GamePad High Capacity Battery Now Available in North America

Hmm... next we need an official high-capacity battery for 3DS... all we have right now is the bulky Nyko add-on...

Wow this is expensive. Does it make the controller heavier?

@Gioku Agreed, or at the very least an adapter so you can use one of those portable batteries to charge any device with.

Also what a strange time to come out with this.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it was 8 hours. 3-5 hours? I get about two and half so I am not sure I would get that much of an improvement. I think I will get it though. Looks like some nice deals on wiimote plus's and nunchucks for 20 a pop.

@Warruz Third parties make them. I have a usb charger that came with a plug, and it works for DS Lite, DSi and 3DS/XL

I have the blinking red light of doom on my console itself.

Does anyone know if you can register a second WiiU (first one release-day black 32gb; second one MarioLuigi black 32gb bundle) and still receives club nintendo coins for it?

I'm pretty certain Nintendo has the ability to send a message to a WiiU to make it get a red blinking light of death, and they do it with wealthy customers and hardcore nintendo fans, because they know they will pony up for another WiiU system like i have done.

Nobody on here can answer my questions just like Nintendo hotline idiots and I just wanna know what to do with a red blinking light of death system past it's warranty (i got wiiu at launch)

Cool gadget, but not really necessary for me. I just plug it in and keep playing if it runs low!

This sounds potentially nice, but my gaming sessions don't usually last for more than an hour or two, so I don't really need this.

If you have a power point behind your couch like the MAB then you will have your charger ready at all times. I fashioned it so the cable pokes through a hole and comes up out of the armrest... Advanced hardcore gamer engineer here

I got this really good battery on my gamepad, never runs out. Its called... plugging it in.

Extension cables work wonders.

I'm going to have to agree with the majority. I always plug it in when it gets low. It's only a problem if we're playing Nintendoland, which, to our shame, we have yet to complete.

@Metal_Slugger It is 8 hours.

Get a spare adapter. One for the couch; one for the entertainment center. Problem solved.

Thats a ridiculous price for something it should have came with. Id have spent 15. Ill stick to plugging it in or my usual use of the pro controllers battery life. 50+ hrs. Yes plz.

@Metal_Slugger It's talking about the old battery being 3-5 hours to the new battery lasting around 8.

@Gamecube5f - If Nintendo support can't explain it, I'm pretty sure you'll have a hard time finding anyone that can. I myself have never heard of the problem. I believe the only thing you can do right now is call Nintendo again, specifically ask for a repair after explaining the problem, and paying whatever they will charge you for it (they tell you up front the cost including shipping, at least in my experience). That or buy a new Wii U. If it doesn't affect the console's functions I wouldn't worry about it. But otherwise, that really sucks. I'm in a similar boat with my ambassador 3DS, the A and B buttons don't always function and they're asking me for $95 to fix it.

Ok thanks peoples. I watched a youtube vid and someone did a test and they got 5 hours something.

How much is shipping?

For a one time payment to increase the battery life, if doesn't sound bad. I might get it some later time. At the moment I just play with it plugged in.
I am assuming the "red light of doom" is when the G-Pad needs to be recharged...

Last time I ordered something from Nintendo it was cheap, or free.

Around 5 for shipping plus tax if applicable. Which most likely is.

Seriously? Why couldn't they have offered this a little bit sooner! My mom tried to purchase one for me from Japan (the batteries are the same no matter where you buy them), but ended up running into issues with the credit card company. They thought it was a fraudulent charge since it was coming from a foreign company, it seems.

I'll consider this. I can't even count how many times I've been playing and have to run to the charger (which is on the other side of my house, not sure why)

I'm getting this ASAP.

Honestly, I'd rather keep my gamepad plugged in while playing. It just isn't worth that few more hours for that much. Especially since it isn't a portable system like the 3DS where I'd die if I didn't have an extended battery.

@Subie98

um.... go buy a battery for your phone and then come back telling us how expensive this is.

I i see myself getting this. Be nice to get my gamepad a few more hours.

If this comes to Australia I'll be all over it like a fat kid on a cupcake.

