The Wii U had a messy commercial story, but the machine itself turned out much better than its reputation. I picked up a 32GB refurbished black Wii U with the GamePad from GameStop in June 2020 for $129.99, and the highlight was quickly how many genuinely great games landed on it — Breath of the Wild, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and the definitive remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. It feels like a prototype Switch: the GamePad’s portable second screen works well, as long as you stay within range of the base console.
What it is
Nintendo’s early-2010s console, built around the GamePad and a home-console-plus-second-screen identity it never quite sold people on. It’s also a very practical machine once you factor in full Wii backward compatibility and a healthy homebrew scene.
Why I like it
Nintendo pulled out the stops on first-party games and remasters here, and hardly anyone played them until the Switch re-releases years later. The hardware is now cheap, flexible, and covers a lot of ground in one box: native Wii U software, full Wii compatibility (including accessories), the original GamePad experience, and homebrew.
Pros
- a genuinely strong late-gen Nintendo library and remaster catalogue
- full backward compatibility with Wii software and accessories
- affordable, and a very capable homebrew platform
Cons
- the commercial-failure baggage still colours how people think about it
- the dual-screen concept was rarely used to its full potential
- the GamePad only works close to the base console