If you still have a Wii U plugged into your TV, you’re basically a digital archaeologist at this point. People spent years laughing at Nintendo’s "tablet console" with the clunky name. But honestly? The joke is on the haters. In 2026, we’ve reached a weird inflection point where the sheer failure of the console has made its library one of the most profitable gold mines in retro collecting.
It’s simple math, really. Low sales in 2014 equal low supply today.
Back when nobody wanted a Wii U, retailers were practically begging people to take games off their hands. Now, those same discs are fetching hundreds—sometimes thousands—of dollars. If you’re hunting for the most expensive Wii U games, you aren’t just looking for "fun" games; you’re looking for the weird, the limited, and the absolute retail disasters.
The Heavy Hitters: What’s Actually Worth Money?
Forget Mario Kart 8. Everyone has that. To find the real money, you have to look for the stuff that barely made it to store shelves.
Devil's Third
This is the "Holy Grail" for North American collectors. It was a messy, janky action-shooter developed by Tomonobu Itagaki (the Ninja Gaiden guy). Nintendo of America seemingly hated it. They printed almost no copies, and for a while, it was a GameStop exclusive. Because it bombed so hard and had such a tiny print run, a clean copy now regularly clears $280 to $350. If you have one sealed? You're looking at $700 or more. It’s not even a particularly "good" game, but rarity doesn't care about Metacritic scores.
Hello Kitty Kruisers
This is the one that makes people's heads explode. It’s a budget racing game. It’s objectively worse than Mario Kart in every conceivable way. Yet, because it was published in such small quantities before being delisted, it’s a monster. For years, it sat in bargain bins for $10. Today, you’ll be lucky to find a physical copy for under **$150**. It’s the ultimate "ironic" expensive game.
Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition
This one is a bit of a tragedy. The physical release of Axiom Verge on the Wii U was tied up in a massive legal battle between the developer and a distributor. By the time it actually came out, the Wii U was long dead. Only about 6,000 copies exist. It’s a masterpiece of a Metroidvania, and because of the drama surrounding its birth, the "Multiverse Edition" is a staple in high-end collections, often hovering around $180 to $250.
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The Weird World of Limited Editions
Usually, "Limited Edition" is a marketing lie. But on the Wii U, Nintendo sometimes did "World Store" exclusives that are now legendary.
- Hyrule Warriors (Limited Edition): This version came with a scarf. Yes, a scarf. It was only sold at the Nintendo World Store in NYC. Because of that geographic restriction, it is one of the rarest items on the system. We're talking $1,500+ territory for a complete-in-box (CIB) copy.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Amiibo Bundle): While the base game is pricey, the big outer box that included the Wolf Link Amiibo has skyrocketed. People threw those boxes away! Now, a mint condition box is the difference between a $80 game and a **$200** collector's piece.
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: You’d think a sports game would be cheap. Wrong. This was one of the last games ever released for the system. Retailers weren't ordering Wii U stock in 2016. They were clearing space for the Switch. That makes this title surprisingly scarce and worth about $130.
Why the Wii U Market is Exploding in 2026
Collecting for this system is different than the GameCube or the N64. With those consoles, the games are expensive because of nostalgia. With the Wii U, it’s about closure.
Full-set collectors love the Wii U because the North American library is tiny—only about 160ish games. Compare that to the thousands of games on the PS2. You can actually "finish" a Wii U collection without needing a second mortgage (mostly).
Also, the "disc rot" panic is real. Wii U discs use a proprietary high-density format with rounded edges. There’s a persistent fear in the community that these discs are more fragile than standard DVDs. Whether it's true or not, it's driving people to buy up "mint" copies now before they all "die."
Don't Get Fooled: Common Misconceptions
People often think Super Smash Bros. or Splatoon must be worth money because they’re iconic. They aren't. Millions of people bought them. You can find them for $15 at any used shop.
Price is driven by the intersection of unpopularity at launch and cult status later. Look for publishers like Atlus or XSEED. Games like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE or The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 are the ones that quietly creep up in value while everyone is busy looking at Mario.
What to do if you're buying (or selling) today:
- Check the Inner Ring: Hold the disc up to a bright light. If you see tiny pinpricks of light coming through the data layer, that's disc rot. It's a paperweight. Don't buy it.
- Verify the Region: The Wii U is region-locked. A "cheap" copy of Devil's Third on eBay is usually the PAL (European) version. It won't work on a US console, and it isn't worth nearly as much to NTSC collectors.
- Keep the Cardboard: If you have a game that came in a cardboard outer box (like Star Fox Zero or Zelda), keep that box flat and safe. The box is often worth more than the plastic case inside.
- The eShop Factor: Now that the eShop is closed, physical copies are the only "legal" way to own these games without homebrewing your console. This has created a hard floor for prices; they aren't going back down.
If you’re sitting on a stack of dusty Wii U cases, take twenty minutes to look them up. You might be surprised to find that your "failed" console purchase from ten years ago is now the most valuable thing on your shelf.
Your next move: Go to your shelf and pull out any game with a non-Nintendo publisher—specifically look for the Atlus, NIS America, or XSEED logos. Check those titles against recent "Sold" listings on eBay rather than the "Active" listings to see what people are actually paying in today's market.