I'm 39.

It's the same price which I believe is dumb. I will only buy indie games form the eshop, like Trine 2. You download the game to your Wii U and there is no incentive, only reasons not to. You can't take the game to your friends house to play it or let them borrow it, or you borrow it from them. It's the same price, the purchases are all linked to your Nintendo ID also. I also remembering a post on here when the Wii U first came out where someone bought 3 or 4 games and their Wii was defective and there was no way to get them back for his new Wii U because it was locked to his original Wii U and Nintendo would not let him have them again.

I recommend you get a squaretrade warranty. They are the best in the business and the warranty for 3 years would have been cheaper than the price you paid to have your gamepad replaced. Plus the give out 30 to 40% off coupons all the time. Probably get the warranty for $50.

I think it's safe to say the future for gaming is only getting better, and I hope that the Wii can keep it up. I love playing my Wii U, and my kids do to. I'll be picking up Tekken and Scriblenauts this week. I can't wait.

It's funny how everyone is saying something different. Sompe people are bashing the games and then some people say they are amazing. Probably depends on your tv, and probably some bad ports out there.

Hopefully they were purchased with a credit card, then he can at least do a charge back.

Just test it out once you buy it, if you get a defective one, you will either have to return it and get your money back, wait to have Nintendo repair it, or get lucky and find another Wii U somewhere else. I got lucky and got my replacement today.

Everyone knows about the issues I had yesterday with the blinking blue light of death. I had called Nintendo and was going to have them repair it, however I called Gamestop again yesterday to let them know what was going on and the manager said he would take my information down and incase one of the pre order customers didn't show up, or someone called and said they did not want theirs, he would call me. Sure enought, about 2 hours ago they called and told me they called a woman and she didnt' want it.

I immediately rushed down there and replaced my system and i'm very happy to report this one works great. No issues so far. First thing I did was go in and set everything up and remove the auto turn off feature, and played a little Nintendo Land to get a feel for the system and now i'm in the middle of my update.

Also, he told me they received a email from corporate this morning stating some of the issues and that everyone is having and to have customers call Nintendo for repair options, or they could be added to a waiting list for future shipments.

Well Gamestop had an extra one So My Second Wii U is now working been playN it all day

Congrats

I'm glad the Wii mode is available - truly I am. But it doesn't make sense that you can get into Wii mode, but not out of Wii mode without power cycling. I'm sure some people won't have problems with holding the GamePad for extended amounts of time, even for me the first hour or so it wasn't a big deal. But as time wears on, my fingers wore out and it became uncomfortable. Also why do games keep making me "sit the gamepad and wii remotes on an even flat surface" for calibration? DAMN just make me do it once, not every time I play a different game/minigame (this is pretty much directly pointed to Nintendo Land)!


Yea you can't use the eShop without it, the picture on your TV screen even says that. So really the GamePad is the Wii U, and the Wii U is the GamePad - that's how Nintendo is envisioning it and making it be. I love the GamePad minus the ergonomics, and I can deal with the battery life. But if my son breaks it then I guess my Wii U is broke as well, until they release replacements.

I hear you. I'm sure it will be expensive. I'll be purchasing an extended warranty through squaretrade once mine is fixed, to make sure if anything else happens, i'm covered.

This is just getting worse and worse. Why did Nintendo take the cheap route on this system. They should have taken the time to do this right, especially if the PS4 and Xbox 720 is coming out next year, or 2014. Seems like they rushed to get it out to make as much as they could at the Holidays and new year. They will probably release a newer version with all the kinks worked out in 6 months or so, and then people will make excuses for them saying it's the price you pay for buying something new. I never understood that, you pay good money for something that should work, and people make excuses saying first day launch, or you should have known new systems would have issues. No I didn't, and they shouldn't have released a product that is not finished. This is not a beta unit, it's the finished product. Hopefully it's all softwear related and they can speed some things up. If not, I'll just return it.

The only real bad point is that the GamePad is like 100% required to use the Wii U, you cant even use eShop without it, and since I dont find it that comfortable extended periods of time, it's a bit disappointing.
The slowness issues, the Wii emulator issues, the glitches, those are all software that they can fix. If they can do their part to fix what's fixable, I can do my part to forgive them for hurting my fingers and I'll learn to live with it (though hopefully someone will make some attachment that makes it easier to hold).

