Earlier this year, Nintendo announced plans to stop offering repairs for Wii U consoles in Japan. The plan was to continue to do so as long as the company still had the required parts, but it seems that day has now arrived. An official Japanese Nintendo X/Twitter account states that Nintendo has run out of the parts required to fix broken systems, and will no longer be accepting any more consoles for repair as of July 3rd. Basically, anyone that does need a Nintendo system fixed will have to obtain the parts themselves, or go through some kind of third-party company.

Normally, opening a video game system voids the warranty, but since Nintendo isn't going to be repairing any Wii U consoles anyway, it's a moot point. Given the general unpopularity of the system, and the fact that Nintendo has been focused on Switch for more than seven years now, it's not too surprising that the company is moving away from Wii U repairs, but it will still come as a bit of a disappointment for anyone that needs their system fixed.

Released in 2012, the Wii U quickly became one of Nintendo's biggest commercial failures. The system played host to a number of critically-acclaimed games, but failed to find a significant audience during its time on the market. The system only managed to sell about 13.56 million units during its time on the market. Ironically enough, many of the system's best games have been re-released on Nintendo Switch, where they've been significantly more successful; Mario Kart 8 only managed to sell over 8 million units on Wii U, but the game has sold a staggering 61.97 million on Switch.

It's also worth noting that the Switch era will likely draw to a close in 2025, as a new system is released. At the end of the day, Nintendo can only support systems for so long when it comes to repairs, especially for a system that, frankly, very few people actually purchased. It definitely seems like an era has officially come to an end, especially given the fact that online services have ended and the Wii U eShop has long been closed. The system might be dead, but the memories players have of the system will continue on.

Posted: Jul 08, 2024 9:12 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nintendo-wii-u-repairs-running-out-of-parts/