Man… just checked my Wii U this morning haven’t had it on in a long time, it still works just fine. Sucks this is happening.

This is legitimately terrifying

This has actually been known to happen to Wii Us for a very long time, but I think after around 5 years or so of no use, THEN it becomes bricked. Still, it is important to check up on your Wii U every once in a while. Actually gives you an excuse to play your Wii and Wii U games more often lol

i have my wii u unplugged…. it’s doomsday for my childhood already!!!!

Dude my WiiU has been unplugged for 4 years and rn I’m on vacation so I can’t reach it, that is scary

I hope Nintendo makes ports so these games can be preserved

Thank goodness I am currently re-playing Subspace Emissary on Smash Brawl using the Wii software on the Wii U.

Older consoles don’t really rely on system memory. If you didn’t have a memory card in the slot, you could still play it but you couldn’t save your game (e.g. n64, gamecube, ps1, ps2, etc ( pretty much everything up to the DS))

4:18 While watching this, I am also seeing the red light of the Wii u. I always, since I bought it, had it pluged in.

The cause of this was actually addressed in an update years ago, when the Wii U was still getting updates. It was a problem in the firmware. HOWEVER, since it wasn't a popular console a lot of them were left gathering dust and not updated. If you have your Wii U up to date this won't be an issue.

Turning on a 30 year old SNES from a dusty box, it will likely work just fine. The concept of planned obsolescence in modern products is indeed frustrating.

I play my Wii U everyday bro.

Anyone else see this from GameXplain first yesterday?

I always have my Wii u plugged in. I play it a lot so it needs to be ready. The only time it's not plugged is if I'm traveling and taking it with me. Good to know.

Getting a Wii U soon. WOO HOOO!!! I just hope it doesn’t get corrupted before I get it. It’s a black 002 model.

Also Nintendo: dOnT pIrAtE oUr GaMeS

THANKS NINTENDO, i *love* buying a piece of equipment that breaks through no fault of my own

My Wii U runs 24/7 and it still works so I'm not worried.

The system memory used in the wii u is similar to a ssd that would be used in a pc. It is the same case for an ssd were it needs power every once in a while for it to not experience bit rot or were the bits flip. Other consoles aren't experiencing this because they used hdd or hard drives which last longer sitting not powered on though they still can get bit rot or bits being flipped. They probably used these chips to help the wii u boot faster since boot times would be even slower with a hard drive.

Thanks Nin10doland for mentioning this situation. Right when I saw the thumbnail on this video I was like "Wait what is this, why is there a broken Wii U?!". And after watching this I'm now like "OMG this is terrifying for us Wii U fans". I have my Wii U plugged in all the time so hopefully it doesn't get corrupted. I'm with you, the Wii U (tied with the Nintendo 3DS) is my second importent console ever. So again thanks for bringing this up, you are a life saver (or console saver if you will).

Yes! This is terrifying! I thankfully have mine plugged in😊

Nintendo knew this was happening, which is why they started porting games from the Wiiu ahead of time…

Haven't had mine plugged in since splatoon 1 shut down. Just ran and plugged it in so fingers crossed I got it in time

ive had my wii u plugged in for the past 8 years i think im good

Just plugged mine in ! Thank you! It still works!

I actively play the Wii U quite a lot, i’d even say I play it more than the switch (which I also actively play a lot)

I just got my Wii U back from my parents' house and plugged it in for the first time in 10+ years. Works just as well as before

OH DEAR GOD MY WIIU IS NOT PLUGGED IN

Thank God for gamexplain, I plugged in my Wii U yesterday and it still is fine

I heard about this a while ago. Thankfully my console is always plugged in on standby and even then I fortunately have Toshiba chips in mine. I also modded my Wii U so even if something happens I have a NAND backup that can be used to restore it. I recommend anyone worried about their Wii U bricking to mod their console and make a NAND backup asap for peace of mind. Modding a Wii U also helps restore online functionality among other features for using and maintaining it going forward. *You need a NAND backup of your system to use the Voultar NAND recovery kit!*

My initial Wii U did get completely bricked years ago and I had to spend about $112 for another one after reporting the issue to Nintendo themselves. Never unplugged it at any point. This sadly meant any Wii and Wii U memory in the console is gone for good. Hopefully my new one never has this issue.

