Wii-U or 3DS XL?

Hi all

My 6 year old, and nearly his entire 1st grade class, has become completely obsessed with Pokemon. I'm a bit too old to have interacted with Pokemon before this, but I really enjoy learning along with my son. It's a great, complex, strategy based game that makes chess look like, well, checkers.

Christmas is coming and other parents and I have been discussing the possibility of getting the kids a Nintendo based platform, but none of us know the best platform to introduce. Therefore I found this community and decided to ask the experts!

Our kids are bright and we are all techie, Boston-based families. However, after reading hours of reviews, I still can't decide whether buying the more portable 3DS XL (with either X/Y or ORAS limited systems) or home-based Wii U option would be best. I understand the pros and cons of the general platforms, but I'm interested in your opinions on which platform will be best today and any insights into which platform will be better in 3-5 years. Our boys would love the ability to play each other online as well, but it seems to me that this will be relatively standard application on either platform.

Thanks so much in advance, good gaming to you all!

CDP

As the person above me said, 3DS is definitely the better option. If he loves pokemon, you need a handheld. And I mean need. The entire DS line is practically built for pokemon. Wii U on the other hand, not so much.

If I were you, first console I would try getting my hands on is 3DS.

Currently, we've got plenty of Pokémon titles available for it, such as Mystery Dungeon, XY, and ORAS. These cannot be played on home-consoles like Wii U in any way at the moment, unfortunately. To start off, I would likely go with X and Y first, so we could familiar ourselves with all the new mechanics, features, graphical style, and so forth, and get prepared. Then, it'd likely be ORAS. Aside from Pokémon games, there are also many other things that might interest us, such as Star Fox 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and more.

If we don't plan on utilizing 3D functionality of 3DS, then I'd recommend leaning on 2DS instead, as they cost less and could save you a decent amount of money. I would have done this myself, as I personally don't find myself playing while keeping 3D option turned on, but unfortunately, when I was purchasing, 2DS didn't exist; it's rather new.

If he likes Pokemon, handheld is the choice. There's no main Pokemon games for the Wii U, only spinoffs, and there's no sign of anything new for a while yet too. The 3DS has the main Pokemon titles in XY and ORAS. There are other games to offer beyond Pokemon on the 3DS as well, but that'd be a whole other topic.

That said, the Wii U is a fun console too, just pricer and without Pokemon. Games that would appeal to kids and has online and local multiplayer play would be Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. (There is a Super Smash Bros. game for the 3DS too, but the Wii U version is the definitive version). Note that for local multiplayer to be possible, you'd need two separate 3DS/2DSs (and two games as well), while with the Wii U you'd just need two controllers for the one console and the one game.


Fair point was also made above on the 2DS, which may be better for a younger child (harder to break as it has no hinges, supposedly more robust, no 3D effect) and cheaper (and the 2DS can play all 3DS games). Bonus is you could buy a bundle 2DS + Pokemon ORAS as well, pretty sure. Personally I don't feel it at all matters if they play XY or ORAS first, both are easily accessible and fine for beginners (but that's usually the case with Pokemon games anyway).

Wii U has no Pokemon games yet.

Get him the 3DS. It has Pokemon games, Kid Icarus Uprising, Super Smash Bros, and Fire Emblem Awakening.

WiiU, simply put, doesn't have as much games to offer that would cater to both child and parent (or many children at a time) for 3-5 years' time. You/they probably will be left staring at the console in silence at one point. Word around is, some devs have already ditched the console, so imagine that "future"

If you ask me, I'd say get your child/ren? a 2DS. After all, they're getting cheaper now that the n3DS has been announced. If you want an extra one for you/wife/another child, then that wouldn't be a bad thing, either (for whatever reasons you may have). They couldn't go snooping around the online features, so a nearby playmate's good to have.