The Wii U Is Getting A New eShop Game In 2022, Will Include Balance Board Support

_{Ladies, gentlemen and other, welcome the}
Game of the Year 2022.

Looks a bit cumbersome to control, but I would have been all over this had it released during the Wii U's lifespan.

I had also hoped that the delay for Watch_Dogs back in the day was so that the developers could seamlessly integrate the Gamepad into the game, as its concept was absolutely perfect for the Wii U, but sadly, we only got bog-standard screen mirroring instead.

I just bought a new sealed Wii U game.
Still life left in the ol girl yet.

Why just release them on the switch.

Definitely shows some of the potential the Wii U had if it wasn't so criminally underutilised.

I love how versatile the Wii U is. I wish they would make it so the Switch could play all the unique games that appeared on the Wii U. Maybe a Switch U?

Yep, play it all the time. Just played through every 2D Metroid and Other M, and Pikmin 3. And was very much enjoying Nintendoland the other day. And I have a balance board. So I'm super excited about this.

Edit: actually I'm in NA. Apparently there isn't a way to fake a PAL login?

@Savage_Joe
No, it's a new screen controller attachment to the Wii... Idk maybe?

Nintendo should port Wii Fit (+) to the Switch and make other use of the balance board there. I wonder if 3rd party developers have the tools to use the board on Switch.

I been using the Wii U to play virtual console games. It’s one of my favorite consoles due to being able to play a huge amount of classic Nintendo games on it especially the only console to be able to play official copy of Earthbound Beginnings and Vs Excitebike.

I feel like I have to support this

I want to support this just for the sheer creative control usage but the game itself looks generic otherwise.

The Balance Board was one of Nintendo's best creations ever, IMO. I was one of the few who put in dozens of hours into Wii Fit and the enhanced Wii U version.

Really wish it was made compatible with the Switch.

As for this game? Meh. Go with your heart, I guess.

@sonicmeerkat yeah, this looks like a meh game with a couple of interesting gimmicks. Using the tablet like a smartphone and smartwatch is really cool, and I like first person games that use the wii mote
Kudos to the devs and I might give this a buy regardless.

@Dualmask
They have a 'Silver Falls' game on Switch, 3DS, New 3DS and (yes) Game Boy Color, and apparently progress in each unlocks things in the others.

@Cheez
Haven’t you heard that the switch u is Nintendo’s next gen console

i'm not sure if i would play a game like this, but i'm still glad to see the Wii U get another new game after all this time

(also i just realized the Wii U has been discontinued for almost 5 years as of the time i'm typing this...wow)

If this was just released on the switch then it would be on nobody's radar and no one would care. Releasing a game on the Wii U now is a nice way of getting at least some publicity I suppose.

If you read the actual tweets it doesn't say it's a pal exclusive. Someone asked for a pal disc version. They answer it will be playable in pal regions via the eshop. Then they say its an eshop exclusive. Never said it's a pal eshop exclusive, just an eshop exclusive in general, and that pal territories will get it in response to a pal user wanting a pal disc.

I mean… cool, but am I the only one wondering why you’d spend time developing for the system at this point?

@LOX I'd guess because making a game like this on Wii U at this point results in articles like the one we're reading here.

The biggest problem for some games is getting attention - this series is something that probably none of us had ever heard of but releasing a Wii U edition in 2022 gets the whole series a little bit of oxygen.

To anybody that seriously asks "why?": simple. Art. Statement. Personality.

Why is anybody still making Gameboy games? Or is shooting a film on a 4:3 consumer camera from the 90s?
Because they want to. It's more interesting in a lot of cases.

Wii U is my favorite Nintendo console of all time. There. I said it.

I don't like horror but I'd be tempted to get this just out of respect for the developers having the audacity to include a Wii Balance Board control scheme.

Glad the Wii U is still supported 10 years after it launch. The fact that it used a Wii accessory means the Wii is also supported as well 16 years after it launch.

Although I will pass on this, I am still playing my Wii U and enjoy it just as much as I did back in 2012. Happy memories and shame it all went south for the console

Silver Falls, yup, I knew I remembered that title. It's that flawed but respectably very ambitious 3ds game I was kind of interested in, only to find out years later that it had been released completely under my radar. Kind of curious about this one.

I like Wii u. I’ll give it a go

Man i miss the WiiU lol.
The controls where so good! DPad was perfect and never had drift issues. After they removed the quality of life etc, drifting took over lol.

@Yanina I think that about captures it perfectly.

I'm looking into building a bed with a roof on wheels that I can pull with a standard bike, to travel between a forest in Belgium where I have a primitive cabin, and a foresty mountain in Spain where I barely have a house, with my pack of dogs. Not because of that I couldn't just work all day (and hopefully retire before I die) and pay off a house (hopefully before I die) like most people I know, but as a statement and because I have living to do and there's fun to be had and lessons to be learned (both from the simplicity and ingenuity old ways and working within those limitations, and from how not to do it from the 'new ways'). I had a job, a rental house, stuff, a car even,... I had an oven, but still preferred solar cooking in a solar oven made from scrap. I'm quite sure that, had I become a game designer like I once thought I wanted to become, you'd have pretty much perfectly described my ambitions. But I don't know, because life happened and things changed.

