Have you seen the system transfer from a 3ds to a 3dsxl? little pikmin go and break down each of the game files and saves on the old 3ds and carry them through the air into the new system where they build your library.... it is OTT. Gotta love Nintendo putting a happy spin on somethign so mundane and transferring files haha.

Yeaa, its soo epic!!! I had to do that when I got a new 3dsXL. But the wii to the wiiU one is still my favorite, its just a god damn adventure! Its something that people shouldn't care about yet Nintendo goes and puts soo much effort into it! God, I hope in aspects like these, they never change

Congrats with your purchase. As it has been said a few times, backwards compatibility with games and controllers is awesome and everything works. Even the first wiimote that came with my wii back in 2006 works!!

Everything the Wii does the Wii U will do and more. You just have to set up the whole data transfer thing to get your saved content like Mii characters over to your Wii U. Wii Fit balance board works fine on Wii U, I use Wii Fit pretty often on my Wii U.

Here's a bit of advice when going to any retail shop to buy videogames - think of them like a special needs kid. Keep the questions basic, like "How much does this cost?" and "Where is the bathroom?" and save all your real questions for the internet. I've found anyone working in videogame retail not only inept, but misinformed to the point of comedy.

im gonna be honest i kinda feel like a dumbass for not looking at the WiiU earlier this is actually a damn good piece of hardware it doesnt seem to have the 3rd party support of even teh Gamecube at the moment but i didnt buy it for those games anyhow i missed my Mario and Zeldas and Metroids.   Now i need friends for SSB when it comes out for the Wii and maybe mario kart although i was never big on that game since double dash.   Almighty-Koz is my nintendo name i think

Yup, it's certainly a case of experiencing it before you 'get it', particularly the GamePad. Once you've played a game that uses its features well such as ZombiU, Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3, Rayman Legends, Deus Ex, Splinter Cell Blacklist or Resident Evil Revelaitons you certainly miss having a GamePad when playing games on other consoles.

Yes it does

I think I glimpsed someone say something about needing an externally powered HD.

As a "green" energy conservation kind of guy, I can tell you this is actually not necessary and is a waste of electricity. Use a Y-split USB cable and use both USB ports on the back to power your external HD, and you'll be perfectly fine. I've been doing this for over a year and have zero issues.

Also, 5400 RPM drives are cheaper than 7200 RPM drives, and since it's connected via USB 2.0, this makes the external hard drive thing not that expensive at all!

Buy the cheaper one. Seriously, the cheaper one.