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Discussion Unpacked my Wii U for some backlog clearing and Holidays gaming, and i have very conflicted feelings

Reinhard Schneider

Reinhard Schneider

Forgotten vampire hunter
Pronouns
He/Him
I'll start by saying something i can never, NEVER say enough:

I freaking love my Wii U

Not only it has a huge sentimental value for me, it's also an amazing machine on its own. Why? Because:

  • Compact design
    • It's also sleek, i love the round aesthetic, it's just comfy
  • Mind blowing power consumption
    • 32 watt at full load is nothing to scoff at
      • That's barely 2x Switch's power consumption. For a desktop machine with an inefficient frankensteined PowerPC that's freaking crazy
  • Dual screen gameplay
  • Gamepad is comfy as fuck
  • Pro controller has a quirky stick layout, but keeps the comfyness
    • Amazing battery life too
  • Full BC
    • Like, seriously, full BC, physical, digital, everything
      • Homebrew this baby and you can even run GC games on it
  • First Nintendo machine with USB storage
    • On that note, solid state storage only needs ONE usb port to work with. It's worth the extra cost
  • Perfect DS emulation machine
    • Amazing emulation machine overall, both official emulation and homebrewed
      • Controller compatibility reinforces this. Get a Wii Classic controller and a Wiimote and you're golden
  • Already mentioned, but homebrew unlocks its potential
    • It advances very slowly though, community isn't very active compared with the Vita
But... Holy shit, i have found SO MANY roadblocks and annoyances

  • Ok, first of all: The plugs, both the Gamepad's and the main unit's. I had forgotten about it, but without any forcing at all, both cables' plastic coating had broken, leaving the copper unprotected. I was able to repair the main unit's PSU, bu the gamepad's is deader than death itself.
    • Wich wouldn't be an issue by itself if configuration wasn't limited to the gamepad ONLY. I can't set up anything until i receive the new PSU
      • Also, this means TWO plugs and power bricks, wich is crazy and cumbersome, and no one manufactures USB cables that doesn't break in less than a week
  • Also, the Gamepad's battery is getting spicy, and neither the plug nor the battery itself are a standard so time to hunt for a new compatible battery
    • Wich wouldn't be an issue if official batteries were easily available. They aren't, and there are very few trustworthy manufacturers
    • Also holy shit the price of the official extended battery
  • Why can't i use the Gamepad as a sensor bar for Wii mode?
    • On that note, why didn't they try to modernize the sensor bar in any way? How do i install such a thin and frail cable with a 4 months old kitten/unholy god of destruction roaming in the house?
  • The gamepad is BIG and i'm actually having issues placing it on my desktop
    • I could just place it in a drawer, but i just can't
      • Lower screen map ftw, sorry not sorry
With how amazingly designed the Wii was, the Wii U has so many oversights i almost returned it to the box. Getting the gamepad running again and holding a charge is going to take 40 € and some hardcore praying to the gaming gods so the new PSU and battery last many, many years, because i freaking need that device, moreso as a Homebrew used.

And how the fuck did Nintendo screw the plugs is something that escapes my understanding.

Thanks you all for coming to my venting thread. Just received the Gamepad's PSU. Waiting for the battery now.
 
Reinhard Schneider said:
Wich wouldn't be an issue if official batteries were easily available. They aren't, and there are very few trustworthy manufacturers
Click to expand...
Non-replaceable and non-standardized batteries are so goddamn annoying. At least you can unscrew the gamepad and put it back together again, so much shit these days is held together by either something that snaps together or worse, glued.
 
I frankly put up with everything "problematic" with the Wii U back in the day, because the games were way too good, and a system for me is made of games.. and today, I still think the Switch is a regression on some aspects, like having no social featureses as Miiverse or using FC instead of gamertags for adding friends and such;

Today, my Wii U is still hooked up (never took it away, actually) and I play occasionally, but I do think it's unbeareably slow to get to the point sometimes. Otherwise? I have no severe complaints about it.. I love the Gamepad feel, for example!
 
I had to open up my gamepad and replace the bluetooth chip in it last year. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t use the thing unless I was sitting two feet from the console. So now that’s fixed!

I’ve got a good number of Wii U games in my backlog still, and I feel like I need to get to them sooner rather than later because it seems like the Wii U is on borrowed time!
 
Red Monster said:
I had to open up my gamepad and replace the bluetooth chip in it last year. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t use the thing unless I was sitting two feet from the console. So now that’s fixed!

I’ve got a good number of Wii U games in my backlog still, and I feel like I need to get to them sooner rather than later because it seems like the Wii U is on borrowed time!
Click to expand...
hey that's my main problem with my gamepad too, it keeps losing connection. How complicated is that fix?
 
Reinhard Schneider said:
  • Gamepad is comfy as fuck
Click to expand...
The gamepad is, for my specific hands/wrists, the single most comfortable controller I've ever held. The Switch pro controller is okay but it still cramps my wrists up because my hands are so close together, but the space the gamepad gives them, plus the little shelf on the back that helps is rest in your hands, is just soooo comfy ❤️

Plus widely, symmetrically placed sticks for the win
 
jirou said:
hey that's my main problem with my gamepad too, it keeps losing connection. How complicated is that fix?
Click to expand...
It’s not bad at all. If you’ve opened a joycon to change a drifting stick, swapping the chip in the gamepad is way easier than that.
 
