Do you really need a Wii U?

As Nintendo rolls out its newest console, the Wii U, I’m left wondering why I need another console. There are plenty of games I haven’t yet played for my current consoles, and if fancy processing power is really necessary for fun I have a PS3 and a PC.  Tom Auxier feels the same.

Why do we need more horsepower? Has anyone done anything really extraordinary with what we have?

[…] There’s not so much difference between The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Skyrim, two titles on the edges of the modern generation. We’ve gone from Gears of Warto Gears of War 3. From Bioshock to Bioshock Infinite. These games are prettier, sure, but we’d be hard pressed to say they’re end-of-console masterpieces. Nothing on the Playstation 3 has said, “This is the best this console can offer.” It’s why Nintendo’s launching a console with specifications akin to the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360: there’s a lot of room left, here. Computers are doing the same: operating systems are becoming more complicated, more resource intensive: that’s where a lot of the extra processing power is going. It’s going to making sure Games for Windows Live can be packed in with everything and leech resources, rather than to making things prettier.

At least until the price drops and the library fills out, I’m with Auxier. Prettier: yes. More fun: not especially.