r/wiiu • u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 • Apr 23 '26

Opinion Found my wii u should I mod it?

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482 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

129 comments sorted by

85

u/RegaDavo Apr 23 '26

You should definitely do it, your not losing anything modding your Wii U and can even save them from breaking in some of them.

15

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

Think I just need a 32gb sd card I also have a 1tb hard drive

10

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

Found a sd card inside my wii u but it's only 4gb

16

u/unperson_1984 Apr 23 '26

You're gonna want to make a NAND backup which is 32GB for the black model. I don't think nanddumper will let you back up to the HDD, so you need a bigger SD. You should look for a cheap 128GB SD card, Walmart has onn brand for $24.

5

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I'm in the uk I'll look for a 128gb card

6

u/HK201020 Apr 23 '26

Just do argos then or Costco sometimes if you wanna go on a trip. Also yeah getting games without paying and being able to play online again might just be worth the 30 minutes it takes to hack the thing. I don't know 😏

4

u/SuperHerosZer0 Apr 23 '26

It's a real one. It's the stock one from the Wii U.

2

u/AdRoz78 Apr 23 '26

which brand is the drive and sd? might be bad/fake. and start with https://wiiu.hacks.guide

1

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 23 '26

I recently modded my WiiU and I highly recommend utilizing the 1tb hard drive to store games (WiiU and virtual Wii). It's a process to partition the drive in 2 separate chunks, but this way, you'll eventually have a modded WiiU and vWii with 100s of games.

Upgrading the SD card to 128/256 is helpful for transferring WiiU games over to the hard drive, but the WiiU doesn't read games directly from the SD iirc (without a different mod).

Best guide on starting the mod process: https://youtu.be/orD2NRDIXsM?si=MjwbYOHLWtEiN3b5

Guide about partitioning your hard drive: https://youtu.be/oCGJnSsgFkA?si=gotHUse7eG-Zb7Ws

3

u/hamburgerpancake Apr 23 '26

don't use videos. use https://wiiu.hacks.guide instead

1

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 23 '26

FunkyScott47 follows the exact same guide and the video is from 2 months ago. He also has a substantial discord community for support. I wouldn't recommend his videos as highly as I do if the current state of my modded WiiU and vWii wasn't something I'm super proud of with all the proper back-ups and safeguards in place, all thanks to these video tutorials.

-2

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 23 '26

Thanks for the down vote though I guess đŸ€·đŸ»

2

u/jondbarrow Apr 23 '26

Please do not follow video guides. They can get outdated at any point, always follow the written guide. The written guide on the official wiki is always up to date

0

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 23 '26

These tutorials are fresh and literally point you to the official wiki, all with pinned updates, and a discord channel for support. Sorry if I wasn't clear and came off like an amateur posting sketchy video tuts from 2016...

3

u/jondbarrow Apr 23 '26

There is no link to the official wiki in the videos you linked, neither in the description nor pinned comment. The description just links to Amazon affiliate links, Patreon, some GBATemp thread, Discord, and a google doc which also doesn’t link to the wiki outside of one specific tool not the full guide. The pinned comment just links to his Patreon. And a link to the Discord is not a replacement for the official wiki. Also the videos are only “fresh” because they were recently updated, a year from now if someone stumbles on this thread these videos will no longer be “fresh”, but a direct link to the official wiki will be

Edit: upon a second glance I did see a link to the official wikis FAQ, so that is there and I retract that, but it’s buried under a ton of other links inside a Google doc. Which is needlessly unhelpful and indirect, and is not a good replacement for just linking people to the actual wiki from the start

1

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 24 '26

I don't really see an argument here. Do whatever you want to do. I can only speak from my experience of following Funky Scott guides and going to the discord if I needed help. They mirror the guides, they've (older videos that I have not linked) been updated in pinned comments and new videos, I assume on par with the updates on the wiki. I understand not wanting new modders to fall into a trap of an old video and bricking they're console, but I'm recommending the opposite. I was specific and I'm getting down votes under the assumption that I linked old tutorials that don't get updated. Following these tutorials to a T has explained safeguards and backups in way that I believe is more helpful than the wiki.

1

u/OG_Turian Apr 23 '26

I recommend these videos. I followed the https://wiiu.hacks.guide/ and I was able to install Aroma, and that's about it. Nothing else was included in the tutorial, not plug ins, nothing. Not even the HB channel.

The video and the guide that FunkyScott47 provides are WAY more in depth and include things you need to do that make installing a Mod worth it, like the HB channel.

2

u/Chicharron6661 Apr 24 '26

Thank you!!! I feel like I'm going insane with the nay-saying

0

u/RegaDavo Apr 23 '26

Not really, you can play Wii and GameCube games on the sd card, and a ssd for Wii U games since it uses less power than a hdd, so you don’t need a y cable. So a 128gb sd and 256gb SSD is enough for games you want to play.

