“Please apply as soon as possible.”
We’ve been pouring many drinks out for the Wii U since it was officially canned, but we’re running out of imbibements! Eventually, the Wii U will become a faded memory for some folks, brought up once a year in vague terms, like: “Hey remember that tablet you could play Luigi hide and seek with? What was the name of that thing? Anyway….”
That time is coming sooner than later, according to a new posting on Nintendo of Japan’s official website. The publisher explains that they’re running out of Wii U repair parts, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Here’s the full statement from Nintendo of Japan (Google translated):
“For Wii U peripherals (Wii U GamePad, etc.), we will stop accepting repairs at the same time as the Wii U itself. If the inventory of parts required for repairing a peripheral device runs out before the end of repair acceptance for the Wii U console, we will stop accepting repair requests for the peripheral device for which we have run out of parts inventory.”
Nintendo also makes this double-clear on that same page, noting:
“If you are considering repairing the Wii U console or peripherals, please apply as soon as possible.”
We knew this was coming, but it’s sad all the same
Part of me is saying “well, the vast majority of folks probably thought this happened ages ago,” but seeing a system die out in real time is still a bummer. I had a lot of great times with the Wii U and there were plenty of fantastic games for it, and I hope any and all preservation efforts for it are fruitful for years to come.
Mine still works at least!
[Thanks John!]