One of the biggest problems in gaming used to be batteries. Anyone who lived through the 90s can tell you that the struggle was real in keeping AA batteries in the house for the Game Boy or Sega Game Gear, but with wireless controllers that struggle has seeped into console gaming. Thankfully it’s not as bad as needing to have a ton of batteries around the house unless you’re a smelly Xbox gamer (kidding!), but there are some great ways to get more game out of your controllers for not much extra in terms of cash.
The best part is your gamer will thank you profusely, because there’s nothing worse than getting ready to perform your final Smash and having the controller die. In fact, I’m pretty sure “thou shalt not game on low battery” is one of the commandments on the tablet that got broken as Moses descended the mountain (kidding again!).
Wii U Pro Controller
Hey! That’s not a battery accessory, I hear you yelling at your screen now. Technically it’s not, but it is one of the best kept secrets of the Wii U as a whole. The system ships with the Wii U GamePad, which has a pretty paltry battery life. If you don’t need the screen in the middle for the game you’re playing, or you’d rather use a more conventional controller, the Wii U Pro Controller is the right fit. This bad boy has 50 hours of charge in it. How long is that? Well, I played 30 hours of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate when I first got it and I haven’t had to charge the controller yet.
Pro Controllers can be found in any retail store and they’re a lot easier to come by than some of the battery accessories I’m going to mention later on in this post, plus it’s an extra control scheme should you decide to have friends over. Really, if your gamer owns a Wii U and doesn’t own a Pro Controller, you should remedy that.
Nyko UBoost
Early in the Wii U’s life cycle, Nyko experimented with a larger internal battery for the GamePad. They experienced some issues with it due to the connector and some heat from Nintendo, so instead of going forward with that design, we have the UBoost. The UBoost is an external battery pack you can add on to your GamePad. It doesn’t add much weight and it still lets you use the internal battery pack inside the GamePad. When that runs out, you can turn the UBoost on and continue to game.
It’s as ideal a solution as a bigger internal battery, but it does provide about 10 hours of extra game time. This works by discharging the power from the UBoost pack into the GamePad battery. It’s also pretty cheap on Amazon, which makes a good stop gap for someone who is always complaining about battery life.
Official Extended Battery
The battery included in the Wii U GamePad is pretty paltry. Just look at it. It’s less than half the size of the replacement larger battery that Nintendo has available for sale on its website for $32. We’re not saying Nintendo is trying to rake in extra money from gamers by including a smaller battery, but yo Nintendo, put these bigger batteries in your controllers by default.
Either way, if you don’t want attachments or extra controllers, this is your only option for increasing the battery life of the GamePad without sitting next to an outlet with it plugged in. It’ll set you back $32 plus shipping direct from Nintendo and they seem to sell out often and go out of stock. I’d grab this one while you can.
Energizer Charge Station
One of the worst things to experience as a gamer is taking a break from playing for an extended period and coming back to completely dead controllers when you want to play again. It’s happened to the best of us, but these dock style chargers are designed to prevent that. There are a few out there made by several companies, including Nyko. PDP also licensed the Energizer brand name in order to produce the product you see above, which functions pretty well.
It will charge your GamePad, as well as two Wii remotes and keep them charged for when you need them.
Wii U Daily Gift-A-Day Giveaway
This post is part of our Gift-A-Day giveway that we announced earlier this week. Each day until December 21 we’ll be posting one unique gift idea for any gamers in your life, including yourself! We know how hard it can be to get something for the gamer who has everything, so we’re hoping to make that a little easier this holiday season. Prizes include Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, GameCube controllers, amiibo, and even some special surprises we’ll reveal in our live hangout when we announce winners.
Enter below for your chance to win. Winners will be announced on December 22 in a live hangout, where winners will be matched with their prizes. For a look at some of the things we’ll be giving away that day, check out the original announcement post.