Wii U: Multiple launch issues reported

Numerous Wii U owners have reported encountering a serious issue with the new console related to a large day one update required to access the system's online features.

The update, which reportedly weighs in at 5GB, can take over an hour to install, and multiple users have claimed that interrupting the process has rendered their consoles unusable.

[GuruStarr78]

mine just finished, took about an hour, total... 45 mins. to download and about 15 to install or "updating" as it says....

I've read people saying 4 hours!!

They must have a terrible internet connection..

[G20WLY]

If you downloaded this 5GB firmware update in 45 minutes, I'd say it's more that you have an AMAZING connection, rather than everyone else has a bad one!

Others have reported far longer than 4 hours, but their connection speeds may well be poor. Who knows?

[decrypt]

5 gigs in 45mins is extremely fast. I usually download games over Steam, 4-5gig games normally take 3 hours atleast.

[GuruStarr78]

Yeah, I always get full bars.... I was personally suprised how fast it went..

I think the fact that I did it today, instead of yesterday was a factor as well, the servers are not as crowded..

In all reality, though... I think the update is smaller than 5gb, based upon how long it took, maybe 2 or 3gb..

[aquamala]

where does this 5GB number come from? it doesn't say how big the update is when you download it. It's like some people think Wii U has slow memory now because some guy posted something in some forum, some website reported it and now everyone just repeats it. where are the facts?

[despair]

eurogamer has it at 1gb update with slow or clogged servers being blamed for slow downloading speed.

[jimbobwahey]

I think blaming people for having a poor internet connection is in bad taste. It would be more appropriate to blame Nintendo for having a launch day patch rather than ensuring that the update was already on the consoles before selling them.

How is it the customers fault that Nintendo rushed out an unfinished console?

[ickysweat77]

Couldn't agree more.

[jukins]

In this situation I don't think it people's net connection but overall alot ppl really do seem to have bad or maybe unoptimized connections or maybe to many ppl on at the same time.

[vallencer]

I'm just confused as to how it's unfinished?? Ps3 and 360 both had day one updates as well. It's common sense to not turn off your console or pc while it is updating. I have a nice connection but it still took me about 2 hours to download it. I really only think the people who need to be blamed are the people interrupting the process.

[FinalomegaS]

so every new system that is released including PC have an update not a patch, consoles included...

year is 2012, you make it sound as though people are still living in caves with dial up connection.

only thing they should say is in their disclaimer:

>>>MUST have fast and reliable Broadband connection for online features and stable electricity<<<

would that work?

[Raoh]

To add to what jimbobwahey said, staggered updates also helps.

Push out to consoles in increments of 100k/500k units per push. Stagger the downloads to avoid everyone hitting the servers at once.

Also add/rent/buy more servers for this push.

And why are companies not pushing for a torrent like update system?

I have great download and upload speeds on my ps3, appletv, pc, ipad, iphone, nexus 7 etc. I test and tweak all the time and pay more for the higher bandwidth. I would not mind uploading some of my downloaded patch file to nearby gamers. It helps the online community and takes strain off the servers.

[lashes2ashes]

Sadly most people have slow connections. When I tell people I have around 30mbs there jaws drop. But I live in a town with a population of 20,000 and my freinds that live in big city's have a hard time getting that speed for anything close to what I pay for mine, my ex wife is paying 50.00$ a mounth for like 3 to 5 mbs. She hates my Internet lol

[Sucitta]

for 70$ plus tax, i get 30 mb/s down and 10 mb/s up.. I live in Toronto, Canada

My Wii was patched and ready to play in 47 mins = )

[GraveLord]

Most of us do have terrible connectons.

[FinalomegaS]

not sure how bad the internet connection is in other places but I got this in a little under an hour.

Bell Fibe Internet 50/50

50Mbps Download
50Mbps Upload

----

WiiU issues:
none

well maybe one, had a bunch of reading material I didn't need :P

streaming Netflix onto the pad and no connection lost from my office to the bedroom.

