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Apparently due to the type of NAND flash and maybe even the quality of NAND used in Wii U consoles, leaving them off for too long can lead to data rot?
Once again feeling good about keeping mine not only set up but with the sensor bar mounted to my TV as well.
Anyway, back your NANDs up today!! Even if you don’t intend to keep your system hacked, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn how to do it just so you could retrieve a backup for safekeeping.
@connrrr I think this is true of all flash storage - we’ll probably see a lot more of this kind of thing in coming years. I wonder if it’s more (or less) likely to happen on the smaller 8GB systems?
Anyway, anyone who doesn’t have their Wii U hooked up and in regular use deserves this.
@connrrr good news
https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1636791934608867338?t=a9aGhDT7-2LBygfLBk2tuA&s=19
Cannot help but notice that the Wii U does not get its own dedicated podcast episode…
But actually though, let’s get a final IC verdict on all Wii U games one might conceivably want to play in ‘023 while there’s still a few days left to easily patch up any blind spots.
My thoughts:
- Xenoblade X - Obviously the white whale of the system. The purest, messiest realization of Xenoblade’s conceptual promise: a single massive world map with as much layered density and diversity as Breath of the Wild, whose spatial coding transforms twice over as you gain access to Xenogears mechs and later to flight. Hard sci-fi nonsense that feels more like a successor to Xenosaga than any of the other Nintendo games. A battle system you need to watch hour-long Youtube tutorials to comprehend. A ton of grindy MMO crap. A soundtrack by the Attack on Titan/Kill La Kill guy including a notoriously divisive “Uh! Uh! Yeah!” beat track for the one massive NPC hub area where you spend a decent portion of the game. There is nothing else quite like it.
- Devil’s Third - Discussed above. Itagaki’s Duke Nukem Forever, except (kind of) good.
- Wind Waker HD - Worse artstyle but enough QoL improvements on the Gamecube version to make it worth recommending.
- ZombiU - Zombies-in-London Ubisoft roguelike designed around the tablet in novel ways that the later ports can’t replicate.
- Wonderful 101/Super Mario 3D World - Likewise, designed around tablet integration in ways later ports only roughly approximate.
- Smash Bros. 4 - Some exclusive game modes and stages not seen in Ultimate, notably a deeper custom character feature that lets you tweak stats and movesets for existing characters as well as Mii fighters.
- Virtual Console games you actually own instead of being tied to a paid subscription, including some that still aren’t on Switch (e.g. Nintendo/SquEnix collabs, Wii & DS games)
Haven’t played: Pikmin 3, Game & Wario, Star Fox Zero, Pushmo World
@2501 I really and truly believe Yoshi’s Woolly World is one of the best stage-clear platformers ever made. I feel like people are quick to dismiss it and Kirby’s Epic Yarn since they‘re easy, but both these games have got downright genius level design! A constant rotation of fresh ideas excellently realized with constantly clever implementations, all custom-tailored to draw out all the strengths of the character’s unique control properties. Not to mention the gorgeous presentation and superb soundtrack. If we ever reach a point in Video Gaming Culture where people stop disparaging games that are intentionally not too challenging, Yoshi’s Woolly World will be looked back on as a masterpiece, full-stop.
@Funbil People who tell you Kirby‘s Epic Yarn is too easy didn’t bother playing the extra missions, which aren‘t even that hidden! There’s challenge to be had in there if you actually engage with the systems, which I suspect many professional game reviewers simply lacked the time to do before all simultaneously releasing reviews which call it “too easy”.
Played a little bit of the NES Remix games recommended often by Jeremy Parish, and heard great things about Affordable Space Adventures from Oliver at DF. Axiom Verge might play best on this console? It‘s still on my backlog and that’s where I’ve always meant to play it.
I think it’s got to have been posted already but I’ll mention again that the Wii U’s DS emulator is fantastic and if there’s a DS game on the eshop you’d rather cozy up in front of a TV for then hey guess what, you can!! There is also an injector (compatibility list) if your console is modded and you don’t see the game your heart was set on.
@TheFragranceOfDarkCoffee There’s challenge to be had in there if you actually engage with the systems
I’ve been saying this for years!!! The Good Feel games are “easy” if you refuse to interact with their scoring system and just beeline to the end, but that’s obviously not what they’re made for. They’ve got priorities that differ from the standard Mario and find incredibly rich depth through that.
@Funbil Speaking of Good Feel, it’s Wii instead of Wii U but I sure would like if someone HD-ified that hand-animated Wario Land game (which I think you can get on the Wii U eShop so technically relevant)
It‘s a shame people don’t really have nice things to say about that Kirby Canvas Curse sequel the system had because I sure do adore that first one and the graphics are very hot on the Wii U game! It and XBX probably the only two games I still wanna play on the thing.
@sabertoothalex I’m incredibly curious to hear what you like about it! It’s a game I don’t really know anything about, which instantly makes me want to know more (and IC is always for me the best place for exactly this— people who love a thing and then describe what’s good about it)!
Interesting development in the Wii U modding space—we’re all on Tiramisu now, right? Recall that the developers Maschell and GaryOderNichts put that out as a pick-me-up to tide us over while they work on completing their much more ambitious Aroma environment.
vWii has a problem that I’ve mentioned before in another thread: its video output is not 1:1 pixel-mapped and due to scaling to eliminate black borders (a feature of many if not all Wii games intended to compensate for overscan) will always look blurrier than the output from a real Wii. I’ve been keeping the faith that some enterprising homebrew dev out there will come along and iron this issue out, turning the Wii U into a formidable Wii and even GameCube replacement. It looks like finally GaryOderNichts himself is developing a plugin for Aroma to address this issue.
if you have Aroma installed you can download Enhanced vWii directly from the HB App Store.
https://twitter.com/PretendoNetwork/status/1709423573373219239
Also @pizzascrub I have taken the plunge and it works!
Bumping this as MVG has a great video showing Pretendo up and running and live.
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I don’t know where else to complain, but I’ve been gifted a Wii U by a friend who was cleaning out their closet. And to be nice I accepted it.
I was sitting around trying to figure out what remains unique to the system, what hasn’t been ported. What’s worth hacking this thing for. Aside from a handful of Zeldas, I couldn’t think of much. It is mainly nice to use it as a Wii with an HDMI out, I suppose.
I think what I didn’t expect to annoy me was how many menus this thing has. So much waiting around for menus to load, it’s constantly switching things up.
However. since the eshop is long since closed. Is it still possible to play DS games on the thing. A post here mentioned I would need to buy a DS game to allow this, and well, we can’t now.
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