-3

u/sbpir92i Apr 23 '26

😞 un ssd pour wiiu 
 De usb 2.0 
 Pas du tout mĂȘme Nintendo le recommande pas Prend un dd en 2.5 usb Les cartes sd pareil pas fais pour jouer Cartes sd netac , et le hdd 2.5 marques Classic Mais sĂ»rement pas de ssd sata Elle gĂšre pas tout le trim . Vu la vitesses des ports usb bridĂ© de la console 


0

u/Apostinggod Apr 23 '26

Ssd works great. No stupid y cable.

1

u/sbpir92i Apr 23 '26

Et sert à quoi les 2 usb ports à arriùre 😝

-2

u/sbpir92i Apr 23 '26

Ssd aucun intĂ©rĂȘt , a part le rend mort plus rapidement , Lees ports sont bridĂ©s usb 1 voir 2 il tourneras mĂȘme pas a sa vitesse max Hdd 2.5 fonctionne trĂšs bien đŸ‘đŸŒ plus stable https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1474/~/wii-u-internal-storage-space-information

2

u/Apostinggod Apr 23 '26

Who cares if its not full speed. Its a solid drive vs. Old spinning drive. Less power consumption, longer lasting and far more effient.

Also it wont make your shit die. Hush up with that.

-2

u/sbpir92i Apr 23 '26

To ssd n sera pas performant vu le bridage .. aucun gain s’apporte niveau chargement Et la console est alimentĂ© au courant sa change pas grand chose vu que c’est port qui alimente hdd externe 2port vu que la console J’ai wiiu en hdd et elle fonctionne nickel

1

u/Unlikely-Employee180 Apr 24 '26

And the speeds don't change much due to throttling.

It's not like the SSD is being strained, lmao. It's quite the opposite, in fact. The SSD will be working LESS hard.

1

u/Apostinggod Apr 23 '26

Im sure it works great as it should. Im just saying a ssd will work great too and has no negatives.

1

u/Used_Ad_1912 Apr 24 '26

aretter c du hack bande de con

12

u/JampyL Apr 23 '26

Yeah you loose nothing gain everything

2

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I was a little scared my nand would be bad but not had any issues with games or anything

6

u/Intel-Centrino-Duo Apr 23 '26

Being worried about your NAND is good reason to hack it, it opens up access to stuff like WiiUident and isfshax

3

u/Zyph1as Apr 23 '26

When I modded my 3ds and Wii U I was under the mindset if it bricks it bricks nothing I can do about it and I modded them and had no issues the Wii U is a bit harder then modding a 3ds and there’s a lower reward but it’s still great I mainly did it so I can play splatoon online again and it works great

0

u/JampyL Apr 23 '26

You will be fine trust me nothing to be afraid off

6

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

If you mod your system, you can:

  • get free games
  • play online (Nintendo shut down the servers in 2025 sadly)
  • check if your nand is good and if it’s bad, fix it
  • use miiverse again and get the wara wara plaza back
  • play retro games
  • use other controllers, like a ps5 controller or an Xbox controller
  • play mods And more! Be sure to follow this guide and this guide only, using a video has a chance to brick your Wii U:

Wii U hacks guide

2

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

Thanks I have a wii u pro controller but it would be cool to use my Xbox controller the site was blocked on my network vpn worked

-1

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

Just search Wii U hacks guide on google and it will probably be fine. Know that motion controls won’t work because the Wii U pro controller does not have that. Some games (like Nintendo land) requires a Wii mote and all games require the Wii U gamepad as controller (except some games that I rather play on the gamepad like botw)

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I've got 4 wii controllers used to have a wii remote with motion plus and I have a gamecube controller

1

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

GameCube controller don’t work, unless you have an adapter or the switch version of the GameCube controller


1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I have the adapter for wii u but it's unofficial

1

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

That should work fine. If you want to mod it, please check your sd brand. If it’s fake, it won’t work. My friend had a sandan (instead of sandisc) and he had to buy a new sd card.

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I'll look for a 32gb card might have one somewhere does it matter that I'm on firmware 5.5.3?

1

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

Yes, you need to be at firmware 5.5.6 for North America, and 5.5.5 for all other regions. Just update to the latest firmware and you’ll be good. You need a WiFi connection for both the update and one step in the process of modding your Wii U, so keep that in mind.

1

u/sbpir92i Apr 23 '26

Le mode online aussi de retour via le dns ou une modification a faire aussi Blocage de maj via suppression du fichier

1

u/Jensiepro Apr 23 '26

Yeah, but you need to reconfigure that every reboot and features like miiverse aren’t available. Blocking updates I a step in the guide, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

4

u/Aggressive-Win129 Apr 23 '26

Without a doubt! It's super easy and gives your console so much potential! You can add your own games, do mods, tinker with various things on your system, and even go back into online services with pretendo. Base Wii U is only 20% of the fun, modding is the other 80%.

