Nintendo Skylanders SWAP Force Bundle - Nintendo Wii U

I picked this bundle up for $217 on amazon warehouse deals, having purchased a open box TV from that division and having no issues I went for it. This was a good call because it was basically brand new, there was no club Nintendo code inside, but I am not sure if that was just because this is the value console or because it was an open box, nothing else was opened or other than new so who knows. I purchased this console because I wanted a game system that my kid could enjoy as he grows up, he is about to turn 3 and is starting to get a grasp on games so what better than a Nintendo console to show him the joy of gaming, and this fits the bill perfectly all while satisfying Dad's love of electronics and games as well. I like many around here am a longtime gamer, about 30 years or so so I've seen or owned every console that's come and gone for the most part and I gotta say I truly love this console and feel Nintendo has done a bad job of explaining how great it is to the general public. I have a gaming PC and a smaller form factor (but still powerful) Steam box that I use for my main "hardcore" gaming but I can see this WiiU easily eating into that time. Also it should be noted I hated the original Wii and despised the forced motion controls on everything. Sometimes (most of the time) I just want to use a simple gamepad control setup. The WiiU has many more control options and solves this nagging issue I had with the Wii. The other reason I hated the Wii was the lack of HD graphics, this is also solved very nicely and while the WiiU can't crank out the polygons like the PS4 or Xbox1 it does not really matter as much as these games on the WiiU look pretty damn good, especially the first party Nintendo games with their crisp and clear cartoon style that translates very well to HD. Besides if I want a framerate destroying machine I do not look to the Ps4 and Xbox1 anyways, I look to my gaming PC with dual radeon r290's in crossfire and my steam library. So essentially if you have kids or love Nintendo first party games (or both) this is really the console for you and me I can recommend it without any reservation. Pros: -Awesome gamepad with a nice screen that not only opens up new ways to play it without the TV but is built well and controls nicely. Plus the sound adds depth and you can plus headphones into it for late night gaming! -Finally a Nintendo console with HD graphics. -Very nicely (if not a bit quirky) integrated online features throughout the console that costs nothing to access. -Compatible with all Wii games and accessories (nice non-jerk move by Nintendo) -Many games seem built with drop in/out local co-op in mind that is far more seamless than most consoles I've seen. Plus these features extend to help facilitate kids/parents playing together without any hassle whatsoever. This is a HUGE plus -First party Nintendo new titles plus classics and app store games. -Small, sleek form factor that is quiet. -Console is very fairly priced AND games are also very nicely priced here on Amazon. Cons: -Lack of 3rd party game support could hurt this console in the long run -Small built in storage, really small. (must use usb or sd storage to expand) -Menus and general browsing is not exactly lightning fast, it's not bad but its not super speedy either. -Large update out of the box that may upset some with slow internet.

This is my second time I'm buying a wii u. I originally bought a wii u delux with the super Mario 3d world and let my friend Alex borrow it to play call of duty on it. But he went and got high and broke the game pad and later on ended up selling my wii u for drugs. I put this as a warning to becareful who you let borrow your stuff. The wii u in my oppion is a great video game system. *it works great for people who have slow internet like me running at125khz through my phone * graphics are incredible which is great if you want to play Mario kart 8 or etc. *free multi universe online play where you can chat over the wii u with friends cons you cant download anything from the Nintendo shop very selective on games it has. It doesn't have the latest games such as call of duty black ops 3 also if your game pad isn't responding remover cover and wipe dust will save you of hours of stress.

Let me tell you that first of all when i bought this bundle it was going for around $220 new! Which was a great price for a wii u as wii u prices hover between $275-$300 nowadays albeit with better games of course. I never bothered with skylander as i sold that on ebay with the figures for $20. Bringing my total cost to just over $200 for the wii u with nintendoland. Nintendoland is what you would expect with a pack in game. Just to show off what the wii u can do. Its a good game dont get me wrong but not something i would purchase. The wii u itself is of course why i bought it as the base set with no games were going for $250 at the time. To this day its still kicking. heavy usage from mario kart and smash bros. A great gift for kids and grown ups alike!

The wii u Swap Force Bundle was given as a gift to a nine year old. Now each version of bundle he ranted and raved about so ultimately the bargain of this system bundle won out in the end. I'm glad it only cost me the same as the set alone because when the time came around these were no longer as popular. Interesting fact: he prefers collecting the figures to actually playing the Skylander game. The Wii U system, the entire family loves.

OK. Let's be clear here: The Wii U is actually a great system. However, I was just the unfortunate victim of bad luck. I received my Wii U and spent the next 5 hours trying to download the data for the update that's required before you can really do anything. I would receive errors after every 1-10 minutes of download time. I even got on the nintendo support line and received an hour of help from one of their tech guys. It took over four hours for the download to complete and then half an hour for it to install. Then, I thought my trials were over, but no! I go to play a game and - guess what? The system cannot read the disc. I try another disc. and another. and even the one that came with the system! Nothing! It cannot read any discs! This whole thing was a complete dud and totally unusable. I decided to return it. Now, onto more positive: I went out the following day to buy a bundled Nintendo Wii U deluxe system from Target - it was actually CHEAPER than this Skylanders bundle and it's the deluxe version with a game I actually would play (Mario 3D world), not this Skylanders thing. When I went to set up the Deluxe Wii U, the upgrade download took about 5 minutes and it works perfectly. Long story short: I am a victim of bad luck and wasted hours of my life trying to make a defective unit work. Once I received a unit that did work (and at a cheaper price from Target), it works perfectly and I had a fun day yesterday playing Wind Waker.