For those that had issues due to powerloss... sorry to hear that, with any system even PC there is that warning when updating " do NOT turn off the power".

[BX81]

@JQM78, If you don't mind saying... What internet service provider do you use? Thanks.

[lilbroRx]

Why are people so obsessed over every neative thing they can find? I've seen nothing but reports about the same handful of problems but hardly a word about how good the new games play or how the features work on the console.

I'm guess they must be good, because if they were bad then there would be about 30 articles on each one a piece right now.

[Thepcz]

yes, it is frustrating isn't it. the gaming press should get back to reporting games, not the misery of waiting for firmware to download.

get back to reporting games!!!

[shammgod]

Welcome to the online community

[jimbobwahey]

I'd guess people aren't talking about how good the new games are because most of them have received some very poor reviews. It seems that the new Mario title is the only worthwhile launch game.

People seem unable to discuss the features of the console since ones that were promised for launch aren't there or have to be patched in via the ridiculous update which appears to be causing problems for people.

Therefore, you can see why people are highlighting these issues since it's getting in the way of talking about other things. I mean, it's like if you were complaining about people not talking about what it's like to drive a Ferrari when they can't get the freakin' thing to actually start in the first place.

[lilbroRx]

Most of them? I must have missed a lot because most of the reviews I've seen have been overwhelmingly positive for everything that isn't a port.

[Summons75]

The only game out of the launch that has really gotten MIXED reviews is ZombiU. ME3 and Batman are equal to their ps3 and 360 counter parts. Nintendo Land has gotten nothing but praise, same with Mario. Ninja Gaiden 3 is being claimed as better than the ps3/360. Haven't heard anything on Blops2 or AC3 but with AC3 being in full 1080p and call of duty having a very unique multiplayer they sound to be equal or better. Scribblenauts is getting great reviews and the system in general people who are streaming it on Twitch have only good things to say.

Only reason why people are only writing about negatives it: 1- for hits, 2- it's gaming media and they have no respect for anything, 3-these people seem to forget there has never been a smooth console launch (360 RROD: for the first 6 months, PS3: yylod and no games, first year, Vita: lack of games, psone support, 3DS, no games first 9 months, Wii, lack of first party and people being stupid and throwing Wiimotes.) If you think a system launch will go smoothly then your nuts basically.

[ziggurcat]

welcome to the entitled gaming community, where people cry over/utter death threats over character models/game endings, and people cry over a company doing something as simple as updating their system software to make it a better, more enjoyable experience.

[Ilovetheps5]

I haven't had an issue yet. It took about 50 minutes to download and I think 13 minutes to install. It's been working great since the install though.

[swansong]

Is that a world record for largest console update,5gb? Are they serious-5gb out of the box to enjoy the new console?

[bigfish]

Wii Cricket Bat U

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

what will the 8gb(really 3gb) owners do?

[G20WLY]

Yeah, but it's okay, cos you can buy an external hard drive! You just spend some more money to fix it, so it's fine...

A bit like the Vita...except that's apparently not fine...double standards much, gaming community?? :P

[ronin4life]

No, not like the Vita. The wiiu has internal storage. The vita does not.

80 dollars will net you 2TB of data for wiiu. 80 dollars will get you 32GB on vita. (A TB is about 1000 GB)

The wiiu has enough storage for game saves. The Vita REQUIRES a memory card just to boot up many titles.

For wiiu, Buying the required memory will set you back a couple if dollars, unless you need a crapton. And many won't need any but for saves/patches... so why increase the cost if only few will benefit? For Vita, memory cards are value to cost ripoffs that Everyone buying the system will require... and only recently has Sony really started including a small card in bundles.

And in the event you are being sarcastic to mess with people and you already know all this:
You got me. @.@

[G20WLY]

@nintendo4life, no I wasn't being sarcastic, I'm quite serious.

On one of your points, I concur; Vita memory is still over priced. On all other points, I disagree - and in some cases you're just plain wrong from a factual standpoint.