Is one year too long? I have a black wii u with 32gb and I haven't had it plugged in for about 9-10 months. Should I still be fine if I plug it in and run it very soon?

For it to be working, does the red light glowing mean it’s plugged in? Because, when my tv is off it turns off the power that it is using, the same power my wii u is using, if so how long does it have to be out and can I restore nand with mlc files backup I made with homebrew?

I had just checked mine today, still works which is nice.

I did this last night, its fine but im happy someone found this out because I’ve had mine since 2014

I am just like you, Nintendoland! I have had my Wii U plugged in at all times and the only times it was ever unplugged was when I had to move homes and it was only unplugged when being packed and it was always unpacked right away so there so never enough time for it to be unplugged for a long time. I think my Wii U is good but man this is all scary!

You also forgot about about the first splatoon, thats only on the wii u for now unlike the next 2 games in the series

I am considering converting my switch into to an arcade stand after the next system comes out.

Mario Kart 8 already didn't work for me! I'll have to keep an eye on it. Thanks for this info!

I've been using it quite a bit recently for Paper Mario and Twilight Princess

A little scared for my Wii U but mine's been plugged in ever since I've had it really. Accept for when we go on vacation and turn off the power completely but that's only for a week (Hopefully it won't break 🥶).

I have the Black Zelda themed WiiU. I turned it on several months ago, and it worked okay, but the screen has gone dull. I don't want to have to keep this thing plugged in and turning it on. I'm not sure about what to do with the screen. Anything can be done once it fails??

Thanks for the info my black wii u was unblugged for a bit and when I saw this I plugged it back in immediately. Looks like it doesn't have memory corruption yet so thanks again for the video

Hi! Thank you for this video! I own a black Wii U and I got this system on day one. So, when I turned it on, it ran okay. In fact, it needed to update too! So, no issues with mine yet. That sucks that this happens for later models!!

My goal is to get and 100% every mario game including spin-offs. This is a very big problem because i don't even have half of the Wii U mario games. I already can't get the Dr. Luigi game so I don't want to lose playability for every other game.

My Wii U is fine. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the warning. I first thought the game pads were breaking which scared cause mine has been dead and unplugged for months, It also sucks cause I only just moved my Wii U out of parents basement and into my own place

I think like 3 or 2 days ago, I was playing toy story mania (specifically the space pinball game) until the Wii U crashed, thankfully it’s still working, but I’m kind of nervous when playing on the Wii U now

Thank you so much for this. I couldn’t find info on why my Gamepad wouldn’t hold a charge anymore and this was the only thing I’ve seen.

If I used it a month or two ago will it be ok? Idon't have it on me right now

mine was already acting pretty bricked without being bricked yet. I just want more of the good Wii U stuff to make it to Switch.

my wii u died any year or two ago but it never said that a system memory error code but instead the wii u tablet couldn't connect to the console and the console wouldn't connect to the tv via both hdmi and av connecter from a wii i dont know if that mean if i can save it tho

Haha, jokes on you, my Wii U is already always plugged in! Sorry about the others.

I always keep mine plugged in 🔌

Can this happen to switch too? I charge my switch but I always turn it off after use

What about the external hard drive connected to the Wii U? Will it still work?

1:12 off topic, but anybody know what sound of hope is on the bottom right is?

I have a black Wii U, glad i had it working earlier this year!!!

my wii U is plugged in and the red dot isn't showing.. is that normal for it when fully charged????

Wow, you made a video too. This was literally news last year after the Wii U eShop shutdown, why are you and other channels bringing it up again?

