Wii U Supports Background Downloads

Let's face it; the Wii U is still in its early infancy so we, along with all the gamers out there, are still trying to wrap our heads around the new console. With so many new and exciting features to try out — from the video chat to the Miiverse — there were bound to be some areas that Nintendo glossed over in their handy instructional videos.

One of the major areas that Nintendo seemingly ignored are the little intricacies of the online infrastructure. For example, while Nintendo was boasting about the improved social interaction inherent to the Nintendo Network ID they failed to mention the account is tied to a specific console, which is a real bummer.

Though it is on a much smaller scale, Nintendo also neglected to point out how background firmware downloads work on the Wii U. It's a feature that has yet to become commonplace on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 — although both offer background downloads for games -- but nowhere on the download screen does the Wii U outline how to perform a background download, yet gamers are discovering it is possible.

Like with their integration of Hulu Plus and Netflix, props to Nintendo for rolling out competitive features out of the gate, but once again neglecting the finer details is proving inconvenient.

However, to perform a background download all a gamer needs do is cancel the download while it's in progress, and then resume regular use of their Wii U while it continues. Once finished, an icon for the update should appear on the home screen. Of course, gamers must install the update, and restart the system, but nevertheless it is a background download solution that few might not be aware of.

Why such an important feature was glossed over, and not explicitly detailed on a download screen, is unclear, but nevertheless background downloading is possible. Perhaps in a future Wii U update, Nintendo will add a "perform in background" button.

Have you discovered background downloads by accident on the Wii U? What other online features do you think Nintendo should roll out?

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Source: Destructoid