Will wait for it to get on Amazon at a lower price. Sick of keeping the gamepad tethered during gameplay. It's okay to do during movie-watching, but I'd rather not be hooked up ALL the time during gameplay in this day and age. Except for PC of course, I'm perfectly fine with keeping my controller wired to my PC with a USB cable.

Also my Gamepad charge cable is pretty much beat up and dead-ish. I have it hooked up to the dock now, but it only works occasionally. Using a third party USB cable to charge my Gamepad now.

I'm getting this, for the amount I'm playing the Wii U lately it will be worth it for me. Especially since I hate stringing a charging cable accross the room..

@Gamecube5f yes you can, I have alot of the same systems.

The only time the red light has ever come on my GamePad is when I'm watching a long movie. My play sessions typically range from an hour to two hours. While I see the benefit for this product, it's not for me.

I really wish my wife can get this for me on Christmas! 😏

I need this! Going to try to get it maybe after Christmas. I use the Pro Controller primarily every chance I get, but the games that I was forced to only use the gamepad (Zombiu, Sonic Lost World, Lego City, etc) the battery life was annoying. I would have to leave it charging while playing. I don't like Energizer charging equipment for Nintendo, so glad to see an official release!

@ikki5 "um" how about no because I have zero need or desire for longer phone battery life. Also my cellular provider gives free new batteries.

@Metal_Slugger It says that it brings the playtime from 3-5 hours to 8. The price is a little steep but I'd say worth it. The third party offerings claiming the same performance don't work.

Instead of a battery, why can they make wii u gamepad + or something that has better motion controls, better control design and improved battery life? That would make sense right? Besides why would a lot of us want a battery when we can get used to 3-5 hrs?

@Nico07

The price is not steep at all. You'll pay more for a phone battery of laptop battery unless you go for a complete crap one.

@Subie98

Not just cell phones. Most of the time people get a new cell phone before they need a new battery for it. Go buy a cordless phone battery. They can get up to $40+ easily. Or buy a new battery for your laptop. I bet you'll love the price of that. But over all, in general, Batteries cost a lot money EVERYWHERE. $32 is not bad for the cost of a battery as most of the time a batter for electronics that are not your AA or AAA are expensive as hell and if they aren't, they are mostly likely crap and will die out within a year or so.

@MAB <--- THIS! I have a power plug-in next to my recliner's end table, which my charging cradle rests on, and my charging cable always ready to be plugged in if I'm running low.

NOA was a bit slow on these, I got mine from Nintendo Australia months ago! It was around the same price too.

@ikki5 It is and it isn't. Like I said Nyko offers an extended Gamepad battery, but the results vary and are not that great compared to this Nintendo product. The Nyko battery costs about $15. That said they have widely different results making a direct comparison not possible so yeah it's worth it I'd say. Not being tethered to the wall for 8 hr blocks is nice.

I have a nyko U boost.It retails for about 11 dollars at gamestop. Its an external battery pack that screws into the back shell of the gamepad. Its a little bulky and adds about a pound of weight to the gp. Its not uncomfortable though. It doubles the battery life and even comes with a built in stand. As much as I want this N licensed battery. Id rather just lower the brightness settings on my gamepad. Everyone should do that to get better battery life,before spending that much on a battery. Its almost as much as a wiimote..

@Gamecube5f Send it in to get repaired.

Don't need it as there is an outlet right next to where I play but still good stuff.

all cheapskapes here hahaha. No wonder WII U fails with fans like these. But then again it's crisis time

For anyone to lazy to click the link:
Higher capacity for longer play time!

This battery offers up to 8 hours of use and can be easily installed using a screwdriver and included instructions.

Battery Capacity: 2550mAh / 9.2 Wh (offers up to 8 hours of use, compared to 3–5 hours with standard Wii U GamePad Battery) Battery Voltage: 3.6V

Please note: Battery duration is an approximation. It can vary according to the use of the Wii U GamePad, usage of wireless communications, the ambient temperature, and the brightness setting of the screen.

It's nice of them to offer it, and I'm sure this'll be useful to many people, but I don't see much need for myself. Neither do I need hours on the toilet nor does it bother me to keep the Gamepad connected to the charger while playing.

