Its no secret that the Wii U has a few issues right now. Long loading times, random hard locks and having only 512MB for Wii digital content are just a few of these problems facing Wii U owners.
Since Nintendo is working on multiple system updates to improve the Wii U experience for players we thought compiling a list of the things we want to see fixed would be good. We don’t expect all of these to be addressed and those that are fixed probably won’t get tended to right away.
Still, Nintendo has some work to do with their new HD system and one of the glorious things about it is that they can send out massive overhauls of the OS and hardware quirks via large updates unlike the Wii. Here are the things we want to see improved or added in future Wii U system updates.
Start tracking Wii play time in the Daily Log
I understand that the Wii U goes into Wii mode to play Wii games and content but I don’t understand why the system’s Daily Log application doesn’t track what you’ve played while in Wii mode.
If you look at the Daily Log on a day that you used Wii mode it even makes note of it. There has to be some sort of work around to allow the system to track the play time of your Wii games. Without a Nintendo Channel in Wii mode there is no way to track this.
Better notification system for online activity
Some people absolutely hate how the Xbox 360 pops up your friends username when they go online or when you receive a message. While I think Nintendo had the right idea when they made the Wii U’s online notifications system subtle, they went too far.
When you press the Wii U menu button you will be told what friends are online and whether you’ve received a message or friend request. My problem with this is that I almost never pay attention to this. Nintendo should implement a notification system on the television screen that has small pops up that tell when you’ve got a message, friends online, etc.
Why are we still dealing with this in 2013?
More storage space for Wii content
Your Wii U could have a 1TB HDD attached to it. You could have 8GB or 32GB of space but in Wii mode you’re limited to only 512MB. This is a move to completely replicate the Wii experience within the Wii U. I’m not sure what is holding Nintendo up from giving us more storage space for Wii content but I’d love to see that 512MB cap raised. The memory is there for a reason Nintendo.
Merge Wii U and 3DS eShops
Its odd that you can see some 3DS content in the Wii U eShop but can’t do anything with it. Nintendo should find a way for users to link their 3DS system with their Wii U so they can download this 3DS content as it is in sleep mode somewhere else in your house. This would be much simpler than finding your 3DS, turning it on, opening the eShop, finding the demo and clicking download. One tap on your Wii U tells your 3DS to download something and you’re doing two things at once!
Cut down how much RAM the OS uses
A major change to how the Wii U works like this wouldn’t be easy. The console has 2GB RAM in its casing but 1GB of that is used by the OS at all times. This needs to change so that developers can have more memory to play around with, especially with more powerful consoles from Sony and Microsoft on the horizon.
Nintendo did something like this on the 3DS and they should do this again on the Wii U. They should allow developers to program a game to use that extra 1GB thus turning off multi-tasking functions, Miiverse, etc. Not every game would need to do this so it would only be necessary for the most demanding games.
Ideally Nintendo could cut down the OS’s footprint to 256MB RAM. Maybe they could allow users to dictate what functions they could use so that an application you never use isn’t holding your games back. Like selecting 3 functions that will always be available.
Maybe you want Miiverse, the web browser and friends list at all times. Or maybe you could tell the system to not allow use of the web browser during gameplay, thus cutting down how much memory the OS uses and letting users keep some of their favorite features of the system close.
Allow users to add wallpaper to menu
This is a minor feature that I don’t see Nintendo implementing but would be a nice touch. Users could plaster an image in the background of either Wara Wara Plaza or the menu. Think of the hilarious results of watching countless Mii’s walking over comical images in the plaza!
There shouldn’t be a loading screen for system settings
Shorter loading screens
Its no secret that the Wii U has a problem with loading screens. I’ve gotten use to them personally but they should still be cut down. Nintendo made these loading screens take less time in their last system update and I hope they continue that trend with their next one. Some applications, like the system settings menu, probably shouldn’t even have a loading screen to begin with.
Those are just a few of our suggestions for what Nintendo should fix or add in their upcoming Wii U system updates. We don’t expect all of them to happen and knowing Nintendo we’ll probably get some features we couldn’t have dreamed of. What features would you like to see added or issues fixed? Let us know in the comment section below!
Changes we'd like to see in the next Wii U system update,
