14 DAY TRIAL // A brand new system software update for the Nintendo Wii U has just been rolled out by the Japanese company worldwide, in the form of firmware version 5.0.0, which brings quite a lot of new things, chief among which being the Quick Start Menu that allows users to jump right into recently played games.
Nintendo's Wii U isn't doing so well in terms of sales, but the recent release of Mario Kart 8 is doing wonders for the small console, bringing legions of longtime fans back to it and motivating many to finally buy a console just for the game.
In order to ease their user experience, Nintendo has now rolled out a fresh system software update for the Wii U, in the form of firmware 5.0.0, which brings a great feature called Quick Start Menu.
According to the official website, the new Quick Start Menu will be displayed when users press the Wii U GamePad Power or Home buttons to turn on the console. If you try to turn on the Wii U via the Wii remote Plus or the Wii U Pro Controller, you'll still get the regular start procedure.
The Quick Start Menu will display on the GamePad's screen a list of recently played or newly-installed games and applications. From here, owners can select what they want to start and bypass the lengthy loading times and the navigation of the main menu until they reach the game or app they want.
Another great new feature is the fresh Wii U GamePad Alerts system, which will display notifications from Nintendo even when the Wii U console is powered down.
A special audio ringtone plays when a new notification appears and they'll be available for viewing from the Quick Start Menu. You can configure the way these notifications appear via the power settings menu in the general system settings one.
Wii U firmware update 5.0.0 also brings a few other changes to existing functions of the console.
New system updates will now automatically install after they finished downloading even if the Wii U is in standby.
The User Settings screen will now properly show up when users select a Mii from the console's menu, while the general design and layout have been overhauled. You can also freely swap between user profiles using this new menu.
Besides these quite welcomed changes, the new Wii U system software update 5.0.0 also brings a series of other overall system stability improvements and "minor adjustments to enhance the user experience."
The new Wii U firmware 5.0.0 is now available as a standard download and will be applied when you start the console and have it connected to the Internet.