Now Is It Time To Buy A Wii U?

With 'Mario Kart 8' just around the corner, many people are wondering if now is the time to to buy the next gen Nintendo home console. A few game journalist in the gaming industry believe that this might be the right moment to purchase the system, but is it really?

Let's take a brief look at the history of the Wii U right now; the console came out in November 2012 with 32 games available at launch. Now at first glance that sounds like a lot until you look at the titles. Most of them were last gen ports with only a couple being actually new and exclusive to the console.

Talk among gamers of purchasing the system truly did not begin until January 2013 when Nintendo announced that they would release 'Earthbound' on the Wii U's Virtual Console service. For those unfamiliar, 'Earthbound' is a rare Super Nintendo title that can go anywhere between $120-$180 with just the cartridge alone. If you have the instruction manual and the box, the price jumps to $300-$500.

So when news reached out that you can download this rare title for the low price of $10, people jumped on it and some Wii U consoles sold; all for a downloadable game from 1995. For some it was justifiable, for many others they were not going shell out $300 to play an emulated game and so the wait began again for those that chose to hold out.

Then came 'Pikman 3', although the game was met with good reviews and praise from fans and reviewers alike, the number of units sold was lower than Nintendo hoped which begged the question of the Wii U's worth.

The the HD remake of 'The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker' was released. The remake came out to tide fans over until the Wii U Zelda title gets released. Although it came with some new features and updated graphics it got some of the Zelda faithful to purchase the system, but there were still those that wanted to hold out until more titles were released for them to enjoy.

Shortly after was 'Super Mario 3D World' which pushed more sales for the system but still not the number Nintendo was hoping to reach. Now with 'Mario Kart 8' Nintendo is bundling the game with a 32GB Wii U, a copy of Mario Kart 8, a red racing wheel, and a Wii Remote Plus, the package will be available on May 30 for a cost of $330. Additionally those that register Mario Kart 8 on Wii U can download one of 4 Wii U titles for registering the game.

Here's the thing though, is it now time to get that Wii U? The console has two Mario games, a Zelda remake, a long awaited Pikmin sequel and the upcoming installment of Mario Kart with Bayonetta 2 and Super Smash Bros., on the horizon. You would think this might be the perfect time to purchase this next gen system but, however, that time is not now.

With little third party support and game releases being far and few between it's not the time to buy one yet, not for $300 anyway.

I would say the best time to get one may actually be Black Friday this year if Nintendo decides to mark it down for the busiest shopping day of the year. It may even be next year if they decide to do another price cut to maybe $250. Plus some of the current good titles that are currently out will be marked down as well making purchasing the system and the game cheaper and have a better value.