I lucked out and both of my black Wii U's that haven't been used in over 2 or 3 years are still alive. The first one I bought new in 2013 or so. I may have plugged it in briefly when this news first came out 2 years ago or so. What's funny about modern quality control problems is that it came with a faulty HDMI cable from the beginning which I put back in its box and replaced. The screen would randomly go black while I was playing New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U. This was one of those bundles. I would have to look at the handheld screen until the picture on the TV came back on. So far I have kept that one stock but bought Brain Age while I could just in case I ever wanted to mod it the old way that sacrifices a digital DS title for Haxchi. My second Wii U was a heavily used thrift store find where I found either the GamePad alone or console alone first, then came back a different day and found the other piece. When they were both plugged in, they were already paired with each other. I bought replacement cables for it and modded it with the Brain Age DS title and Haxchi but actually never got around to installing any of my games to it. My idea was going to be to start by ripping the discs I own in case the disc drive ever dies on me or if the discs get bitrot.

I should be fine I still use my Wii U quite frequently and it’s always plugged in.

I've had a similar problem since the beginning of the WiiU era. Every time I'd left it without power, the Gamepad could not connect to the console and I had to reset it (console).

This happend with my Switch to about "Memory" Corruption because i did turn on only 1x on Launch Day until now

Im looking for a wii u so i can play zelda wind waker. Or is it another way?

It might be possible to determine the input voltage on the memory chips and add a battery source to them. I've used supercaps and watch batteries on systems like the Philips CD-I to replace its battery backup "chip". You have to dremel it open and connect a battery or supercap. If you don't, it won't allow to CD to run. Same problem with PS3 owners who refuse to update due to Sony pulling Vita storage on the console (or have a jailbroken console using earlier system software) You have to replace the watch type battery, or it will refuse to start the Blu-ray and you cannot load games. Fortunately, the Wii U is still quite common. The console isn't too expensive, it's the consoles with the tablet that are soaring in value. So for now it's possible to still get a replacement. Down side is if you have digital downloaded games to an external storage device, they may not transfer. Unfortunately these are regrettable, but somewhat necessary steps to insure that a modern console can reach a balanced price point. Too much cost cutting=XBOX 360 levels of unreliability. And higher quality hardware=higher overall price. (Think launch PS3, fantastic hardware and hideously expensive due to it). It's a harsh tradeoff, but if you want affordable? This is the only way. Either that, or consoles will have to tack on half as much again to make them better quality.

My Wii U is died before the eShop closed, when I plugged it in and connected to the Internet to update it. It stopped at 99% and I’ve waited for a long awhile but never happened. Sure, it could have been me who interrupted it and such. But when I turned it back on, it’s stuck on the loading screen to home and I think I got a error code. I’m not sure if it’s this code from the video or different one, but my Wii U can’t go beyond the loading screen. It’s been awhile since then and I feel like I messed up my Wii U with most of the my stuff with it.

The main issue is the faulty hynix chips in the 32gb model from 2013. You can find out if you have a bad chip by using homebrew (that you should be using for pretendo anyways). The best way to avoid a nand death is to use a hard drive for games as much as possible. Also use homebrew to BACKUP your nand so you can restore it incase of worst case scenario.

Man. Glad I kept mine on the charger port.

My Wii U last year took a long while to load games but recently its back to its normal speed for some reason.

I recently used my wii u and it worked till a couple days later when the wii u wouldn't send any signal to the tv so im guessing it's just the hdmi

Thing that got effed on my wiiU was the rumble in it becoming a squeaky mess after a long period of inactivity Got a replacement part but still haven't done the minor repair job due to time and work schedules

Thank you so much for this video because i wouldnt have known this! I have a black wii u and scared of this memory happening. Thanks so much for this!

Just plugged my black Windwaker Wii U in after years of no use and it turned on perfectly. I can't remember how long it has been since I last used it. I bought my house five years ago and had the Wii U on a shelf but can't remember if I ever had plugged it in since the move, so my results are anecdotal only.

Does this affect unused Wii U? Like, if there are any still on store shelves, unsold, never been purchased nor unboxed, can they get memory corrupted? Anyway, thanks for bringing this to attention with this upload!

