Wii U is the Greatest Gaming Hobbyist Device short of a PC. Here's Why. [Image Heavy]

[Dolobill]

Edit: Please accept my apology to all the Vita lovers out there for the poll

I present to you my case for the Wii U and why it is one of the most important pieces of gaming hardware any enthusiast can own. With some tinkering, the Wii U can be home to one of the greatest collections of games possible on any hardware short of a PC (though I suppose some of you might argue for the launch day PS3), and is in fact better than a PC in several ways.

Important: I will be showing off my digital games collection that has been installed to my personal Wii U through means only available by softmodding the console. I will not engage in any discussion on piracy and will only comment on the legitimacy of my collection by stating right here that I played A LOT of Nintendo games in my time. This thread is only intended to discuss what you can do with a Wii U, not how you do it.

One more note: All of these pictures were taken by me with a phone camera, so I apologize if the quality isn't great. I know the gamepad pictures in particular look worse than they do in person.

With that out of the way, let's get started.

The Wii U Library

Wii U Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

The Wii U Library while not large was incredibly underrated during its time. Admittedly, several of these exclusives have become irrelevant with newer Switch ports, but there is still a handful of excellent games not found on any other system. Games such as:

• Zelda: Wind Waker HD
• Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
• Xenoblade Chronicles X
• Super Mario 3D World
• Wonderful 101
• Pikmin 3

Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U Gamepad, one of Wii U's Best Exclusives

Native Wii Compatibility

It is well known that Wii U has the ability to natively play Wii games. By default, the Wii U contains a separate OG Wii system menu (Virtual Wii or vWii) that you must boot into prior to launching Wii software. But did you know that the vWii can be bypassed entirely and your full Wii collection can be installed to USB and launched directly from the Wii U system menu?

Wiimote-Controlled Wii Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

Virtually any Wii game that is compatible with the Wii Classic Controller can also be controlled with the Wii U Gamepad. I decided to separate my Wii collection into two folders; one for Gamepad-compatible games and another for games that require Wiimotes (typically due to motion controls).

Gamepad Controlled Wii Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

Wii was the laughing stock of Gen 7 and its library was poorly represented due to the volume of shovelware on the system as well as Nintendo's marketing efforts. In hindsight though, there were some truly killer games on the system. All of these games hold up and some of them will remain all-time classics:

• Super Mario Galaxy 1&2
• Xenoblade Chronicles
• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Zelda: Skyward Sword
• The Last Story
• Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
• Donkey Kong Country Returns
• Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
• Sonic Colors
• Kirby's Return to Dreamland
• Punch-Out
• Super Paper Mario
• Muramasa

...and many more.

The Last Story on the Wii U Gamepad, Wii's Second Best RPG

My latest experiment with my Wii U involved patching classic controller support (and thereby Wii U Gamepad support) into Donkey Kong Country Returns. As some of you will know, the original DKCR release lacked classic controller support and featured botched wiimote controls that required you to shake the controller in order to do a simple roll attack. The 3DS port corrected the controls but halved the framerate and removed co-op. This mod makes the Wii U the definitive way to play DKCR.

Donkey Kong Country Returns, Played Here using a SNES Classic Controller (Amazing)

I consider Wii U to be the definitive way to play Wii games for a couple reasons. One being the optional off-tv play using the gamepad (which is just a great convenience) and the other being the fact that Wii U has built-in HDMI support which the original Wii lacks. The resolution is no better than the original Wii console, but the image quality is much clearer and colors are more vibrant over HDMI.

Many will point to Dolphin as being the definitive way to play Wii games but I disagree. On the Wii U you can expect your Wii games to always work 100% as they originally did on real hardware. No emulation glitches, no shader caching stutter, no problems.


Native Gamecube Compatibility

Gamecube Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

I am personally of the opinion that Gamecube is one of Nintendo's greatest consoles ever and is the Gen 6 console most worth owning today. Why, you ask? Well in the case of the original Xbox, the answer is obvious. A large number of OG Xbox games are backward compatible on 360 or on Xbox One, which leaves little reason to own the original hardware (unless you're using it for homebrew). As for PS2, nearly all of its best games have gotten remasters or rereleases in some form or another. Most of Gamecube's best games on the other hand have remained stuck on its original hardware. Games like...

• Super Mario Sunshine
• Paper Mario TTYD
• F-Zero GX
• Eternal Darkness
• Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
• Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
• Star Wars Rogue Leader
• Super Smash Bros. Melee
• StarFox Adventures
• StarFox Assault
• Baten Kaitos
• Chibi Robo
• Custom Robo
• Pokemon XD
• Wave Race Blue Storm
• Kirby Air Ride

...have never gotten a rerelease, and the list goes on and on.

