Gadgetory

with four episodes down I think it's about time to add a new challenger how does the Wii U stack up with the ps4 and Xbox one Nintendo took a totally different approach than Sony and Microsoft this generation not only is it almost comically smaller than the Xbox but you might notice the controller is just a little different the Wii U uses the gamepad which is a hybrid controller and tablet it's a clever piece of tech that gives you a lot of extra features on top of being able to stream gameplay from the console it works well there's next to no latency and it frees you up to play a lot of games on the gamepad without needing to use a TV it's also where you can use a meebo they're not really needed for most games but they look cool and can unlock new characters or levels the controls are fine but it's a massive controller it can be a bit uncomfortable to use for longer periods and you'll need to charge it far more often than the others one of the bigger problems with the gamepad is the price it's included with the Wii U but because it's necessary that means the Wii U cost basically as much as the ps4 and Xbox one on paper it just can't measure up the Wii U has a far less powerful CPU graphics and only a quarter as much RAM as the others making it closer to a last gen console in the spec Department it also only comes with 32 gigabytes of storage meaning you'll probably have to take advantage of an external hard drive one area where it does have a big advantage is with power usage the lower end specs help it to need far less power especially while gaming and that's really where it shines titles like smash look far better than you would expect based on the specs and games like xenoblade do an impressive job of pushing the hardware to the limit with totally respectable graphics Nintendo's art style like in splatoon also goes a long way toward evening the gap the first party games are absolutely the strongest part of the Wii U Nintendo has assembled a huge library of killer games like Mario Kart you'll also find a few third-party titles such as watchdogs which are solid but few and far between especially when you compare to what the games look like on the ps4 the Wii U really can't hold up there are some games that are shared but things like Minecraft came out years later and is bizarrely $10 more than the others other triple-a titles just aren't here if you get away you you've got to be serious about Nintendo games there is a solid selection of virtual console titles though with everything from NES to wheat the games could be on the slightly expensive side but the emulation is solid and it's nice to be able to not only play games on the TV but also on the gamepad you also essentially have a full we built-in hook up a Wii mote and you can get in the old school we menu and player discs with a clean hdmi output the xbox is just starting to add backwards compatibility and the ps4 uses the less than stellar PS now so if you have a big we game library the Wii U has you covered on the other hand the interface is usable but feels a full step behind the others it's a bit less serious but things like multitasking and just moving around is noticeably slower than the others put it beside the ps4 and things are much more grown up with a more mature online store with a far better selection the same goes for the new Xbox one interface it's a lot better for multitasking and it also does much better with media you'll find the basic apps on the Wii U like Netflix YouTube and Hulu but not things like twitch and Spotify which is a bit of a shame it doesn't support DVDs or blu-rays either if you're serious about media the Wii U just isn't your console games are the biggest strengths but also the biggest weakness of the Wii U on one hand you've got killer titles like Mario maker and smash but on the other you have next to no third-party support for big games the Wii U makes way more sense as a second console alongside a PlayStation Xbox or even PC but with its replacement looming on the horizon now might not be the greatest time to invest in the Wii U with five videos down the console comparison is nearly out of clothes but stay tuned there's one last episode to determine the winner you