It appears Nintendo hasn't completely forgotten the Wii U, as a new firmware update has just been rolled out for the system. This is the first one for 2019 and quite possibly the last, based on its recent history.
If you can't already guess where this is going, Version 5.5.4 improves stability and makes various other minor adjustments to enhance your experience. Here are the official patch notes, courtesy of Perfectly Nintendo:
Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience
Are you still playing your Wii U in 2019? Have you updated to this latest version yet? Tell us down below.
[source perfectly-nintendo.com]
Comments 122
We still love you dear Old wii u
They making sure it's tomb doesn't collapse
Hopefully we get a few more Wii U ports: 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Rainbow Curse, Pikmin 3, Lords of Thunder
I hope it fixes the WiFi. For years, I connected to Splatoon just fine until earlier this year, when it suddenly decides to disconnect after 30 seconds. As much as I adore Splatoon 2, I want to play both.
Just in time, my Wii U was starting to wobble.
I still love and play my Wii U from time to time, recently it's been StarFox Zero and the Resident Evil Chronicles games. It's been a fun system honestly and have gotten plenty of use from it during it's life cycle.
Can I go back to system updates posts from years before and reuse the stability jokes?
@NinChocolate Hopefully we get a few more Wii U ports: 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Rainbow Curse, Pikmin 3, Lords of Thunder
This is about a Wii U update, not an invitation to port beg!
Excellent! Now my Wii U can survive getting hit by a freight train.
Conversely, the 3DS can survive getting ran over ad nauseum.
Wii U is still one of my favorite consoles to this day.
I will wake up my Wii U from its long sleep once i go home. 😅
I dont care what people say.
I loved miiverse
I loved wiiu chat
I loved tons and tons of its games
I loved the FEEL of the gamepad
I loved when the game developer miis would appear in your plaza for announcements
I loved the eshop library
I. Loved. Every. Bit. Of. The. Wii. U.
Glad to read Nintendo's keeping the updates coming!
I miss the virtual console!
@Starkiller987 I miss the virtual console!
WHAT?? You don't like the drip feed of NES games?
Yep still playing
@Crono1973 Hopefully we get a few more Wii U ports: 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Rainbow Curse, Pikmin 3, Lords of Thunder.
I'm sad I skipped WiiU in favor of another Wii, the most attractive thing about it to me were not the games but the digital Wii and DS games. So it wasn't a difficult choice but I really wanted to play the og xenoblade which could be bought and played directly from the gamepad, that's some sweet fanservice right there, something the regular Wii couldn't do.
Yep, still playing. I'm going through Super Mario 3D World for the first time and I'm eyeing a couple of titles on the eShop already.
Finally. The instability had me in a state of constant anxiety.
Nobody cares
@Starkiller987 I kid you not, I had a dream just last night that Nintendo had a post-E3 Direct where they announced what was essentially the Virtual Console coming to Switch (SNES and N64, at least), and I was so overjoyed I cried. Then I woke up to the sad realization that all my dreams were for naught. Hello darkness, my old friend...
@Crono1973 I still have my Wii U hooked up next to my Switch just to play VC, but mostly for GBA games on hdtv
@Starkiller987 Yeah mine is still hooked up too so instead of having to port beg for Wii U games (like some do), I can just play them on my Wii U.
Does it help Netflix's instability? Talk about forsaken...
Took them long enough. It’s been so long since the last update, was worried mine would have a meltdown. Appreciate the stability!
@Crono1973 ray man legends will forever be better on Wii U than anywhere else
@Starkiller987 So will Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD as they have second screen features.
Mine won't update. I'm usually on the ball with updates and such. Any reason why this is? Or do I have to wait till tomorrow (10pm currently in Missouri)
@Zyph Same.
@technotreegrass
I switched to using a USB ethernet adapter last year and it has been a much more enjoyable experience. Would recommend.
Love my Wii U. It's still hooked up and I still have lots of stuff to play on it. Also the Gamepad is my TV remote. 😎
Im wondering whats the reason behind this update, servers going down soon?
