Opinion: Get a Wii U for the Holidays

Its holiday shopping season, and that means that friends, loved ones, frantic uninformed parents, and kids with too much holiday spending cash are going to swarm retail outlets looking to buy a next-generation console. The Xbox One and PS4 are wait listed and people are going as far to try their luck on eBay and Craigslist to try and get them. This has resulted in some less than favorable transactions, such as accidentally purchasing a picture of an Xbox One instead of the console itself. Luckily, we here at Arcade Sushi have a solution to all your problems. Instead of joining in the ravenous hoards of gamers trying to get their hands on Sony and Microsoft’s latest products, simply get your friend or loved one a Wii U.

Now before you ignite the comments into an all-out flame war, let us explain. We aren’t saying that the Wii U is better than the PS4 or the Xbox One. What we are saying is that the Wii U is the best holiday purchase right now. It’s the best use of your money, so to speak. Why? Well there are a couple reasons.

Currently, the software line-ups for the Xbox One and the PS4 are not that impressive. The highest rated games for both the PS4 and Xbox One are multi-platform titles like NBA 2k14 or flower. The highest rated exclusives struggle to break an 80 on Metacritic with some of the biggest AAA launch titles, like Knack and Ryse: Son of Rome falling into the 50 range! Granted, this will change as the consoles have more time for developers to produce blockbuster titles, but for now the software for both these consoles is mediocre at best.

Meanwhile, on the Wii U end of things, we have seen recent releases like Super Mario 3D World scoring perfect scores all over the internet, and it’s a console exclusive. In fact, it’s the Wii U’s highest scoring title. The second highest scoring title in recent days is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, which many people are saying is the definitive version of the classic Zelda adventure. There are a ton of other 90-80 scoring games, like Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U to choose from, and the Wii U even plays high scoring multi-console games like Skylanders Swap Force and Rayman Legends.

Now, the fanboys out there are immediately going to say, “that’s not fair. The Wii U has had an extra year to make games!” And the faboys would be correct. But that’s actually the point we are trying to make here. You buy a gaming console to play games, right? So why not purchase the console with more games to play, if only due to the virtue that it has been out longer. Next holiday season, when the PS4 and Xbox One have had an opportunity to build up their software libraries, look into purchasing them again.

“But wait!” the invisible voices of skepticism fueling the console war scream. “We aren’t purchasing the Xbox One and PS4 for the games that are out now. We are purchasing them for the games that are going to come out.” Once again, totally correct. The next-generation consoles are going to have some pretty awesome titles like Titanfall. The thing is, nothing is preventing you from saving up your holiday money and purchasing these consoles when these new games come out. Not to mention, the Wii U also has its own future promise in titles such as Super Smash Bros. and whatever Zelda project Nintendo has up their sleeve.

Finally, there is the simple truth that the Wii U is just cheaper. You can pick it up for under $300, or if you are willing to actually drop the 300 you can pick up a bundle with a game. Similar bundles for the Xbox One cost over $500! Heck, you can pick up the Wii U and the 3DS each with a game for the same price that you can buy an Xbox One. Not to mention you’ll have to spend less cash on controllers for the Wii U because old Wiimotes work perfectly fine.

If you want to get the best bang for your holiday buck, pick up a Wii U. Our recommendation is to get it with Super Mario 3D World and to do a huge Christmas playthrough with your friends and family. If you are in the market for an Xbox One or PS4, however, put that on your list for next holiday season.