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Wii U GamePad Needs To Be Eight Meters Or Less From Console & TV

Depending on your home size, the Wii U GamePad can or cannot be used around your house. Apparently, for best performance, the Wii U GamePad needs to be about eight meters or less from the Wii U console. In terms of how many feet the controller can be taken away from a powered-on Wii U, it’s about 24.

…Is there a limit on the distance that you can take the [Wii U] GamePad away from the system?

“There is. And it’s… Of course, when we’re generally giving limits on things like that, and I think the same thing can be said for the Nintendo 3DS battery life… We tend to be more conservative, because we’re looking at it from a performance perspective. What, really, is the range where you’re going to get the best performance out of that? And you’re going to get the best performance within a range of about… They had a very precise number at one point. In meters it’s like eight meters. In feet it’s about 24 feet. That’s for best performance.”

-Bill Trinen, Nintendo product manager

148 thoughts on “Wii U GamePad Needs To Be Eight Meters Or Less From Console & TV”

    1. If you think about it , the fact the wiiu is sending games through fucking thin air is absoloutly incredible @8 metres!!! that just it me how good that is .

      It’s very much ‘next gen’ , if you think other wise here is my nut sack , feel free to dip it in your mouth..

      1. Wii U– i think the controller is the NEXT-GEN ..not so much on the console.. Which is innovating in a new way….and I pre- ordered da Deluxe ..1st at my GS store

  1. What’s the wireless protocol? Is is it infrared, rf, bluetooth or something else? I was planning on putting my console in closet behind the TV and for some reason this never occurred to me.

    1. That seems like it would be a little inconvenient when you want to put in a different game disc and there’s still the wires coming out of under the closet’s door.
      My guess is that it’s probably BlueTooth and almost certainly not infrared.

      1. I built a hole behind the TV that goes into the closet. You should see it, tons of wires going both way through the opening. None visible because its behind the TV.

        Changing discs is no more inconvenient.

  2. That’s very good. I can play this anywhere around my house. This basically means I have a portable gaming device I can play in any room of my hose. So very cool. Leave luck to heaven.

  3. Guys, i want a black wii u, but honestly, I only want the premium bundle for the color and the Nintendo Network Premium. With tax and shipping, its $390 :( should i just get the white one?

    1. Get what You like, even if its a little more. You’ll be using this for 5+ Years, hopefully. Of course noone knows your financial situation except you.

        1. Tax depends on the state you live in. For example, Amazon just started charging taxes for California customers this year.

      1. hi there your right i am a master chief spartan 117 i will be useing we soo long we can evolve and mutate soo we are inmortal 0 lives lost for enternaty

    2. hi there jake no becuase the specs on premium is vs basic basic 8 gb premium has 32 gb flash storage premium gets you nintendo land game included and acess too nintendo premuim internet content for 2 years and 10% disscount on all down loaded games soo you save more money long run if you pay a littel higher price at luanch i preordered the premium wii u today now hurry up november 18 can not wait

      1. Actually walls in Japan are somewhat similar to NA. Although there aren’t many brick houses. But aren’t we talking about playing inside your house and not outside?

    1. Well its bluetooth so i dont see why it would, i could use a wiimote on to the attic and still control it (dont ask why i was in the attic xD i dont remember)

      Obviously at a certain range it’ll cop out but it’ll probably be less than average house radius.

  4. hi there sence my 120 inch gaming projector suports the old red yellow white conecters dont have hdmi soo i will be useing nextgen on my sony 32 inch 3d tv with 3 hdmi i have curently a 3d blu-ray player and a 3d cable box from comcast i ordered comcast 3d service soo i still have 1 hdmi conection open my sony 32 inch 3d tv has 3 hdmi ports soo wii u xbox 720 ps4 being my 3d tv

        1. What? Your can’t play Wii U games on only the tablet, you need the TV to see. It’s Wii games your talking about. MABYE you should’ve paid attention to the news instead of sounding like some snotty rich kids who wonders why he/she has no friends.

          1. @Anubis you idiot, you can play Wii U games on tablet, almost all the games say you can switch from TV to the game pad, hell even Nintendo said it themselves. You sir need to pay attention…

            1. Oh my god. He’s saying that you can play Wii U games ONLY on the Wii U game pad. I’m tired of explaining this just figure it out yourself cause I’m going to sleep… good night…

              1. Your the one that said you need a TV, and you said you can’t play Wii U games on game pad only Wii games, read what you say and don’t just type it you ignorant imbecile…

                1. And you can play Wii U game on only the tablet, the system has to be on, but technically speaking the game pad is part of the console it self, Nintendo has said this as well.

              2. Well the system needs to be on, but you dont need to turn on the TV for some games, obviously ZombiU will use both, and probably Pikmin 3.

  5. From where my Wii U will be to my pillow is 32 feet… Bill said they were a little on the conservative side, does anyone think I’ll be close enough?

    1. hi there i am a master chief spartan 117 from halo i have technolgy soo i can use the wii u any were in the unaverse there is no limited distance

  6. Im surprised that im not the only one who played games on the toilet. But i guess we cant do that now, the gamepad is too expensive!

    1. Possibly, but it may be hard. I know sometimes with the wii remote i would bring it with me upstairs and clicked the home button and it worked sometimes.

      1. Not sure about this, but I doubt it. And yes, it being playable on just the gamepad was one of the first features ever shown about this game.

        1. Mine too! Of course, my bedroom tv is only 720p, and the wifi signal doesn´t get to my room :( so maybe no online gaming, but at least I can play in the toilet! :D

    1. I like that boost rush mode. It really looks like something I can get under. Plus I do like how it adds a bit of strategy and choice with the gamepad

  7. Oh my gosh, YES! I thought it would be like 10 feet. Now I can use this in my bedroom as long as it’s signal can go through a thin wall and stay strong 8)

  8. Say, I want to watch Netflix from a totally different room in my house (upstairs, downstairs, basement, etc), is it possible? Does the controller have its own internal wi-fi signal?

  9. il increase that 4 fold with a simple trick using tin foil i have had full speed wifi from over a mile away just using tin foil il have it 100 meters u watch im even going to work outy angles and have tin foil spots so i can go to 3rd floor of my house and play there lag free il do it i swear i love geeking around with signals wifi etc

      1. give me time il be back haven’t done it for a while and i think wiiu pad may differ but signals are signals airwaves are airwaves simple boosts in signal with things like tin foil aimed right would easy increase this 4x i dont know maybe more line of sight or bouncing the signal from line of sight to the next would work i hope so i need to grow up lol

  10. Pingback: Revelado el alcance del Wii U GamePad: 8 metros o menos desde la ubicación de Wii U | www.nextn.net

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