EB are selling refurbished Wii U Premium Consoles (32gb) plus one of the following preowned titles for $138:
Also available are refurbished Nintendo 3DS plus a selected preowned game for $88 and refurbished Nintendo 3DS XL plus a selected preowned game for $148.
Becareful to mention hacking on ozbargain. These comments usually attract the fun police who think cfw is illegal. I agree with you though.
the mod or hacking part is fine, we just cant talk how to play or where to get backup roms
Yes I know. That's why I made the comment about cfw not being illegal.
@J6: i owned every nintendo console up until Game Cube. I've been meaning to at least get a Wii Emulator up and running. If I got a Wii U like this would I be able to get the Wii experience as well? Either legitimately or once hacked.
@Antikythera: Wii U can play Wii games. Probably more convenient than the original Wii too, as it has HDMI out.
You said the bad words!! Report report report
Got mine off Facebook Marketplace for $120. Playing gamecube games on the gamepad is unreal!
that sounds awesome
imagine what its like on switch.
Except that the gamepad is an awfully designed massive chunk of cheap plastic.
@ScruffTheJanitor: a very comfortable massive chunk of cheap plastic. Going gloss was a mistake though.
I could never get it to work 😭
It was a bit of a pain setting it up but definitely worth it if you persevere.
Yeah, I need to try again.
Hack it with what? An axe?
Which game do you reckon will be worth the most in 10 years, i'm going with smash bros, isn't that the only game that wasn't re-released on the Switch?
Some obscure game that has a cult like following.
i meant out of the 4 here
Oh shit, well then, yeah. Smash Bros.
Splatoon was not re-released. None of these will be worth much as they all sold too well.
Splatoon and Smash Bros have sequels on Switch, while MK8 and Hyrule were ported (with DLC). All four are first party titles so will retain decent value, but I’d go with Smash or Splatoon.
Smash Bros is probably the best option.
Splatoon servers will go down eventually, which will then make the game useless to anyone.
Smash Bros on the other hand, can mostly be played offline and will probably be more sought-after.
That's just my opinion.
So it looks like Smash Bros, MK8, Hyrule Warriors and then Splatoon in terms of eventual value. Maybe Hyrule Warriors could beat out Mk8 considering it didn't sell as well
I haven’t looked at sales figures, but worth considering that MK8 was preinstalled on a lot of consoles, so people may not have bought the physical disc.
I like to collect video games (only things I'd like to play though) and I think this is about as hard as trying to predict what stock you should buy.
Ultimately, I think that all of them have the potential to be valuable. If we look back, the most valuable platforms are those that didn't sell well. e.g. the Saturn is easily the most valuable of its generation, then the N64, then the PS1. For the next generation, it's obviously the Gamecube that held its value the best vs. the Xbox and PS2 (look at the prices of Super Mario Sunshine or Smash Melee). This bodes well for the Wii U, a good console (IMO) that didn't sell too well.
I'd say Splatoon and Hyrule Warriors definitely would be last - neither of them will have any sort of real cult following and both of them sold well enough that they won't be prized by people trying to put together complete libraries. It's hard to judge Smash and MK8, but I'd go with Smash based on history and also the replayability factor. If you look at past MK games, they haven't held value as well as past smash games (e.g. Smash vs. MK64, then Double Dash vs. Melee, even to some extent MK Wii vs. Brawl).
That said, none of them are going to end up being $100+ collector's items, you're talking about a $20 vs. $30 difference maybe.
the Saturn is easily the most valuable of its generation, then the N64, then the PS1. For the next generation, it's obviously the Gamecube that held its value the best vs. the Xbox and PS2
Where does dreamcast fit in with all this?
@idonotknowwhy: Doesn't matter.. they are dropping like flies IMHO due to age.
I know I've got more faulty than working dreamcasts now.
@idonotknowwhy: Not that high, but not that low. There are a lot of common Dreamcast games, but also quite a few uncommon. I would say similar to the Gamecube, maybe a little more.