But as other pointed out, a better pack for the 3DS would be great!

I really hope Nintendo has the sense and decency to be putting this in all future GamePads by default from now on.

It's great that people who have an original GamePad can upgrade to a better battery but this really should be one of Wii U's many little issues that Nintendo addresses/eliminates permanently going forward.

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say there's lots of things Nintendo could still do with the Wii U in general just to make it a more attractive value proposition and fully satisfying experience all round.

Just imagine a Wii U [world] where all these unnecessary limitations and little niggles with the console simply didn't exist...

while its nice that they have it now its only on their store not on amazon yet and the price for the battery srsly? not even like $25 which seems average for a battery that should of been on the gamepad in the first place come on

oh and for those saying just plug it in to the charger... im sure if this was a ipad or a smartphone with a bad battery you wouldnt want to be sitting near a wall outlet as it defeats the purpose of the item it self being portable/wireless -_-

I might get this. Now Nintendo... Maybe release something that increases the range of the game pad ? Thanks!

I have been using this since October since i'm in the UK and i recommend it if you have long gaming sessions and/or don't like staying connected. Its not a necessity though as the standard battery is just fine if you turn down brightness etc.

For comparison's sake it lasts longer than my PS4 pad now although once sony give us an option to turn of the silly lights i'm sure the PS4 pad could last a few hours more.

@Gamecube5f hi. I had this problem back I n march with console. It is a known fault. Even out of warranty u should have a case for free fix. I sent my console back n got a new 12 month warranty. It is an issue with 'not enough power' within console to boot up. So u get intermittent working and not working when you switch it on. The blinking red light of death. So they replace something inside it. Good luck.

Im in the uk though so uk repair know about it at least. Mine was 32gb model.

I have been looking forward to this release as it will be very useful for marathon gaming sessions over the winter break! Yes!

@Gamecube5f

You do realize that even if you bought a launch WiiU and then registered it on Club Nintendo that you just extended the warranty another 90 days, meaning the system is in warranty 1 year plus 3 months from the day you bought it. Assuming it was a launch unit from November of last year then you have until February.

@tebunker you just made my day. i forgot about that. thanks for the help guys.

Yay! Finally extended gameplay without an extended cable! 'Bout time... Also, what's with all the angry posts on this topic? I'm not quite getting it... It's just a release notice.

@Gamecube5f seriously? You post this on an extended battery topic? Tsk, tsk. Why not try creating your own forum topic to discuss your issue with the community there? Perhaps we can help. for example @tebunker had a good point.

@tebunker thank you.... You took the words right out of my mouth!

@Gamecube5f seeing what "supposedly" happened to one individual earlier this year concerning SMT4 promo, I would be cautious... Although one work around is to add a family member to your account (something like family account or something), add the second console to the new account, and bingo! All coins go to one account...

@Platypus101 the red light of death reference is what brought up my topic. and i have posted a topic on my troubles on the WiiU forum and haven't gotten much help.

What is the SMT4 promo thing you speak of?

And I have registered two "3DS XL" to my account and got coins for both but that was a year ago. wondering if the rules have changed.... but you are right the family account is an easy workaround. after i get the coins i was thinking i could just link my wiiu back up to my original "main" account.

@ikki5 what kind of "moron"still has a cordless/homr phone? I hate laptops, wouldn't own one. My hair is a bird your argument is invalid. My point is thats not as cheap as it should be for something it should have had from the start. Defend it all you want. Its dumb. Also I have individual energizer rechargeable batteries that have lasted well over a year and cost $20 for 18 AA and 4 AAA with the charger .... its over priced.

@Gamecube5f
First of all, this site is not tech support, so there's no need to get angry if folks don't have an answer to your question.

If you get a different Wii U, all you have to do is register your NNID on it and/or link a new NNID with your Club Nintendo account. You can only have one NNID, so when you register it on the new console it should deactivate it on the old one, whether it's working or not.

