On one hand, this seems like a painfully obvious thing: Broken hardware typically can be replaced under warranty or through the manufacturer for a fee, and the Nintendo GamePad is hardware. On the other hand, itās a controller, and Nintendo is deliberately not selling GamePads on their own in North America. So that raises the question of what happens if yours breaks?
What about the warranty? Well, NOA has āno specific announcementsā to make regarding warranty coverage for the GamePad, said the rep, but he noted that Nintendo warranties donāt cover physical damage. Fair enough.
Extra GamePads will be sold in Japan for the equivalent of about $172. So if in North America, a GamePad costs $150, and if its replacement fee is lower than that, you probably can expect to be asked to ship back the old one, even if you broke it. Otherwise, whatās to stop people from claiming they broke their old controller, buying up an extra one at discount and saving it for gray market resale once two-GamePad support arrives here, believed to be sometime after March.
I canāt wait to see the Will It Blend Guy disintegrate a GamePad and ship them back the dust. āWii U GamePad Dust! Donāt breathe this ā¦ā
Broken Wii U Game Pad replacements will be available āfor a feeā says Nintendo [Gimme Gimme Games.]
