Wii U

Wii U
Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii U Released in JP: December 8, 2012 Released in US: November 18, 2012 Released in EU: November 30, 2012 Released in AU: November 30, 2012 Released in BR: November 26, 2013 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has revisional differences. This game has a notes page

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

The Wii U is Nintendo's third disc-based home console. Its main gimmick over its predecessor was its reliance on the GamePad, a large tablet controller which added touch screen functionality to games and could also function as a main screen in the absence of a TV. Despite a generally solid first-party library, it suffered from a severe lack of third-party support.

Additionally, Nintendo couldn't reduce the price due to high production costs, the GamePad was considered too bulky/redundant/confusing by most third-party developers, and customers were thrown off by the all-too-similar name to its predecessor. Unsurprisingly, it got discontinued after four years of support and the Switch very quickly came in its place.

To do: DUMMY graphics. Lots of DUMMY graphics. Title layout lists. The keyboard has two unused modes: handwritten and T9 keypad (phones). There might be some other stuff for the keyboard as well. Prerelease section. Nintendo 64 Virtual Console games have config files for each game. Maybe some of those are for unreleased games?

Unused Boot Screens

DUMMY

Found within the folder /storage_mlc/sys/title/00050010/10066000/meta are some dummy boot screen images in standard TGA format. The title it belongs to is identified as simply "ecop". The dummy icon is also used in discs' update partitions and some kiosk (CAT-I RTL) demos on kiosk unit install discs.

"drc" is the internal name for the GamePad.

Wii U-Wii U System Transfer

The system transfer file has a few graphics left in its "meta" folder, instead of some placeholders. This suggests that originally the transfer tool was going to be an app rather than a mode in the system settings. The splash boot screen for the DRC and TV are the same, just different sizes.

Early App Icons

These are all early versions of the icon graphics used for the default apps in the Wii U. They are located in a file called OfficialAppIcon.szs, which is found in a couple of directories, with one exception.

Something you'll notice with the early icons (counting out the ones with 仮's) is that they sport a darker version of the spotted background used in the final icons.

Early Icon	Used Icon	Software's Name	Texture's Name	Comments
		Information(used for notifications)	AppIconInformation	Just a darker version of the info icon. Has the same name as the used one too.
		Health and Safety Information	AppIconBaristaSafe	Although the color is different and the exclamation point is off point, the name is interesting. "Barista" is a person that prepares espresso-based beverages, like coffee. References like this are very common in the Wii U, given its codename, "Project Cafe."
		Parental Controls	AppIconPcl	Obvious color and shading difference.
		Wii Karaoke U	AppIconOrchestra	Wii Karaoke U is a default app in Japanese Wii U's. Compared to the final icon, the early version is pretty lacking. (仮) is (Temporary).
		Daily Log	AppIconPly	Some shading that isn't in the used one, with a darker color.
		Mii Maker	AppIconSugar	Very drastic design change. The early icon is actually similar to the one used on the 3DS, except it would've been in glorious HD.
		Wii U Chat	AppIconDoors	Very early design for Wii U Chat's icon. The picture on the earlier one is actually a door, as that is what Wii U Chat's codename is: doors.
		System Settings	AppIconSet	Obvious color change as well as size difference.
		System Menu	iconTex.tga	This is the only one that is not found in OfficialAppIcon.szs. Instead, it is found in both /10010109 and /1001010a which is the Home Menu. The logos are practically identical minus a few small touch ups. The two key differences is that the early remnant is positioned differently and has a trademark symbol, while the final does not.

(Source: Super-Xnot)

Hidden Screenshots

Hidden inside 00050010/10040100/content/Us/Model/AccountTvCap_Us/gsys.bfres are two early screenshots of the Wii U.

Text
本体に新しいユーザーを追加します
Translation
Added new user to this unit.

An early screenshot of the account creator, named acsCreate_sys1_001A0. It is copied with different language tags at the end for each supported language, as if it were "translated".

A screenshot of a very early build of the System Settings app. It even uses the prototype Gamepad design! The name of the graphic is update.

The text translates as...

Text	Translation
ここにボタンの名前を入る	Insert the button's name here
トップ メニュー	Top Menu
全項目	All Items
(日)付と時刻	Date and Time
テレビ画面	TV Screens
テレビサウンド	TV Sound
Wii Uコントローラ	Wii U Controller
Wiiリモコンセンサー(バー)	Wii Remote Sensor Bar
やめる	Quit

(Source: Super-Xnot)

eShop Icon Mistake

This placeholder icon is used in the USA Wii U eShop metadata for the Nintendo 3DS version of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (and its demo, but only the former can be seem through the eShop interface as non-Wii U demos' icons don't appear in the Wii U eShop interface). The icon has the last modified date of Tue, 29 Nov 2016 01:11:29 GMT.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

DS Virtual Console Development Text

Welcome to Hachihachi !
Choose your ROM with the Wii U GamePad:
Unable to delete FS client for the SD card!
Unable to add FS client for the SD card!
Unable to mount the SD card!
  - B to exit to parent directory
  - A to enter a directory or launch a ROM
C:\Dev\Mercurial\hanafuda\hachihachi-packaging\hachihachi\source\host\rom_selector.cpp

It seems the developers behind the Nintendo DS Virtual Console had the ability to switch ROMs on the fly. "Hachihachi" seems to be the internal name of the emulator itself. "Hanafuda" are a type of Japanese playing cards, and were Nintendo's flagship product in the pre-video game era.