@blindsquarel it's just an add on for the Switch right?

@tylerryan79 oh dope thank you. I don't read Twitter threads.

@Don I love my Wii U. It's really the best console for retro content. You can play NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBC, and GBA games on it. There are even some Wii games available on the eShop like Mario Galaxy and the Wii version of Pikmin. It's really great. I'm thinking of modding mine to play more VC games.

This is one way to get publicity, release a game on a platform that was barely alive when it wasn't dead.

From what I can gather, the series is decent. The only reason I never downloaded the 3DS game is the price.

I wish we could have the Wii U's Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch. The one thing the Nintendo Wii U done better than the Nintendo Switch was their eShop.

That's pretty damn cool. I still have my Wii balance board. Might grab this if it reviews well.

@Cheez I would love to see a switch U type of integration. I would be fine with them making it where the Wiimote or nunchuck can be used or even have newer versions, the joycons just are not the same or as good that way I think. I would also love to see an adapter you could plug into the switch or a new switch system that allows handheld mode while playing on the tv as well like the WiiU did. All doable and hopefully will all be included in the new switch with hopefully better graphics once this chip shortage ends.

@RandomNerds I would have to agree with you on that but my second favorite. I honestly loved the N)4 and NES when they were both out. WiiU would have to be number one though than the N64 and NES

I know the Switch is the current hotness for Nintendo but I'm in the minority of actually preferring the Wii U. It's too bad that system never got any steam. Sure it was a bit clunky at times but I appreciate what they were going for with it.

Balance board and Switch should have been a perfect combination. I don't think the tech will let them hook up but Nintendo should have added the tech to the switch for the extra 8 cents or whatever. Maybe an optional bluetooth adapter?

balance board > ring fit

@Cheez As long as they don’t name it that lol. Imagine repeating the same mistake again. Popular console followed by a successor with a “U” at the end. Please give us just a nice simple Switch 2, or… something clear.

But I agree, kind of a shame we can’t use Wii remotes on the Switch.

Definitely gonna get this provided it doesn’t suck. I love the versatility of the WiiU controls and this is right up my street. My WiiU still gets a lot of play time. SM3DWorld, Pikmin3, MK8, DKCTF still get play time in this house. Great games are great games period.

Thank you so much for posting this!!! For anyone interested, there WILL be Nunchuck gameplay support that will be playable with the Balance Board. They have made note of this one of their latest Tweets!

The wii u is a part of my daily life

I love the balance board and this looks interesting

@Mikmoomamimocki
Agreed. I played so many retro games on the Wii U virtual console, many for the first time. The Wii U era was a great period for fans of retro Nintendo games.

Bang bang, pew pew, gun. Gun gun shoot.
Well that sold me, time to break out the old wiiu

That’s interesting… in other news my gamepad replacement battery lasted like a month. Can anyone point me in the direction of an actual GOOD, LONG LASTING replacement battery? I still bust out my Wii U occasionally for stuff like Affordable Space Adventures and would love to play without having my gamepad plugged in…

The game is coming to PAL and NA regions

I do have a balance board. Gonna check it out

I admire the effort they put into this, but at the same time I can't help but feel sorry for the developer that this game is probably going to fail on at least earning the money invested back. Or maybe I'm just too cynical?

The news of my death was...

...mostly accurate.

I don't think I would enjoy the game tbh but I simply respect that the developer is not only quite inspired, but also discussing their game quite candidly and honestly, rather than trying to polish it up like a proper advertisement.

@Gryffin Unless you make a separate PAL account

@Gryffin I don't read Twitter stuff either, but I doubted it was exclusive and clicked my way to the answer. Lucky for me their tweets didn't have a wall of replies so it was easy to find. I don't understand how Twitter actually works and usually stay away.

Nice to see another Wii U release. It willl depend on price in the end, I just dont pay huge amounts for digital games, Just a shame Ninty shuttered the WiiU disc pressing plant so physical editions can not happen, Pixelheart released the last two PAL physical releases on Wii U, Looks like a few gamepads could get busted while you stand on a Balance board with the gamepad and a Wii remote to play this.. Yes we a need a strap for the WiiU gamepad..

@Cheez I would rather have had the Switch be able to play DS and 3DS carts, would have been easily doable but Nintendo rushed the Switch to market, which was the right answer in the end.

"As of May 23, 2022, it will no longer be possible to use a credit card to add funds to an account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems."

So to even purchase this game we need to add the funds to our account before it even releases. Major bummer for these developers.