F-Zero GX on the Wii U Gamepad, one of the best racing games of all time

As for compatibility and image quality, everything I've said about playing Wii games on Wii U holds true for Gamecube as well. All Gamecube games can be played on the Wii U gamepad (which looks great btw, since the gamepad resolution is 480p). The Wii U gamepad button layout works well enough for most Gamecube games but lacks analog triggers. Fortunately, Gamecube controllers are supported as well through the use of either official or third-party Gamecube controller adapters. Again, I would argue for Wii U over Dolphin for playing Gamecube games due to native compatiblity, no bugs, no stutter, etc. while still having the benefit of HDMI clarity.


Virtual Console

Most visitors of this topic will be well versed in Nintendo's Virtual Console offerings, but I would still like to touch on it as a reminder of how sorely missed it has been in recent years.

311 Virtual Console games were officially released across NES, Super NES, Gameboy Advance, DS, N64 and Turbografx-16; but it doesn't end there. Custom roms can be injected into the VC emulator and compatiblity is generally very good.

N64 Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

SNES Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

Although compatibility with the N64 emulator can be spotty, the games that do work run great. For many games, the N64 Wii U VC emulator is the best option for N64 emulation and requires no tinkering.

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon on the Wii U Gamepad, an N64 Hidden Gem

Final Fantasy V on the Wii U Gamepad, that other SNES Final Fantasy game

Wii U is also a great way to play DS games, thanks to its dual screen setup using the Gamepad. Various screen layouts are available in the VC emulator settings and some games can run higher than native resolution.

Nintendo DS Games Installed to the Wii U System Menu

Dual Screen Nintendo DS Gameplay using a TV and the Gamepad

Various DS Display Options are available in the Virtual Console Emulator

Another neat trick: injecting patched roms. Instead of playing the officially released Zelda: Spirit Tracks VC game, you can inject the rom with patched D-pad support (a godsend)! The Wii U touchscreen is still perfectly functional as well of course.

Playing Spirit Tracks the way it should have controlled

PS1 Emulation

Due to the inclusion of the vWii, Wii U is able to utilize emulators that were designed for the original Wii, with the bonus of being able to run at Wii U clock speeds. Like with N64 and DS, compatibility can be spotty but many games run quite well. I played through the entirety of Final Fantasy VII on Wii U and never encountered any serious issues.

Xenogears on the Wii U Gamepad, still on the backlog

Retroarch

Of course, when you've reached the limits of the Virtual Console, you can always depend on Retroarch. Retroarch needs no introduction. The emulator provides compatiblity for thousands of games across a wide variety of classic consoles. Having Retroarch in addition to all of the other benefits detailed above makes the Wii U a far better emulation device than a RetroPie.

The Retroarch Wii U icon

Conclusion

To summarize the game compatibility on Wii U, it can play:

• All Wii U games (duh)
• All Wii games (natively)
• All Gamecube games (natively)
• Many N64 games
• Many PS1 games
• Many DS games
• All Nintendo handhelds from GBA and older
• All consoles from any manufacturer Gen 4 and older

The Wii U had a hard life and it still gets kicked around to this day. I frequently see comments about Wii U being made irrelevant due to the Switch, or how it was a failure and has a bad library. I wanted to create this thread to enlighten some people on what a Wii U can really do if you take the time to tinker with it. If I had to choose a "desert island" console, it would absolutely be Wii U. Barring a few compatibility issues on N64 and DS, Wii U is the best device to experience Nintendo's entire home console legacy and it belongs under any gaming enthusiasts entertainment center.

Please share your best experiences with Wii U, or any of the classic consoles playable on the system. Which gaming hardware do you like to tinker with? What is your "desert island" gaming console? Is Wii U really the king of classic gaming, or is it the PS3? Original Xbox? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Okabe]

Damn ...good thread OP

 

[Theswweet]

Close, but no cigar. Vita definitely takes the prize here. Native PSP/PSX/Vita support, emulation that's solid up through GBA, and homebrew basically solves all of the issues with the system.

 

[Dolobill]

Close, but no cigar. Vita definitely takes the prize here. Native PSP/PSX/Vita support, emulation that's solid up through GBA, and homebrew basically solves all of the issues with the system.

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I forgot Vita! Is there any way to add a poll option?