Media Player Test File

The file mvplayer.rpl in the directory for WebKit files contains URLs for videos that were likely tested with the Wii U during development. The domain doesn't resolve to an IP address, so it's possible that the server is down or these URLs could have only been accessed through Nintendo's internal network. This file can also be found in several games that utilize the Nintendo Web Framework.

http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/youtube-sh-720p.mp4 
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/stream/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8 
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/apple-sh-1080p.mov
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/Motocross_720p_30fps_noaudio.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/audio/audio-tron-legacy-the-grid.m4a
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/audio/audio-girl-talk-play-your-part.m4a
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/stream/key1_iv1_20s/crypt_index.m3u8
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/mobiclip-batman-1080p-m.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/school.f4v
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/BigBuckBunny_1080p.f4v
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/sony-nex5N-1080p.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/qtredirect1/thumb.mov
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/home_1080p-muxed.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/PS3_BIOHAZARD_720_9000kbps.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/PeakPrecision_V2.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/skyloft.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/stream/10309/tnMmRuNDpPZGSugjcn3u6Rms4QSiS63S.m3u8
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/nikon-d7000-1080p.mov
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/PS3_FFXIII_1080_9000kbps.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/PS3_PULSE_1080_10000kbps.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/vimeo.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/Come_Follow_Me.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/rocketstart_wobbly.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/stream/relative-url/hit.m3u8?arg=foo/bar
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/Unboxing_MediaPlayer_SDK_720p.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/sony-psn-god-of-war-III-720p.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/imdb1.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/imad07.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/ustream.ts
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/video/Small_Potatoes_Episode_2_b010pyk0.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/audio/AAC-LC_Mono_48000Hz_WonderfulTonight.mp4
http://keyframe.ntd.nintendo.com/original/stream/byterange_apple/index.m3u8

Nintendo 64 Virtual Console Internal Project Name

The internal project name of the Nintendo 64 Virtual Console emulator is "VESSEL", according to multiple strings in the rpx.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Build Dates and Other Text

Home Menu

There's the revision number present in Common/System/revision.txt. It's the same for every region.

v0	v24	v35	v72
19194	23164	23271	25520
v84	v153	v169	v180
25520	34999	37525	38945

There's a timestamp present in Common/System/timeStampV.txt or Common/System/timeStamp.txt. Again, it's the same for each region.

v0	v24	v35	v72
2012/08/23 18:55	2012/11/05 20:58	2012/11/21 14:05	2013/04/11 14:58
v84	v153	v169	v180
2013/04/11 14:58	2014/05/08 09:07	2014/09/05 15:35	2015/04/27 16:05

System Settings

There's the revision number present in Common/System/revision.txt. It's the same for every region.

v0	v24	v35	v72	v84
19210	23159	23271	25519	26478
v137	v153	v164	v178	v257 EUR
34999	37525	37897	38928	39222

There's a timestamp present in Common/System/timeStampV.txt or Common/System/timeStamp.txt. Again, it's the same for each region.

v0	v24	v35	v72	v84
2012/08/23 18:55	2012/11/05 15:43	2012/11/21 14:05	2013/04/10 21:04	2013/06/21 14:42
v137	v153	v164	v178	v257 EUR
2014/05/08 09:07	2014/09/05 15:35	2014/10/22 15:05	2015/04/17 13:56	2019/05/21 09:57

Gamepad Factory Mode

A factory diagnostics utility is present in the Gamepad firmware. There is a flag in the EEPROM that controls whether diagnostics is enabled. It's usually disabled before the Gamepad leaves the factory, but at least one Gamepad was known to have left the factory with diagnostics enabled.

(Source: Nites)

Revisional Differences

To do: There are more drastic changes. This video, for example, shows a very different menu at 0:24.

The Nintendo TVii option was removed on August 11, 2015 following the discontinuation of the service. The application itself wasn't actually removed however, and can still be opened through the quick start menu, although it gives a network error message after loading.

(Source: Nintendo TVii End of Service FAQ)

In an earlier version of the menu (although in which version it was changed is currently unknown), the menu design was completely different from the current one, with icons in different positions and an overall different menu design.

An incomplete (missing button at bottom) picture of the Wii U's older Home Menu design.