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Trading in Your PS3 or Xbox 360 for a Wii U

By on August 15, 2011

Gamers love new consoles, there’s no feeling like getting home from a launch and plugging your new baby up for the first time. When the Wii U launches, many will camp outside their local game store, most will use cash, debit, or credit to pay for their new toy. But they’ll probably be at least a few gamers with PS3s, Xbox 360s and tons of games ready to trade them in towards the purchase of a Wii U. Well.. this would be a huge mistake, here’s why you shouldn’t trade in your current consoles for a Wii U.

When the Wii U hits shelves a decent amount of the launch titles will be ports of existing games. It makes no sense to get rid of your current console(s) to play games that are already available. Slightly better graphics isn’t good enough; you should demand completely new games.

Sadly, what we’ll see is ports with a lame tagline added to the end of their name, and some tacked on touchscreen controls. I don’t know about you—but I’m not too excited for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations “Animus Edition”.

If the PS4 or Next Xbox came out today no one would have the right to complain because their predecessors had a great run. The same can’t be said for the Wii U—the original never reached its full potential because it was handicapped from the start. During the Wii’s lifetime it’s only had about a dozen or so “must have” games (this is my opinion, I’ve owned one since 2007). And now it feels like Nintendo isn’t even trying when it comes to the Wii, the same could happen with the Wii U. Why trade in a PS3 that will have a 10 year life-cycle for something that Nintendo will pull the plug on in 5-6 years?

The perfect time to buy a Wii U is when the PS4 and Next Xbox come out. By then the price of the system should fall, because there’s no way Microsoft or Sony will price their new consoles above $399, that’s the sweet spot, Sony learned this the hard way, and it’s a mistake they won’t repeat (Microsoft won’t attempt a high price either). If the Wii U is in within $100 of these new consoles, Nintendo will have a tough time moving units. That’s why it needs a $250 price point à la Wii. This price probably won’t happen at launch—but Nintendo will have to lower its price when it’s no longer the most powerful console on the block.

Finally, the number one reason you shouldn’t trade in your PS3 or Xbox 360 for the Wii U is… you’ll miss out on some good exclusives. That’s why the only time you should even think about trading them in is when their successors are on the market. I like Nintendo first party games as much as the next gamer—but they rely too much on rehashes and they only release a few great titles a year. You’d be doing a disservice to yourself as a gamer if you owned a Wii U exclusively.

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I'm DeShaun Zollicoffer, and I approve this message/bio. "26-years-old, Proud Northeast Ohioan, a Gamer Without Loyalties, an Equal Opportunity Offender, Apple Evangelist, Apple Hater, Music Lover, Anime Junkie, Little Monster, Frequent Flyer, Dexter Fanatic, Title Case Addict, and Geek Revolt's Founder and Editorial Director."
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  • http://twitter.com/ItsMaEc Its Ma Ec

    I completely agree with everything you said bu there are some point I’d like to argue about :D

    1.People are expecting the Wii U to be cheap. You mentioned $250 right? At that price it will have PS3/360 level graphics. In other words it will be a current-gen console(in terms of power)
    2. The Wii U is rumored to be delayed until holiday 2012, by then I’d imagine Xbox720 would be announced.3. 3DS. Nintendo made a huge mistake with the 3DS launch. Most launch games were ports and/or remakes. They priced it at $250 so what makes you think they’ll price the Wii U the same?

    • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

      I think it’ll sell well at that price, I don’t think it’ll cost that much out the gate. My guess is it’ll be $299, the controller is where Nintendo shot themselves at. It drives the price up. Iwata said it himself, it won’t be cheap.

      http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306659/iwata-on-wii-u-price-this-is-not-going-to-be-cheap/

      Also you have to consider by the time the Wii U comes out the PS3 could be $199 and the 360 could be $149.

  • http://twitter.com/DarthDiggler Rich

    No one wold trade in X360 or PS3 for Wii U right now.  So far all the games that core gamers will want will be out on those platforms a year before Wii U ships.

    I don’t see Wii U replicating the Wii success.

    $299 will be a tough price to sell a console for that includes a tablet style controller.  This may be the first time Nintendo actually takes a loss on their consoles.

    • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

      I agree, I think Nintendo is in for a rude awakening.

  • http://www.facebook.com/xlangham Xavier Lerome Langham

    pretty much this article is the truth i refuse to but the same game over again. i’ll probably get it on day one but i wont be selling my WII or my PS3 to do so 

  • Anonymous

    Good grief! Are you taking Nintendo’s mis-steps with the Wii a little too personally? Do you really think hordes of PS3 and Xbox owners are going to sell up for a Wii U? And even if you did, why should you care? This article reeks of anti-Nintendo propaganda, rather than a neutral assessment of the situation.

    I doubt that Ninty is betting much on “stealing” gamers from other consoles anyway, they always go after new gamers, be it the very young or “casual” gamers, and they always get the bulk of them.