Why not a Wii?
Author
Discussion

McAndy

Original Poster:

15,303 posts

197 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Hi All. My family, including me, really aren't into gaming. We have a few endless runners/racing games on the tablets for the kids, but nothing more.

The kids love playing on their aunty's Switch, but I don't feel I can justify >£300 (probably >£500 once accessories equivalent to the below get added in).

However, with second hand prices from Cex (for example, since they have a decent warranty) so low, why not a Wii? For a little over £150 I can get a console, Mario Kart wheel, microphone, extra controllers, and a few games. My wife would approve if she can do dancing and karaoke (please advise of games that satisfy thaose criteria).

Is it ridiculously good value, or am I missing something?

rustyuk

4,705 posts

231 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
You can get them even cheaper on eBay. They are great consoles but the main benefit of the Switch is that it's portable and your kids won't be hogging the TV.

dundarach

5,875 posts

248 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Facebook Wii - £50 all in.

Softmod it - very simple - free

You can then legally download all the games you own, including Wii and pretty much every system before it.

Mine even plays Amiga games (which I own)

The Rotrex Kid

33,672 posts

180 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
I've still got a wii hooked up. I play Just Dance with my daughter, she loves it.

Mario is still good fun as well. Lots of great titles still available for a console launched over 15 years ago!

Luke.

11,628 posts

270 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Why not a Wii U?

Portable too.

hotchy

4,759 posts

146 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Hasn't most the Wii online servers etc shut down now?

Otherwise get one on gumtree for pennies.

dundarach

5,875 posts

248 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
hotchy said:
Hasn't most the Wii online servers etc shut down now?

Otherwise get one on gumtree for pennies.
They have, however if you softmod it you can change the ip address'es to fan run servers, so very much still online.

(Still get hammered at MarioKart however frown )

WonkeyDonkey

2,532 posts

123 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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I'd personally go for a wii u.

Fantastic console with a lot of games that were ported to the switch.

I found the Wii looked horrible graphically at the time being non-hd, I can't imagine it's looks have got much better.

sjg

7,633 posts

285 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Luke. said:
Why not a Wii U?

Portable too.
This is what I did. Plays all the old Wii games on disc, uses the old Wiimotes and accessories.

Some of the biggest Switch games like Zelda: BOTW and Mario Kart 8 are straight ports of the Wii U versions so play those and put off buying a Switch for a while longer. Quite a few decent Wii U exclusives to play too.

TREMAiNE

4,113 posts

169 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
sjg said:
Luke. said:
Why not a Wii U?

Portable too.
This is what I did. Plays all the old Wii games on disc, uses the old Wiimotes and accessories.

Some of the biggest Switch games like Zelda: BOTW and Mario Kart 8 are straight ports of the Wii U versions so play those and put off buying a Switch for a while longer. Quite a few decent Wii U exclusives to play too.
OP, it's worth saying that if you did go down the Wii U route and look after it, I can guarantee it'll be worth a lot of money in the future.

McAndy

Original Poster:

15,303 posts

197 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Thanks All. To be honest, I hadn't heard of the Wii U, hence no mention. (I did say I wasn't a gamer! hehe) Are all of the controls/wheels/microphones/sensor bars etc. the same as the Wii?

I realise ebay will be cheaper, but I don't mind paying a little extra for warranty and some kind of guarantee of condition upon purchase.

TREMAiNE said:
OP, it's worth saying that if you did go down the Wii U route and look after it, I can guarantee it'll be worth a lot of money in the future.
I do tend to take care of equipment/machines purchased. What makes you say it'll hold value?

McAndy

Original Poster:

15,303 posts

197 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
I've just looked at Wii Us and realise my question over controller compatibility may have been foolish?

It appears to be a portable option, as per the Switch; is that correct? If so, I'm not worried about that. If that's the only "upgrade" I'm not sure it's worth an extra ~£85 to me.

