What about your SD card or an external hard drive? Couldn't you just transfer that to a new console and everything is fine? SD cards are really cheap these days too.

It wold be much more comforting if Nintendo had a true account system not tied to the hardware- 

There is a chance i may have to send my game pad in to Nintendo to get fixed and even if i was able to buy one locally to use as a back up game pad, it would not work on my Wii U becasue the game pads are also tied to the specific console it was originally paired with-   +

do you own the Zelda Limited Edition Wii U?

When Wind Waker said the digital version would be for sale on eShop weeks ahead of retail i decided to go digital. Now i have 30~ big-big titles, and dozens and dozens of Vc ones too. At the point when I bought these I paid usually full price. I think they are just priceless. I may not go back for second completions for like 20 years from now.

Nintendo could put the eShop on the pc if worst came to worse. No royalties, pure digital profit. So I know there will always be a place to re-download it after a small update fee. Like the Wii to Wii U VC fees. But most importantly, I know that I got to play and enjoy these games with the convenience of apps on a gaming tablet. It's a rich experience!

Awesome list.

If you bought the games, there's no reason why you couldn't just play them on emulators. You contributed, you paid your part to them, they are your games, it's as legal as it can be.

To my knowledge, the only way to transfer your data to a new console offline is the transfer feature.  To move one account or move an account from a broken console, you can do it over the phone with Nintendo.  The games are tied to the NNID and the NNID is tied to the console.  Until you transfer your account, all data on SD cards, HDDs, etc will only work on the console they were copied from.

This can be changed with a patch, but I will believe it when I see it.  As long as Ninty and the eshop are still around, no worries though.  My concern is for 20 years down the road IF anything should happen to Nintendo.

Like others have mentioned though, these games are easily emulated and I paid my dues when I purchased them.  I will prefer to stay with legit Nintendo consoles, but everything from DS onward I have some form of physical copy (two for WW).  That said, the only games I will need to replace with emulation in worst case scenario are so old, they have already been perfected for a long time.

The more I think about it, the better I feel.  Digital is a pain in the ass, but like I said I collect for complete libraries and the ability to go play them when I feel like.  The monetary value is not a concern for me once it is mine, because I would never sell anyway.  So my WiiU and 3DS are my classic Zelda HUBs on top of what I use for everything released for my physical copies at this time as well.

My canon Zelda collection is complete, now to play through them all as I await Zelda HD!  =)

Yeah I stay physical for that reason exactly. I see your point on how old games are probably better on emulators anyway. As long as you are okay with it then that's all that matters. Hopefully they allow a system transfer through physical means before they get rid of the Wii U servers for good. That would put a lot of people at ease.

I  had to buy a brand new GamePad from Nintendo back in January. I synced the new one to my Wii U in seconds.

How long did it take to get it?  How much dd they charge? 

I wonder how long they will keep spare Wii u game pads available after they release the NX  -   The game pad is so crucial to the console it is more thn a controller but not quite the whole console

I assume they programed the gamepad you bought from them to your specific console before they shipped it - so that is good-  

My original GamePad had a worn out left analog stick that got to the point where games were severely effected, so I first tried ordering a new analog trigger from Amazon to fix it myself and save ton of  money. I got a complete piece-of-shit replacement from some Chinese company that made things even worse. So after I tried to send it in to Nintendo, Nintendo sent it right back and said I'm on my own since I opened it.

So I had to break down and buy a new one for ~$100 US dollars. I can't recall whether I had to give the rep my console's serial number, but my Wii U stayed firmly where it was and I continued to play using a Pro controller in the meantime. I believe it only took two or three days for the new GamePad to come in (with that money I paid, they BETTER have used rush delivery!), and syncing it was pretty much the same process as syncing a Wiimote, and was just as fast.