This is great. A few years ago, I decided to buy a WII U, since I have basically every Nintendo console system since the NES. But the gamepad screen was broken and I couldn't sync the gamepad to the screen until I fixed it. And I tried to see if there was any alternative, but there wasn't until now. Hopefully that means more WII Us can be saved... You can sometimes find used Wii Us for $30 without the gamepad, while the gamepad itself costs around $100..

Here is a link to the repository for the gamepad simulator: https://github.com/vanilla-wiiu/vanilla

I wonder if you could run this on the Steam Deck or similar hardware.

    Steam Deck
    Linux (check Wi-Fi hardware compatibility)
    Nintendo Switch (requires Broadcom firmware patch or external Wi-Fi adapter)
    Android (currently frontend only)
    Windows (currently frontend only)
    Raspberry Pi (requires external Wi-Fi adapter)
    iOS - Coming soon

Oh wow. I never played my Wii U without the gamepad, so I didn't know this. Makes sense that the gamepads are still as expensive as they are.