darkSpyro

Dipping into the well of knowledge you folks have about this game again today.

So, we have been a wii family to this point...but after watching my boy play rayman over and over in Best Buy over the past few months...It looks like we may be taking the leap.

Couple questions:

1. Can we still play our wii copies of SSA/Giants on the wii u seamlessly? I see the base controllers are the same besides the tablet looking main controller...so that's nice for saving a buck.

2. I remember seeing a wii skylanders bundle with a blue wii last year that came with Gnarly Tree Rex...Is anything like that being done like for swap force? It would be cool to be able to do a special edition skylanders Wii U for a gift.

Yes, there is a Wii mode that basically turns the Wii U into a Wii. It's a great console! No Swap force bundles have been announced as of yet. Hope this helps!

This might help Skylanders Dad, too, if someone could be so kind as to answer: how does the WiiU game utilize the game pad? We only play on PS3 and Xbox 360 but might, MIGHT try the WiiU version if there is some ultra-cool reason to give it a spin.

In giants i know it would display the figures stats when u played on the big screen. I havent opened any of our wii u copied yet other then to gut out the figures. I can try in abit.

Quote: SlayerX11

In giants i know it would display the figures stats when u played on the big screen. I havent opened any of our wii u copied yet other then to gut out the figures. I can try in abit.

Same thing in S:SF, it displays the figure stats on the gamepad screen. During cut-scenes it shows the cutscene on both TV & Gamepad screen, although this is configurable in the options settings in the game.

-VM

Take the leap.. You will be glad you did. You can still use all of your old remotes and then also use the new Wii U Pro Controller Remotes with The Swap Force Game. There aren't that many games that allow their use yet, but I really like them. I just got a second one this month when they had a good price at Amazon.
FYI

Here's THE biggest reason, IMO, for the GamePad.

You can run the game Video JUST on the gamepad. No TV needed. So, if you have 1 TV in the family room, and somebody wants to play and someone else wants to watch TV, they can both do that.

It also makes it a bit more mobile. In my house I can take the gamepad from the play room to the kitchen (pretty close) and play from there.

But, IMO, with PS4 and Xbox One coming out, I'd be more inclined to wait for them. You can still have your Wii, not like you have to throw it away, but I feel the value I've gotten from my Wii-U hasn't met the price I had to pay. Black Friday sales might change that ratio though.

I would strongly recommend this. I've never played any of these games on the Wii because I started after I bought the Wii U, but I couldn't be happier with the way any of the three play.

Quote: Skylanders Dad

Dipping into the well of knowledge you folks have about this game again today.

So, we have been a wii family to this point...but after watching my boy play rayman over and over in Best Buy over the past few months...It looks like we may be taking the leap.

Couple questions:

1. Can we still play our wii copies of SSA/Giants on the wii u seamlessly? I see the base controllers are the same besides the tablet looking main controller...so that's nice for saving a buck.

2. I remember seeing a wii skylanders bundle with a blue wii last year that came with Gnarly Tree Rex...Is anything like that being done like for swap force? It would be cool to be able to do a special edition skylanders Wii U for a gift.

Black friday there bound to be some deal, either free gift cards with purchase or games etc. So if you can wait, then do so.
Otherwise atm the black system and the system with zelda are the same price, so i'd go with the zelda one.

I'm going to suggest you look at the age of the kids vs the system. I'm still prone to have the younger ones on the Wii or Wii U. It is a fantastic upgrade. Hard for me to add anything that has not been said already. Right now the only reason we are on the Xbox360 so much is that it has SWAP Force, and I am not willing to spend for another copy right now. I reckon 3 starter packs is enough (Dark, Normal, 3ds).

Personally PS4 is not on horizon until August next year. Starting price too high, and I have to get camera and 2 extra controllers.... Did I mention I just went Wii U and PS3? LOL Wanted the PS3 for Anime games and more mature titles, I don't expect on the Wii U. I have a used PS2 for the Anime titles as well.

Further to my argument, on why to wait on PS4 or XboxOne: No used games for a while.

Keep an eye out on blackfriday.com to see if a deal is worth going for. A lot of black Friday deals are not what they seem.

The recent price reduction of the unit, including the Legend of Zelda Windwalker game pushed me over the edge. Honestly one of the funnest games I have played. Love I can take that gamepad/tablet into other rooms and play. There is a certain Tank! Tank! Tank! game I recommend if you want something to play with the kids, up to 4. I love when we can team up. Even in SWAP force we keep playing team survival for that reason.

I agree with CRBeau1 regarding the age of the kids. We have a Wii and we went with a WiiU. I have two boys ages 8 and 5. I was not waiting for xbox1 or ps4 as the kids don't play the Halo/Call of Duty/shooting games. I think the WiiU has much better games for younger kids even though overall there are less games available...but we can still play the Wii games on it, so it was good for us.

My older is 6 and my younger is 2. We got into Giants heavy last year after his birthday (then worked back to SSA after Christmas). My wife is also a big wii fan, although she has recently brought up interest in Kinect...since no controller is necessary. I dunno, every time I go to Best Buy, my kid has a lot of fun with the Wii U playing the demos...and we've tried PS3 with the lego games and he's struggled a lot more. Which is why I'm leaning Wii again for sure. You guys are spot on.

Thanks for all the help folks. It'll be nice just being able to shelf the wii and use wii u exclusively for the games we already have in the wii library (especially SSA and Giants...still don't have 100% in SSA...Much work to do there. )

And yeah, thankfully my kid's b-day is at the beginning of December, so waiting for black friday is on the menu...and also why I'm hoping for a special edition wii u for swap force. Of course, I'm gonna try and scoop up some of the characters now. I don't want to try to fend with all the scalpers come Christmastime...plus the TRU BOGO 40% is as good as a deal as yer gonna find over the next few months IMO.

