The homebrew and modification community has delved deeper into the recent bout of bricked Nintendo Wii U consoles, unlucky owners are seeing their systems throwing up error codes that indicate an internal memory failure. As covered on TPU almost two weeks ago, it was speculated that leaving a Wii U in a long-term state of unuse was a root cause of the problem. It is now theorized that a simple choice of memory chip is the real issue behind the corruptions, and not a case of leaving your unplugged Wii U stashed in a box somewhere.

An online database has been established on hackmd.io, and a member is collecting hard data from Wii U owners across various online communities and sources. Early indications show that consoles fitted with a Hynix eMMC are leading the pack in terms of number of system failures, Samsung-equipped models are placed in a distant second place, and the Toshiba variant is reported as having zero problems.

It has been reported by multiple users across several online communities that their Wii U consoles are no longer functioning properly. The error codes 160-0103 and 160-2155 are the dreaded indicators of memory corruption. It has been discovered that the NAND Flash within the Wii U's internal eMMC is prone to failure. According to details gleaned from teardowns of the console's hardware, Nintendo has implemented either Toshiba or Samsung flash storage boards for the various revisions of the console. There has been an uptick in the rate of bricked Wii U consoles across recent months, but the problems seem to have occurred as far back as 2015, according to archived posts on the GBA Temp forum. It is speculated that leaving the Wii U inactive for long periods of time can lead to the memory corruption issues.

Sales of Nintendo's hybrid console the Nintendo Switch have surged with combined sales of 55.77 million units worldwide. The Nintendo Switch family of systems which includes the Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch Lite sold 21.03 million units last year which reflects a 24.0% increase in sales from the previous year, this was likely due in part to the launch of the Switch Lite and the recent demand from the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Software sales saw an even more impressive jump of 42.3% over the previous year with 168.72 million units sold this year which brings lifetime software sales for the Nintendo Switch to 356.24 million units. Animal Crossing: New Horizons along with other best-selling games all saw strong success. These numbers put the Nintendo Switch ahead of the failed Wii U, GameCube, Nintendo 64, and SNES. The switch is also quickly approaching the NES and will probably take its spot to become the second best-selling home console Nintendo has ever produced right after the original Wii.

After months of speculation, the lid is off Nintendo's "NX" project, with the company finally announcing today its much-awaited games console, the Nintendo Switch. With an expected release slated for March 2017, the console blurs the line between a games console and a handheld device, by making use of a docking station which will allow it to connect to a television, much like a traditional games console, while instantly entering a so called "portable mode" when it is undocked. As both a console and a portable device, the Nintendo Switch will use cartridges known as Game Cards, displaying games in a "high definition display" embedded on the console while on the go, with two detachable Joy-Con controllers stepping in as input devices.

For PC hardware enthusiasts, that may not be all too interesting. What is arguably more interesting is that this games console will make use of NVIDIA hardware: most notably, a custom Tegra processor is the one pulling out all of the console's processing needs, with the graphics being served by what the company calls "the same architecture as the world's top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards."

HyperX, a division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, solidifies its commitment to creating quality gaming gear for everyone with the release of the HyperX Cloud Stinger gaming headset. Designed to make even the most casual gamer feel like a pro, the HyperX Cloud Stinger features HyperX signature memory foam and 50mm directional drivers to deliver a comfortable, high-quality sound experience at an affordable price.

HyperX Cloud Stinger weighs just 275 grams and is built with 90-degree rotating ear cups to provide hours of comfort for console and PC gaming. The lightweight headset includes 50 mm directional drivers that are tilted to position sound directly into the ear, resulting in a broader and more accurate in-game sound. HyperX Cloud Stinger also offers a convenient set of features for gameplay, including a swivel to mute the microphone, an adjustable steel slider for long lasting durability, and volume controls on the headset.

Nintendo is working on a next-generation gaming console to succeed even the fairly recent Wii U. The company is reacting to the plummeting competitiveness of its current console to the likes of PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Reports suggest that Nintendo would make a course-correction on the direction in which it took its game console business with the Wii, and could come up with a system that's focused on serious gaming, as much as it retains its original "fun" quotient. In that manner, the console could be more NES-like, than Wii-like.

Nintendo could ring up AMD for the chip that will drive its next console. It's not clear if AMD will supply a fully-integrated SoC that combines its own x86 CPU cores with its GCN graphics processor; or simply supply the GPU component for an SoC that combines components from various other manufacturers. The Wii U uses IBM's CPU cores, with AMD's GPU, combined onto a single chip. There's no word on when Nintendo plans to announce the new console, but one can expect a lot more news in 2015-16.

Havok, a leading provider of game development technology, announced today that its Havok Physics is powering a number of next-gen Ubisoft titles, including Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. Making use of Havok Physics, the Ubisoft Montreal development team was able to bring an unprecedented level of immersion to the massive world of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag.

Havok's technology is also being used in a variety of future Ubisoft games, including action titles such as Watch Dogs and Tom Clancy's The Division, both slated for release on next-gen hardware platforms. The publisher is leveraging Havok technology across platforms to ensure a consistent experience on PlayStation4 computer entertainment system and on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, as well as across PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii U system from Nintendo and Windows PC.

After bagging chip supply deals for all three new-generation consoles -- Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U, things are looking up for AMD. While Wii U uses older-generation hardware technologies, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 use the very latest AMD has to offer -- "Jaguar" 64-bit x86 CPU micro-architecture, and Graphics CoreNext GPU architecture. Chips that run the two consoles have a lot in common, but also a few less-than-subtle differences.

PlayStation 4 chip, which came to light this February, is truly an engineer's fantasy. It combines eight "Jaguar" 64-bit x86 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a fairly well spec'd Radeon GPU, which features 1,156 stream processors, 32 ROPs; and a 256-bit wide unified GDDR5 memory interface, clocked at 5.50 GHz. At these speeds, the system gets a memory bandwidth of 176 GB/s. Memory isn't handled like UMA (unified memory architecture), there's no partition between system- and graphics-memory. The two are treated as items on the same 8 GB of memory, and either can use up a majority of it.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. announced today the Company has begun shipping the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S, the first fighting game controller released by Mad Catz for the new Wii U console from Nintendo and the similar Tournament Edition S+ FightStick for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. Licensed by NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., the Tournament Edition fighting game controller has been designed for competitive play featuring genuine arcade components.

"We're pleased to extend our relationship with NAMCO BANDAI Games and particularly excited to introduce a Tournament Edition fighting game controller to the new Wii U console," said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. "We believe that the new FightStick will enable us to further grow our position as market leaders in this category."

Rockstar Games' biggest title for 2013, Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is slated to arrive in Spring 2013, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms, with no PC version, much to the dismay of PC gamers and enthusiasts. In an interview with IGN, Rockstar Vice President Dan Houser suggested that versions of the game for the Nintendo Wii U and PC are "up for consideration," a cleverly constructed phrase that settles quite a bit of uncertainty. It shows that Rockstar hasn't even begun work on a PC version of GTA V.

"We are a third-party publisher. We're not Nintendo, we're not Sony, we're not Microsoft. We love all of them in different ways. But we can do what we want wherever there's the appropriate business opportunity and chance to find a market," said Houser. "Some other people talk about the limitations of the [current] hardware. We don't feel there are that many limitations. We feel we can do some very impressive stuff and do it for a large audience. This felt like the way," he added.