Why you Should get a Wii U Instead of PS4 or Xbox One

Out of the three consoles in the eighth generation of gaming, I chose the Wii U instead of the PS4 and Xbox One. Now that the holiday season is upon us, I am going to tell you why I chose the Wii U and why I recommend you do the same.

GREAT FIRST PARTY GAMES:

Nintendo has some of the best franchises in gaming. There’s Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, the list goes on! Recently, Nintendo has been releasing and announcing a bunch of first party exclusives for the console after a rather slow first few months. Now, there’s Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and let’s not forget about the upcoming Nintendo games. There's Mario Kart 8 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze! Also, who knows what else Nintendo has up their sleeve? With an already great library of first party exclusives, the library can only get bigger and better. This holiday, Nintendo also has the best reviewed games than any other eighth generation console on both Wii U and 3DS.

IMPROVING THIRD PARTY SUPPORT TO GO ALONG WITH THE FIRST PARTY GAMES:

Quite a few developers claimed that they won’t be supporting Wii U games because it’s either not selling or because it’s “underpowered” (judging by the beautiful graphics the Wii U can pump onto the screen, it’s not underpowered at all). However, there is a decent and growing amount of Wii U support from third party developers such as Ubisoft, Warner Bros., Disney Interactive, Sega, etc. Once the Wii U sells more consoles (which will definitely happened and is probably already happening), third party support will grow even more, which could make the Wii U the only console you would need to play third party games this generation. Pretty much this would mean great first party Nintendo games and third party games as well. Even though the third party support could be improved, it will definitely do so when more people buy the console.

THE INNOVATIVE GAMEPAD CHANGES THE WAY YOU GAME:

There is so much the developers can do with the Wii U’s Gamepad, and there are already a lot of games that use the controller in really interesting way. Even something as simple as putting a map on the Gamepad can be very useful, since you won’t need to pause the game to look at the map because it’s right there in front of you. Also, let’s not forget the fact that if you play multiplayer, instead of having the annoying split screen, one person can play on the gamepad and another person can play on the TV, if the game supports this feature, that is. In most games, you will also have the option to play the game directly on the Gamepad. If a family member wants to watch TV or something and you don’t want to give up playing your game, you can just play it directly on the Gamepad. That is a really amazing feature which can solve sibling rivalry once and for all!

There are also some games where the Wii U Gamepad downright makes the game more fun. In Super Mario 3D World, for example, there are some levels where you will need to swipe your finger on the Gamepad screen and open up doors to reveal items or touch blocks that will pop out for you to jump on them, which makes the game more fun and more complex. The Gamepad can either be used for simple convenience or used in really innovative ways.

THE NINTENDO NETWORK:

Nintendo Network, which is Nintendo’s answer to Playstation Network and Xbox Live, is a well-built network which has a bunch of amazing features. There is Miiverse, which is a Nintendo social network where you can discuss any game that is on the Wii U. There is also the Nintendo eShop, where you can download retail games, digital-only games and also a lot of old classic games on the Virtual Console.

Of course, there's also an Internet Browser, which is amazing on Wii U. If you're watching a video on YouTube, for example, you could make it so that the video you're watching will only be on the TV and you can do other internet searches on the gamepad while you're watching the video on the TV. That, right there, is brilliant. It also works really well and is really fast (but, of course, that also depends on your Wi-Fi).

NINTENDO NETWORK IS FREE, UNLIKE PLAYSTATION NETWORK AND XBOX LIVE:

On the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, you can’t even play online multiplayer without paying for a subscription to their networks! The Nintendo Network, on the other hand, is absolutely free! You could go on Miiverse, play online multiplayer, go on Nintendo TVii and everything else the Wii U has to offer at no extra cost! The only things you need to pay for are subscriptions from services that you would already need to get a subscription for whether you use it on the Wii U or not, such as Netflix. All of the other features are free! On PS4, Playstation Plus costs $49.99 a year and Xbox Live costs $59.99 a year! You already paid for a console, why would you want to pay for anything else related to the console other than games?

WII U IS THE ONLY EIGHTH GENERATION CONSOLE THAT PROVIDES A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE:

When I think next-gen, I don’t think of advanced graphics (the graphics on Wii U games are amazing, though), I think of what unique features it has to offer which could change gaming. In the Wii U’s case, this unique game changing feature is the Gamepad. The PS4 and Xbox One, on the other hand, don’t provide any unique new features that totally change the experience. No one cares about the Xbox One’s Kinect and the PS4 is just a more powerful PS3 with a useless touchpad (not a touch SCREEN like the Wii U) on the controller. I mean, you would be able to use the touchpad to do something such as fling stuff onto the screen on move around a map that is shown on the screen in the game, but wouldn’t it be easier and more convenient to have the map shown on a second screen without needing to interrupt the gameplay? Or in the case of flinging something on a screen, wouldn’t it be nicer to have an image of what you’re flinging on the screen with a controller that can also do a lot more? As for the Xbox One, it is more like an overpriced cable box with all of its new features that focuses on only watching TV which should not exist on a gaming device.

WII U IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE WITH THE WII WHILE PS4 AND XBOX ONE AREN'T:

I already have a Wii and don't plan on selling it, but backwards compatibility is a nice feature. PS4 and Xbox One do not have backwards compatibility. Let's say someone didn't get a PS3 and wants to play both PS3 games and PS4 games. That person would need to pay for both consoles and take up a lot of room on the shelf. A lot of people are defending PS4 by saying that the backwards compatibility is due to the PS4 having a completely different architecture than PS3, but I'm sure they could have put in a cell processor exclusively for backwards compatibility. Xbox One, though, has absolutely no excuse to not have backwards compatibility. The Wii U has backwards compatibility, though, and you can also transfer all your game data from the Wii to the Wii U so you can just sell your Wii.

WII U IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE EIGHTH GENERATION CONSOLE:

When I had a choice between Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One, I did not even consider the price. I just knew Nintendo makes the best games. However, some people do decide on consoles based on the price, so I feel it is necessary to talk about the price. The Wii U just went through a price drop and is now $299.99, whereas the PS4 is $399.99 and the Xbox One is $499.99. The Wii U is $100 cheaper than the PS4 and $200 cheaper than the Xbox One! You can get a Wii U and 2 games for almost the same price as a PS4 and a Wii U with 3 games for almost the same price as an Xbox One!The Wii U even comes with New Super Mario Bros. U and the Downloadable Content, New Super Luigi U bundled in with the console!  For great first party support, growing third party support and innovation, that’s a pretty good investment!

I really hope this helped you decide to get a Wii U this holiday season. It really is an innovative console, and deserves all the recognition it can get. Happy holidays!