I will admit…I love Nintendo. When I think back to my childhood I have so many fond memories exploring Hyrule or the Mushroom Kingdom. In college, instead of studying, I spend countless hours crushing my friends at Super Smash Brothers Melee or Mario Kart 64. Even the Wii found a place in my entertainment center when my friends and I turned Wii Sports into drinking games. Needless to say, the Big N will always have a place in my heart, which is why it troubles me to see them struggle as of late.
I don’t need to be told that Nintendo has dramatically lowered to their forecast of Wii U’s sold this year to know they are in trouble. All I have to do is look next to my TV. There you will find an Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360, all sitting comfortably and all being used to play various games and applications. The question is, “Why not the Wii U?”
I mean, as I have already confessed, I love Nintendo. I have every Major Nintendo system released in the US and play each of them from time to time. But the Wii U has yet to interest me at this point. It has been out for a year and a half and I have yet to buy one. Perhaps it’s because I cannot seem to justify the purchase of a $300 system with only a handful of games to play. I will admit, those 1st party Nintendo games offer an experience you can only get from Nintendo, however at this point, nothing has driven me to see the value of the system at that price. I know you basically buy a Nintendo system for their first party games, however the delivery of those games have been too few and far between and still do not move me to spend $300 on a system. I realize this is saying a lot from someone who has already purchased the “true next gen” consoles which do not have much to offer in way of games at the moment. Only I know that I will get to play those games I want eventually, such as Uncharted, next gen call of duty and Battlefield, as well as the various other great franchises and exclusives to each system. Furthermore, those systems currently offer media services that expand my living room in ways that the Wii U cannot. Like my heavy use of NBA league Pass or Skype to mention a few. There seems to be no place for a Wii U in my media universe at the moment.
But perhaps it is time for that moment to change? With the release of the Mario Kart 8 Wii U buddle you can pick up the system, what will be sure to be a great addition to the Mario Kart franchise, a Wii Plus controller and a pick from 3 great exclusive games (out of 4) already on the system to download for free. All for $329.99. This is a really good deal that intrigues me and makes me think that maybe now is the time to buy. After all, they are constantly releasing Smash Brothers information, Super Mario 3D World is without a doubt fabulous and I know it is only a matter of time before we get a new Zelda, Metroid and perhaps an Advance Wars that makes use of the touch screen controller? After all, this hope for the future of games is no different than my reasoning for buying the Xbox One and PS4. So perhaps now IS the time to buy given this great deal….sadly…still, I think not.
I am going to wait to hear what Nintendo announces at E3 and if there is some excitement this year, I will probably go pick up the Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle. Otherwise, there needs to be a major price drop before I decide to take the plunge into the world of Nintendo once more. What do you think? You ready to buy a Wii U? Let me know below.
