I’ve been pretty happy with the new Wii U console so far, but not as a game machine – it’s pretty much my go-to device for watching Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime videos now, even with a somewhat clunky and slow user interface. While the pack-in game, NintendoLand, is fun with friends and it’s cool seeing Mario in high-def in New Super Mario Bros. U, there hasn’t been anything that’s wowed me the way Wii Sports did back when the original Wii came out. I’ve heard ZombiU is worth checking out, so that might make it to my Christmas Wish List, and I’m intrigued by the whole Skylanders phenomenon, so could possibly get the starter set for that, but most of the other launch titles are available on the XBOX 360 and PS3, so I’ll probably keep getting cross platform games for those consoles until I hear that they’re better for the Wii U, something that hasn’t happened yet. Am I sorry I bought the console? Of course not. We all know the reason for buying Nintendo consoles: to play Nintendo games on it! And as soon as Zelda U, Metroid U, Mario Galaxy U, Pokémon U, Pikmin U, Starfox U, Smash Bros. U, Animal Crossing U, etc. are released, any reservations I have about the console will at least be temporarily put to rest.

As for the touchscreen/motion control gaming? Not as annoying as I would’ve thought. I’ve found that – at least on the games I’ve played so far – the use of the motion controls is much more downplayed than with the original Wii, and the use of the touchscreen is (so far) pretty novel and creative. It’s kind of like playing with a huge DS, where your TV’s the top screen and the touchscreen/controller is the bottom screen. Pretty cool. But my favorite use of the second screen is (again) when watching videos – where info like the director/actors/year of release/synopsis is always available on the GamePad, so I don’t have to pause the video on the big screen while I look for that kind of info. Again, not a glowing endorsement for the gaming side of the machine, but a cool feature nonetheless.

So how ’bout you BOTreaders? Do you have or plan to get a Wii U? Going to wait for the next XBOX or Playstation? Or happy with what you have and aren’t really interested in the next consoles just yet?

No, I didn’t camp out in any lines for Black Friday (if you don’t count queuing up in a couple virtual lines for some online sales the past few days) but I did see a ton of people lined up outside the local Best Buy, Target and GameStop earlier in the week, which means they were camped out for days. I heard there were a couple of great discounts on computer equipment, but you really couldn’t name a (realistic) discount that would have me lining up for over a couple hours, at most. Let’s hope jefbot’s getting something supercool.

So did you BOTpeeps brave the lines for Black Friday? Have you ever? What would you line up for this holiday season?

BTW, here’s how bot handled Black Friday in the past. (And pretty much how I’ve handled it for the past few years.):
• JEFBOT.193_Shopping a la Cart 

Don’t get me wrong – I love the new, third generation, Retina display and A5X-enhanced iPad. It’s just that, unless you’re looking at high definition content – of which there wasn’t a whole lot available when it launched – it’s difficult to notice the differences at first (unless you’re looking at text, which looks amazing.) Anyway, today’s strip is less about disparaging the new iPad or commenting about Apple geek fanaticism, and more about how amazing the original iPad and iPad 2 still are. The displays and functionality of the previous generations still hold up, and I found it’s only once you get used to the Retina display (just as on the iPhone 4 & 4S) that you notice the difference when going back to the previous models’ screens. And even then, it’s not like those screens look bad. I mean, generally, everything you’re viewing on the Internet is 72dpi anyway, so more pixels really aren’t going to help there, and in some cases, it makes the Web look worse.

So what do you all think? Any of you have the new iPad or are you content with the previous models, not having a tablet whatsoever, an Android tablet, or *gasp* a Windows Tablet PC? Sound off in the comments!

So I suppose creating today’s comic strip has pretty much blown any chance of me selling my first gen iPad to my parents.

I truly didn’t expect or demand that Best Buy help defray the cost of my poor choice of buying the HD-DVD add-on for my XBOX 360, so it was a nice surprise when i received the strip-mentioned gift certificate in the mail.

Having technology become obsolete quickly is something that comes with the territory, and everybody buying HD-DVD or Blu-ray players prior to Toshiba’s February 19th announcement knew that going in. I didn’t really take sides in this format war since I had both players (thanks, PS3!) but I did want to maximize my access to certain titles. Knowing that movies like Children of Men, 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Shaun of the Dead were exclusive to HD-DVD at the time meant that I would be picking up a player, case closed. Disney and Pixar being exclusive to Blu-ray meant that even if Sony hadn’t built a Blu-ray drive into every PS3, that I would be picking up a player no matter what.

I’m glad there’s only one format going forward now, although I wish the “war” had gone on a bit longer – player and disc prices were coming down faster than expected and Blu-ray was adding features constantly to keep up with what HD-DVD offered. Now, prices are going back up and Sony doesn’t have as big an incentive to keep the technology updates on the fast track. Still, it was fun while it lasted.