Users of the controversial Nintendo Wii U console have been issued an ominous warning. Released in 2012, the unit was never one of Nintendo’s most loved, albeit a sequel to the hugely popular Wii console.
And while most people who have them probably don’t use it that often, an expert has warned that they will be need to be plugged in and powered up as soon as possible – or they’ll die for good.
More than 13million units were sold worldwide, as of the end of 2019, and its back catalogue features iconic names such as Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3 and even the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
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However, if you own one and fancy reliving the console’s brief heyday, you’ll need to turn it on very soon or risk never being able to play it again. According to experts Retro Blast, Wii U consoles are “literally dying”, all thanks to one very important piece of internal kit failing . . . which can seemingly no longer be replaced.
They posted on social media site Twitter/X: “WiiUs are LITERALLY DYING. Before you read further, Plug it in right now! DON’T let it sit without power for too long or you risk it dying for good from memory corruption. It happened to mine.
“I booted up my WiiU and it showed me this same exact screen stating a system memory problem. This apparently is a known issue, and there are other similar codes (2155, etc) that essentially mean the same thing. I tried a trick using a raspberry pi pico, but it didn’t save it.
(Image: Getty Images)
“The internal chips the WiiU used were manufactured by either Toshiba, Samsung or Hynix. It’s essentially a lottery, but from what I read the BLACK WiiU suffers from the worst chipsets. You can open it up to look, or access a Bios menu to check. Hynix is the most prone to failure . . . again, the original White WiiU model is usually the most solid. Nintendo cut corners on future models and they are more likely to die on you.
“A point here, is that while there are options to try and save your WiiU, this highlights how it’s going to be moving forward with more recent consoles. An N64 still typically works, but a console from 2012 is already dying. Corners were cut, and gamers will pay the price. The WiiU is a ticking time bomb. I hate to say it. It’s still a great console, despite underperforming.”
They went on to warn that you will need to try loaning games and apps, and play the console for a short time, because the error sometimes appears “on delay”.
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