As the first Nintendo Wii U models get into the hands of gamers in the U.S., some users are already complaining of a systems crash when they begin to download the first required update.
As the first Nintendo Wii U models get into the hands of gamers in the U.S., some users are already complaining of a systems crash when they begin to download the first required update.
The large update must be downloaded online in order to access the system’s MiiVerse social features, and BBC News reports that some Wii Us became “bricked” — or unusable — when users interrupted this update process part way through.
The update process could take an hour or more for the first update and the system should not be powered down during this time, says Nintendo.
The initial lengthy update has irked some reviewers: “Users will spend between one to three hours (depending on connection speed) downloading and installing a patch that bricks their system. Not a great way to greet consumers excited to play your games,” writes reviewer Chelsea Stark at Mashable.
The early reports of “bricked” Nintendo Wii Us don’t seem to be hindering sales of the game console, which is the first new one to come from Nintendo in six years.
The device launched in the U.S. on Sunday and, already, stores report being sold out well before the all-important Black Friday. Some sellers are inflating the prices for systems on eBay, reports Forbes.
This comes as some reports questioned whether the Wii U would be lost in “an ocean of gadgets” that includes products such as the iPad and other Apple devices that have been launched in the six years since the first Nintendo Wii.
Early reviews of the gaming system are mixed.
Some reviewers, such as Time’s Matt Peckham, say that the gaming system does feel new: “I haven’t been this impressed with a new interface since Nintendo put a joystick on a gamepad in 1996.”
Others have pointed to difficulty getting used to a new two-screen system and to questions about the quality of the system, including a console battery that only lasts three hours.
“Most tradeoffs I could live with, but not the battery, which insisted on dying after only about three hours of gameplay — Nintendo obviously sacrificed battery size to keep the GamePad light, and it overshot the balance a bit,” writes David Pierce at The Verge.
The system will launch in Europe on Nov. 30 and in Japan on Dec. 8.