Nintendo Network Accounts Tied to Only One Wii U

News
By Catherine Cai
published

Don't lose or damage your console. Your Nintendo Network account may be at risk...

Though the Wii U's been a sellout in North America, its launch wasn't without problems. Many buyers found themselves with a bricked console after shutting it off during the enormous day-one five GB update for the Wii U's online content.

Now, there's another caveat that Wii U owners should be aware of. Nintendo Network accounts, required for Wii U online play, are tied to one console, meaning that should anything happen to that console, owners will also lose their account and anything tied to it. Currently, the Wii U supports up to 12 accounts that will be locked to the console after creation, meaning that buying up a used Wii U means losing account slots on the console.

Wii U owners will be disappointed to find that they won't be able to play at a friend's house unless they also cart over their console, since this lockdown means that accounts, once tied to a console, can't be logged in on other consoles.

However, this issue is only temporary, as Nintendo has declared on the Wii U support site that: "In the future, you will be able to use your Nintendo Network Account with future Nintendo consoles and other devices, such as PC's."

The company's statement didn't include a window as to when this would happen, so for now, it might be wise to keep your Wii U stashed well away from any potential damaging elements, lest you lose your precious Nintendo Network account.

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Catherine Cai
36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dormantreign
    I don't mind as long as they are going to update this later. There are a few annoyances that need patching, as is with any console. On that note, i love my wiiu.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    Nintendo used to be consumer friendly when they started in the 80's. When and why have they become so tight assed? They aren't high tech, they are supposed to be easy enough for my girlfriend to use, that is their selling point.

    edit: I'm sure DRM figures in here somewhere, but seriously, anyone who know or cares enough to get around it doesn't use a WII in the first place.
    Reply
  • DoofusOfDeath
    Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm kind of fuzzy on why someone would buy a Wii U at this point.
    Reply
  • ddpruitt
    I don't see why people make a huge deal about this. I also have a PS3 and being able to log in different places isn't really a benefit. I've never needed to log in under a different account somewhere else, if I go to a friends house I just use their account.

    As for the "losing" your account if something happens to the console, well that's just misrepresentation. Nintendo will migrate the account info over to a new console if you repair it with them, saved games you'll lose anyway if something happens to a console.

    I play consoles for fun quick easy to get into games, my PC is used for the more involved or better looking games (ie Skyrim, BF3).
    Reply
  • notuptome2004
    This was news last week
    Reply
  • palladin9479
    It most likely has to do with tracking people who do "homebrew". The Nintendo Wii was extremely easy to unlock and install your own homebrew software. It became easy to make into a central emulation console for things like NES, SNES, SEGA / ect.. games along with being a good media center once your loaded external 3rd party software on it. Nintendo lawyers really didn't like this.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    Yeah, because Nintendo consoles break easily like the XBoxes and some PS3s (although these are very tough after gen1). Just don't get it stolen or it will be a hassle (to some extent) to get the ID back so you get back all of your games and content.

    Cheers!
    Reply
  • azgard
    abbadon_34Nintendo used to be consumer friendly when they started in the 80's. When and why have they become so tight assed? They aren't high tech, they are supposed to be easy enough for my girlfriend to use, that is their selling point.edit: I'm sure DRM figures in here somewhere, but seriously, anyone who know or cares enough to get around it doesn't use a WII in the first place.
    Actually this is the way Nintendo has always been it has just been transparent to the consumer up until the N64 when Nintendo failed to upgrade the hardware from a cartridge system due to fear's of pirating same story with the Gamecube and the mini-dvd's.
    Reply
  • kinggraves
    abbadon_34Nintendo used to be consumer friendly when they started in the 80's. When and why have they become so tight assed?
    Pressure from investors to be like other console manufacturers who are ALWAYS this inflexible and have complicated networks play into it. Wii's market success brought a lot of money hungry sharks into the N pool. Most things like a large update and this are only signs that Nintendo is newer at a network like the XBox and PSN offer. This WAS one of the complaints gamers had with Wii after all. "We want a network like PSN and XBox, not a kiddie friend code network". You got your wish, don't cry.

    abbadon_34I'm sure DRM figures in here somewhere, but seriously, anyone who know or cares enough to get around it doesn't use a WII in the first place.
    I'm sure it figures in every aspect of the Wii U. Wii and DS were both massively and easily pirated. They made the 3DS very carefully to prevent flash rom carts and AFAIK it still hasn't been cracked for 3DS. I don't see how being a Wii prevents people from wanting free games.

    In other news, all I hear is media outlets picking up every little minor problem. Are you that desperate to shoot down the Wii U? They're going to fix it. Don't be an idiot and unplug it during a firmware update. Don't be an idiot and smash the system in the first couple weeks (even though Nintendo is aware of the issue and would likely help you). What's the point here? The Nintendo Wii U is not made for complete morons? Then again, anyone paying the OPed prechristmas prices probably isn't that bright to begin with.
    Reply
  • drwho1
    I really don't care about Nintendo...
    but this has to be really annoying for players who do like this console.

    Hope for their sake that Nintendo does solves this issues.
    Reply