Trying Miiverse now and it loaded. I'm going to draw a mushroom.

After several hours of use, here are some early impressions:

THE SYSTEM

Overall very easy setup, clean interface, and the Miiverse integration is great. The initial update was horribly tedious (about 90 mins from start download to finish install) followed by an update for each game that ran from 3 mins to 15 mins depending on the game. Once they were complete however, you quickly forget about them.

Sturdy and attractive construction, good expansion options (2 usb ports on the back. Flip down panel on the front with 2 more and an SD slot on the front.)

The universal remote was simple to set up: Enter make of TV, enter make of cable box, both worked, done

You can create different users for the system, independent of them having a nintendo network ID, but you can easily link and auto sign on those accounts though. Each user also has their own set of saves for each game, which is great.

Some issues:

It didn't like a very long wireless password on my router for some reason (I could enter it, but it kept failing to connect,) once I changed it, it worked fine

I am having an issue with a 500GB usb drive. At first it couldn't format it, then it formatted it and everything seemed okay, but then it randomly told me I unplugged it and locked up the game I was playing. Not sure yet if it is Wii U related or a problem with the drive itself

ONLINE:

Initial connection issues aside, the online was a breeze to set up. I am sure we are all happy to see friend codes go, replaced with a user friendly ID/username, which only took about a minute to set up (username, password, age, email, confirmation email, done.)

I haven't tried any games actually online yet, so I can't comment there.

I have poked around a little on Miiverse and it seems pretty interesting, probably more so as your friends list expands. Each game has a "community" where people can post things related to that game. If you are playing a game and (seamlessly, mind you) jump into miiverse, you will automatically be in the community for that game) I just turned on the Miiverse integration for NSMBU, so I haven't seen any popups yet.

Haven't tried the web browser yet

eShop is easy to navigate and I am surprised at the amount of content on there already. A lot(, if not all) of the launch games are available for purchase and digital download, with a variety of indie games and smaller WiiWare style properties. It also integrates with your club nintendo account, so it seems your purchases will automatically be registered.

APPS:
Hulu plus is not yet available, which is unfortunate.

Netflix is available however, and works pretty well. The real selling point for the netflix though is you can play it on either the TV or the gamepad screen, which is great because someone else can watch something on the TV. My TV has netflix integrated so technically, I could be watching someing on netflix on the gamepad, while my girlfriend watches something on netflix on the TV. Pretty cool

Miimaker seems to be missing a lot of options, but I haven't used it too much. You can still generate and scan QR codes, but we tried to scan a QR code off of the 3ds screen and it just wan't coming through clearly enough to get a scan. Not sure if that is going to work

PRO CONTROLLER:

Same button configuration as the gamepad should help transitioning between each for games that support both input devices. The controller is very light, and very comfortable, with good sensitivity to the sticks, and solid click to the buttons.

It is supposed to carry an 80 hour charge

It charges via a USB cord you connect to the wii u. It is standard USB to Mini USB and comes with a cord that looks to be about 8 feet. If you have your couch further from the TV than that (I do) you may have trouble playing while plugged in.

GAMES:

Assassins Creed 3: Looks nice and plays well. A very "Prince of Persia: sands of time" game play feel. I only have played about 30 mins so I can't say TOO much about it but It doesn't have anything too interesting going on with the gamepad screen.

ZombiU: I have yet to touch the single player mode yet, but the multiplayer is a HUGE amount of fun. So far it has been difficult for the player with the pro controller, but the combination of strategic gameplay for the gamepad user and first person frantic shooting for the other is just amazing. Make note though, this is NOT Halo or Call of Duty. They transition the survival feel into the multiplayer game by limiting ammo and resources, forcing you to make runs to get ammo, but the game will gift you will more of these things if you play well. In my opinion, this mode alone makes the game worthy of a purchase, as long as you, you know, have friends. Graphics range from looking great some times to looking meh at others.

