Switch 2 coming, but here’s why you should take care of your Wii U

Nintendo has announced it will no longer repair Wii U consoles, because it has run out of the parts necessary to do so.

The announcement, which affects customers worldwide, was made via social media earlier this week.

“We have run out of parts necessary for repairs, so as of July 3, 2024, we will no longer be accepting repairs for Wii U consoles and peripherals,” Nintendo said in a translated tweet.

The Wii U joins the pantheon of Nintendo consoles the company will no longer fix, which dates all the way back to the early 1980s. However, given the Wii U’s poor reception the company is unlikely to receive as many requests to fix the 2012 sequel to its all-conquering Wii machine.

In some ways though, the Wii U was more of a precursor to the Switch era than it was a successor to the motion-control-centric Wii. Its large 6.2-inch touchscreen gamepad, which offered unique in-game experiences away from what was happening on the TV, gave the console the hybrid feel that was fully realised with the Switch console.

Now, 12 years on, Nintendo has finally put to bed its last vestiges of support for the console, which only sold around 13.5 million worldwide. That was despite offering the brilliant first-party Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. and Super Mario 3D World games.

Earlier this year the company shut down the game servers for Wii U online gaming experiences, with the Switch 2 launch scheduled for next year. So, make sure you look after those Wii U consoles folks, because if they break now Nintendo won’t fix them for you.