Nintendo Issues Wii U Update v5.5.5

Nintendo Issues Wii U Update v5.5.5

Despite being 9 years old and superseded by the Switch, Nintendo has issued a new Wii U update this week.

As with other updates to the system over the past few years, the latest (last?) Wii U update delivers “Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience.” This is the first Wii U system update in over two years, since September 2018 when version 5.5.3 was issued. Don’t ask where 5.5.4 went. 

While considered a failure in popular terms, the Wii U remains a compelling console with a selection of top games. The Wii U sells for around £100 on eBay – meanwhile,  Wii U games sell for £10 to £30 depending on condition. Not bad for a system that was effectively retired in 2017. 

For system longevity this is of course a welcome move. However, it may prove a problem to anyone planning to jailbreak their console to install homebrew software. 

From a more practical point of view, however, very little changes. Most of the Wii U media apps still won’t work, long-running old games that remain popular such as Minecraft will creak along as an older version while the real world races ahead, and my son will still cancel the Wii U update midway through because “it’s taking too long.”

(Nintendo Everything)

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