Wii U GamePad 'high-capacity' battery now available

Nintendo is now selling a "high-capacity" Wii U GamePad battery that lasts up to 8 hours, rather than the 3-5 of the one included in the box.

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Given stubbornly sluggish sales, the Wii U GamePad's short battery life would seem to be among the least of the system's problems. But it is still a concern for owners, and Nintendo has announced a higher capacity battery that owners can swap out for their current one.

Nintendo's online store (via Joystiq) is selling a "high-capacity" 2,550mAh battery that lasts up to eight hours, rather than the current 3-5 hour 1,500mAh battery included in the system. It costs $32, and includes a screwdriver and instructions to replace it yourself. This is presumably the same battery we saw announced in Japan back in May.

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  • reply
    December 23, 2013 6:45 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Wii U GamePad 'high-capacity' battery now available.

    Nintendo is now selling a "high-capacity" Wii U GamePad battery that lasts up to 8 hours, rather than the 3-5 of the one included in the box.

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      December 23, 2013 7:19 AM

      This is AWESOME. The most frustrating aspect of the Wii U so far has been the rapid drain on battery even when I shut off the display.

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        December 23, 2013 7:37 AM

        Did you ever try turning the brightness down by 2 to 3 notches? When I did that I got at least 6 hours out of it.

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          December 23, 2013 7:54 AM

          Oh, yes. I turn the brightness all the way down when I play games that don't require me to look at the GamePad often, if ever. The battery life still sucks. :( I don't think I've gotten six hours out of it even with the brightness turned down all the way.

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            December 23, 2013 10:14 AM

            I turned it down two notches (maybe three) and during a Monster Hunter spree I put in about 6 hours and it was still going. Maybe I got lucky?

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              December 23, 2013 2:48 PM

              I've been lucky too. I put it on the charger for breaks though

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        December 23, 2013 8:58 PM

        Ehh, just game with it plugged in?

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      December 23, 2013 7:55 AM

      What's a WiiU?

      Is that like a Susan B. Anthony $1 coin? :) You can take it to the bank to trade in for a real dollar

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      December 23, 2013 8:14 AM

      Bought this 2 days ago.

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      December 23, 2013 8:29 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 23, 2013 12:07 PM

      Anyone notice that shot is from Twilight Princess...is there support on the pad for Twilight princess?!

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        December 23, 2013 3:05 PM

        No but after playing lots of Wind Waker using the pad, I believe every game with inventory management or maps or anything else along those lines would benefit from a screen on the controller. It really stinks to have to go into any sort of menu to deal with these things.

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        December 25, 2013 5:43 PM

        You can use the gamepad for Wii games as a screen only. They introduced that in one of the latest firmware updates.

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      December 23, 2013 2:17 PM

      If anybody want's a 32 GB Wii U for $180 shoot me a PM. Bought it for $200 off c-list to play Mario. I'm currently working through the bonus stages and once I 100% the game I'm gonna resell the Wii U. In a year or two I'll buy new one forreal, but I'd rather have the cash at the moment

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      December 23, 2013 3:03 PM

      I already ordered one

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        December 23, 2013 7:08 PM

        I just noticed that my order status is "back ordered".

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      December 25, 2013 4:45 PM

      [deleted]

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