Personally though, I'd just send it in to Nintendo for repair and pay the cost. They'll probably just end up giving you a new one anyways, but either way, you'd get a working Wii U for less than retail. If, however, you registered your Wii U online, it should have given you a 3 month warranty extension, which would be enough for your Wii U to still be under warranty (since the console's only been out 13 months, and the warranty extention grants you a total of 15 months)

Ok, I really don't get all the people saying "Nintendo should have put this battery in from the start" and "Nintendo needs to put this battery in all future gamepads". No, what Nintendo REALLY needs to do is stop making better products so people won't complain about not getting them for free anytime something better comes along.

I was actually impatient and ordered two of these from a UK eBay seller a couple months ago (Amazon UK won't ship to the US), and it arrived in Chicago ISP on Halloween day. But I still haven't received them (USPS told me they were probably taken by customs, but it's been 2 months and still no word). So I decided to order 2 more from the Nintendo Store about 5 minutes ago.

This is an excellent price- they were 25 pounds each when I bought them on eBay, but after conversion rates and international shipping I paid over $90 for the pair (which I'll be getting refunded on if not here by Jan 1st). So $30 a pop sounds great to me. I've got no complaints about the Gamepad's battery life, considering it's powering such a large screen in addition to being a controller, but if I can double the life for $30 that's money well spent in my eyes. I mean, even AFTER a couple years when the battery stops holding as much of a charge, it'll still be better than the original battery was when it was brand new.

I have a brand new Gamepad in transit on the way back from Nintendo Repair in Washington state, so I'll take that brand new original battery out and save as a backup.

@theberrage I agree the range definitely could stand to be increased.

@JaxonH its because they knew the battery life wasnt great when they released it. They had tons of time with it before it released. Its a cash grab in most people's opinions and its not cool. I dont want something for nothing. I expect better quality from them. That battery life is laughable. It most definitely should have came with that battery.

@Subie98
Totally understand your frustration.

But it's not really THAT bad. I mean, I get at least 4 hours off my gamepad (I keep brightness on medium and power saving on at all times) which is a pretty good chunk of gaming time. I'm also in the habit of setting on the charger base whenever I go downstairs, use the restroom, grab some food, etc, so I'm always getting every last ounce of life I can.

There are times I have to plug it in, but for me it's as easy as reaching down, grabbing the cord and connecting it, then back to my game. I'm obviously just speaking from my own experience, and again, I can understand where you're coming from. Sure, I wish the battery had more life too. But the standard 1550mAh battery is actually a much more expensive battery than people realize. It may only give you 3-5 hours but that battery is WAY more powerful than ones used in traditional controllers, and thus alot more expensive.

So while I can certainly understand the gripe, you have to consider the fact Nintendo already had to triple, heck, maybe even quadruple their expense just to get the 1550mAh in the gamepad. I wish the 2550 was standard but it's not. And I don't mind paying $30 to double the lifespan. That's how I feel anyways.

Happy they offer this now, I really need this for my gamepad

P.S. To those who think this is expensive, it really isn't, these kinda batteries are usually a little more pricey then what Nintendo is asking

@JaxonH Any time I sit down its to play for more than the life of the battery in the gamepad. I have mine completely dimmed. Its only good for four hours Im also not close to a wall to plug in and reach my couch. I also hate having to play it dimmed when it diminishes the experience, then fully lit up is like 2 hrs tops. While I know batteries aren't cheap. Its hard to not feel like its a cash grab. They are most definitely making profit on it, on top of selling us the wii u that should have had it. My gamepad is always on the base whenever im not using it as well. Its easier just to use the pro controller

Dont get me wrong, I dont normally ever complain about Nintendo prices. I was fully okay with eathbounds rerelease price, for example. This however just doesn't sit well with me

@Subie98
While there's no way to prove it one way or the other, the reason I don't feel it's a "cash-grab" (as in Nintendo PURPOSELY and intentionally included a short battery for the sole purpose of selling them a better one later) is character. Nintendo has integrity as far as I'm concerned (unlike most multi-billion dollar corporations)

You see it with things like free DLC that any other developer would charge for, you see it with the Ambassador Program (which Nintendo did not have to do, and which most companies wouldn't have done), you see it with the value of the Pikmin DLC (first map is free, the rest equal 40 cents each, I mean my goodness most companies would be charging $5 a mission, easy). You see it with Club Nintendo and annual customer rewards. And most importantly, it is evident by the fact that Nintendo is a company run by actual game developers, not suits. Iwata, Miamoto, these are the guys who make the decisions, and both of them are actual game developers with a passion for what they do.

