So I started cloning the Wii U gamepad [video]

5 days ago (youtube.com)

This is great. A few years ago, I decided to buy a WII U, since I have basically every Nintendo console system since the NES. But the gamepad screen was broken and I couldn't sync the gamepad to the screen until I fixed it. And I tried to see if there was any alternative, but there wasn't until now. Hopefully that means more WII Us can be saved... You can sometimes find used Wii Us for $30 without the gamepad, while the gamepad itself costs around $100..

  • Yeah. As noted in the video the only way to get a new one was via a support process with Nintendo and they ran out of stock in 2024.

I wonder if you could run this on the Steam Deck or similar hardware.

  • per the github repo:

    What devices are supported?

        Steam Deck
        Linux (check Wi-Fi hardware compatibility)
        Nintendo Switch (requires Broadcom firmware patch or external Wi-Fi adapter)
        Android (currently frontend only)
        Windows (currently frontend only)
        Raspberry Pi (requires external Wi-Fi adapter)
        iOS - Coming soon

  • You can. It works really well, except for not supporting the Wii U power button and not yet allowing button reconfig. The latter is annoying because you are using Xbox bindings on Nintendo.

Oh wow. I never played my Wii U without the gamepad, so I didn't know this. Makes sense that the gamepads are still as expensive as they are.

So I see the merit of a well produced video, don't get me wrong. But wasn't this a bit of a lot of bluff for not so much content?