Jamescrs

5,667 posts

85 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Wii's generally still work very well even now, we have one at home bought during lockdown and the kids still enjoyed it, Mario Kart is still great fun.

They don't work online anymore as standard but for family fun they are hard to beat for the money, don't pay more than £50-£60 with games and remotes included

TREMAiNE

4,113 posts

169 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
McAndy said:
Thanks All. To be honest, I hadn't heard of the Wii U, hence no mention. (I did say I wasn't a gamer! hehe) Are all of the controls/wheels/microphones/sensor bars etc. the same as the Wii?

I realise ebay will be cheaper, but I don't mind paying a little extra for warranty and some kind of guarantee of condition upon purchase.

TREMAiNE said:
OP, it's worth saying that if you did go down the Wii U route and look after it, I can guarantee it'll be worth a lot of money in the future.
I do tend to take care of equipment/machines purchased. What makes you say it'll hold value?
It was a monumental sales flop, only 13.5 million units were sold. It was good console, with a great library of games but it came out too late for the hardware it had vs. the PS3 and Xbox 360 which had already been on the market for 6-7 years.

It is compatible with original Wii games and accessories; so you have a vast library of games to choose from, as well as the Wii U specific games.

As this is PH, I'll explain it in car terms...

The Wii U is an excellent car that sold poorly at launch, but in the future, we'll be looking back at it fondly and wanting to buy one again but there won't be many left (and weren't many to begin with) which will drive prices up and then drive demand up too.
It's a guaranteed future classic.

McAndy

Original Poster:

15,303 posts

197 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Jamescrs said:
Wii's generally still work very well even now, we have one at home bought during lockdown and the kids still enjoyed it, Mario Kart is still great fun.

They don't work online anymore as standard but for family fun they are hard to beat for the money, don't pay more than £50-£60 with games and remotes included
I guess online is for an additional games library and global leaderboards? If so, I'm happy that discs are cheap and a family leaderboard will suffice.

McAndy

Original Poster:

15,303 posts

197 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
TREMAiNE said:
As this is PH, I'll explain it in car terms...
Nice touch, thanks! hehe

superpp

514 posts

218 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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don't think a Wii has HDMI, so make sure your TV still has the relevant connections.

sjg

7,633 posts

285 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
McAndy said:
I've just looked at Wii Us and realise my question over controller compatibility may have been foolish?

It appears to be a portable option, as per the Switch; is that correct? If so, I'm not worried about that. If that's the only "upgrade" I'm not sure it's worth an extra ~£85 to me.
“portable” in that the main controller / screen can be used without a TV in many games. Handy if someone else wants to watch TV while you play a game. It does need a wireless link with the base unit though.

Siko

2,065 posts

262 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Apologies if this is not permitted but if anyone wants WiiU in amazing condition at a very reasonable price before xmas then drop me a PM. The ipad controller thing still works perfectly and I'd throw in a load of kids games (mainly Lego ones) too. Otherwise I'll just put it on the bay. They are a brilliant console though and we used to play this a lot as family before my son got into Xbox and my daughter found mobile phones biggrin

northwest monkey

6,370 posts

209 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
McAndy said:
I've just looked at Wii Us and realise my question over controller compatibility may have been foolish?

It appears to be a portable option, as per the Switch; is that correct? If so, I'm not worried about that. If that's the only "upgrade" I'm not sure it's worth an extra ~£85 to me.
Don't make the mistake of thinking the Wii U is portable - it really isn't. It's basically a console controller with a screen on it. You can't take it out in the car etc. Good console but we found ours pretty unreliable for a Nintendo product (had to send it away for a fix after the console & controller refused to "talk to each other"). Good console though if a bit of a gimmick in some respects. We replaced the Wii U and a 2DS with a Switch. That ended up gathering dust & was eventually sold...

The original Wii sounds like it would be perfect for you & if your kids are younger there are a million games & accessories for it - most cost buttons these days.