Okay, folks! I'm doing a little review of the U. Well I wouldn't really call it a review. It's more of my thoughts on the system and tell people if it's worth getting or not.

First and foremost:

Wii vs Wii U:
I know everyone on here is pretty much knows about this difference. But this is more for people who want to start getting into gaming and are clueless about all the current consoles on the market.

Wii: Came out in 2006
Wii U: Came out in 2012

Wii: Nintendo's motion control gaming system. It plays Wii games, and Gamecube games (the console prior to the Wii.)

Wii U: Nintendo's first HD console. It features motion control and non motion control. Its main controller is the Gamepad which features a touch screen. It plays Wii U games and Wii games.

Both systems feature a shop channel where you can buy games to play digitally. You can not buy Wii games digitally.

Okay got that clear out of the way!!

My thoughts on the system so far:
This console works like the 3DS. Like seriously. The Wii U is basically an oversize 3DS. 

(These images were taken off of google)

On the TV screen: For the home menu


 
You see miis (miis are avatars) everywhere with your mii in the center. The miis are from Nintendo's social network Miiverse. It shows current games people are playing and people's comments.

On the botton screen: Your Gamepad


It looks the screen on the 3DS on the home menu. Very easy to navigate. Like the 3DS you can move the apps around. I deleted some that came with mine. Youtube, Netflix, Huluplus, and Amazon. I wont use those at all.


You can switch between the two screens by pressing the X button on the gamepad. 

Features:
Miiverse: Nintendo's social network. Here is where you can join communities and talk to fellow gamers. People can send out tips, help other gamers who are stuck, draw neat pictures, taken screenshots from their games, ect. Nintendo has mods everywhere to control inappropriate context. So if you have little ones no need to worry.

Eshop: Here you can buy games! It can be current Wii U games, virtual console games, indie games, and apps such as Netflix.

Play your game anywhere in the house!: You heard me! You can switch your game from the TV to your gamepad screen. So if you live in a household where using the TV is a constant battle this will be the number solution. 

TV: Apparently you can use your U to control your TV or something like that. I don't know a lot about this feature. I dont plan to use it because I don't need to use my game system to watch TV.

Internet: You can use a web browser. I have yet to use it so I don't if it's like the 3DS's web browser (which kind of sucks lol).

Call chat: You can call people! I have yet use this feature. I will write more about it when I can.

Wii data to Wii U: You can transfer your data from your wii to your U. This is for people who don't want to use their Wii anymore. I haven't done this yet. I'm not sure if I will. I like to keep using my game systems. ^^

I will write more features as I come across them.

Setting up:

Very easy. It's easy to plug everything in. Once you do, you turn on both the console and the wii u pad (be sure to plug the wii u adapter in since the battery will need to be charged). On the TV it will give you a set of instructions to sync the gamepad and console. Once they're sync the set up will continue. You can opt do things later as the set up goes on. Like setting up the sensor bar. You only need to have senor bar set up if you are using the wii remotes. The gamepad does not use it nor does the procontoller. Once everything is a go you will go to the menu! Then you must give your system an update before you doing anything. To do that go into the setting by clicking the tool button on the gamepad.

Helpful tip: The Wii U will turn off to save energy after being idle for an hour (it will tell you this). In the settings you can turn this off if you want to. I did because I'm like pftt you can't control how I save energy. 

Troubles with setup:
As you're setting up it will ask you setup for Nintendo Network ID (this is how you use miiverse and the eshop). You can either make a new one or connect the one from your 3DS. I have a 3DS so I was like use existing one! I typed in my info and it wouldnt work because I needed to update my system to make an ID. I was like Nintendo why!? (they can be dumb at times) So what I did was hit make a new ID. I made a mii and then it says make your ID now or later. I hit later and it took me to the menu. After I did the update I hit the person icon on the gamepad. I then set my ID by using my existing one. The mii will change to one being using from the existing ID. I ended up deleting the one I just created to get to the menu. 

FYI: You can have many accounts on your U. It's like a computer. So you can set up a password to prevent people from playing your games or buying games.

Gameplay:
I got the Zelda bundle U. It comes with a digital download of Windwaker HD. I played the beginning of the game. About a good hour. The game plays smoothly and I see no lag what so ever. The game lets you pick the gamepad or the procontroller. I currently only have the gamepad and it controls wonderfully.  So far I have no issues with it and it feels very comfortable to hold. For WW the touch screen features are set up quite well! I don't think I will be playing this game with the procontoller.

