Apple is getting ready for their iPhone 5 event on September 12th and Nintendo is getting ready for their Wii U event on September 13th. Though devices in different fields, both will without a doubt be compared in some capacity over the holidays. And are the fields really that different anymore? Phones can play games and consoles can let you talk to one another from thousands of miles away. Of course, there’s much more to it than that but that just goes to show you that despite being in different markets, there’s enough present that comparisons will be made.

I have a couple of questions for all of you, including:

1) Will you be getting either?
2) Which are you looking forward to more?
3) Which do you think will be the hotter/more talked about item?
4) Which will sell better?
5) Which will have the overall, greater impact in its own primary market…and beyond?

1) I’m definitely getting both and am very eager to hear more about each at both company’s respective events later this week.

2) Since I am a video gamer first, I have to go with Wii U as my personal pick for which I’m looking forward to more. As great as it’ll be to have a nice, new phone that’ll be faster, have a better GPS, a bigger screen, better camera, and operate more smoothly than my existing iPhone…I want to experience next-gen gaming, right now. I want to own the system that’ll play the new 3D Mario game in development, that I’ll get to experience the next Zelda on, Smash Bros. 4, Star Fox, and Metroid…in addition to seeing how clever 3rd parties can be with the Wii U GamePad.

3) I think that initially, since it’s almost a guarantee that we’ll see the iPhone 5 get a release date before Wii U, Apple will have the early lead on “most talked about” item…but as we get into the holidays, I feel that Nintendo will more than likely work its magic once again and be once more, the hottest tech piece for Christmas.

4) Both iPhone 5 and Wii U are already seeing knockoff versions being made overseas, so clearly there’s a audience for each, that exists on a global scale. Both company’s predecessors fared well in the US and world-wide, as well, but where Apple just came out with an iPhone 4S last year and an iPhone 4 two years ago, it’ll be 6 years since Nintendo updated with a new home console. Partially because of the the amount of time between each tech piece’s former generation of hardware, I think Wii U, neck-to-neck “can” sell more. Also for the reason that Wii U is the only new console for the year, with Xbox 3 and PlayStation 4 not coming out until Fall, 2013 at the earliest…in comparison to the phone market where there’ll be half a dozen more smart phones from Droid and the rest of the competition alike, between now and December 31st. What iPhone 5 might have on its side, however, is more physical units available “to” buy, thus possibly outselling Wii U for that reason. Or maybe more people simply will want it than people will want a Wii U. Hard to say exactly.

5) When Wii launched, it changed everything. It introduced to us motion controls and exercise games…in which thanks to both, brought tens of millions of new people to our beloved video game industry and had such an impact that Microsoft and Sony had to have their own similar setup in Kinect and Move (respectively). When iPhone launched and with each updated version since, whether it’s multitasking on a phone like never before, truly having an all-in-one device in the palm of your hands, the ridiculous amount of apps that range from fun games to useful business tools, and even Siri…that brand certainly paved the way for its competition to follow.

With Wii U, Nintendo surely hopes to replicate the success that they had with Wii by once again reinventing the device we use to control our video games. Based off of my own early impressions with the system at back to back E3’s, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it outsell Nintendo’s last console in its first year of availability (provided Nintendo can make enough) and see other consoles have Wii U GamePad-esque controllers of their own…either at launch or down the line. I don’t know as much about the iPhone 5, simply for the fact that Apple hasn’t officially revealed it yet…and that’s why this Wednesday will be a very exciting one. Can they really shake things up again with their 6th generation iPhone? Could it have some totally awesome and totally unexpected “new thing” that none of us saw coming and thus once again, pave the way for imitators to duplicate over the next year? It’s certainly possible.

I have to go with Wii U as having the greater impact in its own market, for now. And as for that “beyond” part, that’ll be the true test of company ingenuity and which device can push past its own market and truly affect the world in a positive manner.

Wow, I’m excited! Please share your thoughts!