@PBandSmelly 100% agree. I love my Wii U.
@Anti-Matter
Hahah I did the same yesterday and I have to say its still an awesome console.
@Timsworld2 Region lock has been a thing for, like... ever.
It wasn't new with 3DS or Wii U at all.
I were joking yesterday about that Nintendo probably still were blocking exploits on Wii U, and today..new firmware to block more exploits.
Sony have same boring updates for PS4 and VITA. Blocking exploits.
Only Microsoft is adding new features in firmwares nowadays every month.
Nintendo is so stable they are still adding stability to the Wii U of all consoles.
@Timsworld2 If it changes anything, the Wii U would have likely skipped the Virtual Console service had Iwata not pushed for it. It probably would have not developed farther than SNES or maybe even NES.
I know that for the Wii it's also simple to fix the region incompatibility from the system menu, but a lot of games depend on system settings that are not available if the Wii is running a certain region, this would make a large amount of titles crash, are behave incorrectly.
@PBandSmelly Seriously, Its still central in my entertainment center. I fire it up every couple weeks and play a couple hours of yoshi, or star fox, or bayonetta, or monster hunter 3, or one of the other countless classics on this console. I never realized how much I liked the inclusion of Miiverse until it was gone. I miss the rando comments, the in-game Miiverse features, and especially the art posts from art academy. RIP Miiverse...
Still really enjoy using my wiiu. Some aspects I prefer to switch 🤷♂️
You pick up the WIIU gamepad now after playing the Switch and feel how much more comfortable it is. The WIIU is and always will be a fantastic system with a library of fantastic games.
Most underrated console of all time.
Since the recent announcement of the witcher 3 on switch. Is it safe to assume that the Wii u could have handle most of the current gen games just like switch?
Just started playing DKC: Tropical freeze for the first time. The GamePad is much more comfy than I remembered. :3
I still have some other Wii U titles in the backlog. It will surely go down in history as a beloved and quirky and a very ”Nintendo” console.
@iAven9er ”Is it safe to assume that the Wii u could have handle most of the current gen games just like switch?”
The chipset is vastly different in the Switch so a direct parallel can’t be made. But there are clear differences in specs, like processor speed and the amount of RAM which are improved on Switch. So the answer would be no. Wii U could not handle Witcher 3 in the same state as it is on Switch.
i still love my Wiiu, so make the home similar to switch and enable using switch as gamepad, please Nintendo
I love the WiiU, it was a great system with some great games
Booted it up last night for a few rounds on original Splatoon. First time I'd been on for a while. Weirdly, it was just as quick to get a game as when I play Splatoon 2. Nice to have the map on the gamepad!
@Moshugan yes I know there are differences between the switch and Wii u. I also didnt say it would run games as good as switch but I'm stating with the efforts put in to get games running o switch I believe Wii u could have also done it. Yes it would have maybe had worse graphics then the switch but I think still possible. I believe theres been some cases were thr Wii u version ran a bit better then switch I cant think I of any top hand and maybe wrong.
I fired up the Wii U for the first time in a while a couple of weeks back and I've been playing Arkham City again. It's a really great port, especially with its dedicated off-screen mode. Only a few framerate hitches to mar the experience, everything else is really good.
The one thing that really spoiled the Wii U was Nintendo's lack of support. If they'd got into gear and made sure we got N64 and GC Virtual Console games they could have kept me happy throughout the long game droughts. Instead we had long stretches of months where nothing was released and then they'd release Virtual Console games at the same time as a major release. Crazy.
Theres nothing wrong with port begging, infact the wii u had poor sales compared to the switch so all those players who didn't buy a wii u have to miss out on some great games or Nintendo port them so they don't have to miss out.
Nintendo porting wii u games to the switch is cheaper for the player instead of buying a wii u console and games costing over £180
@Timsworld2 You seriously take every opportunity to complain about this, do you? Pretty much all off your comments are hate filled. I wonder why you even bother playing Nintendo games or video games in general if they only make you angry and annoy you constantly .
