Topic: Basic Wii vs Premium Wii

I am interested in purchasing a Wii U and I would like to know if there are any benefits from getting the premium console. Does the extended memory really matter? I will be downloading some of the retro games so would I be better off purchasing the premium version? Thanks.

Premium is definitely the better deal, they always come with a free game AFAIK. And that extra memory is highly recommended.

I think that for the most part you should be fine with the premium pack if you're only downloading VC and indie games.
Besides, from what I've heard, after the updates there's not much memory left on the 8 gig model.

Both the 32GB and 8GB consoles are not enough if you're going to be buying AAA games digitally. You'd want a 250GB+ USB HDD.

8GB has around 2.5GB of space free when empty IIRC. Which will hold about 15 VC games roughly. The 32GB will hold more VC games than are currently available, but will only a few AAA games.

I use a 8GB console with a 250GB HDD, and it currently has SSB, DKCR:TF, NSMBU, as well as MK8 DLC, patch data for some games and a couple of VC games, all this would not fit on a 32GB console.

Aside from the extended memory, there is no benefit to the premium. As you're from the UK, it might make more sense to get a 8GB and get an external HDD. Amazon are selling 8GB consoles for £150, whereas 32GB consoles currently cost around £235, which is not worth it, you could get an 8GB, 250GB HDD and choose which games you want for less than a 32GB console with 1 game.

Absolutely! Most of that 8 GB storage of the Basic model will be occupied for the system and software updates, so you will not have much left for actual games. If you for example would like to get the Mario Kart 8 DLC packs (highly recommended if you enjoy MK8), it would be difficult to even fit those DLCs on the Basic model. The 32GB Premium model will be a much more enjoyable console in the long run. (The 8GB Basic model is currently phased out by Nintendo.)

I haven't seen mention of how it includes the sensor bar and the charge dock, yet.

Virtual Console file sizes seem to typically range from about 40 MBs for the average NES game, to around 100 MBs for GBA downloads with the manual scans.

So I would say that 2.5 GB is room for more like ~40 Virtual Console downloads.

Indeed, somehow I'd gotten it into my head that GBA games were 150MB, but they're a lot smaller. So an 8GB would be fine for VC titles I guess.

I didn't actually notice the lack of a sensor bar / charge dock as I already owned 2 Wii's and the charge dock would have been left in the box. But I guess it has its uses.

Ok thank you for the replies. How often does the virtual console market get updated for Europe?

Every Thursday at around 2PM.

Usually 1-3 games get added every week.

The Nintendo Download Updates (EUROPE) posts on the news page of Nintendolife will inform you of upcoming VC releases for that week, way ahead of time.

Example: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/12/nintendo_download_1s...

Tbh, downloading retail games is fine if you want to spend the extra £60 on a reasonable hard drive. But in the long run it's cheaper to buy the games in the shops, especially when the drop in prices are far more reasonable than what digital promotions offer.
Besides, buying games at retail has the added benefit of that you can trade them in when you're bored of them, and you can return a game if you don't like it. If you buy a game digitaly and you don't like it, you're stuck with the fact that you wasted money on a turd that you can't get a refund on or even a swap for an equivalent priced game.
As I said earlier, just using the internal memory on a 32 gig for VC and indie is more than enough.

I have a Deluxe model, but for someone like me, I may as well have gone with the Basic.

I buy games digitally, so I had no use for the game that came with it. I sold it.
I buy games digitally, so both 8GB and 32GB were entirely inadequate for storage and I bought an external HDD.

Really, the most useful part of the Deluxe model for me is the charging dock. Which... I didn't even realize was a charging dock until like 3 weeks ago. I thought it was just a regular old cradle to hold the Gamepad. I've had a Wii U for over 2 years.

@SpookyMeths Surely the most useful part of the Deluxe model was the Digital Deluxe Promotion (which unfortunately ends in 3 days)?

That's exclusive to the Deluxe? I did not know that.

But yes, I have earned quite a bit through that, so I would have to say that is the most valuable aspect of the Deluxe model to me then.

get the cheapest Wii U you can find. Basic is fine. If you plan on downloading any Wii U games, you'll need to get an external hard drive anyway.

Get a refurburbished one from Nintendo. I think they are out of stock right now. Or, look for used ones.
Also, once you buy the cheapest Wii U you can find, buy refurbished Wii motes and nunchucks from nintendo. They are the cheapest wii motes around, plus they are as good as new. I got 4 of em. Nintendo has super high quality standards when it comes to refurbished stuff. Do not buy third party wii motes. The Dpads are terrible.

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people helping people
people are naturally good. not the opposite.

I bought myself the Wii U basic! It came bundled with super smash brothers (physical copy).

I would say the basic wii U is the better deal!

My reasons:

If you can get the basic wii u bundled with a game for a good price go for it! - The premium extra is not worth the money IMHO. Of course it depends on how much you have to pay for the premium and whats actually included (gamewise etc.).
8gb or 32gb memory? The difference is laughable at best, 8gb is enough for saving games, and if you want to download a lot of games you will have to get an external storage device anyway.
Personally I prefer the Wii U in white gloss. - Scratches and fingerprints are less visible on white high gloss surfaces compared to black !!! - I don't like consoles in gloss, though, mat is much better but this is just cosmetics and up to everyone's preferences.
I think the premium pack also includes a sensor bar, well, at first I thought I wouldnt be playing any old wii games but I have changed my mind in the meantime. I ordered a pack which contains a nunchuck, wii remote and a sensor bar. So if you want to play wii games you will need to decide if you can get the nunchuck and the wiimote cheaper without the sensor bar and if it makes sense to pay extra for the premium. There are also some plastic stands for example for the game pad, but I can make do without them, no really something worth paying extra IMO>

That's only in PAL SKUs, I think. They do the same thing with 3DS chargers being sold separately. Both are included in NTSC, except the charger dock and stand in the Deluxe Set.

To answer the question... Yes, I would get the Deluxe console. It always comes with a game, it has the benefit of 25 or so extra GB, it has the charger dock with stands, and it has the sensor bar if you are buying a PAL console. It depends on the price, too, but I have yet to see it at a price that much higher than the Basic, where it wasn't worth it.

Regardless, if you plan on buying a lot of download games, you'll have to buy an external hard drive, anyway.

Is it a good idea to buy the basic console and use a HDD?

Yes. After the ending of the Deluxe Program today, the premium and basic pack are both an equally good deal. The premium pack is more expensive, but have 24 GB more for virtual console titles.
If I were you, I would look which color is the best.

As you're in the UK, the basic is by far the best option right now. You can get it with a good game bundled for £165-180, and buy a 500gb external drive for another £30.

If you're not downloading retail games, then 8gb is enough, and if you are downloading them, then 32gb is not enough, so the built in storage is utterly moot. The pricing model is totally in favour of buying physical though. Nintendo charge £49.99 for Wii U games on the shop, but you can get most games much cheaper than that by going physical. Even the big, big titles can be pre-ordered for under £40 and a lot of older stuff like NSMB can be picked up under £15, but still £49.99 to download.

@Peach64
That is true, but from my experience, disc updates and smaller apps like Netflix run better off the internal flash, so those extra GB matter to me. The update data for CoD Black Ops II won't run off my external HDD, so I have to put it on the internal flash, and smaller apps like Netflix and Youtube fail to boot off of the external HDD, occasionally. I've had this issue since launch, with 2 different external HDDs, and putting the data on the internal memory gets rid of those issues, which is why it makes sense to have more, just in case, even though I figured this out after the fact.

If the buying price for the Premium Wii U isn't that much higher, I would go for that, no doubt.