That's a little sad that you have to use the gamepad for everything. I was hoping the wii remote would work. The gamepad will not be for everyone, and they should have thought of that. Thanks for the run down.

I hope you have better luck than I did. I just wish they would have done something for me and all the other customers with issues, I mean a free game, or 25% off a new game, something to make up for it. That's what made me mad.

That's odd. Maybe because it's a homeconsole. I got my 3DS "repaired" (replaced) with no charge.

I called back again, and this time they told me they could send me a UPS Label and do expedited shipping. I really just wanted to return it and get a new one, or get my money back, but the kids want it fixed, so I will go that route. I called Gamestop again earlier, and they said they had 2 or 3 left that were not picked up yet and they give them 48 hrs to claim it, and then on Tuesday they will attempt one more call in the morning, if they can't get a hold of them, or they speak with the person and they can't come right now, then they will give me their system. So, I have the emailed label they sent me, and I'll wait till then, if they can't give me one then, i'll just go ahead and mail it back, she did tell me I'd get an extra year warranty also, so that made me happier.

Has there been one yet? Should be interesting. I want some specs.

There have been a few teardowns. I know they said the Wii U has 2GB of DDR3 Ram at a max speed of 17GB/S. It appears the Wii U does have more memory than the 360 and PS3, but uses slower RAM.

I'm pretty sure the shipping is free if it's under warranty. For NoA at least.

I spoke to 2 reps, and a supervisor. They all told me I had to pay to ship my unit back to them, and for them to ship me another one.

Sounds like a great deal.

I'm sorry...but all I'm seeing out of all of your posts are trolls. You posted the same exact message on different threads. If what you are saying is true, than I am sorry about that. But I'm finding it hard to believe that Nintendo wouldn't test their consoles before they put them up in stores. ESPECIALLY upon release date. Once again, I'm sorry if this really happened, but all I'm seeing is, "Troll troll troll troll troll troll troll troll troll troll troll." Sorry if this seems like I'm being disrespectful, but this post looks a bit nonsensical.

Yes, I posted it on several different threads because it related to the topic being discussed. I'm sorry if my issues bother you. If you read on this forum, and well on the net, you will see more and more people are having their systems bricked straight out of the box. How does that make me a troll? I guess that makes you a blind fanboy for thinking that a company will not have any issues with something new. Also, do you think Nintendo tests millions of consoles before sending them out, no, they don't, and that is impossible. However i'm sure they have a quality control department that tests randoms systems from batches.

You will need a TV for the first time, but after that, no for some games. Not all games have the capability to be played soley on the Wii pad, and you will still need to be near you Wii U console. Typical range is 25ft, but, I have seen some say they went much further, depends on your layout, walls, and stuff. I also heard you can't watch Netflix or things like that on the Wii pad, just some games.

I never even got to see my system boot. Seems it was bricked in the box.
Unboxed, hooked up, hit the power button and.... The blue light flashes and nothing is on the TV.
Turn on the gamepad and it says to turn on my TV (which is on) and power on my Wii U (which is also on).
So all I got was a shiny black box with a blinking blue light.
And being that they are sold out everywhere I elected to call Nintendo and they are sending me repair shipping info.
It is registered now though which is apparently a good thing. Pretty disappointing to get a brand new system on day 1 and it doesn't even boot up.
I've attempted a few google searches to see what the flashing blue light means but so far I've not seen anything. All I can do is wait for Nintendo's packing slip and info, drop my system, power cord, and HDMI into a fedex box and await a new one that hopefully at least boots up before I brick it (as I've seen other people describe).

Same thing happend to me, so many other issues, I thought I was the only one. I recommend you wait and get a new one, why pay for a new item and then get a refurbished/repaired unit that you have to pay to ship back, and then pay to get back. No thank you.

I have only experienced one problem with my Wii U. It froze up on me when I used the e-Shop, but other than that it works fine for me. There is going to be flaws with a new system, just let Nintendo fix them as people come across them. I'm sure the Wii U will get better soon, Nintendo won't let us down.

Wouldn't be the first time. Nevermind the 3DS and its "scratching" problems, even the original Wii had its share of issues with the 2% who suffered from overheating GPU which resulted in little dots that show up during gameplay of Wii software (and get worse overtime in some cases).


Hardware defects are inevitable when it comes to system launches. You are always taking a risk when it comes to picking up a system on day 1. Its just a matter of whether or not you obtained a good batch or not.