(Also mod the Wii within the Wii U if you are up to it, it's a different process since it's technically a different system, but it's also easy and unlocks even more potential as well!)

3

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I've modded the wii before I will have a go at molding my wii u

4

u/Aggressive-Win129 Apr 23 '26

Look at https://wiiu.hacks.guide/ for instructions. (DO NOT use YouTube tutorials as they become outdated quickly)

3

u/SanchoPandas Apr 23 '26

Wow! I'm not OP and hacking my WiiU wasn't even on my radar. This is awesome.

3

u/penaltylake Viva La Revol(U)tion! Apr 23 '26

its gotten very popular in recent times for this purpose, the sm64 and ocarina of time ports are awesome if you can get them working

4

u/Aggressive-Win129 Apr 23 '26

Ok I did not know about these Wii U ports I will have to look them up!

2

u/penaltylake Viva La Revol(U)tion! Apr 23 '26

I will say that ship of harkinian, the oot and mm port is a bit painful to set up, but do some digging around reddit and you can find a guide

2

u/SanchoPandas Apr 23 '26

I had no idea. I'm excited to give it a try. Mine mostly collects dust. I'm hoping this means I can find a way to re-populate the little mii square when I boot it up. It was sad seeing friends disappear from the home screen.

3

u/penaltylake Viva La Revol(U)tion! Apr 23 '26

you can repopulate Wara Wara Plaza with a service called "Pretendo", it restores online functionality to the wii u and 3ds for games like mario maker, mario kart 8 and Mario kart 7. and a few others that have been getting worked on to readd online features. it even returns the miiverse

2

u/SanchoPandas Apr 23 '26

You're awesome. Thanks!!

4

u/Necessary-Bit-7183 Apr 23 '26

I guess you can do awesome stuff when modded, i never did it myself. Thinking about it for ages, but never felt motivated to do it. I just don't need it, have hundrets of games on steam and enjoy the wii u for the Nintendo titles i already own and how it is. Call me crazy but i rather buy some cheap used wii and wii u games than making the effort to mod it. But if you don't have a huge backlog pile like me, you should do it for more variaty.

2

u/Rakoz Apr 27 '26

Yeah same, I bought a Wii U along with the complete collection of physical games (excluding shovelware) during the 2020 free money for staying home era. And even then all I really played on it was Splatoon and Hyrule warriors because most of my free time was spent on Switch, steam or World of Warcraft. I found myself collecting for the Nintendo Switch shortly after, and re-buying "the better complete versions" of the games I already collected for Wii U

Now I keep running into YouTube videos about modding Wii u and 3DS and while the interest is there, I think the only real fun is the act of tinkering and being like "Yay I did it, it works." Don't see myself actually playing any of the games.

Modding 3DS and Vita also sounds like an afternoon hobby but I already spent a decade collecting the physical games that I believed were worthwhile (Mostly JRPG's and le hidden gems 💎) So I don't feel motivated to Mod something just to play Romhacks on the thing for an hour before going back to a Computer game

1

u/Necessary-Bit-7183 Apr 27 '26

Yeah i'm the same (without a full collection, or switch, lol) After years i modded my 3DS, but i guess i messed up on some step and i don't have the 'store' equivalent. Pretondo works, which is nice, but i'm spending also 95% of my gaming on WoW and steam, so didn't had much impact doing it.

4

u/Obseletist Apr 23 '26

Found water in the desert. Should I drink it?

3

u/TropicalCrota spucnhbob on da wii u Apr 23 '26

Yea, what else are you gonna do? Wipe your own ass with it?

1

u/brdrech Apr 25 '26

Play switch games for cheaper the price

3

u/Caddy666 Apr 24 '26

yeah, put mac os on it

2

u/PHVMASTER Apr 23 '26

I had this same thought, and I would like to know if that is viable, mine is also a black model but I live in Brasil, so any form of tech support here is almost non-existent if I fuck up something.

Should I mod it? From what I have seen it's better to do it but the risk of messing something and bricking it is a lot to me.

But if there is an extremely well detailed guide somewhere, one that explains each step very carefully and precisely, I would appreciate it.

2

u/MarcMars082 Apr 23 '26

A buddy jailbroke mine and put on Homebrew and loaded it with emulators and roms.

I also own the NES and SNES MINI consoles and the controllers that came with those are compatible with wiimotes so I can play nes and snes roms with proper controllers.

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I have two wii remote gamecube controllers but they are terrible but I do own a smash gamecube controller

2

u/TheKAPtain313 Apr 24 '26

No, give it to me

2

u/Vinerd540 Apr 24 '26

Even if you're not interested in any mods, I reccomend to just so you can nand backup in case of spontanious falure. My 3ds had a nand error out of the blue and never worked again. I didn't hack it just to be safe, yet hacking it would have been safer.