 

[Theswweet]

I forgot Vita! Is there any way to add a poll option?

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You also forgot PSP, which was the quintessential modding console.

 

[Dolobill]

You also forgot PSP, which was the quintessential modding console.

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I guess I'm showing my Nintendo fanboy colors.

 

[Derachi]

I knew Wii U had DS games on it's Virtual Console but I didn't think about injecting custom ROMs.... i might have to mod my Wii U

 

[Lady Bow]

I'd agree if it wasn't for the fact that the Wii U's image quality for Wii and Gamecube games are much worse compared to their original consoles. Also I'd say the Wii is much better (for a lot of reasons already stated in your OP) since there's not that many great Wii U games and the really great ones are already on Switch.

 

[Flandy]

You also forgot PSP, which was the quintessential modding console.

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Right? I was really baffaled that they weren't on the list but PS3 was lol

 

[Heromanz]

In a few years, switch.

 

[Dolobill]

I'd agree if it wasn't for the fact that the Wii U's image quality for Wii and Gamecube games are much worse compared to their original consoles. Also I'd say the Wii is much better since there's not that many great Wii U games and the really great ones are already on Switch.

Click to shrink...

How so? I also have a modded Wii with component cables and I find the picture to be much clearer on Wii U.

 

[kurashikane]

Have to agree, that's one of the reasons I've kept my Wii U with me until this day. Great modding ecosystem.

Also, it's incredible to see how much hidden potential consoles and portables have through modding. Switch is the most recent example of that, since Nintendo unfortunately isn't implementing many features with their updates.

 

[Kuro]

PC is the greatest with Vita being second for me. Wii U is pretty great except for the gamepad being an awful piece of shit.

edit: yeah the Switch will probably replace Vita for me in a few years especially if someone figures out how to mod the vita dpad onto it.

 

[Dolobill]

Right? I was really baffaled that they weren't on the list but PS3 was lol

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I missed out on PSP and Vita, so I hadn't considered it. I've always been interested in modding a launch PS3 though (the one with native PS2 compatibility). I know later models had PS2 emulation, but gimme that NATIVE FEEL.

 

[Lady Bow]

How so? I also have a modded Wii with component cables and I find the picture to be much clearer on Wii U.

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[Dolobill]

PC is the greatest with Vita being second for me. Wii U is pretty great except for the gamepad being an awful piece of shit.

edit: yeah the Switch will probably replace Vita for me in a few years especially if someone figures out how to mod the vita dpad onto it.

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You can always use the Wii Classic Controller (or SNES Classic Controller), or a Gamecube controller using the adapter.

 

[Deleted member 14735]

I had no idea the Wii U had native Gamecube compatibility, I'd certainly be much more interested in picking one up now. Thread makes a compelling case, coulda used one of these when the hardware was current lol (unless a lot of this stuff has only been possible more recently?)

 

[Deleted member 71]

This is a great thread.

I use my Wii U quite a lot of Wii BC and Nintendont, so I really agree that its a great platform for retro gaming.

 

[Dolobill]

Click to shrink...

Interesting. Well, I still think Wii U is a great option for not having to do hardware mods.

 

[Bruceleeroy]

As others have said OP you dun messed up. The Vita is a staggering homebrew handheld. Its also a million times more comfortable to hold in your hand than the Wii U.
Your OT was really excellent though. Great write up

 

[Dolobill]

I had no idea the Wii U had native Gamecube compatibility, I'd certainly be much more interested in picking one up now. Thread makes a compelling case, coulda used one of these when the hardware was current lol (unless a lot of this stuff has only been possible more recently?)

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I think the scene got big around 2016. I still think it's worth picking up, especially if you are a fan of the Gamecube. I've seen used consoles sell pretty cheaply locally.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

It's got a lot of good features on paper but damn it's weirdly annoying to keep set up and to use, haha. I need 2 power points (1 for console, 1 for gamepad), a place to keep the bulky tablet in close reach (preferably on the powered charging cradle), a Wii Remote setup to use vWii + the sensor bar, GC controller adapter + controller. In a small spare room it's all a bit much.

I want to use it for Netflix and YT on the spare room TV but it's laggy and slow to boot. The Netflix app is garbo (very glitchy with the gamepad and it somehow... loses connection? or something and is really hard to get it to work again after an hour or so), and YT isn't capable of running higher than 720p30 without stuttering. Sometimes even then it does.

 

[Rodney McKay]

3DS and Vita were my favorite consoles to mod.

