Never popular and neglected since the end of its production run in 2017, Nintendo’s Wii U seems to be dying of loneliness in our closets: several internet users have recently discovered fatal error messages when re-launching their console several years later. And there is no solution.
In addition to never having found its audience, Nintendo’s game console seems to want to alienate its few rare buyers. As US online media report the edgeOn Wednesday, March 8, several users of the social networks Reddit and Twitter reported finding that his Wii U had become unusable due to error messages suggesting system corruption. Worse still: the cause seems to be not having turned it on for a long time.
Bad news that makes Nintendo’s eighth-generation console even more cursed than it already is. Until it ceased production after five years of loyal service, the Wii U only sold 13 million copies, compared to 122 million for the Nintendo Switch since 2017.
Two different error messages
The first post related to this issue appears to have been posted on March 3, 2023 in a forum, note the edge, followed by dozens of other posts on social media. The users in question explain that they took their console out of the closet and then tried to restart the games, before facing error messages appearing on the screen of the Wii U Game Pad.
Exact same thing happened to my Wii U around December when I turned it on, probably not used/turned on for 1-2 years. Mine was still able to boot, but going into system setup would show the error.
Glad this is being reported so more people are aware of this.
— Super302/Soup (@Super3022) March 7, 2023
Affected players encountered two different error messages, depending on their situation:160-0103caused by internal memory problems and “160-2155”, which seems to be related to an inability to access the download manager application. Problem: No solution emerges from these online testimonials, especially since Nintendo has shut down their repair service for Wii U.
Last days before the closure of the eShop
If this phenomenon has already been mentioned on the internet since 2017, it has become more frequent recently because Wii U has been in the news again: in July 2022, Nintendo confirmed the fClosure of the Wii U online game purchase service from March 27. Therefore, the owners of the console took it out for recover dematerialized games that will be legally inaccessible once the eShop is closed.
The Wii U isn’t dead, though: games already purchased online can still be re-downloaded later, the console will continue to update, and the Wii U online game servers will continue to function (although the service is also experiencing difficulties). . All the more reason to relaunch it, but with surprise upon arrival.
Anyone who has a broken Wii-U that gives error code 160-0103, I’ll buy that system from you.
I want to see if I can analyze the memory, correctly, and find a solution.
— Voultar (@Voultar) March 7, 2023
The Japanese firm has not yet provided an official response to resolve this concern. Meanwhile, console fans are helping each other: on Twitter, the youtuber will offered to buy dead Wii U with the code 160-0103 in hopes of identifying the exact cause of the problem and finding a solution.
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