How to Transfer Content from a Wii to a Wii U

So you’ve got your brand new Nintendo Wii U in your living room. Great! Now what about all that stuff on your Wii? We’ve got the step by step here.

First of all, in order to transfer your Wii data to your Wii U, you need to make sure your Wii U has the latest firmware update from Nintendo, otherwise it won’t let you do any of this. This can be downloaded via your Wii U System Settings. You also need to turn off any parental controls that may be on the Wii. If you’ve already got your save and game data on an SD Card, you need to copy them back on to your Wii. Downloadable games can be downloaded again from the Wii Shop Channel on your Wii U’s Wii Menu if you don’t transfer them.

Obviously, you’ll also need both your Wii and Wii U connected to your TV (you can swap the A/V cords if you don’t have multiple inputs). You’re also going to need a SD or SDHC card with at least 512 MB of free space. Interestingly, both consoles need to be connected to the internet for this to work.

Transfer Content from a Wii to a Wii U Tutorial:

  1. Insert the SD card into the Wii U console.
  2. On the Wii U system, start the Wii Menu application and select the Wii System Transfer.
  3. You will need to sync a Wii Remote to the Wii U console in order to proceed.? (If the Wii System Transfer tool is not available in the Wii Menu application, perform the latest System Update.)
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions, making sure to read carefully through each before you proceed.
  5. Remove the SD card from the Wii U console and insert the same SD card into the Wii console.
  6. With the SD card inserted in the Wii console, launch the transfer application to begin retrieving data.
  7. You will need to sync a Wii Remote to the Wii console in order to proceed.
  8. Follow the on-screen instructions, making sure to read carefully through each before you proceed.
  9. When the data transfer is complete, remove the SD card from the Wii console and insert it into the Wii U console.
  10. Confirm the message and select “Transfer.”
  11. Follow the on-screen instructions, making sure to read carefully through each before you proceed.

And thats it. The data is saved on to the Wii U console and deleted from the SD card.

If you’re curious about what will and will not be transferred from your Wii to your Wii U, we’ve got that too.

Things that WILL transfer over from your Wii:

  • Wii Software Save Data
  • WiiWare and Save Data
  • Virtual Console titles and Save Data
  • Add-on Content
  • Wii Points (These points will be combined with the points on the target Wii U system, but cannot exceed a combined point total that would exceed 10,000 Wii Points)
  • Wii Shop Channel Account Activity
  • Mii Characters
  • Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection data

Things that WILL NOT transfer over from your Wii:

  • Data from Wii settings
  • Preinstalled WiiWare software and preinstalled Virtual Console titles.
  • Software and save data for which transfer is not permitted, such as WiiConnect24 data.
  • Software that is present on both consoles. (While the software will not overwrite what is already on the target Wii U system, the new save data will overwrite what is on the Wii U.)
  • Nintendo GameCube Game Disc save data.

A few technicalities about transferring your data…

  • All data that can be transferred will be transferred at one time. You cannot select what data is transferred.
  • Any software or save data that exists on an SD Card from the source Wii console cannot be transferred directly.
  • For save data, transfer it from the SD Card to the source Wii console before performing the transfer.
  • For software, either transfer it back to the source Wii console before performing the transfer, or redownload it after the transfer using the Wii Shop Channel on the target Wii U console’s Wii Menu.
  • Mii characters are moved to the Mii Channel, accessed from the Wii Menu application on the Wii U console.
  • WiiConnect24 functionality is not supported on the Wii U. You will not be able to use features that require WiiConnect24 after the transfer.
  • Depending on the software, some features may be limited after the transfer.

Happy gaming and expect a review of the console later this week.

Wii U Official Site

Source (Kotaku) / Source (Nintendo)

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