Nintendo Has Ended Repair Services for the Original Wii
As of March 31st, Nintendo will no longer be accepting first generation Wii units, with the model number: RVL-001, for repair in Japan. Nintendo officially announced their end for original Wii support through a statement on Nintendo Japan’s website. It’s currently unknown whether this announcement impacts other regions, but it’s likely that Nintendo will slowly stop supporting the original Wii’s over the coming years. The Nintendo Wii originally released in Japan on Dec. 2, 2006 which means the console has received around fourteen years of repair support from Nintendo.
Nintendo has said that they’re running out of Wii-related parts and therefore servicing the consoles has become difficult since the Wii originally released. Running out of parts for the console will prevent them from properly repairing internal issues such as any jammed buttons, damaged lenses, faulty sensors, etc. Apparently Nintendo will continue to offer help through their website via troubleshooting assistance, specifically their website says, “Nintendo no longer offer repairs for Wii systems. However, many issues can be resolved by following the troubleshooting steps on our support site.”
The original Nintendo Wii units with the model number RVL-001 have been confirmed as the first Wii consoles to no longer have repair support from Nintendo, but the RVL-101 model that launched in 2011 and the Wii Mini (model RVL-201) which went on sale in 2017 will continue to receive support for the foreseeable future. Considering how popular the Wii was at launch, it’s likely that millions of gamers will no longer be able to have their units repaired by Nintendo beyond March this year.
Were you an early adopter of the Nintendo Wii or did you get into it with a later model? What Wii game was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Kotaku