The high end of PS2 absolutely blows away the high end of the Gamecube library though. You are looking at around $250 for the most expensive Gamecube games (Gadget Racers, Fire Emblem, Frogger Beyond are probably the three that stick out to me), but the super high end PS2 survival horror games like Rule of Rose are going to cost you double to triple that amount.
@[Deactivated]: Is this due to piracy? The gamecube games can be played via HDMI with a wiiU, or via component with a wii, or at 4k on a PC via dolphin (which is much better than pcsx2)
@idonotknowwhy: which part sorry?
People have been releasing Gamecube HDMI converters for a couple of years now, and Gamecube Component cables have been a thing since the Gamecube was a thing, only problem is those cables are $200+. The problem is the PAL library only supports 480i, where as the NTSC library has a lot of games that support 480p. Gamecube didn't really have any low production runs.
Piracy doesn't really affect the cost of videogame collecting. A lot of the time the money is tied up in the case/cover/manual anyway.
@[Deactivated]: Funny thing is those component cables have been selling at ridiculous prices for the last decade, but up until 2016 you could still buy them direct from Nintendo (by calling or visiting Stud Rd) for much less.
They don't have them any more (guess they finally ran out), but now there's the GC-HDMIs anyway.
@ssquid: No idea they were still selling them up until 2016! Where were you three years ago when I needed you?
If you think hey are bad here, then you don't want to see what they go for in the US…
@idonotknowwhy: Has nothing to do with piracy at all. Most of the people driving the prices of these games so high are collectors who probably aren't all that interested in playing the games in the first place.
Most of the popular titles retain value because many gamers like to play on original hardware for authenticity or nostalgic reasons. I would say that emulation and original hardware aren't really substitutes at all (like you seem to suggest).
For example, NES and SNES emulation is basically perfect and even better than original hardware, but I prefer playing on the old consoles because it's fun and reminds me of that time in my life.
@[Deactivated]: Dreamcast hardware is quite expensive because it's a bit older and many of the optical components are probably nearing death now. In terms of games, most definitely the PS2 will have the most expensive top end games, but since the PS2 was the most popular system, there's also a lot of garbage games released as well that wouldn't sell for more than $1 today.
These are all running well on cemu, and people will just consider them "abandonware" and download them to run on their raspberry pi 5's at 4k by then.
So unlike earlier Nintendo consoles, I don't see these holding their value.
But I'd bet on splatoon out of these.
NES, SNES, N64…etc. emulators have been around for a while. I still buy my games, even for older systems because I like to have something on the shelf as a record of what I've played.
That said, you're right that it's likely none of these games will be particularly valuable, but let's be honest, the overwhelming majority of old video games aren't. Only a tiny, tiny proportion are actually worth more now than at launch.
Agreed. Even less of you consider inflation. There are better ways to store wealth than in factory sealed video games and vinyl, etc.
Note that n64 emulation is still very inaccurate compared with all the other Nintendo consoles.
Another thing to consider is the age of gamers interested in experiencing nostalgia. It's possible that people who will want wiiU games in 10 years will are younger than those who suddenly wanted n64 games. And the older crowd learned our lesson already.
Anecdote: I sold my n64 for $40 in 2004 because I was poor and thought I'd be over it what with the GameCube. These days I will never sell a game that I enjoyed playing, so in 10 years, I'll still be able to take the wiiU out of the cupboard and play it without purchasing anything. My friends so the same thing.
So old people learned from the past, young people might be fine with emulation, and cemu > project64. To me, these factors indicate it'll be unlikely we'll see a repeat of the expensive n64 games.
@idonotknowwhy: just finished BOTW on cemu. had the mod that changes the buttons to an xbox controller layout. its very good time for emulation.
@DarthAntz: I'm replaying it on cemu on and off now. Enjoying the 3440x1440 60fps. So much better than the 720p 20-30fps on the wiiU or 960p 23-30fps on the switch :)
Yesterday, Xenia got the Xbox360 version of Red Dead Redemption running at 30fps.
As you said, great time for emulation :)
@idonotknowwhy: I read the same news as you. RPCS3 emulation is not far behind in having RDR running at best potential.
