Thursday Musing: 08/08/13: The Wii U

Hey Guys! So my second proper blog post (and hopefully a second segment!) is all about my rather expensive Christmas present... the Nintendo Wii U. Its been 8 months since i got it, so does it stand up? or is it the biggest waste of money here in my grotto? lets find out...

First off lets talk about what the Wii U is! The Wii U a video game console from the lords of gaming Nintendo. Its NOT a touch screen controller for the Wii...yes i really think the name was a mistake!

The Machine
The console itself is fantastic... no really, its oustanding. Graphically it easily outpaces current gen consoles and to be honest i feel Nintendos art styles will lead the Wii U to still look comparable when the PS4 and XBox One launch. Intially the load times werent great and stability was a tad erratic, thankfully that has been patched out and it nows runs perfectly.

Now the controller...oh my the controller....

Its very hard to explain this beast of a device, in my opinion, its the consoles strongest feature. From a gameplaying point of view it is very comfortable, the buttons are well built and the touch screen is good. Functionality wise, its saved the Wii U for me due to the ability to browse and watch videos on the pad alone, its one of those features that you will not be able to un-use once youve got the hang of it.

Also as a side note... i LOVE the blue cases, it adds needed colour to my game collection.

GAMES

Ok, here is the big problem right now. Games.... or the lack there of. Now im a really hardcore console gamer, i will buy anything tbh but even i only have  6 Wii U games with all but 1 being launch games. It is coming though, the line up from now onwards is alot better but this huge draught has really hurt the console. If any one is interested in picking a Wii U (you should be, you WONT find a better local multiplayer machine) then i would start with the fantastic underrated mini game collection Nintendo Land. Argueably the best game on the console with a really surprising amount of depth to each of its games. If single player is more your bag then you cant go wrong with Pikmin 3 or the literally life consuming Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Overall i think its becoming less of a problem, the E-Shop offering are getting better and better, and the premium "get back 10% of what you spend" offer makes this download only service a real coup, all the Wii U really needs is that one killer game...and its coming in spring! Depending on who you are, this killer game is Super Smash Bros U or Mario Kart 8. Both look like serious game changers and if you want a new console but dont want to spend £400 and put up with 8 months of growing pains that i promise you the PS4 and XBONE will have... pick up a Wii U and have some fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3diQX3i1I