I don't have an issue with Nintendo fixing their problems, but, charging a customer extra money to fix something that should not be broken is ludacris. Just my 2 cents, especially on something that costs $350+, we are not talking about $100 here.

Turn off the setting that auto-turns off your console if it's been inactive for 90 minutes I think it is.

Just stole this tip from HoltnEER.

If anyone could comment on how to turn this setting off to help others, it would be appreciated.

It's in the system options, I strongly recommend you change it to off.

Don't bother calling Nintendo, they'll tell you to send your brand new console in for repair.

I agree, useless to me. They will expect you to pay to ship back your brand new system to receive a refurbished unit and then charge you to ship it back, lol.

I posted my horror story in a few other threads, but, thought I would post my experience here also since it relates to this thread.


I picked mine up today. Very frustrated, and I beleive Nintendo has lost a customer of 30+ years today. Hooked everything up, press the power button on and nothing, the power light just blinks blue constantly. I looked in the manual for troubleshooting ideas, and nothing was there to cover my issue. They had a section on blinking red light, I thought I would try that, and it did not work. I decided to call Nintendo and they were no help either, I told the rep my issue, that my system would not cut on, and all she would say is, did you do the update yet? LOL Really, I said, how can I do an update when I told you my system will not even turn on. She had no clue. She informed me my only option was to ship my system back to them at my expense and they would repair it in 5-7 business days. I asked her how is that fair to the customer to incur extra expenses on a system that is brand new, and should work. Why would I pay for a new system, and receive back a repaired/refurbished unit. I said I would consider this if they refunded me $50 to $100 of my purchase price, or give me 2 games of my choice at no expense. She said they could do none of that.

I then hung up the phone with her and called Gamestop to see if they had any other extra systems and was infomred they only received thier pre orders and no more, and not time table for any future shipments. I then proceeded to call all the other merchants in my area to see if they had any in stock, and naturally, they did not. I then proceeded to call Nintendo again, hoping to have a better experience, and get some type of resolution. I was offered the same thing, after further discussion, I thought I had finally recieved satisfaction when she told me they would ship me a new system and to please hold on while she set everything up. I was on hold another 10-15 minutes for her to finally tell me at the end that I would have to pay for shipping the replacement unit to me, and I would have to purchase the new system from them also, pay to ship my defective unit back, and then when they receive my WIi U back, they would credit my card back. Once again, more hassle and inconvience to me. I advised the rep that this is not a fair option, and having me to pay any additional costs out of my pocket is unrealistic, especially around the holidays when I can't have an extra $360 tied up.

She stated she understood and would get me to a manager who had more power than her, and further options. I spoke to him and was given the same options, nothing new. All I asked them to do is to please ship a new Wii U to the store I purchased it from, and then I could just exchange them. He told me they are not able to do this. I then proceeded to tell him that I know he is only doing what Nintendo allows them to do, but, I would be sure to go on facebook, twitter, and every other social platform I could find and let others know of my experience, and how little Nintendo values their customers. I wasted hours of my day, and have 4 disappointed children who was looking forward to playing the new system, and me also. LOL

I have owned every system Nintendo has ever made, for the OG NES to all the handhelds. I also advised the rep to pass on to upper management that Nintendo is not too big to fail, in fact, companies go under all the time, and in these touch economical times, they need to do everything they can to keep their customers happy, and purchasing their products. Sorry for my rant, but, I just find this unacceptable. To all those that have purchased theirs, I hope that you have a better experience than I have.

Ithink nntendo will probably have a class action lawsauit on its hands like microsoft did wit hthe 360 and be forced to repair sytems and give extra warranty cant belive this is happening.

Why on earth do you have to pay to ship it back its a brand new system not your fault

I agree, that's the same thing I said. I know mistakes happen, but to me, it's the way the company handles the mistakes is what's the most important, and Nintendo has failed big time on this launch. Also, if you buy one, before you do the update, make sure you go into the settings and cut the auto off, apparently it cut's the system off after 90 minutes of inactivity, but, the update it needs to do can take over 2 hours, it's shutting off in the middle of peoples updates and bricking their systems. Leave it to Nintendo for such a large update to take place on launch day, of course, your internet speed and nintendo's servers can dictate how long it takes, me, I have 50+ MBPS, so I think I would be ok.