Topic: Question about new Wii U and initial update

Hi, Im new here, I just ordered a Wii U and had a few questions I hope you guys could help me out with. It actually hasnt shipped yet, but a few questions are making me rather anxious about it.

1) The initial update. I remember when the Wii U first released, there was apparently a massive 5GB patch. I read back then that if the power interrupted or your internet cut out, you would be forced to unplug the unit resulting in a permanent bricked Wii U... , is this still the case?

2) The initial 5GB update, is it still mandatory? I mean, I heard that the initial update when you first start up the Wii U is not currently 5GB. If this is so, how big is it? Have Nintendo thus consolidated all the updates since launch into a smaller initial update on start up?

3) Is wireless the only way to download the patch? Its whats driving my anxiety here, I have a stable 10MB line but its terrible with wireless in my house.

Would really like your input on this,
Thanks in advance

I bought the Wii U in February, and my first update was quite small and didn't take a long time. There were 2 or 3 at the time though because there were general updates for everyone too. Yeah, I think you need the wireless unless you have one of those adapters to USB.

Thanks for your reply, dumedum. Much appreciated. By small you mean smaller than 5GB (launch update), by any chance, do you remember how big each were? Even an estimate would be fine. I would hate for it to be bigger than I anticipate and :/ timeout and brick on me.
EDIT: and I unfortunately dont have a USB Wireless dongle... :/ so its a gamble on stability for me gulp

For the record, the update was never 5GB. That was just speculation based on how long it took people to download it on day 1. Some people measured the size of the update and IIRC it's just over 1GB. You have to download it over wifi unless you buy a Wii LAN adapter.

Ok.. I see.. Thanks NFreak007. I did try to Google that info (on how legit the 5GB size thing was), turns out it was false. I guess that does make sense if they were OS updates/stability and the Wii U has 1GB ram for OS.
So do you guys think when Wii U updates, it negates the previous updates? Like, when I boot it up for the first time, it may just ask me to download the April 2013 update alone? and not any of the updates since launch?

I was afraid it would make me download each and every one of them.

ALSO, you never have to unplug it if the internet fails; that was just people who didn't think things through. If you're interent is shaky, it'll only stop the update, and then resume when it reconnects to the internet. It'll only brick if you unplug it.

As for the other updates, IDK. I would think that the current Wii U models actually come with the first update out of the box, so you would only need the April one.
If that's not the case, I'd still think that all the updates would be condensed, and you'd automatically update to the newest version. (Not sure about this though)

I bought my Wii U in March and it came with the latest updates (it was the ZombiU deluxe bundle)

Of course I had to download updates that were released after I bought it but maybe you'll get those included too

I got basic few weeks ago, and I had to download 3-5GB (40 min download with 12 mbit)

Yeah that update hasnt made it to the units yet i just got the deluxe and it still had to do the massive patch and it took like 45 mins.