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I used the Sunshine game streaming software and the WiiU homebrew port of Moonlight to get game streaming working on a WiiU gamepad. It's sort of like a bootleg Steam Deck, and it works surprisingly well, but it mostly just made me want a Steam Deck.
The WiiU was ahead of its time.
Great little console.
The WiiU crawled so the Switch could walk so the Deck could run
Looking back, it almost feels like a Switch prototype. It's a goofy little thing, but I love it. That said, I also love the Nintendo Virtual Boy, so my judgement might be questionable.
Yeah, it did so many things wrong and had so many little annoyances regarding the gamepad.
Still, great games and a wonderful charm to it.
The virtual boy was ahead of its time, too. Teleroboxer is still my favorite game that no one played.
It's one of my favorites, too! Almost like a Punch Out!! spinoff. VB Wario Land is worthy of the praise it receives, but I also really like the Virtual Boy's StarFox-like, Red Alarm.
Red Alarm is definitely my Number 2 on VB, Followed by Wario. I need to search my basement and see if I still have them...
Teleroboxer reminds me of a cross between Punch Out & Metal Combat for the Super Scope, another underrated gem.
At least that one got a sequel!
Super deep cut (this might be my most obscure bit of Nintendo trivia as I couldn't find any images of it online), but have you ever seen the hidden wireframe models in Red Alarm? If you shoot very specific places in game, you can reveal low-poly 3D models of a Virtual Boy, Game Boy, and even a girl in a bikini... for some reason. I wonder if Nintendo's top brass were aware of that one when it shipped :-)
Ha!
I was about to mention those in my last comment! I remember it was like weird bits of terrain you had to shoot so many times in certain levels to get the Easter egg. Pretty sure I saw the locations in Nintendo Power...
A low poly wireframe bikini girl had to be hidden back in the day, and now there's porn games on the Switch Store!
At the time, Microsoft and Sony were playing this "more graphics = more better" game and Nintendo decided it couldn't compete on that front. You can see a bit of the "compete on anything but graphics" mentality in the Wii and Wii U, then they took what worked and refined it into the Switch and Switch 2.
I agree. I think the problem with it is that it was just too complicated. With most Nintendo system what you see is what you get - with the Wii, those people having a good time swinging around their little Toblerones really are playing a game; the Switch really is a home console grade portable handheld thing; the WiiU manages to look like both those things without being either.
The forced gamepad integration didn’t help, like why tf do I need the gamepad to connect to WiFi.
It doesn’t need wifi though, PlayStation portal does. But yeah, the second screen was a questionable idea - too hard to implement in an interesting way, makes all local multiplayer games asymmetrical, makes porting difficult… Even Nintendo gave up
I mean connecting the console itself to WiFi, you are required to use the gamepad for most settings.
There’s no controller/wiimote fallback option.
actually the gampad does need WiFi*, it's just that the Wii U is the access point to its slightly non compliant WiFi ac network.
I'm a bit confused why it never really caught on. It had so much potential. I loved playing a game while having the map on the little screen for example. Or the inventory or whatever.
Oh it looks cool! Great way to recycle something👍
Thank you! I think the impracticality of it all adds an extra layer of fun :-)
Always, this. :)
Wii U is one of the best consoles of all time and hardly anyone knows it
Eeeehhhhh...
There are dozens of us!
What’s the latency like on that? I have a dusty wiiU and this seems like a fun little project
Slightly perceptible, but totally playable. Considering all the hops it has to make, it's surprisingly good. I have both my WiiU and my desktop hooked up to ethernet, which helps. Games like Portal 2 work well because they don't usually require split second inputs, but anything requiring precision (like a rhythm game) would probably be a struggle.
negligible compared to the pal display and jet engine noise?
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
the wii-u console, required to run the gamepad is loud, and the display is 854 x 480 pixels
480 would be NTSC. PAL was higher resolution. But, yeah, the latency was basically imperceptible but the fan noise was real.
Ohh yeah it’s been a really long time since i used it
Last time, when I used it, to take my save games over to cemu I was really appreciative how quiet my gaming pc was in comparison haha. I miss fire hopping in Mario kart :(
Now the real question is.
Can I emulate WiiU games on my Desktop PC while using the Steamdeck as the pad/2nd screen?
its so cursed... I love it
Neat! Nah, I haven't done the USB C mod, but that looks pretty slick. I just use the charging cradle that came with the black WiiU deluxe set.
That's fair. The box that held all my wiiu stuff was mysteriously missing the pad charger. I think I used a dock before too? At any rate, I didn't want another charger laying around. I've got four 6 foot USBC cables coming out of a pair of chargers under my couch that I use for everything. It only made sense to change it over 🤷♂️
So far it works great. Though I about to not using very often, I've got an actual steam deck, and recently got a better laptop, so I primarily use those 🤷♂️
If someone wants to buy it for whatever the going rate of an unmodded wiiu is, I'm game. My ADHD enjoyed the process of modding it, now is back in a box lol
I think the white sets (at least in the US) might have shipped with a non-charging stand? Pretty sure there were white sets released in Japan that included one, though. Sounds like a nice setup! Maybe I should start USBC modding some of my stuff, if only to pare down my Big Drawer of Cables.
This is really cool! I have an old WiiU, adding this to my project list... :)
LMAO, I just set this up on my Wii U myself! Crazy coincidence.
It's a fun little hack! I like how it's alllllllmost practical, but not quite :-) The biggest limitation for me right now if that I have to stay within 10 feet of my WiiU console or it has a bad time.
Idk if you have one already, but the Wii LAN adapter helps a lot with latency and bitrate. It won't help the limitations of the Wii U Gampads poor Signal strength, but its something :P
Also, moonlight works pretty alright on the 3DS and Switch if youre looking for more projects lol
If you can't find an original adapter, I can confirm this one works. Most of the other ones I had laying around wouldn't work. I had to search for this one. It was only $15 when I got it in January 2025, not sure why it's $25 now
Its any Ethernet adapter with the AX88772 chipset. I would also go for getting it from any other online seller :P
Holy bezels, I remember having a Wii U
Pretty cool, I didn't know about the moonlight fork.
Probably going to see a lot of memes about Wii u running the newest most demanding games.
That’s awesome love creative setups like this. I’ve been experimenting with a few streaming tools too, and it’s wild how much you can do with older hardware. If you’re into portable entertainment setups, you should also check out CloudStream APK it’s great for streaming media smoothly without the bloat.