I guess I'll add some positivity to this threat regarding my impressions with the Wii U.
I first got the premium Wii U in January for £259, (A deal at that time and the last one in the store too
), along with NSMBU.
After updating which took a little while, I first jumped into Nintendo Land, which seemed to me as the sort of Wii Sports for Wii U, getting you to see the potential and uses for the GamePad, which it definitely suceeded in. I love it alone for just the 2 player split screen capabilities! Me and my brother were just laughing playing all these competitive 2 player games and in deep teamwork mode when playing the co-operative games.
Then I played NSMBU, if I'm honest, I didnt really like NSMB DS, I think the lack of a "save whenever" option put me off the most and I thought NSMB Wii was alright, so I wasnt expecting to be wowed as much from NSMBU, but I can safely say it feels like the best NSMB I've played. I felt the game brought out more skill from me and the levels looked beautiful, espicially those coins!
Since then, MH3U and LCU both also got added to my collection, MH3U I wasnt certain I'd like, but I got it clicked with me as soon as I tried out the long sword. LCU clicked with me immeadiately really, in fact I recently got back into it to aim for 100%. Definitely reccommend LCU, not only does it have so much content (I just reached 72% today and I beat the game maybe a few weeks after launch), but I think its a game really anyone can enjoy.
As for the console itself, its funny, as I own both a 360/PS3 and the Wii U is in the middle of them, I just think look the at the size of the Wii U and to think its more powerful than PS3/360, and to boot is essentially whisper quiet. I also picked up the Wii U Pro controller a few weeks after the console and I can also say that has now beat my 360 controller as the most comfortable controller I've used. I would wish for more 360-like triggers, and perhaps analogue triggers, but I still think they do the job fine.
The Internet Browser on the Wii U is fantastic as well. I didnt see myself using it as much as I'd thought, seeing I dont use any console for internet browsing really, (apart from my vita, which has had it's internet browser capabilities increased a while ago), but the Wii U's internet browser is simply incredible and it amazes me to think nintendo did this, ha ha.
The coolest thing about the Wii U may simply be the Miiverse. I can seriously spend some time just looking at peoples posts, for reasons from discovering secrets in games, to funny pictures, to incredible artistic pictures and of course to try and add to these categories itself. It is really great the MiiVerse works so well, It essentially feels like Facebook and Twitter combined, but gaming focused, perfect for someone like me, and its a thing I can safely say makes the Wii U feel more like a next gen console with this addition.
However, I wont make it sound like a perfect console, there are still things I'm hoping will be added in time.
One of these things has to be friend messaging. I think that feature may be incorporated into MiiVerse kinda, but I dont think it should be there, I think there should be a seperate feature for friend messaging, seeing it'd save time booting up MiiVerse to see the message, plus you wouldnt know if the notification in MiiVerse is referencing a reply to a MiiVerse post of yours or a message from a friend.
The second thing, an achievement trophy. It baffles me why I see people against this idea. I dont see an achievement system posing any negatives, only positives, seeing as it only offers optional goals for players to aim for, and for me, gives me that extra incentive to aim for something in a game, I find it a really cool feature, and the lack of such a feature in the Wii U, does make me feel that its not even quite up to current gen standards.
The last thing is a more... useful account system. The account system present in the Wii U doesnt feel to have much of a point, it more feels like its just an account for that system and no integration with the network. I'd like it to include your game purchases, ability to download your account from the network on another's console and back again, and pretty much store everything your account has done I guess. It'd also be cooler if your Wii U account/3DS account could be linked together, but I'm not sure how possible that may be.
If Nintendo can add those things, the Wii U definitely satisfies all my needs. People criticise the Wii U for not being as graphically up to date as the upcoming next gen consoles, but I personally believe so far that 360/PS3 were fine with just the graphical capabilities they have, as I dont see any further graphical improvements making new gameplay possible or making games funner, or at least I havent seen evidence to suggest that yet. Really PS2 graphics still seem fine for me, one of the only games I can think of perhaps not being possible on a PS2 gameplay wise is perhaps Metal Gear Rising, with the Free blade feature. Dont get me wrong, the PS4 gameplay demos and such excite me for what they can do, but I dont feel they particularly mean anything new to gameplay just yet, but perhaps I'll be shown what they can mean soon?
To end, I think the Wii U will definitely do fine, maybe even great. If its just nintendo releasing games on it alone, we all know it will survive anyway, although I have quite a lot I'm looking forward to on Wii U this year, not including 1st party games.
Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade 2, Watch_Dogs, Rayman Legends, Mario Kart U, Mario 3D U, Retros Project (Hoping its Metroid U, but if not, they have to wow me with what they done instead for me to be interested), Wind Waker HD are all the games I can think of that I'm excited for, and theres others that I'm not so interested in coming for Wii U, so in my opinion it still looks a great year for Wii U, and there may be some more suprise games upcoming too.
Looking forward to E3!