We have both the White and Black Wii U and they get as much play as the Switch.
@iAven9er You did ask whether Wii U could run the games ”just like” Switch.
Anyhow, Wii U has a triple-core processor with a bit faster clock per core, but the chipset having a harder to utilize Power PC architecture compared to ARM in Switch. The Switch has a quad-core processor with a variable speed depending on whether it’s docked or handheld. Worse performance in some instances might be due to the lower clockspeed per core. But that’s such a complicated issue that I can’t say further.
The biggest difference that I know is the amount of memory. Wii U has 2 GB of RAM with only 1 GB available for games. Switch has 4 GB with at least 3 GB available for games. That’s triple the amount and it’s pretty significant for handling large games.
That’s where my knowledge pretty much ends. I’m not saying I know which games could run, but Witcher 3 or Doom sure couldn’t.
@Not_Soos You play too much 😂
Phew!
I did notice it had started to wobble a slight bit as of late.
I will boot it up and update eventually. These days it mostly serves as the Mario Kart 8 console as the kids use it more than me. I will eventually go back to it to play some of the titles I loved on it (and even some of the Wii stuff I picked up late in it's life).
@Starkiller987 You say Rayman Legends, I'll say ZombiU definitely isn't as good a anywhere else. Great launch games, well almost for Rayman 😁
@Moshugan I forgot about it only having 2Gb of ram with only 1 being available to games devs. That would have been a huge issue to overcome.
This is a surprise. I thought Ninty were leaving Wii U to fend for itself, but along comes the update. Still going through BotW for the first time. I'm nowhere near completing it! 😂
@Timsworld2 If you enjoy games it sure isn't obvious from reading your comments. If you do you wouldn't constantly insult developers and wish for them to go bankrupt because they did something you're upset about. At the end of the day i couldn't care less about a random person on the Internet, but such negativity and hate is much more common these days among Players and i think that's rather sad.
I play the Wii U more than the Switch, and I'm sure I'll continue to play it for many years. It's got some really great games on it, and the gamepad itself is super convenient. After getting very used to it over the years, I wish all systems had their own touchscreen controller.
I love my Wii U. It will definitely be set up next to my Switch for the foreseeable future as I work through my backlog and use it for the Virtual Console. They really should have enhanced the Miiverse for Switch and kept it going. So many games have it integrated, Wind Waler HD being one great example.
@Timsworld2 Well, maybe you could enjoy you're games even more if you share your enthusiasm for something you like with other people from time to time (this is a website for Nintendo fans after all) instead of hoping people who make mistakes lose their job, but let's end this conversation.
If you're happy with your hobby the way it is i guess that's all that should matter to you, but don't be surprised if that kind of attitude backfires later. Best of luck to you
@Crono1973 well I guess I gave my Wii U to a friend not in a position to own a newer console and the many games I had for it, all of those mentioned games, as I had the new Switch to enjoy myself
The Wii U is so popular, that they’re using its form for the Switch Mini (if you believe such gossip)
@Timsworld2 Achievement Unlocked!
Heccing Mean
@DenDen last attempt to stop homebrew no doubt I don't have Internet on my wii u anyway so I don't have to worry much about the update.
@RogerFederer
But for real, do people still play that game?
I wanted to get max level on the CoDs, I am about to achieve that with BO2 after four years (so bored with that game I couldn't stay into it for more than a few rounds each time). Ghosts was next on the list, but last time I checked it had 31 people online, while BO2 was already pretty dead with 150 - 300.
I thought by now the last ~30 would be vanished from Ghosts as well. Is this not the case?
Aha! So THAT was what that orange light thingy was all about...
Nice. I was getting seasick from the waves in the Wind Waker HD. This stability should help.
They are getting it ready for Just Dance 2020
Love the Wii u and have been playing it more than the switch recently.
Ugly design ever~! I will buy it when it is sell for 30-50 dollars.
I've two. One hacked and the other completely virgin and updated via Nintendo. I love this system. Still play it for Wii backwards compatibility too.
