Anyone have experience with the Wii U?

[sklineho]

We're getting one for my 5 year old son for Christmas. I know little to nothing about it. He's asked for one but isn't one to spend much time indoors any but I figure it can't hurt to get him one (I'm out of other ideas anyway, ha!) We've gotten him two games and two of the old style Wii remotes as I'm told you need those for some games. We're getting him the white version with an 8 GB hard drive. Are there any other accessories we may need? The games he' getting are Skylanders, New Super Mario U, and Wii Party U. I figure those should be enough but I want to know if there are any other accessories/controllers he'll need. Thanks.

[jmeitrem]

I bought one earlier this year just to beat the New Super Mario U game with my wife, but to tell you the truth I think we had more fun playing the NintendoLand game that came with the 32gb version. We sold that one after we beat Mario, but just bought another Wii U off Craigslist last month because we missed playing those NintendoLand games...and I had to try the new Wind Waker HD. Sounds like you have all that you need though!

[michaelfrye1970]

You need to get nunchuks for the remotes. so you will need three in all. Be sure you get a starter pack for the skylanders so it has a portal included. And you will want more than the three the game comes with so look for deals on the three in one packs.

[sklineho]

Actually I discovered after doing some research that the Wii U will come bundled with a Skylanders starter pack starting November 15. The starter pack alone cost $80 so that's a pretty good deal, as it will still cost only $300 for the Wii U, NintendoLand, and the Skylanders starter pack. So we're going to buy that. As to the extra figures, that's what we're asking relatives to get him when they ask us what he wants. Between all of this and that Playmobil Pyramid he's getting that he won't stop asking for, I'd say he'll have an eventful Christmas. We usually only get him one big gift and some small things so as not to spoil him but he'll do well this year.

[cookderosa]

As soon as he's school aged, he's going to want to play with friends, and Playstation/Xbox are much more popular with the kids and won't require a 2-piece battery eating controller configuration. I should have sold you our Wii bundle. I had over $1100 in and was happy to get $250 on Craigslist for ours, and everything was in perfect condition.
If you really want the Wii, buy used. Visit your local Gamestop first!!

Forget it- I see you're looking at the hand held system. My kids are not into those anymore, so I can't really make a good suggestion.

[sklineho]

I can't shop at our local gamestop, the people who work there are the definition of irritating. We have a PS3 and xbox 360. Neither get played much. I have a fairly powerful PC so if he wants to play the more popular "mature" games. when he's older he can do it on that, it's better than any home console. But for now the Wii U seems to be the best console as it offers something different and lets face it, It's cheaper. He loves Mario games and those aren't on ps4 or xbox. Plus i see the wii u plays original Wii titles which is a plus, the other new systems do not play older titles.