Vita because it allowed for using an SD card instead of the expensive Vita Memory cards, and full PSP/PS1 compatibility (some games aren't available natively because of stupid US licensing issues, like Spyro or Crash, and some PSP games never got digital versions like Marvel Ultimate Alliance).

3DS I loved because it allowed for having my full collection of GB/GBA games in addition to NES and SNES. And its native DS BC is great too.
Being able to put all my physical 3DS games onto the memory card is great too.

I appreciate everything you can do with the Wii U, but I've never had the urge to do it to mine because it's not a fully handheld system.
Was never a fan of the Wii U gamepad either.

I'm really excited for the Switch's potential modding. You can already put Android in it which is huge. I'd like it to be doable without needing a key thingy to do it, and I'd love it if the longer battery life versions (the Lite and the newer regular one) will be moddable in the future. I've still got a launch one, but I'd love the extra battery.

 

[Barn]

I would add that if you're using the Wii U for Wii and GameCube output, the mClassic might be a good get. Does pretty well in cleaning up that 480p image quality:

 

[Dolobill]

Some of these posts are making me want to get a Vita. Must... resist.

I've dabbled in Switch homebrew as well, and there is a ton of potential there. I just think Wii U has something the Switch never will... that native compatibility!

 

[Dolobill]

I would add that if you're using the Wii U for Wii and GameCube output, the mClassic might be a good get. Does pretty well in cleaning up that 480p image quality:

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I wonder if setting the console to 480p and letting the TV (or mCable) do the upscaling would get the image quality in line with the HDMI-modded Wii that Lady Bow posted about.

 

[Huey]

wonderful thread OP. IMO even without emulation it's fantastic with the wiiu and wii library.

I had no idea the Wii U had native Gamecube compatibility, I'd certainly be much more interested in picking one up now.

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It's not really native in the sense that a standard user would think, as it's not out of the box. But you just need to "enable" the functionality with the home brew channel.

Click to shrink...

 

[Meatwad]

All these posts about Vita but Vita can't run Gamecube ;)

 

[Spish!]

Wii and PSP have native 240p support. Great for hooking up to a bvm over component.

My bvm supports 720p/1080i though so a Wii U over component would probably look nice as well.

 

[VanWinkle]

I'm confused. Which of these libraries/features are available without modding (besides Wii U library obviously), and which require modding?

 

[Chindogg]

Is there a way to run an external hard drive for Wii U and vWii at the same time yet? That's the one thing stopping me from modding my Wii U. I don't want to switch back and forth between hard drives.

 

[Barn]

I wonder if setting the console to 480p and letting the TV (or mCable) do the upscaling would get the image quality in line with the HDMI-modded Wii that Lady Bow posted about.

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In not sure, but you'll be getting post-process anti-aliasing (a huge help for Wii games) and up to 1440p upscaling with the mClassic. In terms of just the HDMI output, I'm sure Lady Bow's modded Wii is best, but it's worth noting that you're already getting a much nicer image quality playing Wii games on the Wii U compared to a stock Wii.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

I'm confused. Which of these libraries/features are available without modding (besides Wii U library obviously), and which require modding?

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Without modding, there are a number of VC games (including Nintendo DS virutal console), and you can use Wii games natively. Everything else requires modding.

 

[Dolobill]

Is there a way to run an external hard drive for Wii U and vWii at the same time yet? That's the one thing stopping me from modding my Wii U. I don't want to switch back and forth between hard drives.

Click to shrink...

I wanted to avoid how to do thes things in the thread, but I'll answer that question. If you are using the old Wii method of playing Wii games on the vWii, you are correct that the HDD formats are incompatible. However, the Wii games I have installed are injected into Virtual Console containers and installed directly to the same HDD as all of the Wii U games. I never have to switch HDDs for anything in this OP.

 

[defaltoption]

Vita and Wii U are amazing but the PS3 is being underrated here


PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, Retroarch, can literally load linux, lots of homebrew support, has most media apps without needing psn, very easily moddable these days, Blu-ray for movies and can be region unlocked for games and blurays

 

[z0m3le]

Some of these posts are making me want to get a Vita. Must... resist.

I've dabbled in Switch homebrew as well, and there is a ton of potential there. I just think Wii U has something the Switch never will... that native compatibility!

Click to shrink...

Dolphin is really good and will only get better in the Switch, not as good as native support sure, but it makes up for that with its own massive library. It should also one day, be capable of the Citra (3ds) emulator. So Wii U is the present best home console, but Switch will one day eclipse it.

