basically there is more amazing games to play on wii U than on any of the currently gen systems, and frankly there is a part of me that wished I waited a bit to buy my ps4.

Controller wise, you can play everything on the gamepad, I also bought a pro controller which is basically a cross between a 360 and dual shock 3 and as you can imagine very good quality, I actually don't use it as much as I used to having got used to the weirdness (and kind if awesomeness) of the gamepad.

I've picked up a few wii motion plus remotes and nunchucks for multiplayer (which I've done when I spot a good deal) and ended up with a good collection) most multiplayer games are very good for letting use choose your control scheme.

Basically it's a great console, which at the time of writing has a great library of first party nintendo games is backwards compatible with wii u and gives you access to a big library of classic nintendo games with out mucking around with old consoles or emulation.

I love it but don't buy it is you don't love nintendo games, otherwise it really is t worth it.

I personally think that if you can afford to have more than one thing to play games on, the wii u is an almost essential 2nd console with either a ps4, xboxone or PC for multi platform releases.

I got Yoshi's wooly world today and will be playing that with my other half all day, (if I can drag her away from splatoon....)

I also got my first amibo with it, despite my misgivings about them, as wooly yoshi is adorable. Hell, if you don't get a wii u just buy a woolly yoshi, I guarantee it will improve your quality of life.

EDIT: also bonus point if you live I'm the UK some odd quirk of nintendo pricing policy and exchange rates seems to conspire to make wii U games much much cheaper than ps4 and xbox one games, splatoon was like 29 pounds on release, and I got the woolly world and amibo pack for like 40 pounds, happy days.

I bought one. It was an idiotic purchase because I most likely won't play more than 3 games on it. But fuck if Bayonetta 2 isn't worth $300 to me. That game is goddamn amazing, and I'm so bummed I had to wait this long to play it. 10/10 best worst purchase of my life. I've spent more on dumber shit in the past so WHATEVER.

Maybe I can resell it later so I only paid double price for the game instead of quadruple....