Meh. I don't really mind the problems. I get annoyed sometimes, but I know Nintendo will fix any problems within a year with the warranty, so I'm not that worried. I'm not even using a screen protector on my gamepad, and it already has a few scratches.

Ya it's the same sound for sure. I might rent some games if they show up at redbox.

Honestly for me I dont know if its luck or what but I have owned every Nintendo system from the NES to the Wii and even every version of Gameboy and the Virtual Boy as well as the original DS, a DSlite and a 3DS and I have never had any problem with any of their systems. In fact my NES still works as good as the day I got it. Now I have been through 2 Playstations, 3 PS2 slim models and 2 Xbox 360s so why when it comes to Nintendo products I dont worry to much about them.

Nintendo products are always built really good though. I have owned Nintendo stuff since the SNES, so far haven't had one Nintendo system fail on me in all those years. While I had a PS3 fail on me 2 weeks after I got it from the thermal paste being applied incorrectly, and I had 4 Xbox 360's die on me from the RRoD. Nintendo is also the most friendly I would say when it comes to my experience with all threes customer service. So even if the Wii U does break I feel alright knowing I probably won't have to argue with Nintendo to get something done as I had to do with Microsoft.

I think it's just HD consoles in general. The only problems I've ever had with other consoles is occasional freezing on internet, bad servers, and shutting off incorretly with me doing nothing wrong to cause it. First Nintendo console I've ever had problems with, unless you count the crack that was on the DS lite at launch that was on only 0.02% of consoles. Also, the touch screens were off no matter what on the lite for the first 2 i had, even afyer callibrating them.

@Treverend: Ugh dont get me started on Microsoft customers service. I got my account hacked about a year ago and it seemed like I was fighting with them for days.

The 360 froze on me a number of times, and it froze on my brother "more times than I can count" his words not mine. XD And he plays it way more than I do, so I'm not too worried about the Wii U freezing I guess. Never had a problem with my DS Lite, but I feel like my 3DS's hinge has gotten looser since it was brand new. It used to feel a lot tighter to me. Now it has more wiggle room.

Ya, they couldn't even tell me how to reclaim my gamertag when I called them, so I rebought some games I had. When I went back to try again(not believing Microsft), I found the transer license and figured it out myself, and got all my games back, after the facr I wasted $60... pretty crappy if your technicians aren't even informed enough to tell you how to work simple Xbox functions yo say the least.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/14252_249230721873...

That's my gaming setup, think my Wii U has enough venting room? Oh and that picture you see by my light switch is a picture Gabe Newell from Valve signed for me. My favorite game studio under Nintendo.

Ya, maybe one day, an Xbox Live server glitch will corrupt and break every single console connected to the internet in one hit. Haha. That would probably be the worst day in Microsoft history. Not saying I hope, but it could happen, but on a worse scale than the PSN blackout.

I'm surprised Microsoft was never hacked like PSN. I mean come on... no one ever retaliated paying the $60 they make you pay just to play online when every other game console/PC available offers it for free? They say it's to pay for the extras like cross game chat too, well Steam has all those features and it's free...

Ya your setup looks good. I have mine hooked up to a PS 3D display, on the shelf above my PS3. I have a 5.1 surround sound system hooked up that my PS3 can only hook up to through optical out, so my Wii U isn't blasting sound yet. I have an older Yamaha reciever, that doesn't output audio through the HDMI... I plan on getting a better one that supports 3D passthrough and bluetooth soon though.

I'm sure the update will be part of the day one update for Europe and will probably come to the US either before then a little bit after. Interestingly the people who have disconnected their Wii Us from the internet in order to fix the problem won't be able to see when the update launches.

I'm also looking into an HDMI surround sound system but I'm not an audiophile so I don't know what to get or where to start.

I'm not buying a super expensive one, but look for one that has 1.4 HDMI inputs/outputs as a priority, at least 5.1 channels, and at least 600 watts. Maybe bluetooth if you use that. Those go for around $200, and is everything you need for video games, Netflix, Blueray. I could list more features like Airplay for iPod/iPad, 7.1/7.2 channels, but that gets you up to $500 range. I just need the cheaper one for what I want it for.

@Treverend: Nice setup there. Only thing I dont like standing my systems up I always lie them flat. I guess I am paranoid that they will fall over too easy when they are on their side.

I haven't had and problems with freezing so far. When I got my GameCube though, it constantly froze up and made loud noises so even if my Wii U did freeze, it couldn't be half as bad.

When did you get your Wii U? You're REALLY lucky, because from what I can gather, the freezing is really common and happening to lots of people.

I preordered mine from Toys R Us and it got here Monday. I've spent probably 5 hours on Nintendo Land alone with no problems yet.

I would imagine AFTER the rest of world launch this week. Itl probably come after most of world has done the day one update , thereby patching the updated OS