Hacking WiiU Gamepad as Wii controller..

[portugeek]

I feel like this is a question that gets asked often but after a lot of searching I couldn't seem to find anything relevant. Other than an official Nintendo page saying... [No you can't use the WiiU gamepad to play Wii games.]

I don't have a WiiU yet, but plan on getting one. I don't even plan on softmodding it since my Wii does everything I already want to do. BUT!, if there was a way to play Wii games with a WiiU gamepad, I'd definitely do it. I'm not completely up on all of the gamepads features, but it seems safe to assume that it's capable of doing all of the things that the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo can do.

I haven't found anything that's said it's possible. Is it something that'll never be possible?

 

[endoverend]

It's impossible because in vWii mode no button input from the gamepad is recognized by the Wii U, and due to the fact that the Gamepad doesn't use bluetooth no homebrew is able to connect to it.

 

[RevPokemon]

For what it's worth a wii mote and nunchuck are both pretty cheap now days.

 

[portugeek]

It's impossible because in vWii mode no button input from the gamepad is recognized by the Wii U, and due to the fact that the Gamepad doesn't use bluetooth no homebrew is able to connect to it.

Well that sucks. Here's to hoping that someday someone figures it out. Because obviously the WiiU is still communicating with the Gamepad in some fashion (while it's in vWii mode.) So I'm cautiously optimistic because I remember there being a time when the community believed that something like Nintendon't couldn't be done. How there would never be a way to play GC games without having the Wii call the MIOS and switch into Gamecube mode. How we wouldn't be able to use classic Pro controllers to play GC games because Mios turns off Wii controllers and Wii functionality.

For what it's worth a wii mote and nunchuck are both pretty cheap now days.

I have enough controllers, so it's not that. It's just that I don't like using Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo as a primary game controller. Which sucks because there's a lot of great, and appealing, Wii games that I lose interest in once I start using the Remote/Nunchuk combo.

I just had friends over the other night and we were playing Mario Kart Wii. We had stop playing, and plug in Gamecube controllers, because playing games with motion controls is horrible. I'm sure it works in some games, but it's hard to argue against the fact that these games would be better with a tradition controller. Even one of my friends originally didn't mind using the Wii Remote for Mario Kart, but after we plugged in Gamecube controllers he admittedly noticed the difference, and commented on how much easier and natural it felt.

 

[endoverend]

Well that sucks. Here's to hoping that someday someone figures it out. Because obviously the WiiU is still communicating with the Gamepad in some fashion (while it's in vWii mode.) So I'm cautiously optimistic because I remember there being a time when the community believed that something like Nintendon't couldn't be done. How there would never be a way to play GC games without having the Wii call the MIOS and switch into Gamecube mode. How we wouldn't be able to use classic Pro controllers to play GC games because Mios turns off Wii controllers and Wii functionality.

The problem is that the gamepad is entirely disabled in vWii mode unless you're using it as a monitor, in which case it only accepts video input.

 

[TehCupcakes]

This is something that has been explained many times and is beyond my technical skill level to explain, but it basically comes down to this: No. It is not possible at the moment and is very unlikely (especially in the near future). Theoretically, anything is possible, but it's simply not practical. At the very least, we would need an IOSU hack before anything could be done with this.

Furthermore, Wii games were designed to work with motion controllers. Admittedly, it's a pain in the butt, but emulating those on a traditional controller doesn't feel quite right either. There are some games with minimal motion that would be nice to play with just buttons, but often times games require at least pointing at the screen and a few simple motions. You'd probably be better off just using Dolphin on your PC (provided it's powerful enough to run at a good framerate) and connect your controller of choice through that. Nintendo controllers are a bit finicky to get connected to a computer, but there is quite a bit out there if you search for it.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

There is that that the GamePad (think so WUPC, too) is capable of playing Wii games which originally supported the Wii Classic Controller so the experts might be able to do something about it for all games in the future.

This list seems to be legit @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_that_use_the_Classic_Controller

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is terrible with the Classic Controller as it was always intended to be played with the Wiimote.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

There is that that the GamePad (think so WUPC, too) is capable of playing Wii games which originally supported the Wii Classic Controller so the experts might be able to do something about it for all games in the future.

This list seems to be legit @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_that_use_the_Classic_Controller

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is terrible with the Classic Controller as it was always intended to be played with the Wiimote.

It isn't. This would be possible for Nintendo to do, but for whatever reason they haven't.
Once we have a full Wii U hack (kernel and IOSU) it would be possible to do with some reverse engineering, but with how unpopular the Wii U is and how short its remaining life span likely is we may never get to see that happen.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

It isn't. This would be possible for Nintendo to do, but for whatever reason they haven't.
Once we have a full Wii U hack (kernel and IOSU) it would be possible to do with some reverse engineering, but with how unpopular the Wii U is and how short its remaining life span likely is we may never get to see that happen.

I recall Nintendo saying that games which supported the CCP would be able to use the GamePad so at least for Nintendo it's possible.

Anyway, just get a bunch of cheap batteries or rechargeable ones and that'll cover you.

 

[TehCupcakes]

I recall Nintendo saying that games which supported the CCP would be able to use the GamePad so at least for Nintendo it's possible.

Nintendo is capable of doing it, but they basically have chosen not to. The way the Wii mode is virtualized inside the Wii U makes it impossible for vWii to take input from the gamepad. I remember someone explaining the fancy trickery that allows video to be sent, but alas I don't remember the explanation anymore.

Now in Wii U mode... It IS possible for eShop Wii games to be played with the gamepad, if they originally supported the classic controller. So this could theoretically be possible in Wii U mode once kernel and IOSU exploits are complete, but that depends on how exactly the Wii games are run. (And I have not seen any information on this.)