Wii U - The Family Console that is Pure Fun - Christmas 2014

1. Suitable for Kids, Family and Myself - Not just Violent games like many competitors.

2. It has Mario games and many Nintendo exclusive games. Not for everyone though.

3. It has most of the games that are on the PS4 and Xbox1 games including Call of Duty Ghosts, Black Ops 2 and Assassins Creed 4 black flag

4. The Gamepad can work while someone else watches TV. This means that someone can play the Wii U without a TV.

5. The older Wii Games and accessories work with the Wii U

6. It's a tonne of fun and not just violence.

7. It's a lot cheaper than a PS4 or Xbox1.

8. The Wii U has a lot more games than the PS4 and XB1.

When the Wii U launched last year I was not too keen. It had great graphics but nothing too far beyond a ps3 or xbox360, was very expensive and I was willing to wait and see what happened when the promised PS4 and Xbox 360 launched.

The Wii U was so confusing. Was it a new controller? The Nintendo marketing was terrible. On doing some research, it should have been called something like the Wii 2, the Nintendo Streamer or the New Nintendo (enter cool name here).

When I heard news of the Playstation 4 coming out, I was overjoyed. As the months passed, and the games were launched for it, I was lukewarm on the issue but games will follow of course. Then news of the upcoming steam machine broke, muddling the waters for me. An actual PC/gaming machine that I can plug into my TV and play my PC (strategy games like Civ V) games with a controller? Very interesting and something I will look into in 2014.

But for now, the PS4 still sounded interesting.

And I found myself more interested in the Wii U. My young daughter loves Mario and Rayman legends, and what's that? I can also play Assassins Creed black flag on there if I do get time too? Ok, so I started to consider a Wii U.

As the weeks passed I started to look at the two player local games that me and my wife could play on the PS4 or Xbox one. There were very few. There were also very few that my daughter would be allowed in the room with, let alone play.

Was for me to buy the Wii U. We were driving past BestBuy on black Friday and I, on a whim, went inside. The Wii U console was there so I snapped one up with 3 free games and a free second controller and am I ever happy I did.

Will I be buying another console in the future? Maybe but it may be a steam machine PC/console hybrid that will not make my Wii U obsolete. Having both will mean I use both. I know that the PS4 is more powerful with a better graphics card but I really don't care. It's not suitable, and the fanboys of Sony and Microsoft and the media need to stop comparing the Wii U with these other machines. The Wii U is different, and yes, the Wii U is best for me and my family.

The Mario games, Super Mario Wii U, Luigi U and Super Mario 3D world are the best Mario games I have ever played. I have tried Assassins Creed Black Flag on the new PS4 and on the Wii U (although I have not gotten around to buying it yet) and the differences are minor with the PS4 graphics looking slightly better. Again, the graphics, to me, really can't get any better at this point so not a big deal.

Overall I am delighted and I am pleasantly surprised by the Wii U. It is much, much better than I thought it would be! My wife, a really picky gamer regrading controllers, actually enjoys the gamepad on the Wii U more than any other controller.

I am delighted and not only because I can have fun with the Wii U and my family, but because I have grown up. I no longer yearn for the violent silly games of the Playstation and Xbox. Instead I choose fun and family.

Thanks Nintendo for sticking true to morality when every other entertainment device seems to be only catering to the masses crying out for more violence.

When we played the Wii for the first time, we laughed so hard. It really brought us together to laugh, to yell out in anticipation and to want to come back tomorrow and do the same again.

1. Although the Wii U has noticeably better graphics than the PS3 and Xbox360, it has lesser graphics capability than the newer Xbox1 and PS4. For me, the graphics are more than enough.

2. For some people the gamepad will take some getting used to. The controllers are also confusing and what controller works with which game is not always clear.

3. Although Nintendo have many exclusives that are not available on other consoles, they also don't have many games that are available on those other consoles.