What. Is this something that can actually be done?
it is! which is how i did it
the trick is, there’s a trick, which is not explained anywhere in the UI for some reason. i had to google it up and sift through a bunch of other people who also didn’t understand what was going on. gj nintendo.
if you try to start wii mode after the wii u has already booted, it’ll insist that you use the wiimote to choose “tv only” or “tv + gamepad” on the tv, which obviously doesn’t work if you don’t have a tv. so you need to hold B while the wii u is booting, which puts it directly into wii mode.
if you have your wii u set for hdmi out (and why wouldn’t you), booting into wii mode gives you a bizarre message about being unable to connect to the tv. (i guess because hdmi can actually detect whether it’s plugged in, but component cables can’t?) there’s a button for “try again”, which will never work. you have to switch to non-hdmi mode, and then it’ll boot happily.
the gamepad has a built-in sensor bar (the two purplish dots in the photo), so once you’ve gotten in wii mode, you can awkwardly use it to your heart’s content
verminbob:
it is! which is how i did it
the trick is, there’s a trick, which is not explained anywhere in the UI for some reason. i had to google it up and sift through a bunch of other people who also didn’t understand what was going on. gj nintendo.
if you try to start wii mode after the wii u has already booted, it’ll insist that you use the wiimote to choose “tv only” or “tv + gamepad” on the tv, which obviously doesn’t work if you don’t have a tv. so you need to hold B while the wii u is booting, which puts it directly into wii mode.
if you have your wii u set for hdmi out (and why wouldn’t you), booting into wii mode gives you a bizarre message about being unable to connect to the tv. (i guess because hdmi can actually detect whether it’s plugged in, but component cables can’t?) there’s a button for “try again”, which will never work. you have to switch to non-hdmi mode, and then it’ll boot happily.
the gamepad has a built-in sensor bar (the two purplish dots in the photo), so once you’ve gotten in wii mode, you can awkwardly use it to your heart’s content