Topic: If my Wii breaks/stops working...

If my Wii breaks/stops working...is there a way to recover all the VC titles I've bought?

From what I've heard, Nintendo will link your console back up to any bought games if you send it in for repair.

Still, it's a really inept solution - this kind of thing is why Steam and other online services link games to an account, not a console.

Yep what Wheels said. If you console breaks you just need to send it in to Nintendo and they can transfer the games. I am not sure how they go about doing it or if there are restrictions. The best bet is call Nintendo and ask them.

Ummm ...
I'm living in Germany and sent my Wii to Nintendo for repair last June.
I got a replacement Wii and had to re-download every game and channel i purchased earlier. (For free)
So i couldn't just run them from the SD card where i stored them on my original Wii.

They managed to transfer all my save states though.

You would have lost your Wi-Fi states though.
I think they switch the consoles, so although you still own all the games, running them off the SD card wouldn't work.

I wonder how much it costs to send the console in for repair. I think one time Microsoft wanted to charge me something like $60 to send my Xbox in to get fixed.

The problem with this sort of DRM becomes all too clear in many circumstances. Want to switch to one of the red 25th anniversary Wiis? Bad luck - buy all your games again. Get your Wii stolen? Bad luck - buy them all again.

I'm moving to the USA soon, and I'm worried that if my Wii has problems they'll refuse to repair it (being an Australian Wii) and, thus, I will either have to ship it back home or buy a new one and lose all my downloads.

I thought they said they would replace content on a stolen Wii if you send them both serial numbers (of both the old and new Wii, if you replace it), and maybe a police report to verify they have been reported as stolen.

@Chrono-Trigger: It cost me 79 € plus shipping costs. It was listed support section on the Nintendo site too.
I don't know about Wi-Fi data though since i don't play online very often.

@Wheels2050: Are you sure about the red Wiis ? I think by getting in contact with Nintendo's support they might be able to grant you the right to download them all again for free. Maybe. And you can't use them on your other Wii anymore then.

@LTD Unless your Wii is broken, they won't allow for you to change willy nilly.

If and only if you send Nintendo the broken system you can get them back. If you just buy another unit, if it gets misplaced, or if it is stolen they will not give you your stuff back and make you re-purchase it despite the fact the games are tied to your Club Nintendo account and backed up on their own servers as they're crooks.