So whenever a situation like this arises, I give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, because trying to work one over on us just seems so out of character for the company as a whole. Now, if this happened with another company I might feel as you do.

@LDXD
Right. Of course it would've been great to have it from the start, but the included batteries were not unreasonable, especially considering the expense per unit and the amount of juice the gamepad sucks up. Nintendo always tries to give us the best products they can (80 hour Pro Controller life anyone?), but Nintendo as a business has to keep costs in mind. Little things like including a more powerful gamepad battery or a bigger hard drive may seem trivial to us, but those extra costs could be the difference of $50 at retail.

I like what they've done here. If you're satisfied with the gamepad as is, rock on, keep on gamin'. If, however, you are interested in adding a couple hours game time to the battery, they've given us an option to do so. I mean, I'm just glad they even gave us the opportunity to upgrade. I had resorted to importing for much higher costs.

Just placed my order, looking forward to the upgrade thanks nintendo! The price is not bad folks....geez, some folks just gripe about anything. Nintendo is a good company and wouldn't price gouge on something like this so please pull your head out of you donkey.....It's a reasonable price. We're not powering the U pro controller, it's the gamepad. I'm happy ninty made it available for us., they listened and made it available.

Mer. Less willing to get it when they should have just put a better battery in it in the first place. You're mass-producing these systems by the millions; you're telling me you couldn't have spent an extra buck or two to drastically increase our ability to play comfortably?

Yes, yes...... it's a vast conspiracy to sell batteries....those profit margins on that battery must be huge.......lol.

@DerpSandwich I didn't realize a twice-as-powerful battery is only a $1 difference

@DarkwingLz Consider that you can buy a similar battery third-party for about $20. Then consider that that third-party company paid to manufacture the battery in relatively low numbers, then sold it to the retailer at a low enough price that the retailer could then re-sell it for a profit of their own. Then think about Nintendo, who can manufacture them by the millions and doesn't have to worry about selling them to a retailer for a profit, followed by another profit--just purely for utility. Lastly think about how they were already paying for batteries; these batteries are just better, so it would just be an upgrade.

Considering all that, I don't think it seems so unreasonable to imagine the difference being mere dollars. My guess was that they just skimped on the battery to make the Gamepad as light as possible.

Worth it folks. It's been out in UK for ages battery lasts 2days of playing it should have came with the wiiu as well a bigger inside sd memory card 128gb.

@hcfwesker Yeah, how we roll is the most cost effective, longer lasting logical solution anybody with half a brain can achieve... No extra effort, more gaming power to us both mate

@Gamecube5f Whoa. Simmer down pal. Your launch system is still under warranty, like others have stated, and even if it's not Nintendo will fix it for $50 at most. You didn't need to go out and buy a new console, so blame that on yourself and your need to play NOW! Speaking of NOW! Give people some time to answer you before you go spouting all that nonsense about how nobody here can help you. Be kind and patient and people would be more eager to help you. In all honesty, good luck with your situation. Hopefully everything gets taken care of for you!

@LDXD My reply to DarkwingLz sums up my thoughts on it pretty well.

I think I'll be getting this. This with the Nyko external battery I'm getting for Christmas - I'll have a load of time before charging!

@LDXD I've had it about 4 months. If you don't turn on the battery pack on immediately after it's fully charged,it will only last a half hr or so. If you got the funds get it..you can't put a price on piece of mind.

@LDXD I have the same problem,because of my kids. Hope that helps..

Who would of thought a article about a battery would net 500 comments... NL should do more breaking news stories on batteries

I'll get this eventually! I'm glad Nintendo is offering this as an option.

There shouldn't be any complaints here. 99% of the people who bought a Wii U on launch, knew that the GamePad battery would last 3-5 hours.

I bought it knowing that, so this sort of improvement is worthy of a purchase. The only reason why Japan gets it, is probably because they don't have to ship it across the world, so they throw that "extra" cash into the system in the form of a battery.