Red Monster said:
It’s not bad at all. If you’ve opened a joycon to change a drifting stick, swapping the chip in the gamepad is way easier than that.
Click to expand...
I have some basic experience with opening tech including Joy-Con so that sounds good to me. Thank you, I'll look into it further!
 
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I really like my Wii U, the game had some great exclusives. Xenoblade X even got me into JRPGs, despite it's flaws, I really liked the game, more than Xenoblade 3 actually, hoping it releases on Switch for a bigger audience.
 
If nothing else, I love the Wii U hardware for how batshit insane it is.

Nintendo looked at the trajectory of the Wii, the rise of smartphones and tablets, and decided the next logical step was to just take a touchscreen and jam it into the middle of a controller. And then stick gyro in there as well, for good measure.

Obviously it didn't work out, but it's such a weird move to make for a new console, I can't help but love it.
 
freedomseekr said:
Non-replaceable and non-standardized batteries are so goddamn annoying. At least you can unscrew the gamepad and put it back together again, so much shit these days is held together by either something that snaps together or worse, glued.
Click to expand...
Looking up online i found that you can mod standard Lithium batteries with the plug of the original Wii U battery and it will work, there are people who have put a 10000 miliamp into their gamepads. Still, you shouldn't need to mod it.

CyberWolfJV said:
I frankly put up with everything "problematic" with the Wii U back in the day, because the games were way too good, and a system for me is made of games.. and today, I still think the Switch is a regression on some aspects, like having no social featureses as Miiverse or using FC instead of gamertags for adding friends and such;

Today, my Wii U is still hooked up (never took it away, actually) and I play occasionally, but I do think it's unbeareably slow to get to the point sometimes. Otherwise? I have no severe complaints about it.. I love the Gamepad feel, for example!
Click to expand...
I only packed my Wii U because i moved to a different home, and then found myself with a PS4 and a Switch so it had to remain boxed (not too much space in my desk), otherwise i would have never boxed it.

I'm usually one that puts up with anything problematic as long as it isn't a deal breaker, but i needed to vent particularly because of the plugs and the battery, that threw me a bit over the edge because i didn't expect to shell extra money.

Red Monster said:
I’ve got a good number of Wii U games in my backlog still, and I feel like I need to get to them sooner rather than later because it seems like the Wii U is on borrowed time!
Click to expand...
Same (though i want to replay Bayo and Bayo 2 for christmas)

The thing with newer generation consoles is that internet integration really makes you feel they have an expiring date. Miiverse was already a warning, but the closure of the eShop really makes you feel like it's almost over now.

Hoping for the Pretendo project to reach completion.

chocolate_supra said:
The gamepad is, for my specific hands/wrists, the single most comfortable controller I've ever held
Click to expand...
Same, the Switch feels like a downgrade compared to it. It's also the best Game Boy Macro ever.

jirou said:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding but does it not ask if you want to use the Gamepad as a sensor bar anymore when launching a Wii title? I remember you had to pick between 2 options on launch and then it was possible
Click to expand...
That pop up means that you can play on the Gamepad, but ONLY on the Gamepad, so the included sensor bar only works for its screen (plus, the TV goes black)

JazzPotatoes said:
If nothing else, I love the Wii U hardware for how batshit insane it is.

Nintendo looked at the trajectory of the Wii, the rise of smartphones and tablets, and decided the next logical step was to just take a touchscreen and jam it into the middle of a controller. And then stick gyro in there as well, for good measure.

Obviously it didn't work out, but it's such a weird move to make for a new console, I can't help but love it.
Click to expand...
Agreed, the Wii U is a crazy machine with so much packed in, it's insane (an very un-Nintendo like) The worst about that is that it feels very unfocused as a result, but pretty sure Nintendo could have fixed that.

----------------------------------

On another note, i gathered the injection software and i'm already working on injecting both all three Ace Attorney DS games and all three DSvanias.
 
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Totally agree about the Gamepad, definitely the most comfortable way I’ve played games in handheld. And the extensive VC was amazing. I don’t remember mine getting a ton of play time outside of those old games though. I was writing reviews for a now-defunct website at the time, and me and the owner were the only ones getting Wii Us at launch, so I played a ton of launch games on it. Then things cooled down for years, picked back up toward the end and culminated with Breath of the Wild.

Like you said: mixed feelings haha
 
Weebos said:
Ugh, I hadn't considered the Gamepad's battery, I might need to bust out the Wii U and check on it sometime. Maybe replay Wind Waker HD.
Click to expand...
I learned my lesson with my GBA SP, and since then i've been paying to every battery.