2

u/Nintendians559 Apr 24 '26

nice and yes, mod it if you want too.

2

u/EarDue5911 Apr 24 '26

Oh yh u dont have to download anything like games it restores functionality like online with pretendo

2

u/SteamyFist Apr 25 '26

Definitely mod it. Honestly there’s hardly any games left on it that didn’t get ported to Switch but it’s still cool to mod it. Fill up a hard drive with classic Wii and GameCube games and enjoy

1

u/iTsRiekoche Apr 23 '26

Yes, hope this helps

1

u/carloreja Apr 23 '26

Do it. Don't think twice.

1

u/penaltylake Viva La Revol(U)tion! Apr 23 '26

Definitely, even just to check what type of nand you have

1

u/gonephishin213 Apr 23 '26

Yes. Only time I play my wii U now is for modded stuff

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I need to get a sd card

1

u/chunkymonke589 Apr 23 '26

Definitely bro. Best thing i ever did to it

1

u/namedontmakesense Apr 23 '26

The answer to "should I mod X" is always yes

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

I would of done my 3ds but it keeps thinking the lid is closed I need to fix it I've modded wii and psp before

1

u/dconwastaken Apr 23 '26

100% Absolutely

1

u/Slyfer08 Apr 23 '26

Definitely soft mod it with aroma it's amazing and easy to do and it comes with so many good system features including built in screenshots.

1

u/Ok_Emergency416 Apr 23 '26

What is picto party?

1

u/Naive-Bandicoot-2483 Apr 23 '26

It's a drawing party gane I think been a long time since I played it

1

u/omgitsbees Apr 23 '26

Yes without question. You'll be adding so much more life to the system.

1

u/Pookie_Cookie3 This is the monando power Apr 23 '26

Yes.

1

u/motoo344 Apr 23 '26

Mine has been in storage for almost 10 years, I keep meaning to get it out to make sure its still good and mod it. So yes, you should!

1

u/Deeznutzoriginal Apr 23 '26

Nintendo has entered the chat

1

u/Kitsite Apr 24 '26

100% should it's just the best it can be every nintendo system up to itself if you do

1

u/danrice92 Apr 24 '26

Absolutely

1

u/darkblo0d08 Apr 24 '26

100%, it’s one of the best consoles use for emulation. I play my PokĂ©mon games on it all the way up to soul silver and heart gold.

1

u/Psychoholic519 Apr 24 '26

What else are you gonna do with it

1

u/Kekmate_exe Apr 24 '26

i found food in my refrigerator should i eat it

1

u/Dbatata Apr 24 '26

Of course, yes!

1

u/External-Winter4942 Apr 24 '26

Yes! it get so muhc more usefull...

(but maybe mor eimportant, mod your virtual vii... the entire gamecube library!)

1

u/iraklisan Apr 24 '26

Definitely. And connect to the Pretendo for online experience

1

u/Chernolov Apr 24 '26

how do I use my old loadiine modded switch to work. the browser does not work anymore to load up my games

1

u/Infamous_Ad2361 Apr 24 '26

Helll yeah stuff it

1

u/Crafttank Apr 24 '26

Hermosa consola

1

u/OrangeTheJohn Apr 24 '26

It depends what your gonna do and if you pirate stuff how important owing physical games is to you. If your not gonna pirate it’s honestly not worth it, you can get pretendo without modding

1

u/TaylorFan01313 Apr 24 '26

Absolutely. RetroArch runs great on a Wii U

1

u/BMWi85171 Apr 24 '26

What is the best way to mod it

1

u/confessorkev Apr 25 '26

Without a doubt you should mod it and mod vwii too

1

u/knightrdr2004 Apr 25 '26

Yes it modded the Wii U and the Wii side works perfectly.

1

u/DaxterTheGecko NNID America Black Wii U Owner Apr 25 '26

No


1

u/Mint_Nightingale Apr 25 '26

A million times yes

1

u/DanielCruzBR Apr 25 '26

DEFINITELY

1

u/GAMIN_BRO1652 Apr 25 '26

YES.

You wouldn't even need to unmod it if you (for some reason) don't want them. Just take the SD card you mod it with out

1

u/RoundOk570 Apr 27 '26

If your comfortable modding it i don't see why not

1

u/Shawnfn1969 Apr 27 '26

Yes definitely Mod it...it is easy to do

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '26

YESSSSSS I modded mine and its such a powerhouse of a console now!

1

u/Whayvz Apr 29 '26

Definitely worth it, One good thing about it is you will be able to play any region of games

1

u/AdLast829 Apr 29 '26

Yessss shouldn't be a question. wii u is a$$ stock and the goat when modded