No physical Vita game requires memory to boot up. The Vita DOES have internal memory for firmware updates. An 8GB WiiU with a 5GB system patch is not an 8GB WiiU anymore - and as this is a mandatory install, the 8GB WiiU is sadly extinct; long live the 2.5-3GB WiiU :( How much of this shiny new HD content do you think you'll fit on that? Maybe a trailer??

It sucks, plain and simple, and Nintendo should provide more for their loyal fanbase.

You said it yourself; both systems REQUIRE memory to get the best experience and the Vita has rightly had strips torn from it for this very reason. This is straight-up double standards and you were the last person I expected to be able to see this, given your one-track comment history.

There's too much wrong with WiiU as of now, so I'm waiting this one out for a while. Furthermore, with Nintendo's history of rapid and large price reductions, I'm practically being paid to wait for a bit :P

[Sephiroushin]

Less the system already take some, plus storage devices never has what they say (you know if its a 100gb its a 100gb but unformatted, when you format it, it get reduced)

At least you can use an external drive ...

[ronin4life]

While not the more important part of all this, I have heard it reported that this is not a 5GB download. It is much smaller than that.
I'm gonna look into this some more.

But like I said, regardless of how big it is this shouldn't be happening. Let's hope this stays a relatively isolated occurance..

Edit: This link has several people talking about the update size;
http://community.activision...

[lashes2ashes]

It's most likely 5gb or bigger. It took the same length of time to download the patch as it does for me to download a blu ray game on psn. About 90 minutes

[ronin4life]

I think my download was faster by (i want to say 30 min.) A little bit.

But that doesn't always mean much if the servers themselves are slow... I did mine after midnight EST for instance. Most everyone was probably done with theirs long before then.

@wolfbiker
I can't call 300 plus dollar systems breaking for little to no reason "frivolous". Even if you turned the console off deliberately you shouldn't be greeted with a broken system.

[Nevers0ft]

Does anybody know if there's actually any evidence that the update is 5GB or is it based on guesswork? I ask because Marcan (one of the original Wii hackers) has tweeted that it's only about 1GB, based on what his Wii Impersonator tool is reporting:
"For the record, the WiiU update (all software on the update server, WiiU + Virtual Wii combined) is 1GB. Unless they download other stuff."
https://twitter.com/marcan4...
http://wii.marcansoft.com/w...

Maybe it isn't *that* big but Nintendo's servers were getting a battering? Hopefully they'll have extra capacity for the EU launch.

[DarkHeroZX]

this my not fly to well with those parents buying this for their children, I can see this hurting Nintendo in the long run if they don't fix this. And what about those 8 gig models? there's no way in hell this is going to go over well with casual gamers who don't know about upgrading memory capacity and updating lol.

[Wolfbiker]

The gaming community does nothing but piss and moan about frivolous things.

[Jek_Porkins]

Disneyland didn't open with all the rides and attractions working, so I wouldn't ever expect something as big as a next generation console launch to be 100% smooth, overall I'm very happy with the Wii U thus far, took me a little over an hour for the update and everything.

[MegaLagann]

Like I said before, and I know this will be hard to believe, but I decided to do the update later in the night while I read a book or something. Because I wanted to try out my games and not have to wait for the update to download. Well after a few hours with Mario I went back to the main menu and it started downloading on it's own. And this is not an exaggeration, it took me ten minutes. But I have a really good connection, plus being later in the day probably helped.

[girlwithturn]

It's Wii U XL time!

[WalterWJR]

It would help if it had an ethernet port. LOL

[rainslacker]

That was the one thing I didn't like about it. Seriously would it have hurt their bottom line that much to include a 1 cent ethernet port? Only reason I have wireless in my house is because we got UVerse a few months back. We never even turned on the wireless because I wired up the whole house during a remodel. I had to spend about 30 minutes setting up the wireless router.

[DivineAssault]

That sucks