50 Fun Facts About Wii U

Splatoon's ink-spraying heroes on Wii U were first designed as which animals before becoming squid-like Inklings?

Rabbits were picked for their territorial habits, but colleagues across the company objected that bunnies shooting ink made no sense.

With 13.56 million sold, the Wii U outsold only which other Nintendo console, a mid-1990s commercial failure?

Virtual Boy sold just 770,000 units before it was pulled, which leaves the Wii U as Nintendo's lowest-selling home console.

Mario Kart 8, the best-selling Wii U game, lets racers drive along walls and ceilings using which new feature?

Anti-gravity won out over an earlier idea of karts drilling into the ground, which the designers discarded as less interesting.

Super Mario 3D World, the Wii U's second best-selling game, has a Super Bell power-up that turns heroes into what?

Cats can climb walls and scratch enemies, and the game's villain uses the same bell to become Meowser.

Weighed down by a heavy backpack, Captain Toad in the Wii U puzzle game Treasure Tracker cannot do what?

Jump is off the menu because designers found a leaping hero needed far bigger levels, so they picked a character whose backpack could excuse it.

In Mario Party 10's signature mode on Wii U, the GamePad player hunts four rivals as which villain?

Bowser is controlled on the GamePad by a fifth player, and balancing that one-against-four pursuit was the developers' biggest challenge.

Which Zelda adventure was the final game Nintendo published for the Wii U, arriving the same day on its successor?

Breath of the Wild made the usually left-handed Link right-handed, because the sword buttons sit on the right side of the Wii U GamePad.

Which toys-to-life figure line first went on sale in 2014 alongside Super Smash Bros. for Wii U?

Amiibo figures are read by an NFC sensor in the Wii U GamePad, and in the fighting game they could be trained as computer-controlled fighters.

Which Wii U social network, shut down in 2017, let players share hand-written notes and drawings in game communities?

Miiverse posts could surface inside games themselves, and human moderators screened them to keep out spoilers and anything inappropriate.

Which Capcom robot hero joined the fighter roster in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U?

Mega Man arrived alongside another third-party newcomer, Pac-Man, while Sega's Sonic returned from the previous game.

Which Final Fantasy VII character joined Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a downloadable fighter?

Cloud Strife was added after growing requests for Final Fantasy characters, bringing a Square Enix star into Nintendo's crossover brawler.

Which Super Smash Bros. creator began work on the Wii U entry only after finishing Kid Icarus: Uprising?

Masahiro Sakurai had long balanced every fighter single-handedly, but for this game he brought in more staff to sharpen competitive balance.

Which character replaces Mario as a playable hero in New Super Luigi U on Wii U?

Nabbit shrugs off enemy damage but cannot use power-ups; he first appeared in the base game as a thief who steals items from Toad.

Which Super Mario Galaxy character is the unlockable fifth playable hero in Super Mario 3D World on Wii U?

Rosalina brings her spin attack from the Galaxy games but is the slowest runner, while Yoshi was planned and then dropped for overlapping with other abilities.

In the Wii U launch game New Super Mario Bros. U, a new power-up suit dresses Mario as which animal?

Flying squirrel suits let players glide and cling to walls, and the designer created the power-up to open up freer movement in the air.

Which minigame collection was packed in with the Wii U Deluxe Set when the console launched?

Nintendo Land turns series such as Zelda and Metroid into twelve attractions, built to show off the GamePad the way Wii Sports sold the Wii Remote.

In Pikmin 3 on Wii U, three captains from the planet Koppai are sent to gather what?

Fruit is the goal because Koppai has run short of food, and the story's ending changes with how much of it the player brings home.

The Snowmads who freeze Donkey Kong's island in Tropical Freeze on Wii U are themed on which seafaring raiders?

Vikings inspired the walruses, owls and penguins of the Snowmad fleet, who sail in from the northern seas on Donkey Kong's birthday.

Which Koei Tecmo hack-and-slash series lent its mass battles to a 2014 Zelda spin-off on Wii U?

Dynasty Warriors developer Omega Force made the crossover, Hyrule Warriors, with help from Team Ninja on its one-on-one combat.

Which action heroine's 2014 sequel became a Wii U exclusive after Nintendo funded a game Sega had shelved?

Bayonetta's first outing was published by Sega on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Sega stayed on the sequel only as a consultant.

Which capital city, overrun by the undead, is the setting of the Wii U launch exclusive ZombiU?

London was chosen for its dark history, Jack the Ripper included, and because the 2012 Olympics had put the city in the spotlight.

Which undercover police officer is the hero of Lego City Undercover, first released on Wii U?

Chase McCain returns from two years of exile to recapture escaped crime boss Rex Fury, in a story written for the game rather than borrowed from a film.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse on Wii U was given a handmade look, as if made from which material?

Clay figures unlocked from hidden treasure chests can be viewed in the game, and its animation was kept at a low frame rate to look like claymation.

In Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U, what are the transformable mechs that players unlock midway through called?

Skells switch between a walking mode and a driving mode, run on limited fuel, and are covered by insurance that pays for repairs.

In Star Fox Zero on Wii U, Fox McCloud pilots which fighter craft that can transform into a two-legged Walker?

Arwing cockpit views fill the GamePad screen to help with aiming, and the Walker form was borrowed from the long-unreleased Star Fox 2.