@DarthAntz: Yeah, and I prefer rpcs3. I only get 9fps playing it there, but better graphics (4k, no artefacts)
So old people learned from the past, young people might be fine with emulation, and cemu > project64. To me, these factors indicate it'll be unlikely we'll see a repeat of the expensive n64 games.
Most N64 games aren't expensive. The best games for the system like Mario 64, Smash, Zelda Ocarina of Time…etc. are still very affordable (probably around like $40 - $50 on eBay).
I think there are three kinds of people who buy games. The first is the collector, someone who cares more about owning the game rather than playing the game - they will always inflate prices regardless of emulation and other ways to play the game. The next is the nostalgia nerd, someone who wants to play the game, but mostly to remember the good old days. I think I fall into this camp, I like buying old games because it's what I couldn't afford to do as a kid. I remember wanting SNES and N64 games, but not being able to get a hold of them. Buying them now is like fulfilling those old childhood ambitions.
Of course, the last group are the ones who just want to play the game. I think for this group, if emulation works great, they'll probably emulate. Otherwise, I think they'd just move on and play a different game. I don't really think they're all that interested in buying up old games, so they're probably not really affecting prices.
Emulators never compare to original hardware. We've been able to emulate say, gameboy or snes games for decades, but I'd rather play on original hardware than my pc or phone.
Um what. Smash was just re-released.
Um what. That’s a different game.
Sure, just like Mario Kart is a different game and Zelda and Splatoon and Donkey Kong and Mario U.
@KLoNe: You have no idea what you are talking about. Those games are the same games. Smash is not.
By your logic Brawl is the same game.
@PainToad: Wrong. Smash Ultimate is a port of Smash 4 with more DLC characters and graphical tweaks. Exactly the same as all the other ports. But sure, give them more money for doing no work.
@KLoNe: Mario Kart was ported.
Zelda was released on both.
Smash 4 was released on the Wii U and 3ds.
Smash 5 was only released on the switch.
Smash 5 is very different from Smash 4. If you're a smash fan and have a switch, I'd recommend it.
Some of these also come with games preinstalled so you can sometimes get lucky.
Yep, that happened to me lol. Had mk8.
Wouldn't be surprised if that's what half of these units came with rather than physical copies of the bundled game.
I thought they would of sold them all!, bought one on the last post about 6 months back. Was worth every penny after some HAX
are they all modable or needs to be a particular version ?
If it’s Wii mode (Wii and GameCube games), yes - any version is compatible. If it’s Wii U, not sure.
Check out MVG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyB9E2zEFBA
Short answer: All versions are moddable on firmware 5.52 using Haxchi
Agreed.
Create a Nintendo ID, buy the cheapest DS game on the e-shop, find an old spare hard drive (or buy a new one) and you are all set.
IIRC, only issue is the Wii U will only recognise a maximum 2GB on external hard drives. Anything past the 2GB is wasted.
I got a cheap 128GB USB stick sitting in mine fine, so…
wow didn't know about the 2GB limit of the external hdd..
got a link for that source info?
The limit is 2TB, and it only applies to drives that don't use 4KB sectors.
@ssquid: Any particular external hard drives models (desktop or portable) that will allow me to go past the 2 TB limit? I'd really like to know so I can get one.
@Donatello: Are you really anticipating more than 2T of content ?
I've found an old 1T disk (that simply hadn't been thrown out) and it has worked pretty well.. can't imagine needing > 2T and I figured you can probably use multiple 1T or 2T disks.. ?
I purchased recently to play Breath of the Wild, its a pity the Wii U wasn't more popular it really is a good console.
High Capacity Battery available direct from Nintendo in Victoria $35 delivered (If you're concerned about batteries dieing in the controller).
Didn't know they still made, or even still sold, those higher capacity batteries.
Might have to give them a ring sometime, if I could pick one up from their office next door to the Caribbean Market sometime, that'd be a ripper.