 

[Deleted member 14735]

It's not really native in the sense that a standard user would think, as it's not out of the box. But you just need to "enable" the functionality with the home brew channel.

Click to shrink...

That's really strange, if they had the functionality why wouldn't they make that part of the package? Backwards compatibility is a huge selling point to a lot of people. If I knew I could play my full Wii and Gamecube libraries, as well as have the promise of virtual console offerings for their older consoles, I'd have picked a Wii U up at launch.

Good to know though, I'm definitely keeping my eye out on used consoles now.

 

[Lukar]

OP, how do you inject your various Virtual Console games (or what guide did you use for it)? I did this at one point with my original Wii U, but that was years ago, and when I tried to re-learn it when I got another system a few months ago, I couldn't find the old program(s) I think I used. Would love to put some of my own GBA, Wii, GameCube, etc. games on the Wii U menu.

My Wii U already has CFW at least. It's just the injecting that I'm not sure how to do.

 

[Dolobill]

That's really strange, if they had the functionality why wouldn't they make that part of the package? Backwards compatibility is a huge selling point to a lot of people. If I knew I could play my full Wii and Gamecube libraries, as well as have the promise of virtual console offerings for their older consoles, I'd have picked a Wii U up at launch.

Good to know though, I'm definitely keeping my eye out on used consoles now.

Click to shrink...

It's crazy that Nintendo didn't sell Gamecube games through Virtual Console during the Wii U days, the capability was right there. Hell, it's crazy that they still haven't done practically any Gamecube re-releases at all, aside from a few Wii ports.

 

[maximumzero]

I was just playing my Wii U last night and there's something I really miss about it. The UI is fun and the music is nice and I rather miss how comfortable the gamepad is. Thinking I might put aside my Switch after Luigi's Mansion and start blowing through my backlog.

Never cared about hacking the thing though.

 

[ActWan]

Thank you for this thread. I have a hacked WiiU and it's amazing
Heard a hacked Vita was amazing too, but very hard to get a compatible one.

 

[Dolobill]

OP, how do you inject your various Virtual Console games (or what guide did you use for it)? I did this at one point with my original Wii U, but that was years ago, and when I tried to re-learn it when I got another system a few months ago, I couldn't find the old program(s) I think I used. Would love to put some of my own GBA, Wii, GameCube, etc. games on the Wii U menu.

My Wii U already has CFW at least. It's just the injecting that I'm not sure how to do.

Click to shrink...

Teconmoon's Wii VC Injector (for Wii and Gamecube). I suggest GBAtemp for tutorials.

Mods, please advise if this is banned site or something. I want to tread carefully but I will inevitably get some questions like this.

 

[Lukar]

Teconmoon's Wii VC Injector.

Click to shrink...

I'll check it out, thank you!

 

[KingPat]

Many moons ago the PSP was a monster at what it could being modded. I absolutely loved mine and being about to play translated PSP games was amazing. The ability to play damn near any ps1 game on it that was a classic title was a huge plus and the emulation on it was great for older systems not 100% on everything but work pretty damn well.

The Wii was great in it's regard to no longer be region coded to play project zero 2 and 4. Xenoblade almost a year before it came to the states. The emulation on it was really easy to do and the easy way to rip your games to play them off a HDD instead of a disc was awesome.

Just now you can just have a pi and add all the emulators you want or a PC and have even more options.

 

[Mountainous]

Original XBOX, hands down.

 

[ColonelForbin]

That was a fun read thanks for sharing. If I was into older harder I think the WII U has the most promise for missing and playing all of those great older games

 

[D.Lo]

I'd agree if it wasn't for the fact that the Wii U's image quality for Wii and Gamecube games are much worse compared to their original consoles. Also I'd say the Wii is much better (for a lot of reasons already stated in your OP) since there's not that many great Wii U games and the really great ones are already on Switch.

Click to shrink...

Yep, Wii U has bad scaling. It's no good for anything except Wii U games.

 

[Dolobill]

Yep, Wii U has bad scaling. It's no good for anything except Wii U games.

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Just so everyone knows, using the injector tool for Gamecube games, you can set the desired aspect ratio. So for games that have native widescreen modes (Like F-Zero), I choose 16:9. For most other games, I choose 4:3. Here's a pic for example:

 

[Theswweet]

Thank you for this thread. I have a hacked WiiU and it's amazing
Heard a hacked Vita was amazing too, but very hard to get a compatible one.

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Every Vita can be hacked.

 

[JaseC64]

Nice thread OP!!