Paper Mario Color Splash and Mario party 10 are on wii u only. What if we can't play those anymore? I can't play Paper Mario 64 anymore. All of my saved data keeps getting deleted. (I know that's not on wii u, but still.)

We just have our Wii U in storage, I think in the basement. We have no way of plugging it in because our TV doesn't have the sockets for video game consoles.

Cant u just go to the Wii Menu while the Wii U is on the startup screen?

I moved and left my Wii U at my old house were my grandma moved. It was left there for like 5 years unplugged in a container until I brought it to my new house. It still works but I’m scared of what could happen.

I’ve never had a Wii U so I’m not affected by it. But I feel sorry for those owners who are affected by this

I use Wii u daily so this is not to concerning but bad for still in box never opened Wii u's Also, how do you ascess the bios menu ro see what chip you have, i have a black wii u so im scared

Rn its not too bad, since there is a surplus of consoles compared to game-pads, but it might become a lot worse as "game-pad replacements" become more usable. Also picoboot doesn't require soldering or even opening the console, you simply plug it in to a usb port.

I have a black Wii U and plugged it in after a lot of years last year AND... it worked just fine. Booted up and played games. I have to plug it in this year though.

Ok I still have the wii u console connected, has the red light and when turning it on, the light turns blue and makes sound normal sounds such as trying to read a disk. now the real problem is my wii U tablet, I'm trying to charge it but it shows no orange light or any sign of charging. Now I don't know if it's the batteries or the cable itself. From what I understand, all the memory is in the console itself, not the tablet, so hopefully looks like it's ok because I still have some rare wii u game memory in there and still own them that are NOT available on Switch, such as Sonic Lost World or Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Nintendo costumes). Even made a lot of progress on the wii u versions of Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 1 & 2. I just don't have the heart to start over again on Switch. Wii motes still work on wii u and I can actually see the screen on tv just not on the wii u tablet.

I’ll have to keep this in mind, although I got my Wii U last year and it’s been plugged in almost the entire time I’ve had it and I think it still works, it should but I will have to check. This video is really useful information so thanks.

Mines still working, it’s the MarioKart 8 with dlc bundle black 32 gb one. Does anyone know which chip this one has, if anyone knows pls tell me

Some of the funnest multiplayer experiences I had was on Wii U. Even wii u games ported to switch were often inferior because it lacked the asynchronous multiplayer

I already saw that on Gamexplain like a day or two ago, and even though I sold my Wii-U around October 2018, it's sad and terrifying that are literally dying over not being plugged in for too long!🥶

I just plugged my Wii U in. I have no idea when I lasted charged it. I think Early 2022 or Early Last Year? Whenever the E-shop was closing. Wait, do you mean the Gamepad or the Console? Because the Console has been plugged in for a while.

Haven’t had my family’s Wii U plugged in for a while, but man did I move fast to plug it back in. Haven’t tested it yet, but fingers crossed that it still works. Update: Thank goodness, it works.

"A lot of great games are still just on the Wii u." Then proceeds to NOT mention NINTENDOLAND

I play my switch at least 20 times a year, I just put homebrew on it too, which gives me another reason to play it

I have plug mine in every month on the first and run it for hour, I have an alert set up every month for me to do this. Hopefully this keeps it’s going.

I'm sure glad I've kept mine plugged in. But yeah, that sucks because I use my WiiU for Wii games as well.

My Wii died 7 years ago and I didn’t really care that much because of the Wii U I have and all my games were physical, so I could just play on that. I would be DEVESTATED if my Wii U died. So many games would no longer be playable at all.

We never unplugged ours. In fact, I just started replaying DK Jungle Beat and Mario Galaxy 2 this week, and my brothers have just finished replaying Twilight Princess HD.

I just plugged mine in and it still works!

Well good thing little over a month ago my best friend used it at his house it worked just fine.

I’ve been constantly playing on my Wii U every once in a while, so I’m not worrying that my console will corrupt. I’ll still keep it plugged in just in case.

I always have my Wii U plugged in and I also recently hacked it. I plan to do more with it now in its second life after the shutdowns. :)