XBox or WiiU?

[Neil]

Over the last few days I've been trying to decide which to get my son for XMas. I was very VERY tempted to get the WiiU (to upgrade from our Wii), but in the end I've gone for an XBox. The WiiU seems to have the wonderful option of using the gamepad, and even to be able to play coop with one person on the Tv and the other on the gamepad, BUT, it comes at such a high price and seems more of a "nicety" than a "necessity!" ie: You can play split screen on the TV fine! And furthermore the XBox does just seem to have a bigger (cheaper) selection of games and is far far cheaper. Comparison:- To get what I'd want with the WiiU = ZombiU pack + Nintendo Land (I'd want this with the WiiU - £40) + Black Ops 2 (£40) = £380! To get what I'd want with XBox (250GB) = Forza 4/Skyrim bundle (£169) + Black Ops 2 (£40) + Controller (£21) = £230! And the kids can still play classic Wii games on the Wii! And I'm getting the feeling the XBox is still a more powerful work horse than the WiiU too! Finally, some of my son's mates have XBox's so he can borrow games too.

[MinionZombie]

I think you made the right call, particularly for your son as I'm sure a boy would get a lot more fun out of an Xbox than a WiiU. The WiiU is generally up-to-snuff for this generation, however the WiiU is supposed to be a next generation console. I've read a few things online (including gripes from developers) that it's just not going to be powerful enough to hang around too long compared to the next consoles from MS and Sony. With the Xbox you've definitely got a vast library of high quality titles to choose from, and be able to buy them for not an awful lot. The new Xbox is apparently going to come out for Xmas 2013, but there's always a moving period when going from one generation to the next, so there's still life in the console (and, again, with the large back catalogue you've got lots of choice) ... plus you'd want to hang off on a new console for a bit anyway. The sales of new consoles don't really pick up until after the first year I don't think, as most people wait to see what the deal really is across platforms (perhaps even waiting for fixes to be introduced - although I'd hope the next Xbox is built like a brick shit house after the original versions of the 360 ended up costing MS a billion dollars in a lawsuit - they won't want to make that mistake again).

[Neil]

I had hoped the WiiU with its funky pad controller would have been a media center too! Imagine being able to browse your films, TV series, music and photos (eg: on a NAS) through a simple flashy media center type interface on the gamepad? But nope! Big mistake Nintendo! I suspect Sony or Microsoft will offer this with their next console in an attempt to lodge themselves firmly in people lounges! And that £169 offer at Morrissons for the XBox is just too tempting! They're also offering the WiiU ZombU pack there for under £300 which again is very good!

[krisvds]

In your case I would have gone for the Xbox too Neil. I take it it's the only console in your house apart from the Wii? Nintendo are great at ... nintendo games. For a vast third party backcatalogue your best bet is either Sony or Microsoft. I've always owned a playstation besides a N64 (ps1), Cube (Ps2) and Wii (Ps3). Now that I own a Wii U (nothing beats Mario games, even MOMA in NYC agrees apparently: http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_o...-for-starters/) there is no doubt in my mind I'll end up buying the next Playstation or Xbox down the line. Zombi U is pretty brilliant BTW. Love it.

[Neil]

Can someone clear up for me how we (my son and I) can play online with the XBox? From what I understand you cannot play online for free? So if we get a single house hold XBox Live Gold account for the XBox? And then if two people want to play online at the same time (eg: co-op), the other person would just be a guest user online? Is that right? Given I'd want parental restrictions enabled for my son (to stop language/speech/pornographic avatars coming down), would this be easy to enable? Would it be easy to apply just to him? Or would it (given a single Gold account) be console wide?

[Danny]

Yeah you need to pay to go online with your own internet connection with the xbox, its a hell of a scam really. but it does have a much bigger library of games, many of which will go much cheaper now compared to the £59.99 ive seen for some wiiU games. I suppose your only downside is the xbox is , aside from being a price gouging, bottle necking out of date pc, its reaching the end of its life cycle and knowing ms the big releases will be nonexistent the moment the next xbox comes out in a year or two.

[Neil]

Yeah you need to pay to go online with your own internet connection with the xbox, its a hell of a scam really. but it does have a much bigger library of games, many of which will go much cheaper now compared to the £59.99 ive seen for some wiiU games. I suppose your only downside is the xbox is , aside from being a price gouging, bottle necking out of date pc, its reaching the end of its life cycle and knowing ms the big releases will be nonexistent the moment the next xbox comes out in a year or two. True.... But then you could consider when the new XBox and PS3 come out, who will want to develop games for the WiiU's hardware which will no doubt be completely out gunned!

[krisvds]

True.... But then you could consider when the new XBox and PS3 come out, who will want to develop games for the WiiU's hardware which will no doubt be completely out gunned! Nintendo?

[Neil]

Nintendo? But that's a small subset. Your main development houses, looking to push games to what the next gen consoles can handle, are they going to be interested in downgrading their games to a console (the WiiU) that has 20% of the power (for example) of the others? They'll simply skip it, just as many were not bothering with the Wii.

[krisvds]

True enough. Like I said earlier; at the end of the day there's only one real reason to buy a nintendo console: nintendo games. They will land the occasional third party exclusive as well; think The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles or Madworld on Wii and ZombiU, Bayonetta 2 and others ... But often those are niche titles. Most third party AAA games will most likely skip the Wii U.

[Neil]

There is talk of ZombiU coming to the Xbox & PS3!

[CoinReturn]

360 has a massive library of great games, both retail and on Live Arcade. I'd wait a year on the Wii U, when the software is really hitting it's stride. The console is great so far, but it's going to be a long wait for Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, and others.

[krisvds]

Yeah, long software droughts are common. Even after one of their consoles has been out for a while. Just look at the Wii where even the last Zelda felt like too little too late after months and months of party games and such. The long wait for Pikmin 3 might be alleviated a bit by a potentially awesome Aliens colonial marines which hopefully puts the gamepad to good use and the new Rayman.

[capncnut]

Looks like you made the correct decision, Neil. Unless Ninty pull a rabbit out of the hat, the Wii U will have the lifespan of a moth around a campfire. That's if the sales stats are accurate...

[slickwilly13]

Get a 360 or PS3. More games are available. I would wait a year or 2 on Nintendo.