As of July 3, Nintendo will no longer repair Wii U hardware, as the company has run out of parts to service the console with. Nintendo of Japan confirmed the news with a social media post this week, explaining that the Japanese repair service for the console had exhausted its supply of spare parts. This is going to be sad news for the one person still playing Splatoon on the device.
Online play for the Wii U–and the Nintendo 3DS–ceased on April 8, marking the end of an era for those Nintendo systems. The Wii U underperformed for Nintendo, eventually ending its run with 13 million console sales.
In comparison, the Switch has done much better, as Nintendo has sold over 141 million units since its debut in 2017. That’s not to say that there isn’t still some interest in the Wii U, as back in September 2023, someone found one at their local retailer and bought it.
Looking to the future, Nintendo’s Switch successor is in development and it’s expected to be announced during the company’s current fiscal year ending in March 2025. Details on the Switch 2 have been kept tightly under wraps, but it’s rumored that the Switch 2 may use Nvidia’s new custom variant T239 processor.
On the topic of combatting potential scalping of the Switch 2 when it does go on sale, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa says the company plans to have enough supply to meet demand.