Which cel-shaded Zelda sea adventure from the GameCube was remastered in HD for the Wii U in 2013?

The Wind Waker gained a Swift Sail in its remaster to speed up crossing the Great Sea, and the GamePad screen became a map and inventory.

Which 2015 Wii U release marked a famous plumber's 30th anniversary by letting players build and share courses?

Super Mario Maker began life as a tool for Nintendo's own level designers, until the team saw its potential as a standalone game.

Which real vehicle maker's designs were added to Mario Kart 8 on Wii U as downloadable karts in 2014?

Mercedes-Benz supplied three karts based on its past and present cars, after Mario, Luigi and Peach starred in Japanese adverts for the GLA.

Before its unveiling at E3 2011, the Wii U was rumoured in the press under which codename?

Project Café leaked two months before the reveal, with reports correctly predicting that the new machine would still run Wii software.

Which Nintendo of America president unveiled the Wii U on stage at the E3 2011 press conference?

Reggie Fils-Aimé later called the console a necessary step towards Nintendo's next machine, and predicted it would be remembered fondly.

Which Nintendo president, the face of its Nintendo Direct broadcasts, died in July 2015 during the Wii U era?

Satoru Iwata programmed the NES game Golf, which was later found hidden in the firmware of Nintendo's next console, unlocked when the clock is set to the date of his death.

Shigeru Miyamoto's early idea for a small screen on the Wii U GamePad echoed the VMU of which Sega console?

Dreamcast memory units had a small display of their own, and the idea itself began with the blue message light on the Wii's disc slot.

Which American technology company designed the Espresso processor at the heart of the Wii U?

IBM built the three-core chip on its PowerPC line, while AMD designed the graphics processor that sits beside it in the same module.

Wii U games came on a proprietary 25 GB disc format co-developed with which Japanese electronics company?

Panasonic's format resembles Blu-ray in its design and specifications, but the discs are finished with a soft, rounded rim.

Why, according to Nintendo's president at launch, does the Wii U not support DVD or Blu-ray films?

Licensing fees for the patents behind both formats were the main reason, and he added that most owners already had a player for such discs anyway.

What did Nintendo call the Wii U feature that runs a game on the GamePad screen alone?

Off-TV Play was extended to Wii Mode by a 2013 firmware update, so even older Wii games could be enjoyed on the GamePad's screen.

The 32 GB Deluxe Set of the Wii U came in which colour, while the cheaper 8 GB Basic Set was white?

Black consoles cost 50 dollars more at the American launch and added stands, a Sensor Bar and a packed-in game.

Which major market was last to get the Wii U at launch, almost three weeks after North America?

Japan, Nintendo's home market, waited until December 8, 2012, after North America on November 18 and Europe on November 30.

In Splatoon on Wii U, which three-minute mode is won by the team that covers the most ground in ink?

Turf War was pictured by the producer as a cool, rebellious pastime among Inklings, akin to skateboarding, which is why the soundtrack leans on rock.

Which pop-idol duo hosts the news reports in Splatoon on Wii U and later starred in real hologram concerts?

Callie and Marie perform as the Squid Sisters, and their hologram shows travelled as far as a Paris convention in 2016.

On the Wii U home menu, what was the name of the television lobby where crowds of other users' Miis gathered?

WaraWara Plaza filled the TV by default, while the GamePad showed a plain grid of shortcuts to games and apps.

Which Wii U service, closed in North America in 2015, turned the GamePad into an electronic programme guide?

Nintendo TVii combined cable listings with streaming services in one guide, and the GamePad's infrared could tune a set-top box to a chosen show.

Which conventional-style Wii U pad, launched alongside the console, claimed an 80-hour battery life?

Pro Controller batteries far outlasted the GamePad's three to five hours, and its layout drew comparisons with the Xbox 360 pad.

Which studio behind Kirby's Epic Yarn went on to develop Yoshi's Woolly World for the Wii U?

Good-Feel made the game a spiritual successor to its Kirby title, so Yoshi throws yarn balls instead of eggs in a world of cloth.

Which developer made the Wii U superhero game The Wonderful 101, directed by Hideki Kamiya?

PlatinumGames first imagined a crowd of Nintendo's own mascots teaming up, before switching to an original team of transforming heroes.

The Wii U was the first home console of which generation, later joined by PlayStation 4 and Xbox One?

Eighth-generation rivals from Sony and Microsoft arrived a year after it, in November 2013, and each reached ten million sales in about a year.

What did Nintendo call the Wii U idea of giving the GamePad player a different goal from everyone else?

Asymmetric gaming works because the GamePad has its own screen, so its holder can be given an objective and a view the other players lack.

Which elderly ape becomes playable in the Wii U platformer Tropical Freeze, bouncing on spikes with a walking stick?

Cranky Kong had only ever been playable in minigames before, and his cane lets him cross spiky thorns the other heroes cannot.

Which studio developed Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Wii U role-playing game about humans stranded on an alien world?

Monolith Soft set the adventure on the planet Mira, where survivors of a destroyed Earth explore five continents from their base, New Los Angeles.

Which French publisher released the survival horror game ZombiU as a Wii U launch exclusive?

Ubisoft built the game at its Montpellier studio with a team of about 80, with extra help from its Bucharest office.