I use a 32GB USB stick for one of my Wii Us. It works fine.
For my other Wii U I took a Seagate 500 GB HDD from a broken laptop and placed it in a case I bought for $20. I have only used it with a Y-cable (came with the case). The Y-cable doubles the current to the HDD. It is plugged into both USB contacts in the back.
TIP: If you have old USB sticks with only 2 or 4 GB that you do not use anymore, you can use them for smaller games or save data. Then you can have them lying around, and change them when you change game.







