Wii-U or Switch for TV-only?

[Achilles97]

I have an original Wii and I enjoy it but I haven't played it for months. I was considering a Wii-U or Switch but I do not know enough about them to determine the best choice for my needs. I would like to game at 1080 on a TV. I am not interested in using the hand-held feature of the Switch. I am interested in games like Zelda and Mario.

What would you recommend for me?

Thanks!

 

[nurturedhate]

It's the switch hands down. A lot of the better U games were ported to the Switch: BOTW, MK8, DK:Tropical Freeze, etc. You also get Mario Odyssey, a new smash bros games this xmas, Octopath Traveler as well. The only reason I go back to my U at this point is for Pikmen 3.

 

[Red Hawk]

If you're buying a new console, get a Switch. Like nurturedhate said, a lot of Wii U games have been ported to Switch, or have received sequels that eliminate the need for the Wii U predecessor. The Switch is Nintendo's current console and will continue to get new games, while the Wii U is a dead platform and its library is set in stone. The Switch is a fair bit more powerful than the Wii U, evidenced by Mario Kart 8 running at 720p on the Wii U and at 1080p on Switch (while docked).

 

[purbeast0]

See which one has more games you want to play and buy it.

 

[NTMBK]

The Wii U will work with your existing Wii games and Wii remotes, and because it connects to your TV over HDMI will generally give a better picture quality than playing the same Wii games on original hardware (unless you forked out for upgraded cables).

Switch is the better option in the long term, since it's still getting lots of new titles, but the Wii U has plenty going for it.

 

[Achilles97]

Thank you everyone for your help. It seems clear that I should focus on the Switch. I appreciate the advice.

 

[Red Hawk]

Personally, if I had a Switch but not a Wii U, a Wii U would still be worth it to me for Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD. But that's just me being a Zelda megafan.

 

[Aikouka]

It depends on what you're looking to spend too. The Switch isn't terribly cheap unless you're willing to stick with the default setup. Unfortunately, the peripherals are all fairly pricey -- even compared to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For example, the Pro Controller is $70, and it does really help in games... especially if you have bigger hands.

Now, I'm mostly bringing this up because you might be able to find a good deal on a Wii U... especially if people are dumping them for a Switch.

Also, keep in mind that it's possible to emulate a Wii U. If you have a decent PC, you can play some of the games with better graphics than you'd see on the Wii U. To rip your own games, you'd need a specific drive, or you'd have to use more nefarious ways to get the games you own onto you computer.

 

[Red Hawk]

Yeah, emulation and piracy is really not part of the conversation of which device to buy. If he was looking to emulate, there would really be no point in buying a Wii U to begin with, now would there?

It does bear mentioning that the Wii U has a few other advantages over the Switch. One, it has more video streaming apps: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Youtube can all be watched on the Wii U, while the Switch only has Hulu at the moment (the Wii U's Youtube app suffers from frame rate stuttering, though). Two, it has an easily accessible library of retro Nintendo games through the "Virtual Console" on the Nintendo eShop digital storefront. Virtually every Nintendo system, except Gamecube, is represented. Nintendo isn't going to put any retro games up for sale individually on Switch, but rather is going to include an assortment of games with their online subscription service for Switch. It hasn't launched yet, but when it launches it's just going to have a bunch of NES games. Eventually the Switch's retro games catalog may surpass the Wii U, but right now the Wii U is a far better choice if you want to play retro games.

 

[Achilles97]

Hmm, the retro game aspect is something I hadn't thought about. I'll do some more research before I decide. Thanks a million

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Also, keep in mind that it's possible to emulate a Wii U. If you have a decent PC, you can play some of the games with better graphics than you'd see on the Wii U. To rip your own games, you'd need a specific drive, or you'd have to use more nefarious ways to get the games you own onto you computer.

Cemu is really only good for a select few games IMO. If you're just looking to play Breath of the Wild it's amazing since there are mods to render at 1080p, 1440p, and 4k. On my Xeon E3-1231v3 I can get 50-60 fps in the early game, so I imagine someone with an unlocked cpu like an i7-8700k or i5-8600k on a high clockspeed can maintain 60 fps locked. There are a few other games like Wind Waker, Mario Kart 8, and Super Mario 3D World that run better on Cemu than real hardware also, but any game without a full shader cache to download is a stuttering mess. And plenty of the best games on the system are completely broken (eg Bayonetta 2 or Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze).

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Hmm, the retro game aspect is something I hadn't thought about. I'll do some more research before I decide. Thanks a million

Wii U's Virtual Console looks pretty bad for NES games IMO. Really blurry and dark. If you watch the My Life in Gaming youtube channel where they compare picture quality for various emulators and original hardware with different output types and hardware mods they just shit all over the Wii U VC for NES games. I wish I could provide a link to a specific video, but I can't remember which. Maybe on their NES Classic review or one of their videos on getting the best picture out of your NES. If you're into retro gaming it's a great channel for finding out the tradeoffs between different hardware, emulators, upscaling boxes, and connection types.

 

[Achilles97]

Thank you, everyone. I'm probably going to keep and eye on the Switch.