New Super Mario Brothers U:
Fun so far but I have not gotten too far into it yet. Boost mode wasn't too fun for me, as I didn't find all that much to actually do, but my friend, who is not very good at 2D platformers, was having a lot of fun playing with it while the rest of us ran around. It is definitely a better option than having just sit and watch. Do note that multiplayer is NOT for trying to power through the game. If taken too seriously, you will probably get frustrated as people mess up your jumps or take items you need. I have a separate game for my solo run and one for multiplayer

Nintendoland:
The meat of our play thus far, and really, this game is amazingly fun local multiplayer. The solo games are a bit forgettable, but pretty much all of the multiplayer games are great. They handle the gamepad perfectly. After each multiplayer game, it asks if the same person has the gamepad. If not, you pick the player that does and it automatically swaps their controller. You do not need to keep track of "who is player 2?" etc. Works wonderfully. A small overview of each:

Metroid - This game has competitive and cooperative modes, both of which are a ton of fun. There was a moment of elation the first time people used the grappling hook to latch on to the ship and fly around. Competitive modes are well balanced and amazingly fun, and overall there is plenty to keep you coming back to this attraction

Mario - Hide and seek (and tackle) This attraction is one of my, and the group's, favorites. Encourages communication between the players and they can turn into crazy, fun shouting sessions as time ticks away. There are three levels that scale with the number of players: A standard one, one with muddy areas (slow you down) and bridges over the muddy areas, which disappear when the mario player walks over them, so they can be used strategically, and one with slides that send you to lower sections, which can be a boon for the chase players, or a disaster for them if they accidentally run onto one. So much fun

Animal Crossing: Another amazingly fun game. Collect candy while one player tries to chase you down. You can drop the candy to run faster (which lead to some hilarious moments) and you can play with some strategies (like using a player as bait while the others run around collecting,) Another group favorite

Luigi's mansion: Another communication encouraging game. Hunt down the ghost before it gets you. 3 different levels, with some cool level interactions (lightning strikes that light up parts of the level, revealing the ghost if it is there, etc) A fun game though we didn't play this one as much as the others

Pikmin: Didn't get to this one until late, so we only played through a few rounds. Fun, but it can be frustrating for the pikmin players as the Olimar player can call them, forcing them away from what they are doing. This can be used strategically though, so it takes some strategy and cooperation.

Zelda: Pretty fun on rails style game. I really liked the archer functionality with the gamepad, but the 1:1 sword fighting is a lot of fun too. You can pick a "target" when using the sword, and your character will pursue them, but it you just swing wildly, you slow down and your compatriots will move past you, leaving you behind a bit, missing opportunities to attack and having to catch up. We all enjoyed it and I think this one will grow to be a favorite as well.

I've heard issues with Miiverse; I'm sure it's one of those things that will get ironed out in the coming weeks.

From what I've seen the WiiU launch is at least far more competent than the 3DS'...

Oh, one other thing. There is a bit of delay when transitioning between app/games and the main menu, which is very odd and gets a little frustrating if you are moving between apps a lot. Hopefully they resolve it in a firmware update

Had fun doing a few drawings on Miiverse. I had a problem hitting the screen with my left hand (I write left handed) and it putting a line on the screen messing up my drawings. Going to take some practice. Easier to draw on the 3DS smaller screen for me right now due to not touching the screen as much.

The online system seems to be stable enough. I did not get any games that could actually go online in a multiplayer setting so I can't comment on how things run performance wise, but it does seem that Wii U online will get the job done. I was impressed by the Eshop as it seemed like it was fairly easy to navigate.

Miiverse was down for most of launch day (at least it was for me). So far I have really not used it or experienced its features. The first impression is not a great one though as it has been rather difficult to do something as simple as add a friend. I am sure any issues with it will be resolved in time.

The future is already rather bright as Rayman and Pikmin are coming soon enough. Thanks for the encouragement!

I've been hearing a fair few problems with Miiverse; but it sounds like when it does work it works VERY well. It's just getting it to work which is the hard thing. And, as you say, all issues will be resoved in time. Hopefully sooner as opposed to later, though...

My opinion so far is extreme dissapointment in the os. Nintendo went with an upgraded wii os, but with more load times and a heck of a lot more updates. Everytime i clicked on something i had to download an update. Wouldnt be bad if the updates were quick, but the wii u has now replaced the ps3 as the king of annoyingly long updates. Congrats nintendo...

Since yesterday I've been hearing only bad news: load times, mixed reviews, miiverse hack and breaks, non optimal os, slow RAM, errors everywhere.

Honestly, I'm dissapointed. I was pretty sure Nintendo could have make it a better launch. Guess I'll skip it for now until most of the issues are fixed.

I just played NSMB U for about an hour and put 2 hours into BLOPS last night. I'm loving it so far.