Although it was announced (informally?) earlier, this is good news. My Wii console has gotten years of regular use and isn't quite as stable as it once was. For a while it would regularly crash on startup, and even though that issue has disappeared I know the console won't last forever. Being able to take my 70+ digital games with me if/when I upgrade is a pretty big deal for me.

I believe it was announced previously (but I can't recall the source). It's always reassuring to hear it reiterated though. I hope Nintendo release details soon about the actual process of transfering, and whether or not all games will be transferable. There are several games which have been taken down from the VC and there are loads of games which have weird licensing agreements.

Could somebody please next time they talk to Reggie or any Nintendo Representative ask them about people that have VC game purchases and Wii Ware titles associated with their Nintendo.com account, but not connected to a Wii, because they sold their Wii...if they can transfer or get those games back.  This is the KEY decision on whether or not I buy a Wii U...and I hope Nintendo delivers with a yes...because right now, I have $100s of dollars of virtual games nobody can play...and are easily recognizable as my games on my account and not attached to any system yet.

It was a NOA marketing executive during a interview with Yahoo who confirmed it.

The person you sold the Wii to though would still have access to the games, right?

Nope.  They don't.  I completely disconnected the Wii from my Nintendo Account.  Nobody right now can access those games. 


It is actually the one thing that has me kinda upset about Nintendo's download games.  If your Wii was stolen or lost you can't get the games back.  If you chose to sell your Wii for any reason, and you properly disconnected the games from that Wii...you can't get them back...and if you can...that would make the Wii U a day one purchase for me...just for my Retro gaming.

My understanding was that you could disassociate your Nintendo profile from your Wii, but that the games were still tied to the system. Is that not the case? What do you mean by 'properly disconnect the games from the Wii'?

Not if the Wii was formatted before selling, which is probably a good idea.


But just disconnecting the console from your Club Nintendo account (without formatting) does nothing of value. Any downloaded games will still be on the console. Any download history you have is still tied to the console. The only difference after removing your Club Nintendo information is that you would no longer get credit when new digital downloads are purchased; existing records don't matter.

Lots of sympathy... but I don't see how anyone could reasonably expect this to happen.

How can Nintendo or anyone else know the games aren't still attached to your old system right now? There is no way to check, no activation/deactivation process for Wii, and no meaningful tie between your Club Nintendo account and the hardware you are using. The console simply wasn't designed with that type of functionality in mind.

Hopefully what you suggest will happen in the future, and Nintendo will allow users to link purchases with an account system that can then be activated/deactivated for specific hardware as desired. But that type of system isn't in play yet and certainly wasn't around when you sold your Wii.


My guess is that you'll just have to live with the consequences of your decision. Tying downloads to hardware was a bad decision, but the rules were pretty clear and generally well known. Maybe you didn't understand how things worked, maybe you didn't bother to try and educate yourself before making an irreversible decision, but it's too late now.


(Also, stolen Wii consoles are given different treatment than sold consoles. More than one person has been able to retrieve their downloadable games, with some effort, in this circumstance. This has been discussed in the forums and on recent podcasts more than once. Having a console stolen isn't the same as choosing to sell your system though.)

Well...I formatted and did everything possible to do a clean wipe...and yes I know it is unlikely...it just frustrates me...and yes I kinda understood the situation...but actually you would think there was some sort of means to see that those games are not currently tied to a Wii...I could even send them my original Wii to prove it...but alas I guess it will be all said and done...and Nintendo will sadly lose a customer over this. 

If someone loses their Wii, they can file a police report and send it to Nintendo, then they will let you connect your new Wii to your Club Nintendo account and re-download the games for free.

I have 2 Wii's, I really hope I don't have to choose one or the other. Chances are I will though.

If you still have access to the Wii, why can't you reassociate your club nintendo account to it and dl the games and then transfer them over.  Then give the Wii back?

I don't think you can reassociate it like that...since I wiped the memory.  Perhaps I can, as along as my friend didn't hook his system up to his Nintendo account...because then there is the chance of both of us losing our games. 


I unassociate his account, associate mine, then transfer my games over (after first wiping his games off the Wii so there is is no cross account pollution) then reassociating and downloading his games back...


who knows if that is even possible or will work...something tells me probably not.