If you have younger kids, the WiiU is the way to go with a next gen console. You can never go wrong with Nintendo as far as kids are concerned. There are a large number of games you can give them and feel comfortable that there will not be questionable content. They have a really nice set up with the WiiU, the TV control is really nice and works better than my actual TV remote, so I use it frequently. The off screen play is great when you want to watch TV and they want to play. I often use it to play Virtual console games while I'm watching something. And lastly, they DO have a good selection of games for the older crowd, you might not get the wide selection of some of the other consoles, but if Call of Duty or Madden isn't a huge thing for you then it's all good.

I love the wii u. Mine was modded so I can play all my backups without changing disks(wii only at this time) it has an awesome interface that shows all the covers of all the games and you can even flip them over. I believe you can now play wii games from the gamepad but im not sure if it needs to be modded. Check ouy gbatemp.com for more info.

The one thing that concerned us is whether multiple kids would just end up fighting over who gets the gamepad and who has to use the Wiimote. We don't have any kids yet and we own the Wii U, but it's food for thought if that would just cause chaos. Of course, there's a beautiful thing called "sharing," but an argument or three seems almost inevitable with young ones and the Wii U.

I've got several of the consoles. Picked up a WiiU for LEGO City Undercover mostly, and have been pretty happy with it. My 3 boys (6, 4, 2) play it sporadically. Having the ability to play on the gamepad has been very nice when one wants to play a game but the other two want to do something else.

We diffused the Gamepad issues with a Pro Controller, which at least feels the same. Doesn't work with many games, though, for no particular reason (just not supported).

I am getting the PS4 but won't get SSF unless there's a good deal on it. Already have it for WiiU (Dark edition), PS3 (standard edition), and 3DS. Only way to get all the figures!

Quote: GooMart

The one thing that concerned us is whether multiple kids would just end up fighting over who gets the gamepad and who has to use the Wiimote. We don't have any kids yet and we own the Wii U, but it's food for thought if that would just cause chaos. Of course, there's a beautiful thing called "sharing," but an argument or three seems almost inevitable with young ones and the Wii U.

Simple answer, make them both use a Pro Controller. Saves wear and tear on the Gamepad sticks too, which kids just love to grind endlessly (I have to have my own 360 pad so the one I play with won't drift). Didn't work originally on the Mario, but they patched it so everyone can use Pros. Best Buy has been clearancing out their stock of White pads (since they are getting phasing out the White basic consoles) so if you can find one, you can save a lot.

Quote: Skylanders Dad

Dipping into the well of knowledge you folks have about this game again today.

So, we have been a wii family to this point...but after watching my boy play rayman over and over in Best Buy over the past few months...It looks like we may be taking the leap.

Couple questions:

1. Can we still play our wii copies of SSA/Giants on the wii u seamlessly? I see the base controllers are the same besides the tablet looking main controller...so that's nice for saving a buck.

2. I remember seeing a wii skylanders bundle with a blue wii last year that came with Gnarly Tree Rex...Is anything like that being done like for swap force? It would be cool to be able to do a special edition skylanders Wii U for a gift.

All Wii games, including the ones you mentioned, can be played on the Wii U just as they would on the regular Wii. You don't use the gamepad (tablet controller) you just use the regular Wii remote. Also, if you want, you can use the gamepad's screen to play Wii games on, but still control the game with the Wiimote.

No bundles have been announced as of yet.

I highly recommend the Wii U. I've had it for a few months now and it's great...you'll never play the old Wii again.

Quote: PortalMasterEon

Yes, there is a Wii mode that basically turns the Wii U into a Wii. It's a great console! No Swap force bundles have been announced as of yet. Hope this helps!

Quote: Dahvoo

Found this posting on Gamefaqs.com about an early leak of Gamestop's planned Black Friday deals. Here is the page related to Swap Force:

http://blackfriday.gottadeal.c...cans/GameStop/9

I'm interested to know if that Wash Buckler shown in the Wii U Swap Force bundle is an in-game variant or just a special figure. I can't make out if it's simply a Dark Wash Buckler or something new. Not hoping for another system bundle just to get one figure like Gnarly Tree Rex (this was way before anyone knew it would be released by itself over 6 months later).

EDIT: Although I didn't notice this was already mentioned in the Swap Force forum, it wasn't mentioned in this forum.

Hope this helps with the decision making process.

Me and my seven year old son love the Wii U BTW

Is that Swap Force Wii U bundle an 8gb? Yuck...

Those with a Wii U, 8GB vs 32GB what are we talking say if I have a Wii now and haven't run out of memory. Is more GB really needed?

ShaneG.

Quote: ShinkenRed

Is that Swap Force Wii U bundle an 8gb? Yuck...

Prob is for the price its at, could be Nintendo way to get rid of the last remaing whites, if it like the Wii blue bundle its just a white Wii in a box inside another box with the game.

I can just barely make out the blurry text, but I am nearly positive it does say 8gb. I do know Nintendo recalled just about every White Wii U, so this is probably them trying to move them.

If you're considering buying a Wii U, which is a fine machine, don't forget they will have software and apps preinstalled on the system. I think my 32g model has 5(ish)gbs of content out of the box, leaving an 8g user with just a few gbs leftover. You can buy external memory for it, but just bear that in mind when weighing your options.

Another thing for me to add. When you do buy a Wii U, you can transfer all of your Wii Data, to the Wii U, via SD Card. Just make sure you have the Wii to Wii U transfer application on both systems.

By the way, the Wash Buckler is metallic green, like the Gill Grunt.

Hopefully i can get one on ebqy for cheap otherwise prob will pass

I don't have $300 to spend...so i have to pass.