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Second-hand Wii U buyers can re-download past purchases, gamers claim

Wii U digital titles can be re-downloaded free of charge on second-hand consoles, some gamers are claiming. For example, if you buy a preowned Wii U that once had Trine 2 installed, you may be able to download it again at no extra cost.

That's the claim of gamers over on NeoGAF this morning, as one gamer claimed to have bought a second-hand Wii U to find they could download Trine 2 and Nano Assault Neo for free.

This could be down to downloaded titles being tethered to the Wii U console itself, not the Nintendo Network ID used to buy it in the first instance. If true, the issue could see preowned Wii U buyers raking in free titles.

Also reporting on the issue, Eurogamer explained that the only way to transfer previously-purchased licenses from one Wii U console to another is to send the console to Nintendo itself.

The company has stated that it is prepared to help gamers facing the issue, but it seems a lot of hassle. Either way we've asked them for comment on the matter.

What do you think? Should this be fixed asap? Let us know below.

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In this article

Nano Assault Neo

Nintendo Wii U

Trine 2

PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac

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About the Author
Dave Cook avatar

Dave Cook

Contributor

Dave worked on VG247 for an extended period manging much of the site's news output. As well as his experience in games media, he writes for comics, and now specializes in books about gaming history.

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