Poor Wii U. That inexplicable console that was simultaneously too confusing to be useful and too unremarkable to be inspiring. Pointlessly carrying the weight of the Nintendo Wii’s phenomenal success, it was — by most measures — a rare misfire and a colossal flop. And now you can’t even get it fixed.
Has anyone had it repaired? Has anyone who has one ever tried to turn it on in the last eight years? Either way, Nintendo of Japan has officially stated that repairs for the Wii U are over, as they “ran out of parts” on July 3rd.
I’m mocking, but I find it sad. This was the first device that turned Breath of the Wilderness! We talk a lot about game preservation, but that doesn’t mean much without some console preservation alongside it. While nearly every major game that was ever worth playing on the Wii U has since been improved and re-released on the Switch, that doesn’t include the many mediocre games, and it doesn’t include many of the games that were released for the eShop. Or Miiverse, or Wii Street Uor any of the many ambiguities that came with the most obscure consoles.
I remember the first time I encountered a Wii U: I was in one of those weird hotel rooms that adjoin a game show, where a smaller publisher rents a nearby hotel suite (much cheaper than trying to nab floor space at the show itself) and then sets up a bunch of machines to demo their games. There’s the profound weirdness of having beds in the room you’re playing in, but it was nothing compared to my complete bewilderment at having to use the unreleased Wii U, and having no idea where to look, and how I was expected to use a controller with a screen on it to play a game. another screen there.
Read more: In the year 2023, one new Wii U was sold
I think there’s a universe where the Wii U could have worked if it had been just a little bit weirder and not released with almost the same name as the biggest breakthrough casual gaming device of all time. Now we have a universe where if your individual Wii U doesn’t work, it probably never will.
As you can see in the embedded tweet above, Nintendo made it clear that this day would come in May 2023, saying the company would continue to repair the machine until the pieces were gone. Bits is now up, next the official end of all online services earlier this year. And yes, it’s arguable that there may not have been a huge demand, given that a large total of An Wii U went on sale in the US last yearand it was sold pretty awful at its peak—but it’s still sad to see an era end. Amber your Wii U immediately.
Luckily I don’t know if you heard, but the next console, the Nintendo Switch, turned out to be quite popular.
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