Including the battery would have costed you(the consumer) an extra $30 on launch. I high price point is what Nintendo was trying to avoid. Also, included software is cheaper to include than hardware, so WWHD or NSMB.U being included is not the same as a battery(duh).

In 1-2 years, they'll probably have this packed with every system to be able to more justify the $300 price tag. That's how things go. One step at a time.

@JaxonH - USPS did something a while ago where they put a ban on lithium batteries and any device with lithium batteries. I don't know if they are still having a fit about batteries exploding in mail bags or catching on fire. I was selling a used laptop on ebay Canada, and I ended up delisting the US shipping option from my auction because i didn't want to deal with US customs seizing batteries.

@SCAR392 I sure didnt know when I got mine. Its your opinion that there shouldn't be any complaining.

Why don't people just plug it in. It's not a freaking handheld and if you do walk away with it, just take the charger cable with you.

Its 3 days 'til Christmas and NOW they bring this out. IDIOTS! And we wonder why the console is failing? smh

@Giggity55 I don't know what you're talking about. It doesn't just "plug in". The gamepad sits in a cradle to charge, which must sit "just so" or else it won't make contact and will remain dead 4 hours later.

@LDXD He's just trying to be the first troll that starts a 'dead system' name like the red ring and the ps3 yellow light. The fact he's moaning like some child how the corporate man is trying to beat him down and exploit him because he's rich or perceived as such so they can get more out of his pocket makes it clear enough.

Odds are something went bad, whether it was from when it was warranted or not, odds are short of random bad luck the environment the system is in caused it and he's bitter about having to fix it. NOA is very friendly and caring about taking care of system problems as long as you're not a colossal jerk or accuser on the phones to them. About a month ago my 3DS had a fall, and I called telling them what happened and asked for a quote for a repair since I'd have to wait until next year sometime as my wife is out of work. They put me on hold oddly and came back and gave me a free repair and an RMA for it too for zero cost (would have been $125 shipped.) They not only just replaced the internal upper screen but the outer shell/screen and even the lower screen/outer shell panel too which other than a few hairline nicks caused by their plastic casing mold and I never asked about that. They're hardly jerks.

As far as the topic goes I think it's fantastic and it was forward thinking on their part leaving the opening on the controller there for the optional boost in battery life/size knowing some people are hardcore enough gaming they'd need more than 3-5hours in a sitting on a game. I may or may not buy it as I rarely have that time to do that, but when I do an extension cord could solve that problem as well. The price versus boost is sound and it's solid for those who need it.

longer life and lighter than the original battery would be progress in the right direction.

@theadrock13 Wrong

@theadrock13
it comes with a charger, you know. just like 3DS. you don't have to use the charging cradle.

@Gamecube5f at some point the North America nintendo was giving out a promotion for Shen Megami Tensai 4 (I may have misspelled) for 30$ gift or something like that... "Supposedly" (no way to verify this) someone did the promotion twice, and were denied their second gift certificate (possibly the game or coins, can't remember which). Also, Nintendo fixed my Wii (failing to read discs) AFTER it was out of warranty by nearly a year, for FREE! With a little patience and some time on the phone, Nintendo will give you an RMA number and a shipping label, so that you may mail them the console and they'll repair or even replace it (no worries, all your info will be transferred). As far as pricing is concerened, it would be tons cheaper than buying a second console FYI it takes less than two weeks to receive your console back from Nintendo's repair dept... I walked mine in, got it back within two hours!

@theadrock13 you remind me of the demo person on the Flip and Fold commercials (without the folding board they were a hot mess) trying to fold clothing... LOL! There's a a USB-like connector on the back of the Gamepad. It seems the uninitiated like to talk about why things fail, they rarely understand why things succeed.

@Metal_Slugger heck, I'd be happy with same weight, longer life...

@Gioku I thought Mugen made a battery pack for the 3DS, or is that only for the XL model?

@Platypus101 Mee too.

