Topic: Worth buying a Wii U now?

If you want to replay the Wii/Wii U catalogue, which has some gems and I doubt alll of them will be ported to the Switch, then go for it. Maybe try to get a refurbished one, but try it out.

If you want to play the biggest Wii U hits (Splatoon, MK, SSB) and have new games coming out for the system, the wait for the Switch.

That's the unfortunate other side of it: How many games has Nintendo been dragging forward since the GameCube? (A lot) They're virtually the same with maybe one or two added things and many of them will be drug forward to the Switch.

I'm thinking of things like Super Mario Strikers, the Baseball version (Mario Sluggers, I think), and a few others like that (Pikmin series comes to mind).

They've, essentially, be drug from: GameCube -> Wii -> Wii U in some form or another.

Hi all, after watching the video and seeing the line up of launch games for the switch i'm hesitant to buy one straight away. I've had a hectic few weeks so haven't got around to buying a wii u yet. I'm thinking it might be a good idea for the back catalogue of used wii and strange wii u games i could grab.

My only reservation is if any of these get ported but as others have said, it will likely only be the popular titles.

WiiU is definitely a good value. It's up to you but I'll mention a few pros of buying the WiiU rather than the Switch now:

• great library of WiiU games, mostly exclusive, which are getting cheaper by the day, while Switch games will be full price for a good while. For example, with Nintendo Selects (N's discount label) you can get three WiiU masterpieces such as Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, all for the price of one single new Switch game. Just saying, 18 quid a pop - you can't beat that.
• enormous library of Wii games available, most of them disgustingly cheap. The Switch is not backards compatible with anything, so 1) you'll have to stick with the games releasing on it and 2) if you missed Wii and WiiU and get the Switch, you'll miss two great generations of Nintendo games.
• WiiU consoles will probably get rarer and more expensive later on, as Nintendo has recalled all units from shops - on the other hand the Switch will only become cheaper after launch, with bundles and possibly price cuts.
• Healthy eShop with plenty of great indie games and VC games (also, VC and WiiWare in Wii Mode), while the Switch eShop will probably take a while to catch up.
• we don't know if and how many WiiU games will be ported to the Switch: we know of Mario Kart and Splatoon 2. We know nothing about SSB yet, nor any other game. I highly doubt there would be further ports after those anyway.

Personally, my strategy is to stick with WiiU at least another 1 or 2 years (I've had it for 4 years and I still have a lot to play), see where the Switch goes and probably get it later on, once it has an healthy library of games I like and better pricing. Again, I'm not saying you shouldn't get a Switch - the Switch will probably become a very attractive console with tons of games, but it'll take a while to get there. At the moment however, I feel WiiU is a much better deal, especially if you skipped the previous generations.

Plus, if your console's not too far from the bathroom, you can play on the loo with the GamePad, just like in the Switch ads!!

@OrangutanSamurai

I'm a Wii U owner, and quite frankly as much as I like the system, I recommend that you don't purchase it. It is essentially a dead system, with barely anything coming to it soon except for a Zelda game that can be better experienced on Switch. If the rumors were any indication, a good number of Wii U's biggest hits will be ported to Switch soon or getting sequels (such as Splatoon), so I doubt you'll miss out on the likes of Xenoblade X, Bayonetta, etc. Yes, there are likely games that won't be ported over, like Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, or Super Mario 3D World, but these are not games worth buying a entire system for; excellent games, but IMHO they are not enough to recommend buying a dead system with zero support.

Now if you haven't played Wii games before, now the situation is a bit less clear. Now the Wii U has a great value, but Switch will likely get Wii games too. If you really want to play Wii games though, I'd recommend getting a Wii for like $50, which would be able to play GameCube games too (which the Wii U cannot do), though make sure you don't buy the Wii Mini if you want to play GameCube games.

Basically, I'd recommend getting a Switch and a $50 Wii to enjoy Wii and GameCube games. The Wii U has a good number of excellent titles, but I can't really recommend it given its lack of support and lack of future.

However, if you really want a Wii U, make sure to get one from Nintendo refurbished ASAP for $200. That's the best place to buy them.