Yes you can just pop over to the Nintendo official shop in stud road Scoresby if that's what you mean. I went there to get the high capacity battery. The place is awesome, full display of all Nintendo console and game demo, but you can't take pictures.
Took my kids there and the lad even gave them free Nintendo stickers pack
Do they sell wii remotes? They're notably absent from the website.
Sweet, I'll be dropping in sometime soon then. Had no idea that was a shop, thought it was just their office kinda thing. Cool cool cool.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a Wii U myself, but I'm a bit iffy about the refurb quality from EB and the likelihood of scratches all over it after it has been delivered.
Anyone here have any feedback on their refurb quality Wii U's?
Its like any second hand Wii U. Mine had some scratches but other than that perfect quality.
You're lucky if they give it a wipe.
Mine has scratches all over the console, 1 X missing feet or whatever the rubber thing hanging off the side is and a loose screw inside that was rattling. Easily fixed by removing 2nd rubber feet, removing the screw and screwing it back to where it belongs, and hiding the console. The pad was in good condition though.
Went to EB yesterday and wanted to pick up one of their pre owned wii u pro controllers for $36.
The controller was so scratched, it looked like it was used in the Syrian war to control drones
It depends on the store and the previous owner. You're better off visiting a store in person so you can inspect the console yourself before making the purchase. My local EB had 3 preowned Wii U consoles, 2 of which were practically new, obviously the previous owners took great care of their stuff.
machine wise, is this more powerful than new 3ds xl?
i got the amazon new 3ds xl $99 but is this U more "fun" after we hax them?
Yes, but 3DS is completely portable as opposed to Wii U. Both of them with homebrew have pretty similar past console libraries, though Wii U would be able to do a few of the more powerful systems.
They are both equally fun after haxing. arguably the WiiU is more fun though because it'll natively play wii and GC games after hax.
I absolutely love my 3DS XL from that same deal, Loving all the games <3
i got the amazon new 3ds xl $99 but is this U more "fun" after we hax them?
Well how much fun either is depends on whether you prefer playing in front of a TV/monitor or on-the-go.
even when modded, you cant take the wii u out of the house and play on the train or something can u? ie. do you always need the console bit?
You upload the ROM file to the controller in the portable mode menu, it will take about 45 minutes to convert the game files, of course it will only play at 854x480 resolution and you will have to settle for FXAA and Bilinear filtering which loses some graphical fidelity
cool thanks, but sounds like too much hassle to do that for many games….if only you can put a bunch of games on a microsd or something… :(
gbatemp link?
He's asking "do you always need the console bit?"
I thought the answer is yes, you can't run the gamepad by itself without the console running, even if modded …
where do you get this info?
From what I read the gamepad does not have any game processing power..
more like just streaming the game from the console.
You can't play at all without the console. If the gamepad isn't in range it'll just show an error message.
So no, you can't use it on the train.
It is however totally worth getting for the reasons outlined above :)
There's a video on YouTube with portable conversion for the wii U. Basically he had a backup with a massive power bank to power up the console on the go. Lasted about 2 hours. Apart from that this is a home console, not portable.
i see now i know the difference. one is for home uses, one is portable. hmm i kind of prefer at home actually haha too bad already bought 3ds
bought a wii u premium on a previous deal and it came with Mario Kart 8 installed. is this normal?
Yep. MK8 preinstalled was one of the most common ‘bundles’ - there were Splatoon, Smash Bros and New Super Mario bundles too iirc
What's everyone's experience with the condition of these? Do you get a choice when you go into the store to pick it up?
No picking, as long as it works, don't worry about it. If it doesn't work properlly return it.
Any ideas if there are always heaps of scratches on the surface of the console and the condition of the gamepad?
Really random. Bought stuff in excellent condition and bought stuff thay looks like it was used to scrape shit off concrete
![[Refurbished] Wii U Premium Console + Selected Preowned Game $138 @ EB Games](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/29/432029.jpg?h=1b717c5f)
Excellent bit of kit. Hack it and it’s amazing!!!!
Although I’ve occasionally seem cheaper on gumtree