_{That's enough -Lz}

_{While you are allowed to have an opinion here, you are not allowed to call other users names for any reason. Should you have a future problem with another user, please use the report button and let the mods handle it -Lz}

@Subie98: I don't think it's expensive at all. Rechargeable battery packs are expensive in general. Keep in mind that the Gamepad can also use a lot of battery power.

Also, I would like to remind everyone that name-calling and flaming is not tolerated here.

The Nyko Wii U internal extended battery was discontinued, did it have something to do with the official battery being released, or did they just stop selling it because they did not see enough sales because of the Wii U's low sales in general?

But they are still selling their external extended battery...

http://tinyurl.com/d3wm2ky

I usually buy extended batteries for everything I can but I have not been using my Wii U enough to justify it.

Dang, it's backordered already...and about $7 more expensive than I was willing to put down.

@CanisWolfred Mine shows backordered as well, it was $39.41 with tax and shipping for me. But Nintendo products are quality tested and work well. I already bought and have been using the Wii Remote quick charge battery and charger and have been impressed. It's really convenient and fully charges in just over an hour. I've considered buying the second battery pack for $20 to have a spare as I can just use the one charger for both. I bought the Gamepad battery last night so I am guessing I'll receive it within the next few weeks with the backorder. It's not like the battery cost is going to go down anytime soon, and I had planned on buying it anyway. The cost is higher than I would like, but I had expected anywhere between $20 and $40 so I'm happy.

@Nico07 Yeah, but I gotta be stingy with my money right now. Unfortunately a better battery would make me want to play the Wii U games I own more often. I'm tired of worrying about whether or not the controller has a charge...

If this increases the gamepad's weight by more than a few ounces, I'll pass. I'd rather have to set the thing on its stand or plug in the cord once in awhile than introduce controller fatigue to an otherwise perfectly-balanced controller.

@Platypus101 "you remind me of the demo person on the Flip and Fold commercials (without the folding board they were a hot mess) trying to fold clothing... LOL! "
Well aren't you a cheeking one...!
I bought my Wii U used and it didn't come with any USB-like cord, but I'll check into it. I'll be happy with an alternative to this annoying cradle charger. But blaming the user for a lack of product knowledge is really just a way to divert blame for poor design to begin with. All those people who panned the Wii U... they are just too stupid to know what they really want, right? That elitism won't win any new customers. P.S. Guarantee I've been playing Nintendo games since the better part of you was dripping down your mother's leg.

What is the easiest and least expensive way to get this in Europe?
Amazon.co.uk and .de have it, but the price is a bit high? Both have it for 30 euros. There is free super saver shipping, but still hmm...

@theadrock13 ROFLMAO! Would you like to place a bet on your last comment? It's nice to meet another 40 year old that hasn't given up on gaming... Seriously, there was no need to bring my mother in on this. Also, come on, Nintendo posts nearly all of their product manuals on their support site. A little bit of time and patience, and bingo! You know what all the flashing lights mean (I speak from experience, had I known about this site, I probably would have known even faster). What exactly is wrong with the design? The majority of "cradle-type" chargers are generally the same (excluding smartphones), all consoles have recharging cradles for their controllers, why is this one so crappy?

@Platypus101 Okay Platypus. When you called me "uninitiated" it struck a cord. I'm a big long-time N fan, but I won't shy away from calling them out on mistakes and flaws when I see them. I like the U, but it could and should be better. Nintendo's network crashed for 3 days at Christmas when they most needed a big win (what... they didn't see Christmas coming?). The cradle just doesn't always make contact, at least mine doesn't, so the cord idea is good except that I didn't get one... whatever. ... Truce? Game on.

@theadrock13 THAT CRASH! How could they allow that?! Bad Nintendo... And to have underestimated their own customer base in regards to the bank, come on, we all gotta agree that was just bad... no worries, we are all passionate about gaming, 'specially these days when the giants are bypassed in favor of "true" casual gaming... Smartphone gaming.

Maaaaan. It's not on the store, not since the whole physical-rewards-down thing that just ended.

Well, If I could get my hands on the extended gamepad battery, it would be nice to not have to recharge it so often, but my gamepad charger is right next to me when I play, so that makes the point of the extended gamepad battery debatable.