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Wii U gets updated, speed boost coming in October

An update is here for the Wii U, fixing a few bugs, but you'll have to wait to make the console faster.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

Nintendo's Wii U games console has been given a software update, which brings with it some minor improvements. But if it's nippier performance you want, you'll have to wait until October.

You can see all the improvements over on Nintendo's website. Tweaks include what Nintendo calls "minor support enhancements", bug fixes, and "adjustments to enhance the user experience". Which is all well and good, but it's the speed boost I'm really interested in.

With this update, your Wii U can check for system or software updates while in standby mode. And your console should crash a lot less.

Nintendo released a software update back in April, which helped performance and shortened those marathon load times. But it still left the console limping along.

The speed update will land just before this year's console war kicks off, with Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One duking it out. The Xbox One will be more expensive than the PS4, and way more so than the Wii U, if Nintendo's console keeps having its price slashed.

Microsoft has sent out some pretty mixed messages about the Xbox One, first of all claiming it'd need a constant Internet connection to check the games are legit. After some extreme foot-in-mouth shenanigans from since-departed exec Don Mattrick, Microsoft changed its mind. Nevertheless, the cheaper PS4 seems to have the goodwill of the majority of hardcore gamers.

But it's not just Sony and Microsoft that Nintendo will have to contend with. The Kickstarter-funded, Android-running, £99 Ouya will be out by then, though early reviews haven't been great. There are other consoles that run Android too, one of which could be made by Google, if you believe the rumours. Now that would make the console wars really interesting.

Is your Wii U a bit slow? What do you think of Nintendo's games machine? And who'll have the best-selling console come Christmas? Let me know in the comments, or on our multiplayer Facebook page.