Wii U Edition

Wii U Edition
Author(s)	Mojang Studios 4J Studios
Platform(s)
Written in	C++
Latest release	Patch 43
Release date	Digital - Nintendo eShop December 17, 2015 Retail Disc June 17, 2016
Rating(s)	(Online interactions not rated) PEGI: 7 ESRB: E10+ ACB: PG DEJUS: L (Livre) USK: 6 Russia: 6+ CERO: All
Size	1.62 GB
License	Proprietary
Source code	No
Other links	Store page (UK & IE)

Key art by Mojang Studios

Minecraft: Wii U Edition was the edition of Minecraft developed by 4J Studios and Mojang Studios for the Wii U. It was announced on December 7, 2015, and released on December 17, 2015 for US$29.99 on the Nintendo eShop. A retail disc version was released on June 17, 2016. This edition was bundled with seven add-on packs, and sixteen additional packs were also available as downloadable content. Exclusive content based on Nintendo properties was also available for the game: a mash-up based on the Super Mario franchise was released in May 2016. Due to the Nintendo eShop for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS no longer allowing the purchasing of titles as of March 2023, this game can no longer be purchased on the Nintendo eShop. Users who previously purchased it are still able to download it.

As of Patch 43, the Wii U Edition has not received new feature updates, such as Village & Pillage, Buzzy Bees, the Nether Update, Caves & Cliffs, and so on.

The Wii U Edition's most recent feature update is the Update Aquatic.

Development

In late 2013, Mojang Studios founder Markus Persson announced that there were no plans to port Minecraft to the Wii U, stating that he wasn't aware of any plans but agreed that "a Wii U version would make sense."

In June 2014, Shigeru Miyamoto and Shinya Takahashi were asked about porting Minecraft to the Wii U. Miyamoto stated:

“	I haven't played it myself, but I have heard quite a bit about it. I think he [Takahashi] knows more about it than I do. But I like that style of game, and I look at Mario Maker as being something in a similar vein.	„
	— Shigeru Miyamoto on porting Minecraft to the Wii U

Takahashi followed with his statement:

“	We've always thought internally that using the [Wii U] GamePad would probably make for a Minecraft that's very easy to play. And, of course, if we were to do something with Minecraft on the 3DS, similarly we would probably do it where it would be easier to play and could probably reach a lot of kids. What's interesting is that, in Japan, Minecraft is not popular in the way it is in the U.S. and Europe, so we've also thought that, if we were able to do a partnership like that, it might bring opportunity to help make Minecraft more popular in Japan.	„
	— Shinya Takahashi on porting Minecraft to the Wii U

In September 2014, Mojang Studios' Daniel Kaplan reiterated that there were no plans to bring Minecraft to the Wii U because he claimed that the user base for the Wii U was "very small". This was not the case at the time of this post, as the Wii U was ahead of the Xbox One in terms of sales around the same time.

At MINECON 2015, Mojang's COO Vu Bui was also asked about porting Minecraft to the Wii U. Bui stated:

“	If I had my way, we'd be on everything. We want to continue to be available to all players, and that means being on new platforms because everyone uses something different. I've never heard a reason why we haven't ended up on Wii U or 3DS. It just hasn't happened yet.	„
	— Vu Bui on porting Minecraft to the Wii U

On November 11, 2015, PEGI accidentally leaked a rating for Minecraft: Wii U Edition. The leaked rating was removed six days later.

On December 7, 2015, the game was officially confirmed, and Mojang and Nintendo announced that Minecraft: Wii U Edition would be released on December 17th, 2015.

On May 9, 2016, Nintendo and Mojang Studios announced that there would be a special Super Mario-themed mash-up pack released for Minecraft: Wii U Edition on the May 19 for free. Mojang also announced that a retail version of the game would be released on June 17, 2016.

Gameplay

Wii U Edition featured Off-TV Play, which allowed the game to be played exclusively on the Wii U GamePad's screen. There was some limited touchscreen functionality, allowing players to select items on their hotbar, navigate through the Crafting menu, and more. When asked about whether the Wii U GamePad could be used as a second screen for full inventory management, Owen Jones stated it was not at the moment, but it would be cool. The Wii U GamePad was never usable as a second screen. Mii characters were used as the player's in-game username. In addition to the Wii U GamePad, the game was also playable with the Wii U Pro Controller, the Wii Classic Controller, or the Wii Classic Controller Pro.

DLC

The Wii U Edition came with six of the "most popular add-on packs" included. This is the reason that Wii U Edition was more expensive than all of the other editions of Legacy Console Edition.

The following DLC was included in Wii U Edition:

• Skin Packs:
  • Battle & Beasts Skin Pack
  • Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack
• Texture Packs:
  • Natural Texture Pack
  • City Texture Pack
  • Fantasy Texture Pack
• Mash-up packs:
  • Festive Mash-up
  • Super Mario Mash-up

Trivia

• Wii U Edition (alongside Nintendo Switch Edition and New Nintendo 3DS Edition) was the most expensive editions of Minecraft to date, at US$29.99.
  • This was due to the game releasing with 6 add-on packs included.
    • All DLC included with Wii U Edition were the same as the Xbox One Edition Holiday Pack, with the exception of the Halo Mash-up pack, which was released as additional paid DLC for the Wii U edition, having been previously exclusive to Xbox platforms.
  • This is ahead of Java Edition by just US$3.04.
• The PlayStation 3 Edition was released exactly two years earlier, on December 17, 2013.
• The Nintendo eShop did not have a free demo for Minecraft, unlike the PlayStation and Xbox.
• Wii U Edition did not have the exclusive features of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 editions, also limiting blocks and world spaces and as well as lower render distance just like the Nintendo Switch Edition.

Gallery

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  Minecraft: Wii U Edition logo

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  Minecraft: Wii U Edition key art

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  Minecraft: Wii U Edition box art

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  Minecraft: Wii U Edition app icon

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  Minecraft: Wii U Edition Japanese app icon

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  What appears to be a placeholder image that would've been displayed when choosing DLC for the Battle mini-game. A completely different icon is used instead, showing the actual DLC instead of this. An early name for the mini-game is also present.