Question WiiU Gamepad Portable Wii Case

[PerplexedOzzy]

I am trying to start my first project to make a portable, and I was wondering if using a WiiU gamepad as a case would be a good idea. It would allow a lot of room for error and I was wondering if there would be a way to use the pieces already inside like the battery, speakers, and IR bar.

 

[GingerOfOz]

Welcome!

A Wii U gamepad definitely seems like it should have a lot of space inside of it for how notoriously clunky it is, but there's really not a lot of room inside it. People who have built portables in those in the past have needed to add a spacer to the back of it to give themselves more space.

As far as using the parts already inside it, the battery is definitely unusable, and I'm undertain how useful the speakers or IR bar could be. Either way, I saw you posted in the welcome thread that you were considering building a G-Wii, and I would reccomend taking that path for a first portable.

Good luck!

 

[PerplexedOzzy]

Welcome!

A Wii U gamepad definitely seems like it should have a lot of space inside of it for how notoriously clunky it is, but there's really not a lot of room inside it. People who have built portables in those in the past have needed to add a spacer to the back of it to give themselves more space.

As far as using the parts already inside it, the battery is definitely unusable, and I'm undertain how useful the speakers or IR bar could be. Either way, I saw you posted in the welcome thread that you were considering building a G-Wii, and I would reccomend taking that path for a first portable.

Good luck!

Okay Thank you for helpin'. I just trying to find a good but easy way to do this.

 

[MRKane]

The Wii U speakers are actually pretty good, I use a bog standard audio amp to run them and have used standard Wii U speakers for lots of other projects too. There isn't any IR setup in the gamepad to my knowledge, and I couldn't get the volume control working for my Wii U PS2. There's hardly any room to add batteries without case work etc.

I do have a few DOA gamepads in my cupboard if you did happen to want photos

 

[PerplexedOzzy]

The Wii U speakers are actually pretty good, I use a bog standard audio amp to run them and have used standard Wii U speakers for lots of other projects too. There isn't any IR setup in the gamepad to my knowledge, and I couldn't get the volume control working for my Wii U PS2. There's hardly any room to add batteries without case work etc.

I do have a few DOA gamepads in my cupboard if you did happen to want photos

Anything input or photos would be helpful, thank you. I am flying by the seat of my pants, I'm pretty fresh with all of this and just thought that the gamepad would be a good thing to use. Which I may end up using the 3D printer at my school and going off of Noah's stream and getting most of the important pieces off the BB store.

 

[MRKane]

Anything input or photos would be helpful, thank you.

Perhaps have a look at teardowns to begin with to get a sense of available space as dumping a heap of photos on your mightn't be all that useful really. The other issue with a Wii U gamepad is that they're oddly extremely expensive for a dead console.

 

[Stitches]

That's because Nofuntendo never sold the gamepads separately

 

[MRKane]

That's because Nofuntendo never sold the gamepads separately

Which is a crying shame, because they're perfect for putting a Raspberry Pi in as a portable. I've turned a couple of them into different things, and just actually sold my Wii U PS2 to fund my entry into this years BitBuilt

 

[Booshman]

You can buy an empty shell version easily enough, so no need to find a dead retail one to use. You can get the innards and buttons separately too. Have a look at my N64 build thread, I've modded a case and charging dock quite extensively.

 

[Rubix3D]

could always 3d print one as well

 

[Jason_28]

Hi to all

I'm a new member here i am a fan of portable gaming devices. i been so excited to create my portable device but i don't know where to start. I just saw some video on YouTube how gman & shank make a portable device it's so cool. And i saw in the YouTube using the wii u gamepad playing game cube and emulator. I want to start from that but i have a question. It is possible to install firmware in gamepad only or do i need the whole console not only the gamepad to make it work the hacked firmware.
Thank you in advance.
I don't know how to post on this site so i decided to reply in this conversation i apologies for my action. I hope you understand.

 

[GingerOfOz]

It sounds like you're interested in homebrewing your Wii U moreso than building a portable. Wii U Homebrew must be done on the console itself, as the gamepad is just a fancy controller that talks to the Wii U, it doesn't have any intensive processing on its own. BitBuilt doesn't have any resources on homebrewing Wii Us, so I'd reccomend watching some YouTube videos on the topic as those do a good job of covering how to do what you want.

 

[Jason_28]

It sounds like you're interested in homebrewing your Wii U moreso than building a portable. Wii U Homebrew must be done on the console itself, as the gamepad is just a fancy controller that talks to the Wii U, it doesn't have any intensive processing on its own. BitBuilt doesn't have any resources on homebrewing Wii Us, so I'd reccomend watching some YouTube videos on the topic as those do a good job of covering how to do what you want.

Thank you so much for the information i just wondering if there is easy way to have a portable wii u i guess i need to learn how to build one thanks you again.

 

[Stitches]

Thank you so much for the information i just wondering if there is easy way to have a portable wii u i guess i need to learn how to build one thanks you again.

Portablising a U is impossible atm. The current requirement for the thing is skyhigh and the onboard regs run off an 18v feed. You could possibly make a big self contained brick that is technically "portable", but it'd be pretty hard.

 

[Jason_28]

Ohh i thought when you trim the board off wii you will have a wii portable.

 

[Stitches]

Ohh i thought when you trim the board off wii you will have a wii portable.

For a regular Wii, yes. The Wii U uses completely different hardware in a different layout.

 

[Jason_28]

Ahh thanks i keep that in mind.