No HDMI makes is problematic nowadays
("Buy some mediocreWii2HDMI"). I still prefer the Wii for ease of use, brick resistance and fast boot times.
Same for the Wii. Wii was a very successful console. But other than the superb first party games the console suffered from a ton of really bad motion control shovelware (similar to shovelware problem on the PS1, PS2 and DS). What is better: Almost no third party games (Wii U) or 4000 useless third party games (Wii)? The effect is the same. At least for me.
Hacked the Wii (U) make perfect emulation machines.
Is this why all first party games have been ported to Switch? Because it was all garbage nobody cares for? Fully agreed for third party.
Do we really care for dying drives? The bigger problem are the garbage NAND chips (and other hardware flaws rendering the console completely inoperable for no reason)
Paradox: People believing there is no compelling reason
is the compelling reason: Thanks to this widespread opinion I was able to get pretty much all interesting Wii U disc titles for next to nothing (legally!)
Buying a Switch and the same games would be at least an order of magnitude more money (low estimation)
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In the end the Wii U is/was a beta product with severe bugs. A great, unfinished idea, that should not have been released in that state.
But I never felt any regret for getting some Wii U consoles and top games on the used market. Buying full price? Nope.