Out of nowhere, the Wii U has received its outset firmware update in over two years. This brings the Wii U system to Ver. 5.v.5, supposedly adding "improvements to system stability and usability," although in that location may be more to this update than it seems.

This update was not announced in advance, only being subtly added to Nintendo'south back up page without fanfare. The Wii U's life officially ended four years ago, on March third, 2017, with the final first party release being the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Always since then, the panel has remained mostly dead, also the occasional eShop-sectional indie release or stability patch.

Before today, the last firmware update for the console was on September third, 2018. The by 4 patches for the system all contain the aforementioned exact notes, describing "further improvements to overall system stability." This obviously does not go into much detail, but many in the modding customs speculate that this is an try to remove some organization exploits. The Wii U has an active modding scene, especially when it comes to adding cool things to Breath of the Wild, which ordinarily goes confronting Nintendo's strict brand guidelines. While it can't be known for sure if this is the true reason for this update, information technology would explicate why Nintendo is "supporting" the console in 2021.

Nintendo acknowledging the Wii U is usually a rarity these days, making this update stand out to fans more usual. Support for the panel has completely wound down; the built-in Miiverse service was discontinued three whole years ago, removing actual gameplay functionality from titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles X and Pushmo World. The original Super Mario Maker is removing level-upload support at the end of this month, and the game was delisted from the eShop ahead of this change. It may only be a matter of time until online functionality is removed as well, making titles like Splatoon and the original Mario Kart 8 almost unplayable.

At the same time, the Wii U was an extremely unsuccessful console, so 1 can't blame Nintendo for not supporting information technology much anymore. The Nintendo Switch has sold 80m units in four years, surpassing its predecessor nearly six times over. Despite this, fans are nevertheless hoping that no more functionalities are removed from the organization. Nintendo is inside their legal rights to remove modding-related exploits, but taking anything else away from the panel could brand some dear games lost to history entirely. Fortunately, if this patch is any indication, that isn't in the cards merely notwithstanding.

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