@Timsworld2 You must've seen a truck full of region-locked WiiU and DS shipments run over a puppy in front of you or something.
The ultimate Virtual Console console, while I don't use Wii U much nowadays it'll always be there for retro games even once the remaining good Wii U games are ported or given a sequel that pretty much includes the Wii U version on Switch.
Switch will never get a retro selection that good.
I can't believe they actually found the WiiU OS source to build a new patch! I figured it was sitting on Iwata's laptop or something. Nobody's mentioned the WiiU since the momen't he was gone!
@Ventilator This new firmware doesn't block any exploits, it's just a GDPR compliance update.
that reminds me I need to buy a third one.
They're making sure the Wii U doesn't go completely unstable for all the people like me who primarily use it for Netflix.
...in all seriousness, though, it's nice that we at least get this last update to bring the system up to speed. More stability = more games enjoyed without crashes.
I still have mine plugged to the tv! Shout out to all true believers out there.
I'm using it to finally finish Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii and then I'm going after Xenoblade Chronicles X. A bit of Rayman Legends, Sonic Lost World (which I know isn't that great, but it is still fun). I also still play Bayonetta 1 and 2, Super Mario 3D World, Virtual Console for DK 64, Mario 64 and Ogre Battle 64.
I'll probably replay both HD remakes of Zelda at some point. What a great console.
@nintendoknife Okay. Perhaps it's not possible to block more of the exploits without removing system apps.
@Ventilator They could technically fix all of the exploits still, but there's not much of a point in doing so because I assume anyone who wanted to hack their device has already done so a long time ago, they aren't selling Wii U's anymore anyway and in any case not many people will install firmware updates for systems they abandoned years ago. Patching the exploits would require a lot of effort for little to no gain, and the day after they'd release the final bugfree update someone's bound to find a new exploit anyway.
I still need my right stick fixed on my Gamepad. Nintendo wanted $100... I’m not sure if I’m comfortable taking the Gamepad apart myself. But I still love my Wii U.
Mine is still next to my Switch and Xbone, and will remain there at the very least until I finish the huge backlog I have for it.
My Wii U flat out refuses to update? Is it broken?
Instead of the same old 'stability' jokes, why don't game journalists (LOL) push these corporations for more detailed patch information?
@Crono1973 Ordinarily I'd agree, but what's in a patch is proprietary information if they choose not to divulge, and given Nintendo is Nintendo, they won't budge and identify information to vested shareholders let alone media. Doesn't matter if it's "video game journalists" or the Wall Street Journal. Nintendo decides they're silent unless they decide otherwise. It's just how they do business.
@NEStalgia We don't need to know the details of how a patch works, just what it does. If it stops homebrew, they should just say 'blocks Homebrew'.
Still playing, still loving <3
@Crono1973 I mentioned it above but it's just a GDPR compliance update, doesn't block anything as that would be a lot of effort for little to no gain.
@Crono1973 But Nintendo chooses not to make such things public. It may well be due to a misguided idea of security through obscurity. It may be through a rightful idea of not giving anyone ideas on why not to patch, or give hackers a leg up on where to start. It may be useless, or not. But ultimately, we know Nintendo's policy is they say nothing about such things, and when they do add features to things they do tend to list that, but not always.
Still, whatever the reason, Nintendo isn't going to change their corporate press release policy because Liam is banging down their door. They wouldn't do it it Edward R. Murrow resurrected himself and went beating down their door. Nintendo is Nintendo. They are closed. They do what they wish, and they don't invite anyone questioning their decision from within or without.
Of course Nintendo's been in business for over a century while a billion other fly by nights have come and gone. Their policies may be wiser than the peanut gallery assumes.
@nintendoknife Yes, you are right. Another thing is that those who use exploits won't upgrade to newest firmware anyway.
"Don't fix what's not broken"
Heck yes I'm still enjoying and playing my Wii U. Wii games, Wii U games and the Virtual Console. Excellent.
