Nintendo Japan Announces Wii U GamePad Battery Replacement for Extended Play

When Nintendo eventually releases more games for their struggling Wii U console, you too will hate the incredibly short battery life of Wii U GamePad.

For players looking to lengthen their Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate sessions or to continue collecting studs in Lego City: Undercover, Nintendo of Japan just announced a larger capacity Wii U battery pack to replace and extend the GamePad battery life to around 5 – 8 hours depending on the game.

With the use of the camera, microphone, different brightness settings and volume levels, the battery life will vary. Unfortunately, Nintendo of Japan announced this battery pack extension, which means North American and European Wii U owners find themselves in a battery pack-less limbo.

If an announcement for North American and European audiences does not come, Nyko also just released the Power Pak to replace the Wii U GamePad battery and the UBoost to extend the exisiting battery capacity of the GamePad.

If you purchase the UBoost, you attach the battery to the back of the GamePad for double the battery life. If you purchase the Nyko Power Pak, you will need to unscrew the existing battery, replace it but instead receive triple the battery life length.