So you caved to the hype and bought a Wii U. How could you resist the charms of a new Nintendo system? The Wii U promises a whole generation of amazing first-party Nintendo games, and Nintendo finally seems poised to win back some of that precious support from third-party developers.
But what can you do with your new Wii U while you're waiting for all that to happen? You've popped in Nintendo Land and messed around with the GamePad, but chances are you haven't even scratched the surface yet of just what the Wii U is capable of.
Of course, we won't really know just what that is until talented developers have plumbed the system's depths and discovered its true potential. But in the meantime, here are 25 things you can do with your new Wii U right now.
Play Mario in HD
Make a Nintendo Network ID
Play your Wii
Play all those retro games
Control the TV
Make yourself a Mii
Express yourself on a game-centric social network
Make new friends
Video chat
See your worst side on the TV
Surf the web
Get help with your game
Watch Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant
Watch stupid Youtube videos
Get personalized recommendations from TVii
Download retail games
Play indie games
Parental controls, or fucking with your siblings
Watch porn
Track your addiction
RTFM
Control your controller
Manage downloads
It's hard to believe, but the Wii U is the first Nintendo system to allow for background downloads. It even does one better than the Xbox 360 and PS3, as it's not just game downloads that can be performed in the background—it's mandatory updates, too.
So when you boot up a game that you haven't played in a while and it tells you you need to download an update, you can still play the game while it's happening. Then the next time you start up the game it'll ask you to install it. It's so convenient that we're shocked it hasn't been done on another console before.