Wii U on the cheep?

[Locke141]

Heading back to the US in mid June and was thinking about trying to picking up a Wii U. I would imagine that I can pick up a used one with a few games cheep. I know it wasn't a huge hit but with the switch now out I was hopping pick up something on the cheep.

Thoughts?

[Howard_Casto]

There are about 20 good games on the system and a handful of really good ones.  Three of the best ones (Zelda, Splatoon and M Kart are getting re-released on the switch.  I'm just sayin' ..... don't spend a lot. 

[pbj]

$200 'refurbished' from Nintendo is as good you're gonna do retail.  Frankly I'd move quick while you can still download the games for free from Nintendo's servers.

[Locke141]

Was hopping people would be trading them in at game spot or some local retailer for less. Won't be in the US till June 21'ish. Didn't even know there are free games.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah if you are a dirty pirate all the physical games are free.  Not that I'm condoning that in any way shape or form, for the record at least. 

[bigster]

No retail stores have them anymore.  Anyone who bought one it's probably a die-hard collector or Nintendo fan and will not let it go soon.   this is not like the Wii where they produced 100 million.  The Wii U's are hard to find now I'm in the market for one and can't seem to find one for a reasonable price anywhere

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[ChadTower]

You have to wait until Gamestop stops buying them to find them cheap.  There are still hundreds of thousands of families that have them that will want to all unload them soon enough.  Once Gamestop isn't in competition with you they will be very easy to get cheaply.


I still haven't modded mine.  Just haven't had the time to read up on how to do it.

[Locke141]

You have to wait until Gamestop stops buying them to find them cheap.  There are still hundreds of thousands of families that have them that will want to all unload them soon enough.  Once Gamestop isn't in competition with you they will be very easy to get cheaply.


I still haven't modded mine.  Just haven't had the time to read up on how to do it.

If you do please post about it in the CD replacement thread. We need people to post about their experiences with soft mod's. I'm doing the PS2 HD mod when I get back to the US this June and I'll be posting about it as well.

[ChadTower]

I usually do hard mods if I can.  They are more difficult up front but they have nearly zero maintenance after that.

[Howard_Casto]

I completely disagree.  Soft mods are typically better because not only are they easier, but you don't have to mutilate a console to use them. 

The wii U is a prime example.  The "mod" consists of throwing some junk on a SD card and going to a website via the web browser.  You don't even have to find or rip isos.... you download them directly from Nintendo's servers.  When the Wii U finally dies it will be just as simple to use a local copy of the website to achieve the same thing and/or convert the website into a stand-alone app that sits on your pc.  I can't really see a reason to ever have to install a mod chip on it. 

I've also go to disagree about the zero maintenance thing.  With a mod chip you've always got to worry about the chip getting damaged or the wires coming undone ect.... I've got a dead xbox that I'm pretty sure is dead due to the mod chip corrupting the original bios.  With a soft mod the only thing you need to worry about is finding the software again if you ever want to do it from scratch.  So just keep a backup on a thumb drive or something. 

[pbj]

Last mod chip I installed was on a Wii and I had to update that damn thing 2-3 times with new firmware to fight off Nintendo's efforts to circumvent it.  Ended up soft modding it anyway and haven't put a disc in it in 8 years.

[ark_ader]

Go to the pawn stores.  I say a WiiU in decent condition going for $100-$120 with games.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-Wii-U-White-8GB-System-Original-Replacement-Console/122318089692?_trksid=p2349526.c100704.m4779&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170105153004%26meid%3D61c0f8a6d8a74115b34d21d351192976%26pid%3D100704%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26

[ChadTower]

I have hard modded a couple dozen various consoles over the years and have never had one come undone in any way.


Last console I soft modded was the Wii and Nintendo undid the soft mod like 4 times before I got sick of dealing with it.  Every new first party game that came out would force a cios update that would undo any soft mods in place.

[Howard_Casto]

The new mods don't do that.  Nintendo isn't really able to over patch the exploits used for the wii u and 3ds.  What I'm saying is the wii is a special case and should be ignored.  Also the point you are making is a tad irrelevant since he's wanting to mod consoles without active libraries. 

[Locke141]

Howard is a little aggressive but he it right about the non active libraries.

The point of the SD card mode thread is to keep the machines running and a part of that is bypassing the need of all the moving parts. Whether you do it with a hard mod or a soft mod. In fact it's better if both options are presented with user feed back to help people decide.

Thanks ark_ader, I would want the larger capacity version. Trying the pawn is not a bad idea.

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not particularly aggressive... I'm just right. 

I'm not sure if the capacity really matters.  I like my 32gb version... the black ones look cooler, but if you are going to do a whole library of games, you'll need an external hdd anyway and unlike other systems the wii u doesn't really care where you install games/dlc/ect. 

Since I've got the bulk of the good games on disc anyway (no need to back those up atm) what I did was just stick a 64gb thumb drive in the back of my wii u and I install a couple games on it at a time.  Once I beat them I just delete the game (not the game save) and install something else.  Of course if/when Nintendo's servers stop allowing downloads it will be harder to get/make game rips and I'll probably put a full-fledged hdd on it with all the games. 

[ark_ader]

I modded the wii with the email exploit.  I only have the rogue squadron games on it.  I never update it and it just works.

I just need to figure out how to mod the lunchroom's wii and stick mame on it on boot. 

[pbj]

WiiU is pretty much worthless without the gamepad and I wouldn't trust any I found in a pawn shop to be functional.

[ChadTower]

OTOH, the gamepad is an easy fix, and it drops the price substantially if there are issues.  Most of the issues are the bluetooth and/or the wifi cards in the gamepad.  Both are plug and play inexpensive swaps.  I picked mine up that way.