Apparently binding games to the Wii U console wasn’t a hot idea. Who knew?
Expect prices for second hand Wii U systems to spike, as a NeoGAF user has revealed that the previous owner’s games were all still available on his old console. The quirk allowed NeoGAF poster DSN2K to download Trine 2 and Nano Assault Neo for free. “Advice to those buying a second hand Wii U”, DSN2K says, “check all the games on the Store … you might be in for some ‘free’ games!”
This would seem to be a feature, not a bug. Nintendo’s own support page points out that, at the moment, users cannot transfer accounts. “A Nintendo Network Account can only be used on the console where it was created,” says Nintendo Support, adding that “currently, the Wii U supports up to 12 individual Nintendo Network ID’s per console.” The data is bound to the console, not the account, in other words. Moreover every account on that console has access to the data.
So even though the previous owner had wiped his account, he hadn’t – because he couldn’t – wipe access to the games he’d installed on that console. Each was still available for download, which DSN2K promptly did.
The previous owner won’t be able to regain access to his Nintendo Network ID, should he change his mind and want back in, since the only way to do that at the moment is to send the console itself to Nintendo of America. It would seem that people wanting to sell their console second hand are giving away more than they bargained for, when they part with the device.
Source: Eurogamer