Currently I'm playing Batman Begins on my Wii U, it looks really good. When modded, it's the perfect retro Nintendo machine!
So back to the update at hand, has anyone here actually received this update? I am at 5.5.3 and it says there are no updates.
NOA does not have the update listed: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1436/~/system-menu-update-history
UK does not seem to have the update either: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Support/Wii-U/System-Updates/Latest-system-update-information/Latest-system-update-information-677417.html
@KingBowser I'm not sure this update is even out.
The last 3DS Update practically bricked my 3DS. I bet Nintendo is trying to brick Wii Us so users will have no choice, but to buy a Switch.
Yeah, still using mine thanks to Zelda BoTW!
Just played some Black Ops 2 and Bayonetta 2. Wii U still works.
@Painkiller_Mike
Mine was collecting dust for a while.
Now I'm playing it again WiiU deserved better, it's still a great console was playing asassin creed, smashbros and Mario.
@SMW I still can't get the update to show up, either, a full 24 hours after sites started talking about it, so I don't think it's actually live, yet, regardless what other people are claiming.
@NinChocolate @Supadav03
Yes hopefully they’ll port the last few good Wii U games across. They’re usually better on Switch as well as being a lot more convenient so they’d be very welcome. No point leaving good games languishing on a Console nobody bought.
@SMW @Leej07 The update is EU region only from what I've read.
@The-Chosen-one The Wii U and the Dreamcast are two of my favorite consoles ever. Both had their plugs pulled too early.
@RogerFederer
Oh wow I did not expect that at all. Seems like a very tiny base will be dedicated as hell for a long time, as was the case with the CoDs on the Wii... xP
I will be joining soon then.
@VR32X
I'd say just go for it man, the Pad is useless now anyway, so not much to lose.
These things are pretty easy to take apart and reassemble in my experience. A good YouTube guide and some patience & cautiousness and nothing can go wrong.
Long live the Wii U!!
@Painkiller_Mike
Dreamcast hel yeah, shenmue is still one of the best games ever.
@The-Chosen-one Sure is. I imported the second one from Europe. Played that to completion over a weekend while being sick with bronchitis and highly medicated and it still ranks up there in my top 5 video game experiences.
@PBandSmelly I agree the Wii U is still one of my all time favorite consoles. Dual screen play in games was great when implemented. The Lego games all used it and it was better co-op. Most of the Switch's library and success can be attributed directly to the Wii U. Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros U, Captain Toad, DKC Tropical Freeze, Splatoon, etc. all came from the Wii U.
Still doesn't show up in North America.
Mine still does not show up. It keeps saying "Your console is up to date"
Well. Perfectly Nintendo is wrong on this. So please, move along. Whoever didn't read Nintendo's website first didn't know I guess.
Long live the Wii U! I have a Wii U console with Legend of Zelda designs on the Wii U Gamepad! My Wii U is hooked up next to the Nintendo Switch. I love the Virtual Console!
@Starkiller987 I also got both my Wii U and Nintendo Switch hooked up to the TV! The Wii U is one of my favorite consoles!
@bestfancharles72 I love jumping back and forth to BotW on switch to Twilight Princess on Wii U
i am in the Chicago area . There is no 5.5.4 update. Where is it?
@PBandSmelly Yeah, it makes me sad thinking of how the Wii U crashed and burned, and is often just seen as a joke. I remember how interesting it was when I first got it. The game pad and all the Mii related features... It was like magic! And I recently bought ZombiU and Fatal Frame, and seeing how well they integrated the gamepad into game play, it makes me wonder what developers would have created if the system had been a success. I know this is a controversial opinion, but as far as hardware concepts, I think the Wii U is far more interesting than the Switch.
@Nico07 The Wii U is also one of my all time favorite consoles! I loved the Virtual Console, Miiverse, and backwards compatibility with Wii games! Are you keeping your Wii U forever and not trade it in anytime soon? What are all the video game consoles you currently have?
@PBandSmelly You are not alone, friend. Wii are right here with you.
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