Is it worth it?

Yes! If you love Nintendo as much as I do I say go for it! I know a lot people have given the system some flack because of the lack of games. The Wii U does have games. It's just not the games everyone wants. AKA 3rd party games. Some developers don't want to work with the system. Nintendo can be super picky and some 3rd party developers are just being jerks. People need to remember you play on Nintendo consoles to play their 1st party games. I'm not saying you cant play 3rd party games on their consoles. Because there are 3rd party games. So! Back to the system. It very easy navigate and Wind Waker HD looks stunning. I can't wait for future releases for their other 1st party games!

I will add to this review after I have handle the console more. My recommendation of getting it will not change though.

Congrats on taking it to the next level. I remember spending many a year trying to get my hands on the fabled Wii Console. It didn't happen until the very day Smash Bros Brawl released. And now it's obsolete and soon I won't even be able to play online with it.

At least Netflix will still work.

I never get systems at launched, but I try to get them within a year or two. I got my 3DS in November of 2012. The 3DS came out in 2011. 

Oh here's a little bit more info:
The internet browser. Is better than the 3DS. I went on the pokemon website Serebii. On the Wii U the whole site comes up while on the 3DS only the HTML stuff comes up. 

Playing VC games you can create your own save points whenever you want. It kind of ruins the way the games were made to be played, but you can still play that way if you want. 

Nintendo needs to put some N64 games on the VC. I would like to buy Zelda: MM. Right now they're putting GBA games on there and I have no idea why. That should be on the 3DS, but hey you can play NES games on the 3DS.

Just a note on a few things.  After reading your description of your Nintendo ID issue, I think it's because the Wind Waker Wii U was produced before the update to link the two.  You needed that update before you could do it.

On another note, I'm pretty sure you can buy from the Wii shop with points. Click on the Wii Menu icon.  You can still get to the store from there. I got a game off of Club Nintendo that I had to get from the Wii store rather than the Wii U shop.

Oh! So you can still access the wii shop?

As far as I could tell.  I haven't really tried outside of my download of A Link to the Past.

Well A link to the past is on the eshop. I have it on my wii so need for that. I was wondering if I bought stuff on my wii then I can only moves those games to the wii u?

Uh...  I don't remember what data is transferred over...  I haven't done it yet. ^^*

You fail me!!

So apparently there's this thing where your Wii U just craps out all of a sudden and the only way to fix it is to send it to Nintendo and pay $100 to have it repaired. It was so sudden too. One minute everything's fine, and then what seems like a power outage later... gone.

I just got the dumb thing last July, and it was brand new. I barely used it, but once BoTW came out I did play it pretty extensively. I mean I've had the original Wii since 2008 (Same day Brawl came out) and it hasn't given me ANY issues. 

And since I can't power the dumb thing on, I had to send it for repairs WITH my BoTW still inside. Hopefully I'll get that back. > >

Nintendo if this is your way of telling me I should have gotten a Switch, it's working.

I had my Wii U for three years now. It has never crapped out on me. Sadly sometimes people get bad consoles. Although it's usually a higher chance with launch consoles because they're working out the mass production bugs.

Mine was the Deluxe 32 GB one that came with Mario Kart 8 and a pass for all of the DLC, so I feel like it was pretty new. Hopefully I don't lose all of that too.

If the game itself is digital then it would be tied to your account. So if they wiped your Wii U you can redownload it and the same goes for the DLC. I'm not sure about saves sadly.

The only time you risk losing digital games is if you get a used Wii U or a 3DS that still has the old user's account. If that said user decided to delete their account for good then you lose all those games.

Yaaaaaaay my Wii U has returned...... and they did nothing!

I got a letter saying that it was physically tampered with, so they "couldn't" repair it and that my only option is to buy a replacement. Now I have to really tamper with it to get BoTW out of there.

They sell refurbished Wii U consoles on Nintendo's website, and their official ebay account, but at this point I don't even think it's worth it. For what? All I had on there were Zelda remakes, Mario 3D World (which is nice I guess, but 3D LAND is good enough) Mario Maker (which I hated) MK8 and BoTW (both of which are on the Switch).

If I did get a replacement, the only up-side is not losing the digital downloads, assuming they can transfer my NNID despite the old console not even turning on.

Whatever, before BoTW I barely played it anyway.

Then why did you get it?