Used Wii Us Apparently Lets One Download Previous Owner’s Games

While many prefer to purchase their game consoles brand new, mint in the box, there are those who say going secondhand is the way to go. And, going by what some over at NeoGAF are saying, a used Wii U might be one of the better investments going.

Apparently, people who have purchased the console used have been able to download digital games that were purchased by the previous owner. The person who started the thread states:

whoever owned the console before me purchased multiple games, meaning all the games he purchased are available to redownload for free….This is with a new account btw I setup as well. Games are clearly linked to Console itself. Advice to those buying a second hand WiiU's…check all the games on the Store…you might be in for some "free" games!

Now, the first possibility that instantly comes to mind is how said previous owner had no wiped his or her profile from the system before selling it. But that doesn't seem to be the case:

Console was wiped….it must be on a Basic hardware level, all the games that had been purchased were labelled…."redownload"

If one searches through the forum thread, they will see numerous parties offering their theories as to what is going on. There appears to be no clear cut answer, save for one: Nintendo's implementation of the Nintendo Network ID and Club Nintendo credentials is beyond confusing, to an almost embarrassing degree. That and they still have much to learn about online account management.