My WiiU Won’t Recognize My External HD

If you own a WiiU, you might also own an external hard drive to go with it since the system’s internal memory is sorely lacking. This article exists to help those suffering from external hard drive woes, as they can be quite frightening.

The most important fact is that the WiiU does not generate enough power to power an External HD that is charged via USB UNLESS you use a USB Y-Splitter. The way it works is that an External HD that charges via USB must be plugged into the female port of the USB splitter, and then the USB splitter’s two male ends go into the WiiU. (I’ve plugged mine into the vertical USB ports on the back.)

If your external HD is receiving enough power, it should make a whirring noise when the Wii U is turned on and the HD is plugged in. (If things are going well, your Wii U should recognize the external hard drive in its data management screen in Settings.) If things are not going well, you might find that the WiiU suddenly cannot recognize your external HD and all your saved game data is apparently lost.

If you’re like me this could cause a panic, but luckily all may not be lost! There are a few additional things to keep in mind. By default the WiiU puts external HDs to sleep when they are not in use, but you can toggle this function off by going into data management, holding DOWN on the D-Pad for four seconds, then holding the plus and minus buttons. An option will appear to let you turn off the WiiU’s sleep function for external HDs.

If your content still doesn’t appear or your HD still isn’t recognized, try restarting the system once more. Check your connections to make sure they are snug, and after leaving the HD plugged in for a few minutes, reset once more. For whatever reason, my content suddenly appeared after doing all these steps in order. I will warn you not to futz with the external HD while content is running, as it may cause your content to crash.

Game Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

“Hold on, Arthur. Them’s a lot of words comin’ at us!”

There are some who will not be able to surmount the tedium of riding a horse through scenic landscape. For those people, Red Dead Redemption 2, the latest opus from Grand Theft Auto creator Rockstar Games, may be a tad on the boring side. However, if you’re interested in a deep, beautiful, and rewarding slice of interactive literature, look no further.
The story is as follows. You play as Arthur Morgan, a member of Dutch Van Der Linde’s gang of outlaws. You steal carriages, rob trains, and murder countless people (whether or not they deserve it). That ‘whether’ bit is the center of the moral quandary. When the walls are closing in, should you live life amorally? Or should you try for REDEMPTION? It’s up to you to decide, and that’s the fun part.

The not-so-fun part is how slowly it all unfolds, according to some naysayers. You really are locked into playing Arthur’s story, making this narrative more along the lines of Geralt’s in The Witcher than say the free-wheeling randomness of Skyrim. There are some random bits, strangers lurching out at you from the side of the road with advice or peril. You can be a white hat or a black hat and dress yourself in the skin of whatever you catch. The open world is picturesque. So much care was given to every blade of grass, the placement of every hillside, that it is stunningly awful when something glitches, and a man goes flying hundreds of feet in the air.

The glitches, thankfully, make up a small percentage of the overall experience, and they remain one of the few reminders that you are not in-fact inhabiting this world yourself, but playing a simulacrum. Upon finally completing the somewhat bloated and hilariously overlong story- (fans of Persona 5 will likely find that game neat and tidy by comparison) there is a palpable loss of something magical. Not that the game has faltered, just that the dream has ended. It does indeed have an ending. And the paltry offerings of the online mode will never live up to the beauty and wondrously drawn characters of the main story.

What makes the writing so wonderful is its restraint. Gone is the madcap insanity of Grand Theft Auto V. It even manages to avoid going comically mundane like that game did. Although most of the missions boil down to a shoot-out, there is a concerted effort to make each story set-up interesting or at the least mildly distinct. Getting to know each character proves to be rewarding as well. Like a good Mass Effect, you really do develop feelings for your crew. (But unlike Mass Effect, you don’t get to bang them. This is of course an oversight.)

The game takes extra care to dovetail into the events of the first game, being a prequel. It really did remind me of Hemingway, specifically For Whom the Bell Tolls. It’s imperfect, but no less beautiful for being so. It seems to express both the sublime of nature and the staggering reality of being unable to outrun your past. Since that last bit’s all you really get out of The Great Gatsby, I suggest substituting Red Dead Redemption 2 as it is vastly more fun. There’s romance, tragedy, joy, and so many horses you might grow hooves yourself. This is truly a game that wants you to take your time and appreciate life, because unlike Red Dead Redemption 2, life is fleeting.

Game Review: Divinity: Original Sin 2

For the sake of clarity I am reviewing the single-player experience on Playstation 4. I have not tried the multiplayer or the PC version. Little things can make a big difference in Divinity: Original Sin 2. Whether it’s the note containing key information buried somewhere …