Back in 2013, a year after the Wii U released, Nintendo introduced a tool to help developers make Wii U games using HTML5 and JavaScript. To date only one Nintendo-published title was made using this framework, Mario vs Donkey Kong Tipping Stars, acting as something of a demonstration for what it was capable of. With these titles being written using HTML5 and JavaScript, fans have long-since wanted a way to just play them in their browser. In 2023, Twitter user JasperRLZ posted a video showing just that, with it pulling in over 600k views. Things fell silent afterwards though.

Fast-forward to February this year and we see the topic revived by YouTuber @JustMLC, once again playing Tipping Stars directly in their browser. This time though, they shared the code. And it's capable of playing more than just Tipping Stars. This tool is what those few hardcore fans were waiting for 13 years ago, capable of playing any Wii U title made with Nintendo's Web Framework.

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While it’s still in the early stages and has a few bugs, this new project allows the small selection of Wii U games that use Nintendo Web Framework to be preserved for future generations.

Another Nintendo Web Framework game, Twisted Fusion, running in-browser​

Those interested in trying this for themselves can find a comprehensive list below of Wii U games that were developed using Nintendo Web Framework, though with the Wii U eShop closed, you'll only be able to download them if you previously purchased them.

Nintendo Web Framework Games
Project GitHub Repo

 

[x65943]

Awesome work

Super important for preservation given the ever dwindling supply of working wiius

 

[Classicgamer]

Agreed.
Although I don't think 13 million consoles is considered dwindling - both of mine are up and running. They exist and there are plenty - they just aren't on the second hand market (yet). I think most owners have them for keeps.

 

[x65943]

Agreed.
Although I don't think 13 million consoles is considered dwindling - both of mine are up and running. They exist and there are plenty - they just aren't on the second hand market (yet). I think most owners have them for keeps.

A lot of the nands have failed

I'm lucky mine hasn't, but a ton of the black wiius have faulty nands

 

[BlusterBong]

That's a nice game preservation thing going here, now many great gems can be playable anywhere like Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars and.. uh... uhm.... does the original Super Mario Maker's manual count as a video game?

 

[x65943]

That's a nice game preservation thing going here, now many great gems can be playable anywhere like Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars and.. uh... uhm.... does the original Super Mario Maker's manual count as a video game?

People also made homebrew

Edit: list of games
https://www.igdb.com/game_engines/nintendo-web-framework

 

[NitroShell]

People also made homebrew

Edit: list of games
https://www.igdb.com/game_engines/nintendo-web-framework

Actually these are all of them:
https://www.retroreversing.com/WiiUNWF

 

[emigre]

I finally can have fun at work.

 

[lordelan]

Nice. Does this work in the Wii U's browser too?

 

[ChibiMofo]

"While it’s still in the early stages and has a few bugs, this new project allows the small selection of Wii U games that use Nintendo Web Framework to be preserved for future generations."

These games were already preserved via CEMU emulation. This doesn't change anything for the very few games that use that framework.

Post automatically merged: Mar 12, 2026

A lot of the nands have failed

I'm lucky mine hasn't, but a ton of the black wiius have faulty nands

Correction: A small number of 32GB Wii U's have faulty nands. We have a fix for that here on this very website.

 

[HarveyHouston]

though with the Wii U eShop closed, you'll only be able to download them if you previously purchased them.

...Or, y'know, the Internet Archive and some homebrew.

 

[lightwo]

Ah, no wonder SDK Paint got released on Wii U then. It was originally a web application, so letting devs submit web applications on eShop must have made it pretty easy to adapt it.

 

[NinStar]

These games were already preserved via CEMU emulation. This doesn't change anything for the very few games that use that framework.

Good luck running Cemu on your browser + all the unnecessary extra overhead.

 

[TheStonedModder]

A lot of the nands have failed

I'm lucky mine hasn't, but a ton of the black wiius have faulty nands

A lot of randomly dying hdmi filters as well

I have a stack of working Wii Us that all stopped displaying through hdmi one day

 

[NinStar]

A lot of randomly dying hdmi filters as well

I have a stack of working Wii Us that all stopped displaying through hdmi one day

My first 8gb launch model had this issue with the HDMI too, this was before the disc drive died and I couldn't even use the console after that, it refused to work without one connected, and you can't even easily replace them as they are tied to the motherboard.

 

[Reecey]

I noticed a couple of days ago Amazon uk are selling the brand new Premium Bundles NintendoLand Bundle for £499, Mario Kart 8 WiiU’s for £450 and the New Super Mario U Pack for £499 that’s more than a Switch 2

 

[NitroShell]

Nice. Does this work in the Wii U's browser too?

Have no idea, possibly

 

[PatrickD85]

Ok this is pretty neat.Will never ever us it ... but the Wii U games still has a special place ij my heart.

 

[Ambers_Crimson_8K]

I saw a list of E-Shop games that I would never play! Cool idea and concept, but none of the AAA games are on that lists!
I have multiple physical consoles still working flawlessly because I took care of them.
1 is jailbroken and is my main one.
I hear people talking about nand issues, but still going strong in 2026 without issue.

 

[x65943]

I saw a list of E-Shop games that I would never play! Cool idea and concept, but none of the AAA games are on that lists!
I have multiple physical consoles still working flawlessly because I took care of them.
1 is jailbroken and is my main one.
I hear people talking about nand issues, but still going strong in 2026 without issue.

Ofc AAA games weren't made in html

Besides there is already an emulator for those games

Preservation is not about only saving the best stuff, it's about saving everything