So I started cloning the Wii U gamepad [video] | Hacker News Reader

So I started cloning the Wii U gamepad [video]

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93 pointsingve9 comments

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.

Here is a link to the repository for the gamepad simulator: https://github.com/vanilla-wiiu/vanilla

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.

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.

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?

My impression the video isn't designed for people "inside baseball," and tries to establish context for "What even is this thing that you're working on?" I guess the author could add a skip if viewers don't want 5-minutes~ of Wii U background/context.

Here is a rough timestamped-link for skipping the context:

https://youtu.be/jlbcKuDEBw8?si=X1S3g2npigtWf5bk&t=303

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