It's  nice to see a Xbox fan be positive about the Wii U..  Besides 3D World and Tropical Freeze, I suggest that you keep an eye on X,  Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros Wii U and others.. Wii Party U is a great title  if you play it with your buddies during a party!

You liked Rayman Origins? Do you have Rayman Legends yet? If not, seriously consider it for Wii U. It's going to be on every system out there except the 3DS, but Wii U does it best by far. It was designed for Wii U after all. It's one of the best examples of what the Wii U can do.

I didnt get back into Nintendo until recently either.
the GC being my last system.
the Wii was too gimmicky.

I thought the pad thing would be too. but so far its barely been used to do gimmicky stuff and I actually really like it.

Good point. I like earning achievements but the Wii U extra is a good reason to get on Wii U.

If you're a fan of platforming games and you don't own a Wii U... well, you're not really a fan of platforming games. New Super Mario Bros U and Luigi U are amazing, and Luigi U may be the best 2D "Mario" platformers since the "New" series started. Yarn Yoshi is being developed by the director of Yoshi's Island and combining that with the charming art style of Epic Yarn should make for a great game. There will in all likelyhood be another 3D Mario game in the future, and 3D World is already amazing.

But if you haven't owned a Nintendo console in years, then you missed out on alot. In particular, Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are two of the best platformers ever and DKCR was IMO better than the original DKC games. Having access to the Wii library and the games your interested in for $360 (factoring in a Wiimote + Nunchuck) seems like a good deal.

Zombiu

Did you ever actually play Wind Waker? If not, I seriously suggest giving it another chance. I grew up playing NES, SNES, and N64 games. I've played and beat The Legend of Zelda NES, A Link to the Past, and the legendary Ocarina of Time. Wind Waker is not only my favorite 3D Zelda game, not only tied my favorite Zelda game, but my favorite game of all time.

I'm not expecting the sentiments of a total stranger to ring true to you, but you're doing yourself a diservice by not giving such a legendary game a try. It's the most open world 3D Zelda. It has the most fluid and satisfying combat of a Zelda game. It has attention to detail I've still yet to see replicated in a 3D Zelda. But most importantly, it is the 3D Zelda to, in my humble opinion, best preserve the original NES/SNES "zelda" feeling.

When Link pulls out the Master Sword for the first time and his face so clearly says what the player is thinking: "Holy shit, I'm such a bad ass now."  Or when an "important character" gives his final epic speach. Or the first time you... Well let's just say there's a part in the game that will make you wet your pants if you played Ocarina of Time.

Wind Waker was the last great 3D Zelda game to me because it was humble. Ever since Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword feel like all the wish to do is 1-up Ocarina. They are really good games, but you feel the difference. They feel like vain games. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword feel like they already know they're good games. Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Part, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, and A Link Between Worlds feel like they don't even know they're being judged. They're humble. They just want to be fun. Wind Waker is fun AND epic and it doesn't even know it.

You really owe it to yourself to play Wind Waker HD. Just talking about it makes me itch to play it again.

If you like achievements, you might want to consider trying out Miiverse. I'll admit it's a little overfull with 12 year olds at this point for my taste, but it has some unique things to offer. You can pretty much make your own achievements for your games. Ever had a moment in a game where you thought "Now why the hell didn't they give me an achievement for that!?" Well now you don't have to. Imagine if you could just pause the game, take a screencap of the awesome thing you just did, go to a message board specifically for the game in question, and post the image, with a caption describing the achievement or whatever you want to say about it. Bam! Personal achievement. Stuck in a game? Do the same thing, except instead of an achievment it's a question, and people can comment with the answer. There are all sorts of uses for it. Some games implement Miiverse more than others though.