Thankfully, it's not hard to find third party replacements, though you have to dig for trustworthy manufacturers.

big lantern ghost said:
Totally agree about the Gamepad, definitely the most comfortable way I’ve played games in handheld. And the extensive VC was amazing. I don’t remember mine getting a ton of play time outside of those old games though. I was writing reviews for a now-defunct website at the time, and me and the owner were the only ones getting Wii Us at launch, so I played a ton of launch games on it. Then things cooled down for years, picked back up toward the end and culminated with Breath of the Wild.

Like you said: mixed feelings haha
Click to expand...
The gamepad's ergonomy and the amount of systems available is what i miss the most on Switch. No GBA, no DS and no Turbografx really makes a dent if you were a VC user.

It's one of the many reasons why i unboxed it.
 
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I’ve been making an effort this year to wrap up my Wii U backlog and the shops closing redoubled my efforts (and made it worse since I bought a few more games lol). I love the console, but it has so many pieces that can break which makes me extra nervous. All of my Wii and Wii U games are done, so I’m down to my last 16 Virtual Console games and ten of them are RPGs so I have a good deal of gaming with it ahead. I still hope it lives beyond that especially as long as Xenoblade X hasn’t been ported. I’m currently replaying the Metroid Prime trilogy on the console and having an awesome time.
 
My favourite thing about the WiiU was playing games from the eshop, on the gamepad, while sitting in bed. Even the older WiiWare stuff.
 
You missed to mention that the UI was slower than slow. I was so positively surprised when I first launched the Switch.
Also despite opening up the potential of the Wii U with Homebrew, it’s still an annoying process to use the sensor, the Wii remotes.
I wish they would release more Wii and GameCube remakes, like with Mario Sunshine and Galaxy. I’d like to replay some games, but not on the Wii U.
Best thing was the remote play, but the connection was very week and the battery of the game pad was ridiculous weak.
 
Intoxicate said:
You missed to mention that the UI was slower than slow. I was so positively surprised when I first launched the Switch.
Also despite opening up the potential of the Wii U with Homebrew, it’s still an annoying process to use the sensor, the Wii remotes.
I wish they would release more Wii and GameCube remakes, like with Mario Sunshine and Galaxy. I’d like to replay some games, but not on the Wii U.
Best thing was the remote play, but the connection was very week and the battery of the game pad was ridiculous weak.
Click to expand...
The OS is charming as hell but it is so slow, SO SO slow, like unbelievably slow. Just getting into the settings menu was a long process.
 
Found a workaround to the Sensor bar i didnt expect to even exist

Aroma environment+DRC Sensorbar plugin. It enables the Gamepad's sensor bar by default, so there's no need to install the original sensor bar.

I can continue playing Metroid Prime Trilogy 😊
 
On the topic, i hope that the last few wii u games not ported will make there way over to switch. Id love to play the console version of woolly world (3ds version is great though!), and xenoblade x!
 
Beanstar40 said:
On the topic, i hope that the last few wii u games not ported will make there way over to switch. Id love to play the console version of woolly world (3ds version is great though!), and xenoblade x!
Click to expand...
Woolly World is the only reason I still have it hooked up. Oh yeah, and Metroid Trilogy. And the two Bloxworld/pushblox games. Oh yeah, and Star Fox Zero + that little defender game that goes with it. Actually, I still have quite some stuff to play it seems :D

It does still irk me a bit though that I got this massive VC collection I bought back in the day that isn't backwards compatible.
 
Beanstar40 said:
On the topic, i hope that the last few wii u games not ported will make there way over to switch. Id love to play the console version of woolly world (3ds version is great though!), and xenoblade x!
Click to expand...
I'm honestly still somewhat shocked they never ported over Woolly World as a 1+2 package deal with Crafted World. Having that game be stuck on the WiiU, and having such a downgraded version on 3DS, is downright criminal :(
 
MrBubbles said:
It does still irk me a bit though that I got this massive VC collection I bought back in the day that isn't backwards compatible
Click to expand...
That would require porting the emulators, renegotiate the distribution rights, etc...

Honestly, i think it's time we let this go already.
 
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Received the new battery, a 3600 Mah third party one, and in so far, it's amazing.

I have created and installed some injects, and gathered my games and backlog, mi Xenoblade X save is giving me some serious please play me eyes, but it's been too long, and i'd rather restart it. It's a great december game.

Also installed Aroma, and tried Pretendo - wich, by the way, doesn't work at the moment ^^U - Now i'm looking for what else i missed in the scene.

Oh yeah! I need to install the Zangeki no Reginleiv translation!
 
I have recently bought a mClassic, and it really gave a second life to my Wii U for Wii and GC games (I'm currently having a blast playing Galaxy 2!). The jankiness is gone, and while mClassic's postprocessing does leave some artifacts, most of the times they are hardly noticeable. Dolphin's video quality is, of course, way better, but a Wii U with mClassic is a nice complement for a plug-and-play experience, and for those Wii games which rely on motion controllers and the hardware's uniqueness.
 
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I don't miss my Wii U. Hands down the worst Nintendo console I've ever owned.

It had some banger games, and was the base from where we got our beloved Splatoon, but the whole thing was a weird experiment that really didn't pay off. At least the Switch is an upgrade in every regard.
 
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